Our Beating Hearts

24

I STEP OFF THE BUS on Monday, and Niall pops out of the stairwell like a jack-in-the-box. "Ashton!"

I jump. "Jesus, Niall!"

"So, guess what," he says.

I narrow my eyes. "What?"

"I'm mad at you."

"Why?"

He smiles and ruffles his hair. "You disappeared before the game ended. Again. Why do you always do that?"

"Because." My mind goes blank. I mean, not blank, exactly. But it's definitely not giving me anything useful to work with.

Because.

Because Calum kissed me. Because he may not be straight. Which means I had to update every single one of my daydreams to reflect this. We're talking about a massive overhaul, Niall. I don't think you realize how many Calum-related fantasies live in this brain.

"This was the most boring spring break ever," Niall says. Now he's walking beside me, matching my pace. "You should have stayed home to entertain me."

"Entertain you?" I side-eye him.

"Well, Irwin, I didn't mean it like that," he says, nudging me. "But now that you mention it . . ."

Then he winks at me, so-yeah. We're done here. "I'll see you at lunch, Niall," I say, patting him once on the arm before veering down a side hall.

"I made dinner reservations!" he calls after me. "For prom!"

I give him a thumbs-up over my shoulder. What a fucking slightly adorable doofus.

I haven't talked to Calum since I stepped out of his car on Wednesday-and when I realize that, it throws me. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. But then again, I've thought about her approximately ten billion times a day.

All morning, I feel like I'm quietly buzzing. I don't have any classes with Calum until the afternoon. But there's lunch. At noon. In six and a half minutes. I can't stop staring at the clock.

Jennifer's already at the table when I get there, and I take a seat beside her, facing the door. And then I see him in the doorway. Understated Calum, god of restraint. Jeans and a nirvana shirt.

Then he smiles at me slightly, and I can barely look at him. I literally can't remember if I'm supposed to be mad at him. He does a come-over-here gesture, and first I whip my head around to see who he's talking to. Yes, you, he mouths, grinning.

I get up from the table, just as Michael's sitting down. Calum's waiting in the hall, outside the doorway.

"Hi," he says, smiling tentatively.

"Hey."

"I can't sit there."

"Because of Jennifer?"

He shrugs. "It just seems mean."

For a moment, neither of us speaks. We just stand against the wall, watching the juniors stream into the cafeteria in clusters. Calum's foot taps on the molding, and there's this look in his eyes that I've never seen before. I can't decipher it.

"So, we really need to talk," Calum says finally.

"You and Jenny?"

"No." He rolls his eyes, smiling. "You and me."

My heart flips. "Okay."

"Are you free after school this week?"

"What day?"

"Any day. Want to say Friday?" Calum pauses. "I just need to-"

But then he stops talking abruptly, leaning almost imperceptibly away from me. I look up, and there's Niall.

"Hey, babes."

The daily cringe, starring Niall Horan. Today's episode: Horan missed the memo about not calling men babes.

"I was just filling everyone in on dinner plans for prom. We have a six o'clock reservation at the American Grill Bistro at North Point Mall. It's about twenty minutes from the nature center."

"I love that prom's at the nature center," says Calum. "It suits us."

"Because we're so naturally awesome?" Niall asks.

"Because our classmates are literally wildlife," says Calum.

Niall actually giggles, and I shake my head, smiling.

"Anyway, I should go," Calum says quickly, looking from Niall to me. "But." He nudges my foot with his toe. "Friday afternoon. I'll find you." He flashes a quick smile and drifts back down the hallway. Then he turns a corner and disappears.