Friendly Dating - Kira

Chapter 28 - Gathering Intel

It's Monday, the last period of the day, and I'm sitting in the Biology class while my phone is vibrating loudly at intervals in my pencil case.

This feels like déjà vu, and glancing at Ethan seated at the open door and seeing him mash his lips together, giving me an annoyed look for ignoring the messages while waving his phone at me, confirms the repeat of history.

I groan inwardly, knowing where this is going to end if I don't look at his messages soon, so I grab my phone and hastily open the messaging application.

Seriously, I'm dating an obnoxious toddler!

"Please take a quick look."

"I just need an idea."

"Just a little bit."

"Kicks, don't make me come over there!"

This last message causes me to roll my eyes and snort softly. He did, of course, use shorthand again, requiring a lot of imagination to decipher and make sense of his texts.

"No," I tell him, typing my message in full words to avoid any misunderstandings. "I'm not violating my best friend's privacy."

"You're always violating each other's privacy," comes the fast-hand reply. "You wear each other's clothes."

"You take baths together with your legs up against the wall while eating leftovers!"

"Doesn't she show you most of their messages anyway?"

She used to show me Simon's messages when they just started dating, and we'd ooh and aah about them, sharing her new-love bliss, but she now only shares them with me if he sends her a funny joke or something important; she needs me to see.

And yes, sitting side-by-side in the tub with our backs against the one side and our legs up the other side, eating leftover Chicken à la King while talking about life and boys and everything in between is very relaxing... or at least it used to be... Now, I'm a little freaked out. How does he know that we do that? Delia must've told him. If not, I'm going to have to kill him!

He is grinning at me, cocking his eyebrows and, scrunching up my face, I make a big show of dropping my phone into my school bag, making it very clear that I'm done talking to him.

Mr Rawlings handed out some old test papers for us to work through as revisions of the work we've covered so far before stepping outside the classroom to enjoy the afternoon sun while standing near the door. After an entire day of lessons and dealing with students, many teachers take it a bit easier during their last periods of the day before their after-school activities and have them up to their eyebrows in doing their duty again.

I'm obediently working through one of these old test papers when Lara turns around and drops a folded piece of paper bearing my name on my desk, accompanied by a withering look. "Seriously, school is almost out. Can't you and lover boy just do without each other for a few minutes?"

Ethan sent me a written note, and not along just any route; no, he had to use one that would pass it to me through Little Miss Diligent, knowing how annoying I find her self-appointed law-enforcer ways. If the message came from any other boy, she definitely would've caused a scene, perhaps even got the teacher involved (as if passing notes is a mortal sin). At the very least, she would've read it aloud or done something to really embarrass us. Fortunately, she's a little in awe of the god of I-Don't-Give-A-Damn, so a short speech and a scathing look will have to suffice... and please note that it is only directed at me.

"Thank you for all the hard work you're always doing to keep us weak, lusty mortals in line, Lara. I feel chastised and humbled now. Good job," I say sweetly, and I can see on her face that she's not sure whether I really mean what I'm saying or not. Yes, she's arrogant enough to imagine that I could actually mean it. The ripple of soft sniggers and titters my words cause to run through the class is not making a dent in her delusions.