WATTPAD FEATURED NOV 2020 AND OCT 2021 - FROM OUR STARS LIST
WATTPAD MULTICULTURAL FEATURED SEP 2022 - AUSTRALIAN WHISPERERS READING LIST
It's difficult to save someone who doesn't want saving, particularly when they're lying to you.
...
Claudia and...
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"Hey, Claudia."
My locker door slams shut, and I blink at the person who has appeared in the shimmering heat-drenched corridor of Randwick Girls High.
I glance around, wondering if he's addressing some other Claudia, but it's the middle of the school day, five minutes after Monday lunch bell, and I appear to be the only one available.
"Hi. What're you doing here?"
Lewis Kozak kinks an eyebrow at my uncomfortable reception, and I'm somewhat annoyed that there are no teachers roaming the corridors to drag him away.
"I'm visiting," Lewis says, and he leans up against the row of lockers, crossing his arms over his chest.
I eye him, expecting him to offer further explanation, but he doesn't.
His presence is unnerving enough that I drop my eyes and swing my backpack around, wedging it between my thigh and the wall.
Lewis watches as I unzip it and attempt to put the books from my locker inside. The heat of his gaze makes me rush though, and I shove them in too quickly, not bothering to check for room. When they remain sticking out, blocked by my lunchbox and PE clothes, my face flushes and I push them down with more and more aggression. Finally, I manage to zip my bag up, and I swing it onto my shoulders with triumph.
I look up to find him smiling, holding back laughter. For some reason, this annoys me.
"Well," I say. "Enjoy your visit. I'm late for class, so—"
"Do you wanna go out with me on Friday?"
I stop, staring at him.
"What?"
"I asked if you want to go out with me."
Those words set my cheeks flaming, make my skin zing and tingle like I've touched my tongue to the tip of a battery.
"Why?"
"Because I want to." He shifts away from the wall and takes a small step toward me. "You blush a lot around me. It's cute."
All zing disappears with that outrageous statement and I rise to my full height, puffing my chest out. It's only when Lewis's eyes flicker down there that I realise thrusting my chest forward may not have come across as the power play I'd intended.
"I do not blush around you! It's summer right now. It's the heat. On my face. It's hot."
Lewis's smile is only growing wider by the second, and I become even more flustered.
"Stop looking at me like that!"
He schools his expression into one more sombre, but even he can't hide the amusement from his eyes.
"So, I suppose you don't want to go out with me then?"
