Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“See? I told you.”
“These might be better than the doughnuts Mom brings home every weekend.”
Henry was about to agree or maybe disagree but then bit off his words and looked around. The only one in listening distance was Spencer, but I understood why he’d stayed silent.
“Dude, let’s go win some prizes,” A-Train said, and his friends turned toward the games section.
Henry hesitated, and I totally got it because I had no idea what to do either.
“Did you…want to come?” Henry asked our group.
“Erm…” Emil glanced over his shoulder to where Bones was motioning to us.
“I bet I can win a stuffed animal before you do,” Bones challenged.
“Oh, I can’t pass up a chance to whoop his ass,” Emil said. “Come on.”
Emil, Leah, and Justin caught up to them while me and Henry stayed back, finishing our food.
“Well,” Henry said, “that worked out better than I thought it would.”
I breathed out. “I guess the elephant ears sealed the deal.”
“You didn’t have to—”
“Eh, I wanted to. I never get the opportunity to do something like that.” Guilt still clawed its way through my stomach, but I also felt good about it, even if I had no money left.
“Wanna get on the bumper cars with me? My treat.” Henry motioned toward the rides, the gigantic Ferris wheel acting as a backdrop against the night sky. “We can meet our friends in a minute.”
“Okay,” I said without hesitation because it was an opportunity to spend time with him again.
28
HENRY
I couldn’t believe I’d pulled it off. I was spending time with Lark in public with friends all around us. The line to the bumper cars was relatively short, so it was easy to step up with our tickets and hop in the two cars next to each other before either of us changed our minds about going off on our own.
Once the cars got moving, the battle was on. We smashed into each other and laughed our asses off so much that we stayed for round two.
“Oh my God, Lark, I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in forever.”
“Same,” he said with a dreamy smile on his face. I loved seeing it.
When we caught up to our friends, most seemed none the wiser about our absence because they were into competing with each other. Well, mostly Bones and Emil, who had a stuffed animal in his hands.
“Hold this, will you?” Emil said to Lark, shoving the bear at him. “I have some more ass to whoop.”
“Oh, you wish,” Bones said as they moved to the duck-shooting game, and we all followed. They went first, and when Bones lost again, Flash pushed him out of the way to play against Leah.
“What is this, battle of the Roosevelt sports teams?”
“Dance is a sport?” Bones asked, scratching his head.
“It’s a sport and an art form,” Lark replied, and Justin fist-bumped him.
I almost remarked that he had practically beaten me in a sprint—okay, he cheated—but there was no way I could mention it to our friends, and I hated that.
Why couldn’t we acknowledge we’d spent time together off-campus? I opened my mouth to say it, then immediately chickened out.
“Where’s Spence?” I asked, realizing he was nowhere around.
A-Train grinned deviously. “Remember that girl he hooked up with first week of practice? Well, she was here, and they decided to hang out.”
“Seriously?”
Flash patted my shoulder. “He said not to wait up.”
Interesting. Good for him.
“Hey, you want a crack at this game?”
“I, uh, ran out of tickets,” I replied, suddenly distracted. “I’m gonna go get some more at the booth.” I began backing away as my eyes met Lark’s. “Feel like a walk? I think you said you ran out too.”
“Yeah, but I…” He caught on. “Oh, yeah, sure.”
Nobody seemed to pay us any attention as we walked away.
“Did you really run out of tickets?” Lark asked.
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Just didn’t feel the vibe anymore.”
“I hear you.”
“Are you, uh, staying at Emil’s tonight?”
“I am. I figured why not.”
“Where are you sleeping? In the same bed?” I felt possessiveness take hold like a hot brand in my chest.
“I think so. Why, are you jealous?” he asked with a laugh.
“Maybe I am. We probably won’t have that opportunity.”
“Maybe it’s for the best.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s already hard enough not wanting to maul you.”
All of a sudden we were approached by a group of girls, some from the cheer squad. “Henners! What are you up to?”
“Hey,” I said to Samantha, who usually talked me up a lot, and I hoped that wouldn’t be the case tonight. I felt annoyed, wishing I could be invisible so I could spend all the time I wanted with Lark. “Just hanging with my friend Lark.”
“Hey, Lark,” one of them said. “That’s an interesting name. Do you go to Roosevelt?”
“Yeah, I’m a dance major.”
And then it got awkward as they hounded me with questions about partying and football, eventually asking us to hang with them. “Actually, the other guys are at the games section. Why not go meet them, and after we get more tickets, we’ll head back over.”