The Boy Band Who Adopted Me!

Chapter 19 - A Full Deck of Cards

Gavin held me for a long time, saying nothing. After I'd calmed down, I felt like staying that way forever. However, we had to get back to school.

"Emmett and Will told the principal what happened," he said, checking his phone. "Since Maisy was the one I caught with your diary, she's going to get busted for sure."

I sniffled. "Is that just going to result in more bullying, though?"

Gavin stroked my hair. "I think that with the head cheerleader gone, nobody else will have the backbone to mess with us.

His phone vibrated in his hand. "Also, you apparently have the rest of the day off. Lucky you."

His phone vibrated again. "Aaaand I'm suspended for the day for punching Roland out. So what do you want to do?"

I rubbed my eyes gently and looked at him. "Clean my face," I said.

Gavin laughed. "Let's go to the aquarium. It's only about thirty minutes away, and they have sharks. Fitting, huh?"

I still felt awful, but luckily I had my makeup and wipes in my bag. I scooted from Gavin's lap and fixed my makeup while Gavin texted the guys.

"According to Emmett, Maisy's been kicked off cheer and suspended for the rest of the semester. And Cody says you could hear her scream for miles."

"So that means she's going home for the rest of the semester?" I asked.

"Yep; you get your room all to yourself for a few. Likewise, my roommate Devon gets his to himself for tonight. Ready to go?"

I nodded. Gavin's smile filled me with hope.

He stood up, then held a hand out to me. I hesitated, then took it.

He started down the rope ladder. When he was out of sight, I picked up my backpack.

Suddenly, his head popped back into view.

"Hey, did you like your gift?"

I thought for a second, then smiled widely.

"I liked it a lot. Thank you."

He grinned. "I'm glad." Then he disappeared again.

The local aquarium was barely crowded; on a Monday morning, the only people here were families with small children. We stood in a long tunnel of fish on a moving walkway. Gavin kept trying to cheer me up by walking backwards on it- until he tripped, which made me laugh. We walked past huge tanks of ocean fish, and long walls of jellyfish illuminated by blacklights in the water.

Under a ceiling of gently drifting water reflections, I watched manta rays float past excited toddlers. I sat down on a bench to enjoy the view, and Gavin sat beside me.

As I followed a school of fish with my eyes, I felt fingers move over my hand. I instinctively pulled my hand back, then looked at Gavin as if to apologize for reacting so suddenly.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. Don't do anything you don't want to." He put his hands in his lap and watched the fish.

"Thank you," I replied.

It didn't ruin the day; we still ate in a big open cafeteria with plastic fish hanging from the ceiling, and still stopped for ice cream on the drive home. Gavin was quickly becoming my best friend.

We pulled into Gavin's older sister's driveway. When she answered the door, she looked surprised.

"Hey, Luce!" Gavin said, beaming. I waved at her.