Page 20 of I Don’t Need Your Protection (Harrington Bay Academy #1)

Addie

Too bad the weekend is over. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends.

We spent some time in the rec room, we went off campus to the nearby mall, and of course we did our homework.

Now it’s Monday and time for a whole new week of classes.

I do enjoy school, I just like spending time with my friends more.

I didn’t see much of Warner. I think he was away for most of the weekend. A part of me hopes I didn’t make a fool of myself dancing with him on Friday night. When we finished dancing, he told me he’d catch me later. That must mean he’s still into me, right?

“Ugh.” I roll around on my bed. It’s early, way too early. I know this because it’s mostly dark out and because that annoying trumpet isn’t blaring in my ears.

I shut my eyes, but I can’t fall back asleep. I’m too wide awake, thinking about Warner and how much fun I had dancing with him and my friends. I want to do it again. Would he invite me to the next party? And maybe the one after that?

My throat is a little scratchy and I need a drink. I sit up and am about to get out of bed, but freeze when I take in the form on the second bed.

Caleb. He’s sleeping.

I push the covers aside and tiptoe to his bed to get a better look at him.

He’s on his back, one arm stretched over the edge of the bed, the other hidden under his blanket.

His dark hair is curled on his forehead and I have this weird urge to push it aside.

I can’t see him so well in the dark, but I can make out his eyes.

They’re fluttering. Is he dreaming? What does a guy like him dream about?

He looks so peaceful. So normal. Like a regular teen guy. There’s no irritation or frustration in his eyes. He’s not in “serious protector mode.” He’s just normal.

It makes a calmness wash over me.

Just as I turn to go to the kitchenette for a drink, fingers wrap around my wrist, yanking me toward the bed. I let out a small yelp.

“Addilyn.”

His eyes are wide awake now.

“What are you doing?” He sits up sharply. “Did something happen?” He frantically searches the room, his jaw clenching, as if he’s upset with himself for falling asleep.

I tug on my captured wrist. “Can you let go?”

He drops my hand. “Why aren’t you in bed? ”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

He just stares at me, as if waiting for more details.

I tuck some hair behind my ear. I don’t want to tell him I can’t sleep because of Warner. I don’t want to sound pathetic that I’m so excited because a guy possibly likes me. And besides, I don’t need his negativity. I figure the less we speak about Warner, the better.

Caleb is still waiting for an explanation.

“What? I just couldn’t sleep. It happens sometimes.”

He narrows his eyes as he tries to figure me out. “Okay, but what are you doing here ?” He gestures at his bed. “Unless you felt like you were in danger.” He studies me again.

“Yep. That was totally it.”

His body straightens in alarm. “You felt like you were in danger? Why? Where?” He searches around again.

Now I feel bad. “No! No! Sorry, I didn’t feel like I was in danger. I mean, I woke up and it was dark and I got scared for a second. But that was it.”

He watches me again. “Then why did you come here?” He gestures at his bed again.

“If you must know, I was going to get a drink.”

“Kitchenette is that way.” He tilts his head toward the other end of the room.

“It was dark and I got confused.”

He narrows his eyes at me again.

“I’m going back to bed,” I mutter as I turn to go.

“What about your drink?”

“Not thirsty anymore.” I climb into bed and throw my blanket over myself. I can feel his heavy, intense eyes on me. But I don’t dare face him again. He’s pretending that he has no clue, but he knows without a doubt that I was watching him sleep.

***

The trumpet blares in my ears again. The first thing to enter my head is that Caleb caught me watching him sleep last night. That’s so mortifying. I kind of don’t want to get out of bed, but I know I have to.

Grunting coming from his end of the room tells me he’s working out again. I peek at his side and find him doing sit-ups.

“You’re awake,” he says, glancing up at me. His hair falls into his eyes, some strands sticking to his sweaty forehead as well.

“It’s not like I can ignore that annoying alarm,” I grumble.

He continues doing his sit-ups while still looking at me. Is he thinking about what happened last night? It’s hard to tell from the indifferent expression on his face. Maybe he doesn’t care.

Why am I making such a big deal about it? I just wanted to get a drink and didn’t purposely watch him sleep.

He lifts a brow. “Do you find something fascinating with my face or are you going to get ready for school?”

My cheeks heat up. “I wasn’t staring at you. As if,” I mutter the last part as I get out of bed and reach for my school uniform. His eyes are on me as I enter the bathroom and they meet mine for maybe thirty seconds before I shut the door.

The day starts like usual, breakfast with my friends and then morning classes.

I’m looking forward to third period because I have business class with Warner.

I didn’t see him in the dining hall this morning, which again was a little disappointing.

But I’m glad I get to see him now. I just hope he’s not avoiding me because of the party. I thought we had a good time dancing.

I find my seat in the business classroom, tuck my fingers in my lap, and look around.

None of my friends share this class with me.

Caleb does, of course. He’s sitting two rows away from me, pretending to scroll through his phone, but I know he has all four—yes, four because the dude has eyes at the back of his head—on me.

My body perks up when Warner saunters into the classroom, wearing a smile as he greets the rest of the students.

Hudson and some girls surround him. He doesn’t look in my direction.

I guess he’s too busy working the crowd.

I try not to let the disappointment wash over me and focus on reviewing my notes from the previous class.

I never know when a teacher will give us a pop quiz.

“Addie!”

Raising my head, I nearly lose my breath when I find Warner standing at my desk.

“Sick moves on Friday,” he says as he sits down in the desk in front of me. He frowns. “But you bailed on the party so quickly.”

I shrug. “I didn’t think you noticed.”

“It’s hard not to notice you.”

I go still. What exactly does he mean by that?

“Can’t wait for us to tear the dance floor at the next party. ”

“When is it?” I ask.

“Don’t know, but there’s always a party.”

“Cool.”

He stands up, giving me a wide smile. “Catch you later, Addie.” He meets his friends at the other end of the classroom and laughs with them.

I feel intense eyes on me and don’t have to wonder who they belong to.

Caleb’s not looking at his phone anymore but at me.

I shoot him a “What?” look, but he continues to watch me with an expression I can’t read.

It’s not anger or annoyance. Maybe he’s finally giving up on whatever his problem is with Warner.

But I still have no idea why he’s looking at me like that. Does he maybe feel bad for me? Does he think I’m pathetic for trying to get with a guy like Warner?

Ugh. Who cares what my prison guard thinks?

The teacher, Mrs. Powell, enters the classroom, letting us know that she’s assigning us a new project that will be worth fifty percent of our grade. There’s a collective groan from the students.

She waits impatiently for the sounds to die down.

“Can I begin? Thank you. The project is as follows,” she says as she passes papers to the students.

“You’ll split into teams of two and your task will be to create a product and sell it.

This includes coming up with the product, finding investors, marketing the product, and everything else that comes with starting a business.

” She explains in more detail exactly what we’re required to do for the project.

Once she’s sure no one has any questions, she says, “Please choose your partner.”

Most kids pick their partners quickly. I’m left sitting in my seat as I glance around. Of course no one will choose me, the new girl. Should I go up to someone and ask them to team up?

Warner has a large group of kids fighting to partner with him, many of them girls. It’s not surprising that everyone wants him. I wouldn’t mind teaming up with him, but I know that’s not going to happen.

I spot Caleb watching the kids with a bored expression.

Hmm. He doesn’t have a partner, either. The girls don’t seem to be rushing over to him like they did last week.

Maybe it’s because they finally understand he’s not interested, or because the expression on his face makes it perfectly clear that he wants everyone to back away from him.

When his eyes meet mine, I lift my brow, asking him if we should team up. He subtly shakes his head. Right. We’re not supposed to be seen together.

Sighing, I continue to look around. Most of the kids are partnered up, but some aren’t. I guess I should search for someone.

Just as I’m about to get up, Warner pushes away from the crowd and heads straight for my desk. I glance behind me, figuring he’s going to the person behind me. But he stops at my desk.

“Hey, Addie.” He grins. “Wanna team up?”

My lungs feel like they’ve been frozen solid. I can barely breathe. “You want…I mean, me?”

His smile widens. “Of course. ”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask why, but I shut my mouth. He’s asking me. Me . The new scholarship student. “Sure.”

“Nice.” He sits down in the desk in front of mine and turns to face me. He’s about to say something else, but the bell rings.

“Please get together with your partner outside of school hours,” Mrs. Powell instructs. “We won’t be dedicating any class time to this and you’re responsible for completing the work on your own.”

Warner frowns. “That’s a bummer. Figured we’d spend some class time on this project, but oh well.” He nods to me. “So how are we doing this?”

“Want to meet after school?”

“Getting straight to business, huh? I like it. Sure, let’s meet after school.”

My cheeks are warm. Did I make it seem like I’m overly ecstatic to team up with him?

“In the library? I heard the school has a large library and it’s quiet.” We can’t really meet in the dorm rooms, especially in the evenings, and it’s getting cold outside.

His eyebrows furrow. “We have a library here? Just kidding. I’m game.”

“Okay, cool.”

“Yep.”

As the class empties and everyone makes their way to the dining hall for lunch, I can’t stop myself from filling with glee. Warner chose me. Of all the kids who wanted to team up with him, he chose me .

Caleb trails a few feet behind me. I stop and turn around, waiting for him to catch up to me.

He stops when he notices I’m no longer walking, then slowly makes his way over to me. “What are you doing?” he hisses as he looks around. “Why aren’t you going to lunch? Is something wrong?”

I pull him behind a large plant. “I was just curious who you partnered up with.”

He lets out a heavy breath. “You’re going to arouse suspicion, Addilyn.”

I shrug. “No one sees us. So who’s your partner?”

“I’m doing the project alone.”

Right. Because no one is allowed to get close to him. “But there’s an even amount of students. How are you not teamed up with anyone? One of the teams has three people in it?”

“Yes.”

I stare at him incredulously. “How the heck did you convince Powell to let you work on the project alone?”

“I have a note stating I have medical reasons why I can’t participate in team projects.”

My mouth falls open and then I laugh. “Really? And the teachers buy that?”

“The note is signed by many doctors.”

“Who are fake.”

He doesn’t confirm or deny.

“Why do I have a feeling you could get away with anything?” I mutter. If I tried to have a note excusing me from social projects, I’d get detention .

He gently takes hold of my arm and guides me out from behind the plant. “Go to lunch, Addilyn.”

“Fine.”

He walks from behind the plants lining the hallway walls, staying in the shadows, while I make my way to the dining hall. My friends are seated at our table and they wave for me to join them. I load as much food as I can onto my plate and dash to them.

“You’re never going to believe what happened,” I tell them as I sit down.

“Mrs. Powell assigned us a project. We’re going to work in groups of two and start a business and sell a product, and she let us choose our partners.

Guess who asked to team up with me?” I fist my hand in my mouth to hold back from squealing.

Raven squints. “How are we supposed to guess?”

“Oh my gosh, it’s Warner!” Carly says.

“How did you guess so quickly?”

Sophie turns a page in her book. “Because he’s the only one you’d lose your crap over. And I mean that in the most loving way ever.”

“That, and because the first thing he did when he walked in was look at you, Addie,” Carly says.

“What?” I search around until I find him at the popular table, slapping hands with his friends. Turning back to Carly, I ask, “Are you sure?”

“Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me.”

Sophie looks up from her book and smiles at me. “That means he’s into you. I’m so happy for you! ”

“Thanks, but we’re still rushing things,” I say. “I mean, it’s just a project. It’s not like he asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“Yet,” Raven adds as she bites into her burger.

I know I’m getting way ahead of myself, but I can’t help it. “We’re getting together after school at the library. I’m so excited and nervous. I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Raven places her hand on mine. “Try breathing first.”

I laugh lightly. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

Carly’s eyes shine. “This is so amazing! You might have a boyfriend, Addie. And not just any boyfriend—a nice guy who’s super hot.”

“Yeah…” Raven muses. “Maybe your love life will help inspire me to finish the song I’m working on.”

“Sorry you’re struggling,” I tell her.

She waves her hand. “I’ll get over it eventually. But I mean it about the inspiration. You need to tell us everything that happens after school.”

“Of course I will.”

I’m smiling so much, my cheeks hurt. In just a few hours, it will be him and me, alone, working on the project. Just Warner Hearst and me.