six.then

"Soo... detention. Yay."

I can't believe I got a detention over a bag of lays. I really hate that teacher. I guess it worth it though because I get to spend more time with Yara.

I'm still holding her hand. Why she hasn't snatched away yet, I have no idea. But I'm not complaining.

"Yay. I guess," she says. I look over at her and she's biting her nails so I guess she's kinda nervous.

I stop walking and she turns to look at me. "Relax, Yara. Detention is no big deal. Really."

"You sure? Because I don't wanna be in any trouble." Her voice was high.

I smiled slightly. "I'm positive."

When we get outside of the detention room, she finally lets go of my hand. The air is cool against the naked skin.

She starts smiling when she looks through the small window in the doo. It's a different smile then she gives me. It's like she's lost in thought.

She turns back to me. "Deshawn's in there," she informs me, giggling. I don't know who that is.

"Ok, and..."

She giggling again. I don't think I've heard her giggle like that before. "Of course, you wouldn't know who that is." She clears her throat. "That's my boyfriend. I'm pretty sure I told you about him earlier."

Whatever good mood I'm in disappears as soon as she says the word "boyfriend". I look through the window and see like four girls and one guy, so I'm guessing that one guy is Deshawn.

"So, what do you think?" She's still smiling, but for once I look away.

"I'm thinking we should just go inside." I reach for the door and hold it open for her. Yara stares at me for a second but I just stare at the ground.

Then she walks through the doorway and goes right in the seat next to Deshawn. She hugs him from behind, and when he turns to face her, she kisses him on the lips.

So, I'm obviously not going in there. Having never stepped into the room, I let go of the door and walk down the brisk hallway.

I don't have anywhere to go, and I really don't want to think about Yara, so I decide to go to my locker. Only problem is, my lockers on the fourth floor and I'm all the way down I'm the basement.

When I get to the stairs, I groan. "I hate stairs so much," I whine before I take the death walk up the four flights of stairs. By the time I make it up to the third floor, my lungs hurt, my legs are burning, and I gave up altogether on going to my locker. I sit down on the step closest to me, pull my AirPods out of their case, and just start scrolling through tiktok. I decide to just stay here until first period ends and go to my next class.

Twenty minutes pass and I feel someone tap my shoulder. I really hate people touching me (Yara being my newfound exception) so I turn of my phone, put my AirPods back in their case, and look up. I get ready to yell at the person standing there but this boy's cute.

So I just give him a smile instead. "What's up?"

He clears his throat. "Yeah, uh, I'm in your English class that you just got you and your friend kicked out of, and you left this under your desk."

He hold out a pack of sour skittles.

I grab them and stuff them into my purse. "so you left out in the middle of class just to tell me that I left my skittles?"

He shrugs." Pretty much."

"And couldn't wait because..."

He chuckles. He has really cute dimples. "Well I could tell you're serious about your snacks."

Which is completely true.

"Well, thank you," I say, and I turn my phone back on. I expect him to walk away but instead he sits down next to me.

"Your name's Willow, right?" He stares into my eyes and suddenly I can't think straight.

"Yeah," I mutter.

"Wassup I'm Kevin."

I smile at him. "alright I'll remember that." Because I honestly had no idea who he was before today.

He runs his hand through his hair. " I just transferred into your class by the way. That's why you don't know my name," he says, literally reading my mind.

"My bad," I say.

"It's all good. Not a lot of people know me."

" I don't see why, you're cute asl." And it's true. I'm only really into guys that are light skin with curly hair and dimples, and he's all that.

"You're cute too," he says, looking me up and down. My heart speeds up a little.

"Thanks," I say, and I look back down at my phone. I start pulling out my headphones but I hear Kevin ask, "Are you single?"

I turn and just look at him for a second. I guess I am single. Yeah, I like Yara, but she has a boyfriend who she clearly likes, and I'm pretty sure she's not into girls, so I should probably stop seeing her in that way.

"Yeah, I'm single," I say.

"Ok, cool." We just sit there for like a minute. It's quiet, so it's awkward. I really hate awkward silence, so I pull out my headphones and listen to music.

I guess Kevin sees that he lost my attention because he jumps up and says, "Wanna go somewhere?"

I blink. "Like, outside of school?"

He starts grinning." Well why not? You obviously don't wanna be here. You're not even in detention."

Which is also absolutely true. I've never cut school before, but I'm obviously now gonna say that.

"So are you coming?" He asks again, and he holds out his hand.

"Sure," I say, taking his hand. He pulls me off the step and we start walking toward the student doors. "I've honestly got nothing better to do."

We walk down the stairs to the first floor and walk towards the student exit. As we approach the main exit, the main security guard stood us.

"Where y'all going?" He asks.

"Um." I really don't have an excuse. I honestly thought we'd just be able to leave without a problem.

"Well?"

Kevin clears his throat. His face goes red and I wonder why until he says, "Willow was, um, cramps. I'm just helping her get home."

The guard looks at me, and I hold me stomach for effect.

"It really hurts," I say, trying my best to keep a straight face.

He instantly looks away and holds up a hand. "Say no more, just leave. I don't need any details."

"Thanks," I say to the guard, who's noticeably blushing. Kevin winks at me and we walk through the exit.

As we walk down the sidewalk adjacent to the school, I let go of his hand and check the time. "It's nine o'clock in the morning," I read from my phone.

He grabs my hands again and leads me to a bus stop. "Ok, and?"

"And, if we're supposed to be in school, what place is gonna let us come in? It's obvious we just cut."

He stops waking for a second, his smile momentarily gone. "That's true."

At this point, I'm pretty sure whatever plans we had just got canceled. He stares into space for a second, lost in thought. Then he starts grinning again. He lets go of my hand and asks, "Do you trust me?"

I just look at him. "Dude, I just met you," I say, "and my dad told me not to trust strangers."

He laughs. "Seriously though, I have an idea."

At this point, I still have nothing better to do. "Fine," I say. Even though he's not holding his hand out, I grab it and we walk further away from the school, him smiling and me wondering what I just got myself into.