Chloe's P.O.V
My face burned like a four-hundred-degree oven. I was trying to process everything that was happening around me, but it was more like a whirlwind, fast and uncontrollable. Before I knew what I was saying, I blurted out, "Yes."
I saw a gleam in Luke's green eyes I hadn't seen since the time we were in fifth grade, and the way his natural lips curled into an adorable grin made my heart feel like Jell-O. It was slightly annoying at how cute Luke could be, whether I liked him or not–which I didn't like him. We just wanted to be friends again. And that was it.
"Do you remember Kyle Higgins?" he asked suddenly, causing me to tear my eyes away from his lips and replace my confusion with amusement.
"Oh, I definitely remember him," I chuckled a little, thinking back onto his atomic fart.
Luke's grin grew wider. "I probably sound super childish, but I wondered if you remembered during a tornado drill in fifth grade when we were all huddled together in the hallway that Kyle got so scared of the thundering outside that he farted."
I burst into laughter, remembering it all. "Poor Kyle," I mustered out between laughs. "We'll never let him live it down."
It felt incredible as we laughed for the next couple of minutes about Kyle Higgins. I wasn't thinking about how impossible it was to be in a room alone with Luke laughing over something as silly as Kyle or how surreal it was that we wanted to friends again. It was like there was some sort of spell cast over us, making it feel like a day hadn't gone by since we were cutting up in Mrs. Mayfield's class.
Luke opened his mouth to say more but both of our phones buzzed, bringing me back to reality. I kinda wished no one texted us so we could enjoy ourselves just a moment longer.
Hailee: Hey where are you guys at
Of course, it was Hailee. Who else would interrupt at the worst of times? I looked over at Luke, who quickly began texting away.
Luke: Room 221 upstairs, second floor
Kason: Okay we're heading over, is Chloe with you?
I laughed. He could've just asked me instead of being a weirdo and asking like I'm not even in the group chat. I responded quickly:
Me: Yeah I'm here
Kason: lol I probably sounded dumb but that's okay
I giggled and replied:
Me: Just a little
Luke laughed and set down his phone. "Kason sure is special, isn't he?"
"Definitely," I agreed, smiling. I realized that we were just smiling at each other and I suddenly felt like millions of endorphins were released in my brain. I stopped smiling, feeling confused as to what was happening. Luke and I wanted to be friends again. No, that must be just made up. He couldn't want to be friends with me, but just moments ago that's what he asked. I couldn't believe it.
I looked over to see his raspberry mocha untouched, and I couldn't help but ask, "Have you even tried your raspberry mocha yet?" If I were him, that sucker would be a quarter empty by now.
"Apparently I forgot it existed," he said with an adorable grin. "I'm really curious as to how it tastes since you seem to like them so much," he said as he picked up the coffee.
"How do you know I like them so much?" I asked, a little surprised he even knew. Perhaps it was a stupid question, and everyone knew it but me.
He laughed. "Anyone with eyes can see that's your favorite coffee. You order it every time we go to a coffee place."
"Oh." So it was a stupid question and everyone knew about it but me. Of course they did. How stupid could I be?
Usually there was a certain awkwardness in the air when I'm near him, but ever since he asked to be friends it disappeared. I watched him as he took his first sip of the coffee. He winced at first, but it quickly turned into a look of shock.
"I didn't know they tasted this good," he said as he inspected at the drink with raised eyebrows.
I laughed, resting my cheek in the palm of my hand. "See? Now you understand why I order it so much," I said, twirling my straw in my coffee.
He nodded and continued to sip happily like a kid in a candy store.
I heard a rapping on the glass door and looked past Luke to see Kason and Hailee waiting outside. Hailee stood slightly behind Kason, pointed at him and winked at me.
I sighed louder than expected, catching Luke's attention. I gave Luke a reassuring smile as if nothing was wrong, and he turned back towards them and motioned for them to come inside.
"I thought the door was locked," Kason laughed as he walked inside, immediately coming over to my side and plopping his stuff down in the seat next to me.
Hailee was beaming as she sat down next to Luke, winking at me once more after looking between Kason and me.
Hailee, you better behave, I thought to myself. Hailee could be a little too much sometimes, especially in moments like this.
"So before we begin I have a confession to make," Kason said as he got out his laptop, looking my direction nervously.
What was the nervous expression for? I raised my eyebrows at him in curiosity. "What is it?" I asked, sure that whatever it was couldn't be that bad.
Luke shifted in his seat uncomfortably, his muscular arms folded and propped against the table, his eyes slightly squinted at Kason.
"I have never studied for a test before, so I have no idea how to study for one," Kason admitted with a small smile.
The thought that whatever Kason said couldn't be that bad exploded inside my head. "You've never studied for a test before?" I asked before thinking, looking him over as if he was crazy. "How could you go your entire life not studying for a single test? Do you not get anxiety?"
"It's quite simple Chloe, its called: not studying," Kason motioned his hands as if it was a magic trick, making it "disappear" once he said "not studying."
Hailee pouched out her lips and glanced at me knowingly while pushing up her black glasses up her thin nose. I really didn't want to have to deal with whatever she had to say to me right then, so I looked away from her and sighed.
"I have to agree with Chloe," Luke joined in, studying Kason carefully. "I don't understand how you made it this far without studying. How is your GPA even good enough to keep your football scholarship?"
"Pfft. I only needed a B to keep it, and from where I grew up, school wasn't exactly hard unless you took AP classes," Kason scratched his head. He looked over in my direction, our eyes meeting, and his dimpled smile grew wider, causing me to start to blush.
I immediately looked away, wondering why I was even blushing at our eye contact. It was just Kason. Dimple-faced Kason. I took a sip of my coffee and asked, "So why start studying now?"
"Well…" he trailed off, looking between Luke and me as if there was some unspoken conversation I missed out on.
"We get it, you want to keep your scholarship," Hailee said, rolling her eyes while huffing out a breath.
"I guess we should get started on studying because if we don't, we might not ever at this rate," I stood up and rummaged in my backpack.
"Chloe if you want to use the whiteboard it already has some dry erase black markers," Kason turned towards me with his arm wrapped around his swivel chair.
"I know," I replied and pulled out my pink marker. "I just wanted to use my pink marker," I smiled. It probably seemed a little ridiculous to others that I kept dry erase markers in my backpack, but a girl could never be too prepared, especially in moments like these.
Kason rolled his eyes and laughed, leaning back in chair. "If I didn't know any better Chloe, I would say your favorite color is pink."
"And where would you get that idea from?" I smirked, placing my hand on my hip as I stared down at him.
"I don't know, your pink backpack, pink notebooks, pink shirt, pink mechanical pencils, pink–" Kason listed while shrugging.
"Okay, okay I get it," I folded my arms smiling. I guessed I just didn't realize how much people paid attention to each other–especially to me. I wasn't used to people actually realizing things about me without me telling them before. It was actually kind of nice.
The study session started out pretty well. I led the group, focusing on problems I believed were going to be on the exam and created different problems for each simply by just changing the numbers. I also created flash cards for everyone to study, taking turns testing each of us. The study group was turning out to be a fabulous thing, and I didn't even realize it.
"Okay guys, let's take a five minute break," I said as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
"Yes ma'am!" Kason saluted me, laughing at himself afterward like it was one of the funniest things.
Luke and I shook our heads at him and Hailee rolled her eyes. I pulled out my phone to see it was a text from my mom.
Mom: Hey sweetie how has school been?
It had been a couple days since the last time I spoke with my parents, and it was nice to hear from one of them every couple of days or so.
Me: It's been okay. I'm actually in a study group right now
Mom: Oh really? With who?
Leave it to my mom to be nosy.
Me: Kason, Luke, and Hailee
Mom: Oh who is this Kason?
Oh no, not her too. I really didn't need her and Hailee to think the same thing about Kason and me–or that I liked him in any way, shape, or form. It wasn't that I couldn't like the guy, it was just that I didn't.
Me: No one you should be interested in
Mom: Oh really? I'll decide that for myself
Me: Really, Mom. Stop. He's a friend.
"Chloe who are you texting? Your boyfriend?" Kason asked suddenly as he peeked at my phone.
I almost dropped my phone, scrambling to move it away from his view and my face twisted in confusion. My boyfriend? He couldn't be serious. "Yeah right," I snorted, and a small smile crept onto my face. "The difference between me and boyfriend is that I exist, he doesn't."
Luke began to laugh, catching on to what I said with Kason looking at him quizzically.
"Ha, ha, you're so funny," Hailee said sarcastically, shaking her head at me disappointingly.
Hailee didn't have to be such a female dog sometimes, like jeez. Lighten up. It was a joke for crying out loud.