A shy high school senior jock and a closed-off girl battling an immune disorder fake a relationship to win a social media contest.
Being shy isn't easy, especially when you're the new kid at school. Scotts Valley's football program is subpar compare...
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"I'm legit going to be sick," Violet whispered.
Taking in the gray in her cheeks and hazy, unfocused eyes, I patted her arm. "I'll handle this."
"He never stood a chance." She squinted at our preserved earthworm, looking like a long green bean in a metal baking dish and smelling disgusting.
I leaned over and held my breath from the acidic formaldehyde and wormy smell.
"So." The coy shift in her tone, a bold move since I held a scalpel, made me raise my eyebrows. "About you and Brody?"
Me and Brody. The words returned the same stirring sensations that made me shiver when trapped in the closet with him. With every cell in my body pulsing, I wanted to kiss him. How much I wanted to kiss him was scary because kissing would unleash feelings I wasn't supposed to be having.
Mom pestering me about Brody after he visited the bakery only made me think about him more. The whole point was for us not to get attached. Unlike my family and growing up here, Brody didn't have ties to Scotts Valley. I didn't have plans to stay either, but he was the exact kind of person I could fall for and end up with my feelings crushed when reality hit us.
I liked him, the guy I agreed to have a 'no feelings when it's over' arrangement with. Reminding myself made my mental replays torturous. His leaning over me and moving his face closer made my heart skip. Convincing myself my runaway mouth made the right choice was more difficult than thinking about what would happen if I'd kept silent.
"There is no me and Brody!" I whispered, slicing open our specimen to...not much. The green and gray linear forms separated as if I julienned a string bean.
Poking the end of my scalpel through the identifiable parts, I pinned back the outer skin to complete this silly lab. "Pharynx, seminal receptacle, heart, seminal vesicles, corp, gizzard, septa, intestine, more septa, and dorsal blood vessel."
Vi wrote them upside-down, so I turned her paper. "Thanks."
I discarded my gloves with a snap to her suggestive smile. "It's only a favor, remember?"
She signed her lab sheet and flicked her eyes up. "If you ask me–"
"I didn't ask you," I muttered, copying her diagram labels onto my lab sheet. Violet made her sentiments known when we recalled every tiny detail from the party, including nonsensical stuff like we weren't convincing enough because Brody looked too disappointed.
I was disappointed too. In myself.
"Do your work, Miss Hart," Mr. Lopez shook a warning finger at me. "Or, enjoy detention."
I rolled my eyes and pushed Vi's paper away. Our teacher had to have seen her quit. Or, he would have if he wasn't reclined behind his desk, daydreaming about whatever teachers thought about when they entrusted us with brownie pans of splayed open worms.
