Free Breaking Hearts (B-Boy #2) by S. Briones Lim Page A

joke, he laughed. “But yes, like old friends.” He stifled another snicker. “So, Ellie, what did you think about the class?” he asked as he raked his hand through his curly blond hair.
    “It’s a bit much,” I admitted. “I’m wondering if I took on more than I could chew. It’s not like I don’t already have a full load this semester.”
    “Same here,” he nodded. “Are you a freshman?”
    “Yeah. You?”
    “Yup. Can’t you tell by my ‘completely-overwhelmed-but-still-raring-to-go’ expression?”
    I smirked. “Oh, is that what it was? I must have misread it and thought it was the common ‘hair-on-fire’ look.”
    He grinned and glanced at his watch. “Well, looks like I’m only adding fuel to that fire. I’m running late to something, but it was really nice meeting you.”
    “Nice meeting you too,” I replied with a smile.
    He began to walk away, but suddenly turned back around. “Hope the professor didn’t scare you off. It’d be a shame not to see you in class next week.”
    I snorted and sighed. “Yeah, such a shame…I’ll probably end up going though.”
    As soon as the words left my mouth I couldn’t help but feel surprised. Maybe Anna was right. Boys really did do weird things to me.
    He grinned. “Good, see you then.”
    I watched him run off and shrugged off the strange exchange as just two freshmen grasping on to any sense of normalcy. I began to fiddle with the camera around my neck and couldn’t have gone more than a few feet when I heard someone coming up beside me. This time I was sure he was coming after me.
    “Estelle! Where were you? I was looking for you during the battle.” As if appearing out of thin air, Jacob showed up beside me. His shirt was drenched and his hair glistened with a sheen of perspiration. He looked as slick as a statue of marble; one I wanted to run my hands up and down on.
    “Really? You were?” My heart skipped a beat—it literally paused and came back with two strong pumps. I grabbed onto my chest and winced at the slight pain.
    “Are you okay?” Jacob furrowed his eyebrows in concern.
    “Yeah,” I answered sheepishly, rubbing at my chest discreetly. “Just feeling a bit under the weather. Anyway, were you really looking for me?”
    “Yeah, of course.”
    Of course.
    He shrugged. “Thought I was able to recruit you to the dark side with my amazing moves.”
    This time I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, gosh, will I ever live that down? I can’t help that I’m socially awkward.”
    “I thought it was cute.” He wagged his eyebrows and threw me a crooked smile. Gosh, I didn’t know it was possible for anybody to be so handsome.
    “I…um…” I gulped and quickly scampered away, but not before I kicked myself for being so dumb. He must have thought I was so pathetic.
    His steps matched my own and before I knew it they were in time with mine. “Did you figure out that breaking really isn’t for you?” He pressed. “Is that why you didn’t come?”
    I couldn’t help but wonder why did he wanted to know so badly. My heart fluttered at the sound of disappointment in his tone. He wanted to see me—me! With trembling fingers, I tapped against my camera. “I was in a photography class.”
    “Class? On a Saturday?” He grimaced. “Wow, you must really like photography to sacrifice your weekend like that.”
    “Actually, I’m a bit of a newbie. I’ve always wanted to learn how to do it though. Figured now is as good a time as any. You know, college and all.”
    He turned the corners of his lips down in thought. “Well, that’s pretty admirable and I can’t say I don’t totally understand where you’re come from. Hobbies are all about sacrificing your personal time.”
    Yeah, so I’ve heard.
    “Spinja, my man!” Joe called out behind us. We both turned and watched him run toward us, gripping the waistband of his impossibly baggy pants.
    Jacob turned around in surprise. “Yo, what’s up?”
    “What’s up? What’s