too young for this

chapter 3 | the book thief

I write synonyms mindlessly on the page we were given. Jamie sits on his desk, spinning a pencil on his fingers. At first I was amazed but now it's solely become annoying.
I lift my eyes from his pencil to look at his face and notice he's watching me.

I narrow my eyes, "Are you even going to help? Or will you just keep spinning that stupid pencil?"

His jaw is set, "I don't know. Are you going to let me help, or hog the paper?"

I grumble handing him the page, and he stops spinning his pencil. He begins to jot down words in his messy broken cursive. I'm surprised at how many synonyms he can find for one word, moving mindlessly onto the next.

Soon he finishes the sheet and sits back, sliding it away.
I quickly check his answers as he watches me with a sly leer.
"All correct." I say with a sigh.

"Okay so now what do we do?" He asks, taking out a small black book.

"I guess just relax."

I take out my book, The Secret History, and open it to the part I've marked and I continue to read.

I find my eyes darting again to Jamie who is now sketching in his book. I look away, trying to ignore him, yet find my eyes on his large hands, moving the pencil across the surface in caressing strokes.

A shiver ripples through me. It's as if I'm watching an intimate exchange between him, the pencil and the page.

His gray eyes suddenly regard mine and my face gets hot. I begin to observe the floor in all it's dusty glory. I hear him chuckle silently.

My brows knit together and I once again bury my face in my book. I urge myself not to look at him anymore and manage to do so out of spite.

I hear him grab all of his books. He stands and asks the teacher to be dismissed early, I can't make out the reason why as he is too far away.

・❥・

Class finishes finally and I rise from my seat with a long exhale. As I pack my things, I notice he left his sketchbook in the desk. Had he forgotten it?
It sits temptingly close to my ready hands. The soft black leather absorbs the light of the room, giving it a matte look.

Impulsively, I reach and grab it, hiding it amongst my books. I hope no one saw me. Oh god, this could go so, so horribly.

I give everyone around me a sneaky peek, but seeing as no one reacted or was looking at me, I suppose they hadn't caught me.

But soon, I'm on my way out of the door, towards my locker.

A sneaky smile plays on my lips, and I feel the funny prickling of delight.