“Not to sound like a bitch or anything, but I don’t think I’ve heard anyone in the crowd you hang with use a word like ‘precede.’”
He grunted. “One of us needs to know how to read and write. You never know when crime might involve those basic tools of communication.”
Although he was joking, I could hear the edge in his tone and felt stupid. “Sorry. That sounded really judgmental.”
“Maybe. But I guess you’re not wrong.” He slid me a look and it was as if he saw right through me. “Some of us aren’t great at school. I’m not great at school.”
Another question popped into my head; I couldn’t help myself. I’d never been so curious about anyone before. Then again, I’d never gotten butterflies from just being in someone’s presence before. “What are you great at?”
A cloud passed over his features. “I don’t know.”
“You must be good at something,” I insisted. I couldn’t imagine that Marco didn’t have some kind of talent. There was just something so special about him. I didn’t even know what it was, but I knew it. I just knew it.
“Design and tech.”
I stared at his hands, feeling somewhat envious. I’d been rubbish in design and tech. I tried to make a Perspex clock in the shape of a star and it ended up looking like… well… a star that had been in a car crash. My metal coat pegs almost caused me a fatality of the thumb and my wooden pencil case didn’t close correctly. “You must be really good at it to be taking it in fifth year.”
He didn’t say anything, just scowled at a leaf that skittered by on the pavement.
Hmm. “So what do you want to be?”
He shot a quizzical look my way. “What do you want to be?”
“It changes every few months,” I answered in consternation. My friends all knew what they wanted to be when they were older. I still hadn’t made up my mind between a writer, a teacher, a doctor, or a librarian. “I really need to focus.”
“Maybe you should be a reporter.”
I snorted at his teasing. “The twenty questions? Right. Sorry.”
“It doesn’t bother me.” His eyebrows drew together, as if he were surprised by his own confession.
Encouraged, I jumped to my next question. “D’Alessandro? Like the restaurant?” There was an Italian restaurant with that name, only a five-minute walk from my house.
“It’s my uncle’s.”
“Great food,” I said honestly.
Again, he didn’t respond.
I got the feeling he didn’t want to chat about anything related to family. “I heard the pizza in Chicago is the best.”
That received a grin. “You heard right.”
“Do you miss your friends there?”
He was quiet again, so I thought he wasn’t going to answer this one either. I was thinking it was a no-go on any really personal questions, but then… “I didn’t really have friends. Not good ones anyway.”
Our footsteps slowed as we found ourselves on my street. I squinted against the sunlight peeking through a cloud as I looked up at him. “I hope you’ve found good ones here.”
When he looked at me my heart almost puttered to a stop at the warmth in his eyes. “You got a name?” he asked softly.
I shivered, not understanding my body’s reaction to him. “Hannah Nichols.”
He smiled, drawing to a stop to hold out his large hand.
Feeling the butterflies riot in my belly, I determinedly ignored them and placed my small hand in his. I tried to hide my reaction to the tingling that shot up my arm from where we touched. I wanted to tighten my grip and had to mentally stop myself from doing so.
“Nice to meet you, Hannah.”
“You too. Thanks for helping me out with Jenks. And for walking me home.”
“Not a problem.” He let go of my hand and I instantly bemoaned the loss of his touch. He took a step back, preparing to leave, but I grew still at the suddenly stern expression on his face. “Try not to miss the bus again.”
He disappeared down the street before I could say anything, and I stared after his broad back, feeling so many things I’d never felt before.
After walking into my house, only to spend the evening distracted, I came to one conclusion: I had my first crush. On Marco D’Alessandro.
I should have joined the debate team. I shook my head, marching toward the main exit of the school and cursing my shyness to hell. At the beginning of the year my politics teacher had asked me to join the school debate team, and because I was sure I’d never be able to speak up and articulate in person what I was so good at saying on paper, I’d turned the offer down.
Now I’d missed the bus because I’d come across the team working in an empty music classroom and had stopped to listen to them. I’d been filled with the sudden urge to just stride in, introduce myself, and start airing my opinions. I had loads of opinions inside of me. I also had this fear that one day they’d just explode out of me, wreaking havoc and leaving disaster in their wake.
There were so many things I was missing out on because of how damn quiet I was. And in truth, I wasn’t really that quiet anymore. I said what I thought at home, consequences be damned.
I frowned back in the direction of the school as I opened the exit door. It was definitely time for a change. I could feel it coming.
With a sigh of regret, I hurried forward, my eyes searching out Marco and finding him waiting alone by the gate for me.
For whatever reason, over the past year Marco had waited at the gate most days, watching me get on the bus. There had been several times I’d been late and he’d walked me home. Most of those times my lateness was not my fault, but I do admit to being deliberately late a few times in the last couple of months just so I could be around him.
I was addicted to the feeling inside me when we were together, or even when I was thinking about him – and I thought about him a lot. He didn’t make me feel like a shy, awkward nerd. And to my delighted surprise, I discovered that I could make Marco – this boy who was definitely prone to brooding – laugh. He laughed at my jokes and teasing and he constantly remarked on how smart I was, as if it was something to respect rather than to mock. When I looked at him, my belly would flip, my pulse would race, and I’d get this delicious tingling all over my body.
I wanted him to kiss me so badly.
I couldn’t tell if he felt the same way. I was fifteen now and five foot nine. Boys at school had started paying me more attention since I’d grown boobs and my hips had filled out. But I didn’t know if Marco had noticed those things.