Beauty and the Dork

Gussied Up

I had underestimated how fun sneaking around with Eddie would be.

I had also underestimated how much sneaking around with him would consume my thoughts.

All I could think of was when we were going to kiss next, or when I could sneakily place a hand on his back to drive him crazy. I hadn't realized how often we saw each other in the hallways, because now it was like we couldn't look away from each other, our eyes constantly locking.

I had been looking forward to English all day – we would have an excuse to sit next to each other and could talk about yesterday's invite to tonight's concert. I had been slowly panicking about what to wear or expect and needed Eddie's guidance.

I skipped into the room, making a beeline to my favorite metalhead. I plopped down in the desk next to him, tossing my hair and grinning at him as he looked up. His stare softened and his smile became goofy.

"What?" I asked, my stomach filling up with nerves. He shook his head, still smiling.

"You're just too pretty sometimes," he explained quietly, making my heart skip. I looked down and shook my head, trying to hide my blush. I glanced up and grinned at him, setting my chin on my hand.

Eddie was leaned forward in his desk, mirroring my position and smiling back. My eyes traced his arms – in one of our sneaking around sessions yesterday, I had bashfully told him how much I liked him in flannels, especially when he rolled the sleeves up. He had turned bright red and told me how he was going to exclusively invest in flannel shirts – I told him I would then only wear skirts.

The bell rang and we both turned to the front of the classroom, paying attention to the instructions from the front of the class. We were told to discuss our projects and continue working through discussion points. I turned to Eddie, grinning – we were ahead on our project (thanks to my planning from when we were first partnered together), so we could goof off during class today.

Eddie wrapped a hand around one of the bars of the desk and dragged me closer to him. I felt my stomach flip at his strength and giggled when he winked at me. I glanced around and noticed people watching us and cleared my throat, putting the act back on. I pulled my notebook out and pretended to show him notes.

"So, I have this concert I'm going to tonight," I started, still looking at my notes. I felt him lean close.

"Really?" he asked, playing along with me. I grinned.

"Yeah – but I've never been to a metal concert, so I don't know what to wear," I answered, finally looking up at him and making my eyes big. He smiled and sneakily set a hand on the small of my back, setting my body on fire.

"Hmm, you know – I'm sure whatever you wear will be perfect," he replied, making my face heat. I shook my head.

"See, I'm trying to impress someone in the band, so I want to make sure I dress right," I insisted. He smiled and looked away, his cheeks heating like mine.

"I think that you could show up in a brown paper bag and whoever you're trying to impress would think you're a knockout," he said. I grinned and decided to fluster him more. I hooked my foot around the back of his calf and traced up his leg, delighting in how red he turned.

"Yeah? You think so?" I asked, playing innocent. He cleared his throat, still looking down,

"Yes, yeah, definitely," he croaked. I grinned and nudged him, giggling as he finally looked at me.

"I'm excited about tonight," I said, still keeping my foot looped around his calf. He grinned, his face still red.

"Me too – I'm making sure we only play the best songs for you tonight," he replied quietly, his fingers fidgeting. I felt my heart soften and wanted to kiss him again. New Margot was a bitch for wanting to keep this quiet. I stood suddenly and leaned over to him.