Sweetheart Single

17 | Old Gym Nostalgia

It's Tuesday.

I am supposed to meet Harry in the library tonight. I haven't seen him since I darted out of his room early yesterday morning, stealing his shirt in the process.

I've been panicking someone will find out, but so far Olivia is still the only one who saw us kissing. She has kept her word. Her lips remain sealed. I may have told Nikki about the kiss and subsequent midnight tea party. She may have flipped out. It crosses my mind that if Nikki knows, Jake probably knows now. And I don't know how I feel about that.

Lucy knows too, which means Darren most likely knows. Who knows whom Darren told?

Harry is no longer flying under the radar. It's very common knowledge that he is staying off campus in a nearby hotel. Everyone is aware Gilded Rage is performing at the Sweetheart Single. Ticket sales are through the roof.

To hype up the event, the school created a sort of scavenger/treasure hunt competition. There are boxes of conversation hearts hidden all over campus. One lucky box contains two tickets to Harry's concert in Boston on Saturday night. A show he's already told me he'll get me into...

I walk out of East Hall with Carter at my side. Classes are over and I only have one thing on my mind.

"Enjoy the work out! That's happening now, right?" Carter asks, trying to conceal his laughter.

"Yes, don't remind me. I'm heading there in about twenty minutes. I'll text you after. If I survive." I wave to Carter, parting ways at the Fork once again.

"Okay, see ya!"

I make haste back to my dorm and change into my pre-selected outfit for my gym date with Shawn.

Nikki had a fit when I told her about my workout date with Shawn. She begged me to wear her hot pink sports bra with matching leggings. She brought it over after class and held it up for me. Besides the fact that it looks like a scantily barely-there bra, it's also not me.

I can't believe I agreed to let Shawn talk me into going to the gym with him. I sure won't be caught dead in a wannabe influencer outfit!

Instead, I spent the morning digging through the laundry bins in the back of my closet. The ones I barely touch. I found a pair of old high school gym shorts, black mesh with a white drawstring. I pull on a baggy gray T-shirt. It's loose enough, but the hem is cut so it's not longer than my shorts. I don't want it to look like I'm wearing a dress.

My legs freeze like two popsicles as I walk across the mall to the student gym. It's positively freezing outside! I now have a new appreciation for all the girls (and guys) I see prancing around in gym attire like it's no big deal.

Shawn is waiting out front for me, hands in his pockets, headphones in, and leaning against the wall with effortless chill.

I instantly warm up when I see him.

"Hi, Ellie," he grins.

"Hey," I bite my lip and shuffle my feet awkwardly, as if I am just now realizing how bare my legs are. Not bare like cold, but bare like naked. These high school gym shorts are almost up my ass!

Nikki would be proud.

"Let's get inside," Shawn says, holding open the door.

I've been in the gym before, though admittedly not by choice. My Interpretative Dance class had some practical lessons in the ballet studio upstairs last semester. That's the closest I've ever come to using the gym.

Shawn swipes his student ID through the door inside and steps back for me to enter his holy land: the gym.

We hang our coats at the door and I'm relieved to find it almost empty. Must not be peak workout time. Less of an audience is best for me.