Chasing Miss Conner •NEW VERSION•

XVIII

Eighteen

"Are we going to do the whole "big hair" and nails thing?" Genny asked me as we made our way to English the following morning. I rolled my eyes but smiled.

"What hair?" I teased, shoving her lightly with my shoulder. I hugged my textbooks to my chest. "No, you can wear your hair and nails however you want. The one condition I do have, is that our outfits have to correspond in some way."

She huffed. "You know I'm a girl too, right?"

I laughed.

We were silent for the remainder of the walk, mostly just taking in the somewhat calm environment of the English department. It was just about time for class to start, and I knew Genny was going to stop at her locker first. "I'll meet you in class?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

She nodded, sucking her lip ring in between her teeth. "Yes ma'am. You know where I sit." I shook
my head as she sauntered off, to this day wondering how we'd ever managed to become friends.

I steeled myself as I neared Miss Conner's classroom, the butterflies in my stomach erupted at the thought of seeing her.

Bad butterflies. I scolded.

It made no difference though, because when I rounded the corner and suddenly came face to face with her, I just about dropped dead. She stopped short and reached out a hand to steady me when we all but sprung apart. Fire licked along my skin everywhere she touched.

"Oh!" She laughed, clutching her chest. "You scared me."

"You're telling me, I about had another heart attack." I gasped.

She didn't laugh, narrowing her eyes on mine. I smiled sheepishly. "Too soon?"

She rolled her eyes, but I could see the smile playing at her lips. "How have you been?" She asked sincerely. It'd been a little while since we talked, school was a rat-race right now with the winter formal coming up.

"Good. Sometimes I have trouble breathing, but other than that I'm okay." Her eyes softened and I knew that normally this was where she'd brush my hair back from my face.

My gaze darted to the lightly curled ponytail laying against her shoulder, then to the pieces framing her face. Her blue eyes were dark as she studied me, the mascara that lightly coated her lashes a stark contrast to the color. She was dressed unusually casually, a pale lavender cardigan over a v-neck black shirt. She wore slightly distressed jeans, no holes though. Her white vans stood out. I thought it unfair, the way her beauty was so effortlessly displayed. It only made it all the more attractive that she didn't even know how attractive she was.

"What're you doing for the formal?" She asked suddenly, breaking the silence. I blushed, aware that I had just stood there for a full two minutes just staring at her.

"Going with Genny." Something flashed across her eyes, a look I could've sworn was jealousy, before it was gone.

"That's nice, I'm sure you two will have fun." She smiled, but I could tell she didn't entirely mean it.

I reached a hand towards her, the words I so desperately wanted to say crawling up my throat. "Would you-" the warning bell stopped me. I told myself it was a good thing, because the question I was about to ask would only end up hurting us both.