I reach across the table for the salt, even though I don’t need it. It gives me an excuse to lean in ridiculously close to Six.
“So, Six. How do you like your classes?” I ask casually.
She shrugs. “They’re okay.”
“Let me see your schedule.”
She narrows her eyes like I’m doing something wrong. I give her a look to let her know she has nothing to worry about. Even if I wasn’t into her, I’m not an asshole. I’d still be making conversation with her.
“It sucks we don’t have any classes together,” Sky says. “Who do you have for History?”
Six pulls her schedule out of her pocket and hands it to me. I open it and make a quick scan of the classes, but none are the same as mine. “Carson for History,” I say, replying to Sky’s question. I hand Six back her schedule and give her a look to let her know we don’t have any classes together. She looks bummed, but says nothing.
“Can you speak Italian very well?” Breckin asks Six.
“Not well at all. I speak better Spanish than I do Italian. I chose Italy because I had enough funding and I’d rather have spent half a year there than in Mexico.”
“Good choice,” Breckin says. “The men are hotter in Italy.”
Six nods. “Yes they are,” she says appreciatively.
I immediately lose my appetite and drop my fork onto my plate. It makes a loud clanking noise, so naturally everyone turns to look at me. It’s quiet and awkward and everyone is still staring, so I say the first thing on my mind. “Italian men are too hairy.”
Sky and Breckin laugh, but Six purses her lips together and looks back down at her plate.
God, I suck at this.
Luckily, Val walks up and takes everyone’s attention off me.
Wait. Did I just say luckily? Because Val walking up is not a good thing.
“Can I talk to you?” she says, glaring down at me.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Hallway,” she says, spinning on her heels. She heads toward the exit to the cafeteria.
“Do us all a favor and go see what Val wants,” Sky says. “If you don’t meet her out there she’ll come back to the table.”
“Please,” Breckin mutters.
I’m watching all their reactions and I don’t know if they’ve always reacted this way when it comes to Val or if I’m only recognizing it for the first time because I finally have clarity.
“Why is everyone referring to Tessa Maynard as Val?” Six asks, confused.
Breckin points over his shoulder in the direction Val walked off in. “Tessa is Val. Val is Tessa. Daniel can’t seem to call anyone by their actual name, if you haven’t noticed.”
I watch as Six inhales a slow breath, then looks directly at me. She looks really disgusted. “Your girlfriend is Tessa Maynard? You have sex with Tessa Maynard?”
“Ex-girlfriend and had sex,” I clarify. “And yes. Probably coincided with the same time you were falling in love with a hairy Italian.”
Six’s eyes narrow, then she quickly looks away. I instantly feel bad for what I said, but I was only kidding. Sort of. We’re supposed to be mean to each other. I can’t tell if I really hurt her feelings or if she’s just a really good actress.
I sigh, then stand up and head toward the cafeteria doors in a hurry so I can get back to the table and somehow make sure Six really isn’t pissed at me.
I make it out to the hallway and Val is standing right outside the cafeteria doors. “I’ll take you back under one condition,” she says.
I’m curious what the condition is, but it doesn’t really matter at this point.
“Not interested.”
Her mouth literally drops open. It’s not even that cute a mouth now that I’m looking at it. I don’t know how I fell for it all those other times.
“I’m serious, Daniel,” she says firmly. “If you screw up one more time, I’m done.”
I let my head fall backward until I’m looking up at the ceiling. “Jesus, Tessa,” I say. She’s not really worthy of my nicknames anymore. I look her in the eyes again. “I don’t want you to take me back. I don’t want to date you. I don’t even want to make out with you. You’re mean.”
She scoffs, but stands frozen. “Are you serious?” she says, dumbfounded.
“Serious. Positive. Convinced. Enlightened. Take your pick.”
She throws her hands up in the air and spins around, then walks back into the cafeteria. I walk to the doors and open them. Six is staring at me from our table, so I make a quick glance around at the rest of the group. No one is paying attention, so I motion for her to come out into the hallway. She takes a quick drink of her water, then stands, making up an excuse to the rest of the table. I step out of view while she makes her way to the exit. When the doors open I immediately grab her by the wrist and pull her until we reach the lockers. I push her against them and crash my mouth to hers. Her hands immediately fly up to my hair and we rush our kisses like we might get caught.