"Fine," he says. "After last period. Meet me by the gym doors."
"You're helping me."
"I'm getting rid of you," he corrects. "There's a difference. You collect your favor, we're square, you go back to your swim team and your sweet boyfriend and your normal life, and I go back to being someone you don't think about."
"Liam's not my boyfriend."
I don't know why I say it. It just comes out, and the second it's out I want it back, because his eyes come up to mine and hold there a beat too long, and something passes between us that has nothing to do with records rooms.
"After last period," he says again, rougher this time, and he turns to go.
"Wait." I catch his sleeve without thinking.
The second my fingers close on his arm, it happens.
I don't have a word for it. It's like touching a l
