Falling

E I G H T E E N

I would like to dedicate this chapter to meganward5341 . Thank you for the support!!💕 I updated just for you! ;)

"Morning." Will mumbles behind me.

I jump slightly, not expecting him to sneak up on me. I turn to look back at him seeing him close in order to not clog the hallway foot traffic. And I don't miss the fact that he looks sleepy as if he just woke up 10 minutes ago, his hair looking a bit more ruffled than usual. It brings a smile to my face.

"Good morning." I hum and then turn back to my locker to continue organizing my books. "You look tired." I muse.

Will moves from behind me to stand at my side and lean against my neighboring locker. I can smell his cologne and it's intoxicating. "Tired?" He even sounds tired. I can feel his eyes burning into the side of my face as I clean up my locker.

I giggle. "Yes, tired. You look and sound like you just got out of bed. Rough night?" I say in a suggestive tone. I know that what I'm insinuating isn't true since I was on the phone with him late last night but it's still fun teasing him.

He scoffs. "Of course not. I'm a pure, innocent man." I can feel the smirk on his face. "And I just woke up like 5 minutes before coming here."

I stop moving my hands around the locker and turn my body to face him. I briefly run my eyes down him to see that he's wearing his football jersey under his jacket with jeans and his worn in vans. I quickly look back up to his eyes to see his eyes running over my cheerleading uniform as well before returning to my eyes.

My heartbeat begins to accelerate and I can feel my cheeks heating up. "Boy."

His teeth release his lower lip and his face turns to one of confusion. "What?"

I suppress my grin. "You called yourself a man. I think what you meant was 'boy'."

He scoffs. "I am not a boy. I'm a man."

Turning back to my textbooks I continue speaking. "Trust me, I've seen a man. You're a boy."

He puts his forearm up on the lockers and leans towards me. "And trust me. I'm a man." His minty breath fans across my face as he whispers to me. He smirks, "want me to prove it to you?"

My nose scrunches up in disgust and I lightly shove his chest. His arm drops from the locker beside him and he stands up straight, chuckling to himself. "No thanks, little boy."

Will groans in annoyance. "I'm not a little boy. Nothing about me is little."

I close my locker and turn towards him again, trying to hide my smile at how easy it is to get on his nerves. His look of annoyance turns to a pout and he shifts his gaze to the floor. "Oh you poor baby." I coo and pinch his cheek. "C'mere, it's okay." I hold my arms open to him and he lets me wrap him in a hug, pulling me to him by my waist. He rests his head on my shoulder and fake sniffles into my ear. The action tickles so I try pulling out of the hug but he tightens his hold. "Will, let me go you big baby."

"Not 'til you say I'm a man." Somehow I just know that he's got a cheeky smile on his face. My suspicions are proved correct when I feel his fingers graze my sides, making me squeal. I move my hands from around his neck to his chest and push out of the hug as much as his tight hold will allow.

"William Ryder. No tickling." I scold while poking him in the chest. People are starting to give us strange looks as we stand here in the hallway holding each other. Or rather him holding me.

His fingers start to slowly graze my sides once again. "Say I'm a man." He starts to tickle me a little harder until I'm laughing uncontrollably and can hardly stand on my own. If it weren't for him basically holding me up and allowing me to lean into him while I laugh unattractively loud, I would be laying on the floor. And no offense to our schools janitor, Jerry, but I doubt that these floors can be considered any type of clean.