Chapter Four--- Avoidance Isn't Working
629 Words
Luca had been back for three days.
Three whole days.
And somehow, I'd managed not to talk to him once. Not really. Not unless you counted
that half-blink in the hallway where he muttered "hey" and I panicked so hard I pretended
I dropped something so I could escape.
Turns out: avoidance is exhausting.
It's like running from a storm--eventually it catches up, and you're just drenched and out
of breath, wishing you'd brought an umbrella.
By Friday morning, even Avan had noticed.
Which is saying something, because he's the kind of guy who can sit beside a marching
band and not realize it's there until someone hands him a tuba.
We were sitting on the curb outside school, waiting for first bell, when he squinted at me
like I was a puzzle missing three pieces.
"Okay," he said slowly. "I'm just gonna ask. What's wrong with you?"
I choked. "Excuse me?"
"You're acting weird." He poked my arm with one finger. "Weirder than normal."
"I'm not---"
But okay, maybe I was. My brain was basically a bag of fireworks someone forgot to label
"do not shake."
Avan raised an eyebrow. "You've been jumpy since Monday. And every time Luca walks by,
you look like someone replaced your blood with soda."
Heat crawled up my neck. "I do not."
He gave me that don't lie, I literally just witnessed it face.
"Fine," I whispered. "Maybe a little."
"A little?" Avan barked a laugh. "Yesterday in chem, Luca asked you for the pencil
sharpener and you handed him your entire backpack."
I winced. "I panicked! He was right there--- breathing."
"Yeah, people do that sometimes."
"Avan."
"I'm just saying."
He leaned back on his elbows, studying me with a softness I didn't expect. Beneath the
joking, he was worried. Actually worried.
"Did something happen between you two before he moved?" he asked. "Like... something
you didn't tell me?"
My heart pummeted into my stomach.
Yes.
And also no.
And also: how was I supposed to explain the kind of almost-something that still made my
chest ache?
I picked at the fraying seam of my shoe. "We weren't... anything. I don't think. I don't
know."
"That's the most confusing sentence I've heard all week."
"Welcome to my brain."
For a moment, Avan didn't tease. He just nodded slowly like he was piecing things
together.
"So you like him," he said.
I froze. "I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
I opened my mouth to protest, but the sound of a locker slamming behind us made me
flinch. I didn't turn around---I didn't have to. My body already knew.
Luca.
He walked past at a steady, casual pace. Light gray hoodie. Dark curls pushed back like
he'd run a hand through them a thousand times. He didn't look at me, not once, but
somehow the air around him still changed something in me---tightened it. Lit it up.
Avan watched Luca walk away, then looked back at me with a face that practically
screamed I see you.
"Yeah," he said. "You're doomed."
I groaned into my hands. "Please don't."
He patted my shoulder sympathetically. "Look, avoiding him isn't going to work. Eventurally
you'll have to talk to him."
"I know."
"And when you do..." He grinned. "Try not to hand him your entire backpack again."
"Avan," I warned.
But it was too late---he was aleady laughing.
And the worst part?
He wasn't wrong.
Avoidance wasn't working.
It was only a matter of time before everything I'd been trying to outrun came crashing
straight into me.
Mabe literally.
Because When I stood to head inside, turning toward the doors---
I walked straight into someone's chest.
Steady. Warm. Familiar.
And Luca's voice, low and startled, saying my name.
Everything in me froze.
- Writer
