Sam: Meeting The Avengers (Book 2)

Empathy

(Spoiler alert: special moment!)

  Mornings were becoming monotonous since it was the middle of the week - Wednesday - and I had gotten used to the schedule. Same routine for waking up, getting dressed, getting ready for school, eating breakfast. When I left the house, Tony was outside to greet me. Fortunately, there was no van involved when I noticed one of his luxury cars parked at the curb. Of course, he just checked the equipment to make sure that everything was working. Spoiler alert, it was.
  After waving bye to Tony, I took the lead to the school. It was as busy as it always was with teenagers running around campus and crowding the inside of the building. With my backpack on my shoulders, I turned away from my car and headed to school. The air was fresh and crisp as if to hint that it was about to start getting colder outside.
  As soon as I slipped into the building, the bell rang to warn that school was going to start soon. So, I took my bag and trekked through the locker-lined hallway. I glanced at the numbers on the locker until 241 came into view. Once I turned the dial to enter in my locker combination, the lock clicked open. I shuffled a few books in and out of my locker to get ready for the day.
Suddenly, there was a presence behind me, forming a wide shadow against my locker. Then a familiar voice spoke behind me, "Hey, my girlfriend's not here yet. I was wondering if you wanted to go get a shake before-."
  To interrupt him, I turned around and lifted my eyebrow at Ian.
  This made him pull a mock look of surprise as his golden brown eyes shifted to my blue ones. A perfect smile formed on his face and lifted his cheekbones slightly higher than they already were. He brushed his fingers through his light, soft caramel hair as he teased, "Oh, Sam. I didn't see you there."
  Rolling my eyes playfully, I turned back to my locker before mumbling sarcastically, "Ha-ha, very funny."
  "Well, I guess the legends are true. There is a cute girl at this locker," Ian flashed me that irresistible smile of his.
  A blush formed on my cheeks. Ian flirted every day but every time it would never cease to make me blush and smile bashfully. Trying to hide the reddening of my cheeks, I kept my head in my locker and pretended to be shuffling through books.
  However, this made Ian lean against the locker beside mine as if he was trying to make eye contact. So, I turned my head and noticed the charming smirk pulling on Ian's lips. Resisting the urge to melt into his eyes, I closed my locker and turned to face him. Then, I ordered, "Stop showing off."
  "What?" Ian challenged, lifting his eyebrow as if he didn't know what I was talking about.
  "You went to the gym recently, right? You're showing off your muscles. So I said stop," I pointed out, glancing at his arm that was flexing to support his weight against the locker.
  Which caused Ian to peer down at his bicep that wasn't covered by his sleeve. Then he lifted his attention back to me before grinning wickedly, "You like 'em?"
  For a high schooler, Ian was in pretty good shape. Actually, he was definitely one of those fit guys in school. In his spare time, he would go to the gym and switch out workout routines. Being the supportive girlfriend that I was, I even asked him ever so often how much he could benchpress which always made the boastful side of him come out. It was pretty adorable to watch.
  When I realized I hadn't answered him - just stared at his gorgeous expression - I finally let my face perk up in a smile, "Well, I like you more."
  "So she can flirt back," Ian joked.
  Before I could get all defensive, the bell rang through the halls. This was a caution for students to get to class before class began.
  Ian held out his hand toward me, "M'lady?"
  Once again, a blush formed on my cheeks but I smiled and placed my hand in his. Our fingers interlocked then he took the lead down the hallway. His class was in the opposite direction of mine but he always insisted on walking with me. He was a gentleman and I would sometimes wonder if I even deserved him because he was so sweet.
  The two of us stopped our stroll when we were right in front of my class. Ian leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the check. He was never one to flaunt our relationship because neither of us wanted to be that couple. You know, the ones that shoved each other's tongue down their throat. Yeah, no thank you. So he would be respectable and give me small acts of affection which I was happy with.
  In response to the kiss, I shot him a bashful smile. My cheek was tingling as if the kiss was made from fire but I ignored the urge to reach up and touch my skin.
  "We haven't gone on a date in a while," Ian reminded me. "You wanna do something Sunday?"
  Of course, I was a bit hesitant about going on a date with him because I didn't know how my schedule was this weekend. I didn't know if I would have time. But when my gaze locked onto his begging eyes, I couldn't say no. With a slight beam of my cheeks, I answered, "Alright, Sunday. Movie?"
  "Sounds great," Ian grinned with excitement. Then he gave me a bow of his head before turning around and sauntering back to his own class. I watched him for a few moments until a sigh of calmness slipped from my lips.
  A sudden voice yanked me from my thoughts, "Ugh, finally! Is he gone?"
  "Shut up!" I hissed toward Tony that came from the earpiece. Then I went back to my normal school day.