Page 18 of Two Weeks to Fall in Love

Two Weeks to Flirt with the Flirt

This was the first day of not going to school with Noah since we’d started dating.

The sane part of me was relieved. The messed-up part of me thought it felt weird . I paced around Melissa’s room, sitting down on the bed before getting up a few seconds later. There was humming coming from the bathroom and I let out a sigh at my friend’s casual way of getting ready.

“Mel, are you ready yet?” I called, stomping to the open bathroom door.

“Hakuna your tatas, Sky, this kind of perfection takes time,” she said, motioning over her face and body.

“Well, I hope Miss Perfect gets us to school on time,” I mumbled, walking back to her bed.

“Ye of little faith.” Melissa’s voice rang from the bathroom before the humming started up again.

Normally, I wasn’t this anxious in the morning. Usually, when my phone chimed with an incoming text I wouldn’t almost fall over my own feet at the sound. Now, though? I could feel my heartbeat in my throat, nervousness spreading throughout my body before I even saw who the message was from.

The name Jerkface displayed clearly on my screen with a two new messages notification right under it. I debated whether I should even open his messages, but my natural curiosity won.

Message from: Jerkface

Jerkface : my seat misses you *frowning emoji*

The message was followed by a picture of his empty car seat. I resented how it immediately made my face soften.

Narrowing my eyes at the phone as if it had done me a world of wrong, I quickly typed a response.

Sky : your seat will survive one day without me

Jerkface : one morning, tops

Sky : *eyeroll emoji*

Jerkface : admit it, you miss my seat too

Sky : not in this lifetime

Jerkface : I’m patient, I can wait for the next one

Sky : the lies you tell

Jerkface : *smirk emoji *

Jerkface : see you soon Foxy

Sky : don’t make me come up with a nickname for you Archer

Jerkface : mmm, sounds good. how about Cupid? *kiss emoji*

Sky : I was thinking more like Katniss

Jerkface : *lau ghing emoji*

Jerkface : g2g, but we’ll definitely workshop that later

Sky : nah I think I like my nickname just fine, Katniss

Jerkface : you’re a little devil

Sky : * grinning devil emoji*

“Um, hello? Earth to Sky?” Melissa’s hand waving in front of my eyes drew my attention away from my phone screen.

Crap. Busted .

I quickly pressed the lock screen, hid the offending phone behind my back, and met Melissa’s gaze with a sheepish smile.

“Yeah, sorry, you ready?”

The look on her face told me she knew exactly who I was texting. And if I knew Melissa, and oh did I ever, she wasn’t just going to let this go.

“I’ve been ready for a few minutes now, but I guess you were too busy texting with your lover boy to notice.” Melissa hummed, flipping her hair behind her back as she grabbed her bag.

“I wasn’t texting him,” I said, glancing at everything except Melissa. I was the worst liar, but to be fair this was only partially a lie. Noah had texted me first.

Melissa tsk ed me, taking a few steps closer until she was peering into my eyes through narrowed slits.

“Your pants are on fire,” she said, and even though I knew it was a figure of speech, I glanced down for a mere moment, which was enough time for Melissa to stealthily maneuver behind my back and snatch my phone from my hands.

“Hey!” I squeaked, trying to get it back, but she held it out of reach.

In mere seconds she had my password typed in and the text conversation was now staring at us both.

“A-ha! I’m pretty sure you only have one person stored as Jerkface in your phone,” Melissa said as she scrolled through our text messages, one carefully styled eyebrow raised and lips tilted in amusement.

Grinding my teeth together, I waited for the perfect moment and finally managed to snatch my phone back from her, cradling it in my arms protectively.

“I can neither confirm nor deny,” I muttered, and quickly pocketed my phone.

“Mm-hm, so you normally just flirt with random guys like that.”

“I—what? I was not flirting with Noah!” I said, voice a few octaves too high for comfort.

Melissa’s eyes lit up instantly, having caught exactly what she’d been fishing for. “That was definitely flirting,” she said, waving her finger at me.

“It was not,” I said, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly.

That wasn’t flirting, was it?

It’s not like I really had any game when it came to flirting with guys, but I was pretty sure flirting didn’t include nicknames like Katniss .

“ Suuure ,” Melissa said, extending the word an uncomfortable amount. Enough to make me doubt myself again. She smacked me on the back as she passed by me, a grin still on her face. “Let’s get going, Foxy . My car seat is waiting.” Melissa hummed as she left the room in a dramatic swoop.

I groaned, ran my hands down my face, and followed her out.

*

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so anxious at school.

I wouldn’t see Noah until our fifth period class, but lately he’d been waiting for me after my other classes, so not seeing him for this long was unusual.

Slamming my locker with a little too much passion, I glared at the crowd around me, trying to find familiar blue headphones and a towering figure.

“Looking for someone?”

I jumped at the sound, turning around to face the person.

“Oh, no, I’m—” I hesitated, trying to hide my disappointment, but by the way Jake’s eyes narrowed, I was sure I’d done a bad job.

“Well, that’s good. It just seems like you always have a certain someone with you,” he said with a smile, but it was hard to miss the disdain in his voice, an almost mocking note to it. Something about his tone irked me. Which was probably why I said what I said next.

“Noah is my boyfriend ,” I snapped, surprising even myself with how stern I sounded.

Even Jake seemed initially surprised by my bold statement, but he recovered quickly. “Only for the next week and a half, right?”

There was a sharp stab in my heart at his words, and I crossed my arms over my chest as a distraction. I suddenly wished that the certain someone was with me right now.

“No offense, Jake, but why are you suddenly so interested in my life?” I had been holding on to this question since the first time he’d approached me at my locker.

He didn’t seem too surprised by this and took a step closer as he raised his hands in front of him. “I know how this looks, Sky. But I know Noah better than anyone, and I don’t want you getting hurt and played by that asshole,” he said, sounding more sincere than he’d ever seemed.

Sincere enough to make me waver in my anger.

I still didn’t know Noah that well. And everything I’d learned about him since we’d started dating just served to confuse me more.

Maybe I was falling under his spell and being played.

If I was, would I even notice it? Dark feelings swirled through my body.

“Also, maybe I’ve also realized how special you are, a little too late,” he added, his lips curling with warmth. “Or, well, maybe not too late, I hope?”

My heart hiccupped and heat pooled into my cheeks. What was he saying? What did that mean?

“I—I—um, that’s, uh, nice,” I stammered, the entire English language seemingly disappearing from my mind in an instant.

A loud bang against the locker behind me made me jump and crash into something with my back. As soon as I heard his voice so close to my ear, I felt uncomfortable tingles pass through me.

“Funny running into you here, Jake ,” Noah remarked.

“Not that funny since Sky and I are friends, Noah .”

If life was animated, I was convinced this would be the moment lightning would strike between them. Probably multiple times. Noah’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and I stiffened, unsure of what to do.

They were behaving like a couple of freaking peacocks. Just as I was about to call them out for their behavior, Jake reached out and squeezed my arm once, a playful glint in his gaze.

“Got to get to class, but I’ll be seeing you, Skyler.”

“O-kay,” I mumbled, just as he turned around and left me in complete confusion.

Noah and I stood there for what was probably just a second or two, but it felt like an eternity. Noah stayed focused on the retreating figure, eyes full of unexpected menace. What was the story between those two?

Finally, he turned to face me and my heart stuttered. His gaze instantly became softer, but his eyes narrowed slightly.

“You do know you have a boyfriend, right?”

“So? It’s not like I was flirting with him,” I countered.

Noah snorted, raising one eyebrow in a move that clearly called me out. I let out a frustrated breath and shook his arm from my shoulders.

“Okay, he might have flirted a bit, but that’s not my problem, is it?”

“Of course not, but maybe Jake needs a reminder of who you’re with.” He grunted, eyes darting in the direction Jake had left in.

Only for the next week and a half, right?

Jake’s words seemed like a cruel joke as they played though my head. Really, I should have been happy to hear them. This whole dating game was throwing my life into chaos, so the sooner it ended the better.

“You sound like you’re jealous, Archer,” I said, a part of me hoping he would say something that would knock some sense into me.

He froze for a second, looking down at me as if only just seeing me for the first time. Then he brushed a finger across my cheek, putting a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Yeah, maybe. Is that a problem?” he asked, leaning closer to me, his gaze trapping me under a spell again.

What? Did I hear that correctly?

There were dozens of people around us, talking, laughing, but all I could hear was white noise as I got lost in the ocean of his eyes.