Flowers and Pop Rocks

34

p o p p y

The way the winter break passed was so quick that one would have argued it never happened at all. I spent all of it with my extended family, and I'd even scored a few gifts along the way.

Blake was in Boston with his dad and sister for basically all of it, and the only time I saw him was when I went with Levi to fetch him from the airport after he'd arrived back.

I could remember him saying, "There's my girl," as he grinned, picking me up and leaving a soft kiss on my lips. I missed him a lot, even if we did talk to each other almost every night.

It was our second day back at school, and although it was pretty awkward sitting beside Caleb in English class, the day was pretty okay so far. Blake wanted to switch seats again, but Ms. Walter wouldn't let him.

Sitting beside Blake and Grant during Chemistry was quite uneventful, much to my surprise, and it was only a matter of time until the class ended and I was on my way to Calculus.

"I'll see you at lunch," Blake left me at the door of the Chemistry room.

"Okay, bye," I smiled.

I plopped onto my seat once I got to the right room and took my homework out of my bag. I had one more number to figure out, and I knew I had to do it quickly.

"Poppy, it was three questions," Levi laughed, taking his seat beside me. "How did you not finish it yesterday?"

I scowled at him. "I tried, okay? There was a lot to do other than stupid math."

"Which one haven't you done?" he asked.

"Just the last one. Can I copy yours?" I pleaded, grabbing his arm.

He was taken aback by my sudden movement. "Okay, okay, Popcorn. Chill, you can copy from me. No need to give me whiplash."

I chuckled, taking the paper from his hand to copy his answer.

I scribbled it down quickly before handing it back to him. "Thanks. I owe you."

"You'll buy my lunch today?" he suggested.

"Lev, I don't owe you that much. I owe you... fries, not a whole meal," I argued. "It was one question I already had half-way answered."

"Fine," he leaned back in his seat. "Fries will do. I better get that later."

Calculus went by smoothly, and it turns out I was getting Levi fries for nothing because our teacher was all over the place today and he forgot that he had homework to collect.

But a deal's a deal, right?

Levi went ahead of me to the cafeteria, but he said the boys wanted to eat at our table today. It was one of the days Angel wasn't so busy, so why not? Like they say, the more the merrier.

After leaving my books in my locker, I queued up to get some food and Levi's fries before making my way to everyone.

"So, how was winter break?" I initiated the conversation, taking a seat beside Blake. "Where'd you go, what'd you do?"

Levi reached out as I handed him the fries I bought. "Thanks. We're even now."

"We had a family trip to a few places in Europe," Grant shared. Sometimes I forget he's from a rich ass family.

"Nice," I commented. "Never been."

"Same," Curtis chimed in. "Last time the boys went, I couldn't go with them."

Angel swallowed her food before joining the conversation. "This was the one my brother went to, right?"

"Yeah, last year," Levi affirmed. "What did you do over the break, Angie?"