Page 29 of Two Weeks to Fall in Love

Two Weeks to Help the Debate-mate

This day, not different from others in any significant way, was nothing like any day before.

For starters, ever since I’d stepped foot through the school’s entrance, it’d felt like I couldn’t not notice Noah. Even if there were crowds of people talking over each other, as soon as I heard the sound of his laughter somewhere, my body tightened.

The thing that really made me worry, though, was the fact that he seemed to notice me too.

When my gaze settled on his towering figure in a crowd, his eyes instinctively met mine.

When the sound of his voice had me searching, I could see him doing the same, almost as if we were playing some game of hide-and-seek, except there was no hiding, just seeking.

There was just one class left before lunch, and I shared it with Noah. My gaze lingered on the crowd, looking for him as I waited at my locker, but another tall, familiar figure suddenly blocked my view. I glanced up and found myself staring into Jake’s smiling face.

“Heya, Sky,” he said, his smile widening. “How was your weekend?”

“Good, good, great, yup. Yours?” I asked, strictly out of politeness.

“It was pretty good. Could have used some better company, though,” he said, and winked at me. “Go on any dates?”

“Not exactly,” I said, trying to peer around him at the passing bodies in the hallway. “Uh, I think I should be going though, Mr. Stewart hates lateness. He’ll have me in detention for a week.”

I gave him a friendly glance, and was making my way past him when he grabbed my arm.

“Wait, Sky, I need your help,” Jake said, his face falling as he pressed his lips together in a tight line.

“My help? With what exactly?” I frowned, tilting my head. Something felt off in my stomach.

“I got asked by Mrs. Brown if I could carry over some chemistry equipment from the old science classroom. It’s kind of a two-man job,” he said, scratching his head. “Or, well, a-man-and-a-woman job.” He smirked.

“Wait, isn’t the old science classroom under repair? I heard a pipe burst.”

“Yup, that’s exactly why she needs some help transferring equipment to the new one. What do you say? Help me out?” he said, seemingly genuine. It made sense. The classroom had become indisposed just a few weeks ago. Last I heard they planned on restarting classes this week.

“But why do you need my help? Can’t one of your friends jump in and—”

“Marcus has an exam next class so he’s doing some last-second revisions, and Bruno is, well, let’s not talk about Bruno. He’s . . . indisposed,” Jake said, grimacing.

My eyes dropped to the floor for a second, trying to decide whether I believed that or not. Something just didn’t feel right.

“Come on, Sky, please, help your ex–debate mate,” he begged, pouting as he clasped his hands.

I chuckled and shook my head. Maybe I was reading too much into his behavior and he really wanted to rekindle our friendship. No one could deny his timing was horrible, though.

“Fine, fine, I’ll help. But let’s hurry, I wasn’t kidding about Mr. Stewart.”

*

We made small talk on our way to the classroom and I couldn’t help but speed walk, wanting this over with as quickly as possible. My mind was everywhere but in the moment.

As soon as we stepped into the classroom I made a beeline for the equipment, gathering it all into one of the plastic containers left on a desk. I was thankful Jake handled all the breakable vessels, as I surely would have broken them during my rushing.

“Thanks for the help, this would have taken a lot longer by myself,” he said once we picked up the boxes and carried them to the door.

“No problem, happy to help,” I muttered, temporarily placing the box on one of the front desks so I could open the door. I didn’t remember hearing it close.

Once my hand was on the doorknob, I knew we were in trouble.

“The door won’t open,” I squeaked, turning the handle frantically and trying to pull the door open with my whole strength. “It’s locked.”

Panic rose inside of me. We couldn’t have taken more than a minute or two. How had this happened?

“It can’t be locked. You’re probably just not using enough strength.

” Jake snorted and put down the box he was carrying before taking over at the door.

He wrestled with the handle, using both of his hands to try to pull the door open.

After a few seconds he gave up and frowned. “It must be stuck or something.”

The bell that signified the start of class rang and my panic grew ten times stronger. The only thing Mr. Stewart hated more than people being late for his class was people skipping his class. This was going to earn me a month of detention.

“I need to get out of here,” I said, going back to frantically pulling on the handle.

Jake stepped back and leaned on a table, not nearly as upset as I was about the whole stuck-here-and-missing-class situation.

“I don’t think that’s going to help,” he said, leaning his head to the side.

Frowning, I took a few steps away from the door and let out a deep sigh.

Okay . Okay . Think, Skyler, think . We were trapped and we clearly needed help getting out.

I took out my phone and started writing a text to Melissa before I realized there was no way she could help me. She’d never check her phone during an exam, and I was pretty sure she was in the middle of her history test.

Just as I started rethinking my options, a text message came in, and joy flooded my body.

Noah : should have told me you planned on skipping

Noah : at least we could have had detention together

Sky : I’m not skipping!

Sky : I’m stuck in the old science classroom

Sky : I can’t get out

Sky : the door is stuck

Noah : the one not in use ’cause of the burst pipe?

Noah : what were you even doing there?

Sky : teacher needed help with equipment

Sky : can you get a pass and come help me?

Sky : please

Sky : I’ll owe you

Noah : of course

Noah : give me just a few minutes

Noah : Stewart is having one of his rant monologues

I exhaled in relief, unable to stop the way my lips lifted in sheer relief. Should have known he’d be the knight-in-shining-armor type. After all, he’d personified every other rom-com male lead element, so why not this one?

“Who are you texting?” Jake asked, and I sent him the nastiest glare I could muster, hoping that signified it was none of his business. Clearly he didn’t get the message, though. “Is it Noah?”

Now there was venom in his voice, an undercurrent of anger that hadn’t been there minutes ago. A sense of dread consumed me when I looked at him. His eyes were filled with a darkness I’d seen in his recent interactions with Noah.

I swallowed and took a few casual-looking steps back while fiddling with my phone.

“Of course.” He snorted in that derogatory way that instantly made a person feel judged. “Why are you with him anyway? He’s the worst guy in school. Probably the whole town. And you don’t even like him.”

True . I hadn’t started dating Noah because I liked him. But things had changed now, and I was currently pissed off at Jake, so I wasn’t planning on telling him that he was right about anything.

“How would you know if I like him or not?” I challenged, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Because I know who you really like.”

“Oh, wow, why don’t you enlighten me?” I said sardonically, raising an eyebrow.

“Me.”

I almost dropped my phone in shock. There was no way he’d said that. I must have misheard him.

“Excuse me, what?”

“I know you like me,” Jake said, pushing away from the desk he was leaning on and moving toward me.

“What? You’re joking,” I said and laughed, unable to control my reaction. His eyes narrowed and I instantly stopped. It didn’t seem like he was joking. I took several steps back until my back bumped against a cabinet.

“You like me, you don’t have to pretend.

I’ve always known, but I just didn’t think it would be good for the dynamic of the club if something happened between us.

But you’ve quit the club and, well, that’s not a problem anymore now, is it?

” He kept talking, his ever-present grin making my discomfort grow with each passing second.

Uh, what the heck is happening?

“Jake, you’re misunderstanding something. I don’t want to be with you. At all.” I felt ridiculous for having to point something like that out. Once upon a time my heart might have soared with his words, but all I felt now was a strong sense of unease.

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed, I have experience with this, I know the signs. I could see you always looking at me,” he continued, his body getting dangerously close.

As if to accentuate his point, he ran a finger from my eye and along my jawline.

I shuddered, flinching away. “I think you’re misunderstanding something. I don’t like you at all.”

My hands reached out defensively to keep him at bay. He stopped just before they touched his chest. The stare in his eyes didn’t look right. Something had changed in Jake since we’d been in the club together. Something angry and dark had taken residence.

How had I missed this? How could I not see past his mask?

“Oh come on, it’s just us, you don’t have to pretend anymore. I know you’re just dating Noah to make me jealous. He dates everyone, so you knew it would be easy. But you can end it now. I got the message,” he said.

“No, Jake, no. There’s no message. I haven’t even thought of you until you started randomly talking to me again last week. I don’t have feelings for you, at all,” I said firmly.

I didn’t understand where this was coming from. He’d shown absolutely no interest in me before. The fact that he was even aware of my feelings and had just chosen to ignore them had to mean he didn’t feel the same way. What had changed?

A frown marred his face for a few seconds. “You’re lying. You blushed every time you talked to me. You like me.”

“No, I really don’t—”

He placed his hands on the cabinet behind me, trapping me in the enclosure of his arms.

Oh . Shit .

My heart hammered inside my chest and an uncomfortable chill crawled across my skin.

I should have listened to my damn intuition.