all the stars

~ nine ~

I slowly turned my head to peek through the gym doors. I could see Tyrone, Xander, and a few other guys warming up, but Duke was nowhere in sight. I pressed my back against the wall. What am I going to say to him anyways? Where do we even start with this project?

Mrs. Carmichael had given me a sheet of starter questions that I'm sure Duke got too. Like, what are your hobbies? Future dreams? Favorite memories? Worst nightmares? Like what kind of questions are these?!

I groaned and anxiously chewed my lip as I undid my hair and rebraided it, trying to soothe my nerves. No use. I might as well just go and sit in there until he arrives and just get this over with. Is this the type of anxiety that comes from barely having a social life? If so, I really need to try harder to get out more often.

I turned to walk into the gym as someone grabbed my shoulder. I didn't manage to muffle my scream very well as I knocked the arm away and twisted it back, causing the other person to moan in pain.

"Ohmygoshimsosorry!" I said, my words tripping over one another. In front of me stood Duke, his facial expression showing that of pain. He gripped his right arm, trying to rub it as if it would make the pain go away.

"Someones on edge today," he states, looking at me through confused eyes.

"You can't just sneak up on me! You're just lucky I didn't kick you in the-"

"Well, I'm all sorts of lucky then, aren't I?" He cut me off sarcastically. He looks over my head into the gym. "Who're you lookin' for anyway?"

"Wellllll," I could feel my face heat up. "For you actually."

"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm sure you've heard by now that we're partners for Mrs. Carmichaels project, so we kinda need to figure out what we're gonna do." I bit my lip again. I can't help it, even though I can already taste the blood.

"Yeah, I heard from students before I even heard it from her, so yes, I know." He sighs, looking at his arm. "Well, I've still got practice because the match is tomorrow, so maybe I can come over to your house afterwards, or something? Unless you want to wait here. It will be like an hour or so. Unless my arm is too messed up, then I'll just leave now."

I stare guiltily at his arm. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, you just surprised me."

"Well, lesson learned. At least we know you can take care of yourself. It's not that bad, and I'm primarily left-handed anyway, so I think I'll be fine." He said and tried to give me a reassuring smile.

Not knowing what to do. I simply smiled back. He cleared his throat. "So are you leaving, are we meeting at your house, what are we doing?"

The way he said 'we' made my stomach do something funny, but I'm sure it was just nerves. Not wanting him to come to my house, I said, "Is there anywhere we can meet when you're done? My house is a ways away and it's not that great so if there is like a coffee shop or something..."

"Um," he rubbed his neck, trying to think of how to respond to this girl who is overly awkward and doesn't even know how to act around a guy this high in the social anarchy of school. "Well, there is Tiana's Place about five minutes down the road from here. You wanna go there? It's the best one around."

"Sounds like a plan, sure." I rocked back on my heels a bit, my hands clasped in front of me. After a moment of awkward silence I've had enough. "Cya!" I gave what must've looked like an overexcited wave and walked outside to my car as fast as possible. I just got a weirded out wave in response.

When I am finally in the safe confines of my car I smack my forehead.

"Asteria Kensington, you are officially stupid. He is WAY out of your league so I don't even know WHY you ever even thought about it. Like WHAT?!" I am such a mess.

My head falls against the steering wheel. How am I ever going to get through this project if I can't even talk to him? Why couldn't I have been paired with a girl? Or at least a different guy! Ugh, I am so screwed.

✰✰✰

I sat in my car for a good hour and a half before I saw guys coming out of the gym, practice obviously over. And then his eyes met mine. He looked surprised as he walked over to my car.

"Did you seriously wait here the whole time? I thought you went home and were gonna meet me at the Cafe. You could have come inside if you wanted to." He rested his arm against the door as he stuck his head through my open window. His hair was wet from the shower I assumed he just took and I had to hand it to him. He smells really good.

"Uh, yeah, no, i like my car, so I was fine. I didn't want to have to drive all the way back out here or anything, but the perk is all of my homework is done, except for the stuff we're supposed to go over." I waved my hand at the mess of papers and notebooks around me.

"Huh, a real crowd pleaser." He said, taking in all the work. "I hate homework."

I roll my eyes. "Doesn't everyone."

"Alright, well, lets take my truck. It looks like there's only room for you and your homework in here." He smirks.

"Oh, okay." My hesitation must show because then he says, "Unless you wanna drive separately. Whatever's comfortable for you."

"Uh, we can take your truck, let me just get my papers-"

"You don't need 'em." He opens my car door, grabs my hand, and practically pulls me out. And I don't stop him.

"But we have to fill out the papers for class!"

He waved me off. "They're not due until Wednesday. We're gonna see each other before then anyway. For now, let's just get to know each other first. I don't think we were ever officially introduced. I'm Duke Anderson." He shakes my hand that he never let go.

I roll my eyes again. "Asteria Kensington."

"Well, Miss Asteria Kensington, shall we?" He motioned towards his truck. I decided to just go with it. He was being nice after all...

"We shall." I grab my wallet and quickly lock my car before following Duke to what will probably be the most awkward afternoon of my life.