Free My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) by M.L. Newman

beside her locker, but she wouldn’t rush the pace. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess the reason behind his good mood. She unzipped her jacket and slipped it into the locker as Stephen jumped into his story at a million miles a minute.
    “Chris wanted to see a movie , but I was starving. You know how I get. So we ended up at the diner, talking and laughing in between stuffing our faces. That boy has an appetite, but I have no idea where he puts it away. By the time we got the check, the movie was halfway through. He took it well though, and we ended up going back to his house. It’s a night I’ll never forget.”
    Audra slam med her locker shut with a bang. “What happened to taking it slow?”
    “Oh , please. We ended up watching TV and making out. I don’t count that as going too far. And can he kiss…”
    “I don’t need the details ,” Audra stated quickly, holding her hand up in protest.
    She scan ned her surroundings and noticed Mateo at his locker. Just the sight of him caused her breaths to become shallower. She walked towards him with Stephen still gabbing at her side. She was only a few feet away when he turned and met eyes with her. Her feet stopped, planted in place. His gray eye held the stillness of the afternoon before, but it was darker, like clouds ready for a glorious thunderstorm. His forehead pinched as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed Ryan up the stairwell.
    Audra wa s practically stunned stupid. Did he really just snub her? Again? And look at her like she was piece of gum at the bottom of his shoe? She did nothing wrong; didn’t even say hello to him. And as far as the study session went, she was polite and courteous. Stephen shook her shoulder.
    “What are you doing?” he ask ed.
    Audra could n’t seem to get her words straight or her mind on track. She decided to go into homeroom and sit down. There was no excuse for her to feel so strongly about what just happened, but who wouldn’t? Friends didn’t do that to each other either.
    Homeroom wa s the usual humdrum beginning of the day. Audra didn’t bother trying to make small talk with Stephen. Even though she was still shocked about this morning’s non-event, she had to stay focused on her next class. She pulled out her notes, scanning them over and over until the bell rang. As she made her way towards the door, Mateo stood up silently but wouldn’t look her way. He made a hasty walk into the crowded hallway.
    Stephen walk ed beside her to class and wished her luck before he continued on to his. Audra settled down at her desk skimming her notes a few more times.
    “Put ev erything away,” Mrs. Palamino advised.
    The test wa s passed out, and with little to no effort Audra finished with a sense of contentment. There wasn’t one question she didn’t know the answer to. Even the essay questions didn’t slow her down for a moment. As she returned to her desk after turning in the test, the feeling of contentment withered away. There wasn’t any way she would have been able to not only get through the test so quickly, but actually know the content within it, without Mateo’s help. It left a strange anxiousness in her stomach.
     
    Audra climbed up the steps of the bright yellow bus and sat down next to Molly in the front. She adjusted her spandex shorts comfortably for the half hour drive two towns over. Molly pulled out one of her earbuds and offered it to Audra, but she declined. Molly pulled out the other and pressed pause on her mp3 player.
    “You okay? Stephen tell you the details of his date, too?” Molly asked.
    Audra roll ed her eyes, knowing all too well that Stephen was more of a girl than she was. “I’m okay, just a long weekend.”
    “I hear that. I had to work the night shift at the pizza parlor on Friday and a double on Saturday, only to have to get up early on Sunday. I need a weekend for my weekend,” Molly said.
    “I had to take Stephen shopping for his date.”
    “Then we