“Your b-blonde what?” I stammer, blinking rapidly.
“Little secret,” Brody smirks, his eyes drifting up and down my body again. Approval flashes through them and I feel my body heat up.
“Because we have to keep this. . . A secret.” He explains, motioning between him and I.
“What is this?” I ask him, my voice firm. I immediately regret my question and close my eyes, inhaling deeply.
“Sorry, don’t answer that.” I mutter, feeling like an idiot. I open my eyes to find Brody watching me, his eyes burning holes through mine. It’s like he can always see what’s going on inside my mind.
“Do you constantly have a war with yourself in there?” He asks, pointing at my forehead. I bite down on my bottom lip nervously, hating the way he can read me like a book.
“Shut up Brody,” I tease, a small smile playing on my lips. He raises an eyebrow at my sudden confidence, green eyes sparkling at me.
“Or what Bella?” He questions, leaning in closer. I suck in a breath, not daring to move an inch. I attempt to rack my brain for a witty comeback but my mind is officially blank.
“Damn,” I mutter, breaking the stare between us. Brody’s lip twitch before he lets out a chuckle, his chest vibrating as he laughs. He shakes his head. dark hair falling messily.
“Too much?” Brody asks me and I nod, biting back a smile — “Yes.”
“Come on, we need to get to class.” He chuckles, walking towards the bathroom door. I nod and follow right behind him.
“I still can’t believe you walked in here.” I mutter, glancing up at a smirking Brody.
*****
“How do you want to do this?” I ask, staring at my English classroom door with dread. We’re stood a few feet away from it and I stop Brody from walking any further. Brody turns to look at me before sighing and I swear I almost see him roll his eyes.
“You go in first and I’ll follow five minutes later if you want.” He murmurs, holding his hand out towards the door. I take a step back, grimacing slightly.
“Go Bella,” he says firmly, noticing my hesitation. I nod grimly before taking a few steps forward. Walking into a full classroom, almost a half hour late is something I really did not want to be doing. The way the students along with the teacher stare at you causes my anxiety to shoot through the roof.
“But what if — ” I whine, making excuses.
“Come on, better late than never.” Brody says firmly, cutting me off. I huff dramatically and knock on the door, knowing there’s no going back. I hear the chatter of the students silence behind the door and I suck in a breath before pulling it open.
As predicated, all eyes are on me. The teacher frowns at me, a deep scowl on her face as I interrupt her class.
“Bella, why are you so late?” She yells, slamming her pen down onto her desk. I jump at her tone and my eyes widen as I struggle to come up with a reason.
I can’t exactly say I was in a girls bathroom with Brody Baxter, can I?
“Uhm, I-” I stutter, squeezing my eyes shut briefly as the familiar feeling of panic settles inside my stomach. I can feel my breathing quicken but the teacher continues glaring directly at me, waiting for a response —
“Well?” She barks, shooting me another glare. I open my mouth to reply but no sound comes out and so I shut it again, hanging my head in shame. Why wasn’t I born with the confidence and ability to talk?
“God, what a freak.” A voice mutters in the class and I blink, focusing on the piece of chewed up gum on the floor instead. I’m afraid if I don’t zone out, I’ll burst into tears.
“Bella?” The teacher sighs, completely ignoring the sniggers and remarks from the class. I look up at her, pleading with her through my eyes to stop grilling me. Unfortunately, all teachers are arseholes.
She simply stares back at me, taking my silence as ignorant rude behaviour. . . It’s couldn’t be any further than the truth.
“Bella, if you don’t speak up, you’ll have to come back after school for an hour detention.” The teacher warns me. “She was helping me.”
The entire class silences and I snap my head to the source of the voice behind me, Brody. He looks down at me, giving me the faintest smile before glancing back up at the teacher.
“I was setting up the drama class for tonight. I asked a few other students to help me and Bella was one of them,” he lies smoothly, his voice firm.
I stare up at him in awe before snapping shut my gawking mouth and turning to face the teacher.
“I’m sorry we’re both late, we didn’t mean to disrupt your class.” Brody says almost angelically. The scowl on her face completely disappears and she’s looking at Brody like he’s a frickin’ angel sent from the heavens. I mentally stop myself from rolling my eyes . . . every teacher adores Brody.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Bella? Sit down the both of you,” she smiles at us, signalling for us to take a seat.
“Idiot,” I mutter under my breath at her sudden change in attitude. Brody sniggers beside me and I drop my head, letting my hair fall over my face to hide my smile. The class is staring between Brody and I carefully as we make our way to our seats.
I watch Brody from the corner of my eye as he slaps hands with a few of his friends before taking a seat, placing his bag under the table. Beatrice is sat a few seats away from him and is glaring at me with a burning fire in her eyes. She’d occasionally flicker her stare between me and Brody and I can practically see her brain putting the pieces together.
I quickly scurry to the back of the room, sitting down in my usual seat that is the furthest from everyone else. My heart beats against my chest in fear that Beatrice already knows about Brody and I. I ignore her stare the entire time and focus on catching up on the class work.
If this secret is going to work, both of us would have to be very careful from now on.