Falling fast

Chapter 5

-Sharon

We came to a halt after hearing someone coughing next to us, and when I turned around to look, I saw that it was a first-year student. He fidgeted nervously on his feet, indicating that he was probably a little afraid to approach a senior.

He flicked his eyes to Luke, who appeared to be body guarding me because of the glare that he was shooting the poor guy, and asked, "You're Sharon Steve, aren't you?" Luke gave the impression that he was body guarding me because of the glare that Luke was shooting at him.

"Er, yeah?" I can confirm this, but I'm confused.

As he inched closer to me in a possessive manner, he muttered, "Principal Bennett wants to see you in her office." While cringing away from Luke, he inched closer to me.

Do I have an appointment with the Principal? "You mean...?" Okay, I appreciate your telling me that. Because the other person seemed to be on the verge of passing out, I gave him a reassuring smile and smiled at him.

He didn't say anything else before he turned around and quickly left the room. I turned to Luke and raised an eyebrow, expecting him to provide an explanation for that expression he was making. "Really, a death glare for a first-year student?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, giving no indication that he was bothered by my serious expression. While you were bouncing around, he had his gaze fixed on your posterior region.

My eyes rolled in my head. Being with Luke was well worth the effort of enduring his occasional possessiveness and bouts of jealousy because of the happiness we shared together. Luke could be possessive at times, but I could handle it.

"And so what?" You are constantly the subject of people's gaze; does that imply that I should start giving the girls the cold shoulder whenever they look at something that rightfully belongs to me? I inquired while making a goofy face at him.

He gave me a grin before drawing me closer to him, at which point we squished the photo album and the tickets between our bodies. While intently focusing his attention on me, he murmured, "I adore it when you call me yours." I gave him a smirk and pressed my lips to his while gently biting down on the corner of his lower lip. This caused his fingers to dig into the small of my back.

It was as if nothing had happened, but all of a sudden his arms were no longer around my waist, and his body jerked away from mine. When I looked up, I couldn't believe that Luke had only moved a foot away from me.

Alex, my brother, was furious and was clenching the back of his sweater while making an angry face. When he was pushing Luke away from me, he growled at me and said, "Five inch gap between you and my sister while I'm around, you know that, Hannigan."

I let out a sigh of frustration and sighed. Because of his overly cautious nature, my sibling could be the single most irritating thing in the world at times. "Alex, you need to mature. You should just hurry up and try to get your fill of some s**t's pants before school starts, shall we, huh? I made a dismissive motion with my hand. Alex didn't like Luke much, never had done for some reason.

Alex scowled in response to my comment but remained silent otherwise. Instead, his eyes, which were the same shade of blue as mine, turned their attention to Charlotte.

He turned on the endearing smile that caused the majority of the school's female students to swoon and swept one hand through his unkempt dark blond hair as he did so. He looked at her in a way that was suggestive and asked, "Hey, so are you going to get me a birthday present?"

Because he was beginning his lecture earlier than usual today, I rolled my eyes and let out a groan. The only times that we were able to flirt with Charlotte were during her lunch break or after school when she came over to our house.

It was not a malicious act; in fact, the two of them were friends. However, he enjoyed making fun of her in order to get a rise out of her because she lacked significant experience in the relevant field. She responded with a shrug and the statement, "I forgot to buy you anything."

He flashed a grin, and a wicked gleam lit up his eyes. It's alright, I'll just steal your first kiss. That's fine. He moved his lips closer to hers as he leaned in for a closer kiss.

Squealing and pulling away from him while frowning and pressing her hand against his chest, she attempted to pull him away from her. She retorted, "That's not for you to decide!" while displaying clear signs of annoyance.

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek while maintaining his cheerful expression. "Char, you know that I'll figure it out sooner or later." Before he turned and walked away, he raised his eyebrows at her and laughed at the horrified expression on her face.

I heaved a sigh and handed Beth the presents I had brought. "It would be best if I went to find out what Principal Bennett wants. I'm looking forward to seeing you all in class later.

Luke moaned and continued to kiss me as I was about to leave the room. I kissed him right back and grabbed the front of his hoodie as I did so because neither of us wanted to part ways. He whined and pouted, saying, "I wanted to spend more time with you on your birthday," but I told him no.

With a shrug of the shoulders, I offered the suggestion, "You could always sneak in again tonight if you want."

He gave a jovial smile and eagerly nodded his head. "That's a great suggestion!" His enthusiasm made me laugh out loud. Since Luke was planning on joining us for dinner tonight, he would first need to return home and then sneak back into the restaurant once everyone else was asleep. "This time, I'm going to park further away than two houses, so your ninja mom won't be able to see me," he said. He laughed as he gently kissed the top of my head.

"You've got it right. I'll see you at lunch." As I walked past him on my way to the office to find out what the Principal wanted, I gave him a friendly pat on the back. I was never in any kind of trouble, so I knew I wasn't in any kind of trouble. As soon as I walked into the reception area, I was ushered straight to Principal Bennett's office.

She smiled warmly at me as she pushed her thick-rimmed glasses up her nose and looked up as I entered the room. She also looked up. "Dear Sharon, I am grateful that you were able to make it. She began to trail off as she looked at me hopefully while waving at the seat that was directly across from her desk. "I have a favor to ask of you," she said.

I assented with a nod and sat down. "Alright, that certainly piques my interest." I was a member of many of the school's committees and panels, I coordinated school dances and charity events, and I was considered by our Principal to be a "go-to girl."

"The first day of class for our newest student will be on Monday. It is known by the name Jerry Anderson. Coming from another institution, he will be changing schools. Her brows were furrowed in concentration.

She turned to me with a hopeful expression on her face and said, "Anyway, I wondered if you wouldn't mind meeting him in the morning, giving him the tour of the school, helping him find his classes and locker, and things like that," she said.

I just gave a shrug and nodded my head in agreement. "Sure, no problem."

She beamed an expression of gratitude. "You're very kind, Sharon; I truly appreciate it." She rearranged some papers on her desk and pushed her glasses up her nose in order to read one of the documents more thoroughly.

"From what I can tell, he was having some difficulty in his previous school, and his aunt has asked for a tutor to assist him in getting back on track with the new curriculum. Do you think you might be interested? She is prepared to make a payment." Over the top of her glasses, she cast a suspicious glance in my direction.

I confirmed this with a resounding nod. I really enjoyed being a tutor, and the extra money was a welcome bonus given the fact that Luke came from a wealthy family. Even though my father was an engineer and made a very good living at it, my family appeared to be on the lower end of the economic scale in comparison to the Hannigans.

Extra cash was always helpful, and it freed me from the obligation to let Luke pay for everything when we went out together, despite the fact that he insisted on doing so the majority of the time.

“Absolutely. Where does he require assistance, exactly?" I queried out of natural interest.

She gave a wry grin and clicked her tongue, giving no indication that whatever she was reading about the new guy impressed her very much. "It seems to resemble pretty much everything. However, I believe that we should focus on the fundamental topics.

Because there is not much time left until graduation, it is more important to bring up his average on those subjects. He is currently in his senior year of high school.

When I heard the comment about the year being repeated, I raised one eyebrow. It's pretty obvious that he didn't put much effort into his schoolwork. Standard courses included English, mathematics, and science, all of which ranked among my personal favorites.

"Okay, sure," I nodded in assent. She handed me a pile of papers to look over. I just gave them a cursory look and saw that they contained his locker combination and his schedule in addition to other mundane things. "Shall I just meet him at the front door then, as it has been done in the past?" I had already completed a good number of these initiations.

In most cases, all I did was help new people get settled in, eat lunch with them for a couple of days while they got their bearings, and after that, they were free to pursue their own interests with the new friends they had made.