Free Forgotten by Sarah J. Pepper Page B

I thought we weren’t
supposed to have phones on during class,” Jace mocked.
    I hadn’t heard him walk up behind me, my
stomach felt fine, my vertigo hadn’t shifted, and I was still
headache free. I patted my back pocket for my cell. Pick pocketed.
I groaned – would Jace ever leave me alone?
    “ Jace!” Bree said a little
too excitedly, completely forgetting about her assignment.
“Switched schedules so you could suffer through Miss Conner’s
lectures with us?”
    “ Something like that.” He
spoke like he moved, effortlessly and hypnotically. He stood far
enough away so our clothing wouldn’t actually touch. His usual
abyss wasn’t blazing white; it was diminished significantly. “Isn’t
the mere offense of having a phone outside of a locker during
school hours punishable by detention? Perhaps I should hold onto it
for safe keeping.”
    “ What do you want?” I
demanded.
    “ Winnie!” Bree acted like
my rudeness towards Jace had appalled her on a level that directly
affected woman-kind as a whole.
    “ I only want an apology,”
he answered.
    Which meant exactly the opposite: he
wanted more than just an apology. His hand grazed my side as he
slid by me. My body ached where his hand had brushed against, but
at least the world wasn’t shifting under my feet. I wasn’t throwing
up my lunch, which was an added bonus, but what troubled me more
than anything was that I didn’t exactly hate the exhilaration
surging through me.
    “ An apology for what?” I
asked.
    He leaned over the desk to talk to
Bree, which bothered me more than I cared to admit. Determined not
to get sidetracked from how he physically affected me, I swallowed
the lump in my throat and focused on not sounding
foolish.
    “ I’m in need of your
personal assistance, Bree,” Jace said loud enough for me to hear.
If the morning sun wouldn’t have reflected off of it just
perfectly, I wouldn’t have seen the paper he slipped to her in his
hand. I clenched my teeth, determined not to overreact. I wasn’t
jealous. Being jealous would mean I actually cared, and I didn’t
care about Jace, much less who he gave notes to.
    Jace rubbed his arm like he’d been
suddenly chilled. He turned his attention back to me. “For
starters, you ditched me after school the other day…”
    His darkened figure slid deeper into
my seat, distracting me with the smooth movement of which his body
moved. He pushed his chest out slyly, as he rested his hands on the
back of his head. His movements were free flowing, but I knew they
were perfectly calculated – they had to be. No one moved with such
precision; it was like he expected a photographer to snap a photo
of him at any random time.
    His fluid movements reminded me of my
dream – watching in awe as he moved smoothly over me. I swallowed
the lump in my throat when I wondered what it was actually like to
kiss him and then rolled my eyes because I allowed myself to
remember a kiss that didn’t actually happen. It was a dream, I told
myself for the umpteenth time.
    His voice – his insanely charismatic
voice – demanded the attention of anyone within hearing distance;
yet, he spoke like he was talking only to me. The sentiment hiding
in his voice, revealed hidden messages that only I could hear. It
was like he was whispering promises in my ear instead of having a
public conversation. Words jumped from his tongue in a way that
made me suspect his lips were well practiced for more than
listening to himself speak. I bit my lip as I lost myself in the
dream. My first kiss was impossibly perfect; his lips felt like
silk. Reality would surely never match; yet, I still shuddered
recalling his embrace. It was just a dream, I told myself again. A
moan grew from his chest. The sound made me want to lick the next
words from his mouth.
    He paused in his rant. “You didn’t
hear a single word I said, did you?”
    I wanted to hide; he’d caught me
daydreaming…about him. Thank goodness he didn’t know what I