Page 4 of Two Weeks to Fall in Love

The whole class went silent. This was the event. The event that the whole school would be buzzing about after: Will this girl be the one? Bets would be placed. Friendships would be shaken. Rumors would be spread.

“Ah, sorry, I’m already dating someone.”

A collective gasp echoed through the classroom. Phones came out, texts were sent. I suddenly wished I was part turtle and could just casually hide inside a shell. At least there was no way anyone would know I was the one dating him yet.

“Um, could I ask who?” the girl asked, trying to counteract her flustered state.

All of the girls who asked Noah out actually liked him.

It must have taken her an insane amount of courage, especially to do it in front of the entire class.

If her follow-up question hadn’t scared the crap out of me I would have felt only empathy for her.

“Um, well . . .” He leaned back in his seat, and I saw an ever-so-slight twitch of his head in my direction, his blue eyes meeting mine.

Oh my god, he was going to out us in front of the entire class!

My eyes widened in terror, and I tried to shake my head without drawing attention. I knew it was inevitable that soon the school would be buzzing about my status with Noah Archer. However, I was not ready for that to happen right this second.

I was sure my face grew more pale by the second as I pleaded with him silently, lips pressed together into a tight line.

Suddenly, Noah laughed and looked up at the ceiling. “Someone very interesting,” was all he managed to say before the second bell rang and the teacher walked in.

I guess this was what they called saved by the bell.

*

By some stroke of good luck, Melissa and I managed to grab our favorite cafeteria lunch table, though it felt unnaturally big without Lily there.

Melissa took out her lunch bag, and since I’d been too stressed out to actually pack myself a lunch today, I was face-to-face with a tray of cafeteria food.

The only good thing about today’s menu was the fries.

By the way she kept glancing at me, I could tell that Melissa was itching to get answers to all the questions she’d bombarded me with in the bathroom. There was no way she would make it to the evening without getting at least some details out of me.

“Okay, what do you want to know first?” I tossed a fry into my mouth and prepared myself for the interrogation.

“Um, let’s start with why?” Melissa tried to keep her voice level but I could hear it hitch at the last word.

“It’s kind of complicated. I want to expose him, and for that I need to know him. I need evidence and stuff like that.”

Melissa exhaled loudly and leaned back in her seat.

“Expose him for what? Evidence for what? Noah Archer is—” Suddenly her eyes focused somewhere behind me and she quickly leaned across the table to me.

“Coming right toward us. Sky, why is he coming right toward us?” she asked me, as if I was suddenly an expert on this mutant boy’s thought process.

I straightened up instantly, hands automatically balling into fists, as if I was about to enter a fighting ring.

Within seconds Noah wordlessly dropped his tray on the table and plopped down next to me, earning a few looks and whispers from the surrounding crowd. He didn’t even look up from his tray as he picked up a few fries and tossed them into his mouth.

Round one, fight!

“Um, what are you doing here?” I asked, staring at him like he was an alien. Maybe he was an alien with mind control powers. That would explain a lot. He looked up at me with equal puzzlement spread across his annoyingly handsome features.

“What do you mean? I’m here to eat lunch with my girlfriend.

Is that a problem?” Noah asked, as his lips pulled up and he leaned closer to me.

“Don’t know how much dating experience you have, but you’ll spend a lot more time with me than just your lunch break from now on.

So, y’know, you should get used to that.

” His lips stretched into a mischievous smile, showing he was clearly enjoying himself, as he tossed a few more fries into his mouth.

Round one winner, Noah .

Without saying another word, I turned to Melissa, hoping she would come to my rescue, but my dear friend looked like a deer caught in headlights. Her gaze kept shifting between me and Noah, confused and perplexed, before she focused all her attention on her food. Traitor .

“Lucky me.” I hung my head in defeat. Suddenly, a hand came into view, snatching three of my fries, and I gasped at that heinous act of theft.

My eyes flew back to Noah, who was now munching happily on my fries , an innocent look on his face. He glanced back at me, tilting his head to the side as if to ask What?

“Did you just take my fries?” I asked, trying to be polite and not cause a scene, even though I knew the answer because I had literally seen him do it. The biggest no-no in the book!

“I don’t know, did I?” He countered my question with a question, and I wanted to scream into his face. Wrapping both arms around my tray protectively, I pulled it away from him.

Noah laughed, put his elbow on the table, and leaned his head against his fist, staring at me.

“See, now I’ve learned something about you,” he said, eyes twinkling with that same mischievous glint.

“And that is?” I countered, wishing I could use the severity of my glare to burn a hole in his smug face. Instead, I focused my rage on tearing open my juice carton.

“Skyler Fox doesn’t share her food.” He replied in an almost singsong way, and I almost choked on my apple juice.

“That’s not true,” I countered. Well, it kind of was true. “I mean, do you know a person who genuinely likes someone taking stuff off their plate without asking?” I said, feeling the need to justify myself.

Noah made a humming sound, then looked to the side as he considered that before nodding.

“You have a point there, Fox. Guess I should have asked first, huh?” he said, in a way that made it quite clear that he’d taken them without asking on purpose.

This guy was messing with me, and he was enjoying it.

“Even if you did, I wouldn’t have given you any, Archer,” I spat back at him, taking some fries and stuffing them into my mouth. I turned toward him as I chewed, making a very distinct mmmm sound.

At that, Noah laughed so loud that a thick silence spread around the cafeteria before everyone started buzzing. I was pretty sure I knew exactly what they were talking about. Yours truly .

Once he composed himself, Noah leaned close to me again and said, “I’m looking forward to getting to know you.” Then he hit me with the full force of the charming smile he used on most of the female student body, and I felt a slight heart palpitation.

“When does your last class end?” he asked as he stood up from the table, and I shook my head to refocus.

“At 2:05,” I replied automatically, and regretted it the very instant the words left my mouth. “Um, why?” I cautiously inquired, but the sinking feeling in my stomach was already giving me an inkling of the answer.

“So we can go home together.” Noah said it so matter-of-factly it chilled me to my bones. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he said we’d be spending a lot more time together. And it was quite possible that I hadn’t exactly thought through how much time that would be before jumping into this mess.

“Uh, yeah, no, I have plans with Mel. She’s, uh, driving me home,” I stammered in a panic, trying to come up with any reason as to why I absolutely couldn’t get into his car with him.

“Oh, you can go with Noah, I don’t mind,” a cheerful voice chimed in.

My head whipped toward Melissa so fast I was dizzy; or maybe this whole absurd situation was making my head spin.

She looked back at me with a naughty grin, one eyebrow raised.

“You should spend some time with your boyfriend after all, and I’ll see you tonight anyway. ”

She was getting her sweet revenge and I couldn’t exactly blame her for it. Knowing Melissa, she was going to have her fun and make me squirm in the process. But hadn’t she heard that revenge was a dish best served cold? So why, just why, did she have to serve it now?

“That’s settled then, I’ll meet you in front of the school.

” With a self-satisfied smirk he grabbed his tray and looked down at me.

“Later, sweetie .” And then he did the most outrageous thing I’d ever experienced.

With everyone staring at us, he bent down, kissed the top of my head, and walked away.