𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑬𝑻 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴𝑺, cory wilson

27 : blush

I trudge lazily down the hallway, my eyes trained on my phone screen, randomly scrolling through things that I have zero interest in. All of a sudden, an arm wraps around my waist, pulling me towards them.

Cory.

I shove my phone into my blazer pocket before glancing up at him, a wide smirk on his face, "You're gonna make me late." I say.

"You've got Miss Keane."

I nod but then my eyebrows furrow in confusion, "How'd you know that?"

"I know your timetable," He shrugs, "You told me to remember it, incase you forget it."

I roll my eyes at him, a smirk making its way across his lips.

"Cory." Mr Bell calls, walking over to us, "Peyton."

I step back, letting him come closer, "Hey, sir." I smile.

"I don't suppose either of you have heard from Jordan, have ya?"

Cory shakes his head, "Called around a few of his mates but no-one's seen him."

Mr Bell nods, raising an eyebrow at me for my answer.

"Same with me. I haven't seen him since last week." I say, shrugging slightly.

Cory sighs, digging his hands into his pockets, "Some brother I am, eh?"

"What?" Mr Bell sticks his head out in confusion, "Whoa. This is not your fault. Listen, I know you've had a tough couple of weeks, but... I'm always here." He pats Cory's shoulder.

"Cheers." Cory mutters before grabbing my hand and pulling me away.

"Cory, he's right." I stop us, "It's not your fault."

"Feels like it." He grumbles.

~~~

"Pey, look at me." Cory scowls, pointing at his ugly waist coat that he's being forced to wear for the play. My eyes float down to his abs and he grips my chin, lifting my head so I can see the smirk on his face, "My eyes are up here, sweetheart." He laughs.

I roll my eyes, "You look fine, Cory. Just don't fuck up your lines and you'll be fine. Plus, you get to flirt with Missy." I tease him, nudging him gently.

"Why didn't you audition for her spot? Would've preferred to flirt with you."

I chuckle quietly as he words and we make our way to the drama corridor, people from the play running back forth in their costumes, "Because I can't act."

"You wouldn't need to. It's me your flirty with after all. We've been flirty with each other since we were, like, five."

"Peyton, Cory, come on, hurry up!" Miss Keane calls us into her classroom and we jog over, slipping behind her through the door, joining with the rest of the group. Cory makes his way past everyone and over to Naveed while I stand beside Missy, resting my head on her shoulder.

"You alright?" I ask, my eyes looking up at her worried expression.

She nods, "Aaron isn't answering my texts or calls."

I scoff, "He can fuck off then."

She glares at me and I push myself off her shoulder, smiling gently, "Sorry, wrong choice of words. What I meant to say was, don't think about him. He's a boy, he's really not that important."

"Thanks, Pey." She pulls me into a hug from the side, her hand resting on my shoulder, "Your words are so inspirational." She laughs.

"We're all dead nervous, Miss." Nas says anxiously, biting her lip.

"What if we forget our lines?" A boy asks from the back of the room.

"What if no one shows up?"

"You all aren't very optimistic, are ya?" I laugh, turning on my heel to look at them.

"Right," Miss Keane claps her hands, "Everyone come and stand in a circle. Come on! Everybody!"

Hastily, we form into a circle and even Mr Nawaz joins but I move back, pushing myself up to sit on a table and watch them all, after all I'm not in the play.

"Everybody! You too, Peyton."

I shake my head, "No, I'm fi—"

Cory grabs my hand, pulling me off the table and between him and Naveed. I look up to him, rolling my jaw to show him I'm annoyed, causing him to chuckle.

"Right, I want you all to hold hands." She directs. Cory immediately grabs mine, giving it a squeeze and I slip mine into Naveed's, "There were a lot of people out there, that said we couldn't pull this off. 'What do a bunch of kids from Ackley Bridge know about Shakespeare?'." She says loudly.

"Nothing." I mutter, thankfully no one hearing, other than Naveed and Cory who bite back sniggers.

"He's a boss, Miss!" Anwar replies.

"Well, he's not bad for a dead white guy." She smiles, "But despite my best efforts to leave you all in the lurch, you've done an amazing job. You look brilliant, your costumes are fantastic and I'm so impressed with you all, so I just want you to go out there and smash it! Go on!"

"Fuck yeah!" I shout, receiving a glare from both of the teachers, "Sorry, sorry. Pardon my french."

Everyone separates and Cory grabs my shoulder, whirling me around to face him. He grips my waist, tilting his head while he just silently stares at me, "Hello?" I raise an eyebrow, "You okay there?"

"You're well pretty, you know that, right?"

I snort quietly, leaning forward to rest my forehead against his revealed chest, "Don't go making me blush, Cory Wilson."

______________

holy fucking moly

it's been MONTHS
i'm so sorry but i lost all motivation with this book

i'll still try to update, but it may be slow.

my writing style has completely changed since i last updated but i hope you don't mind....