“Dude!” Oliver said, then hustled toward me from up the hall. “She’s coming.”
I finished tweaking the last rose so it’d stay in place, then I tore down the hall with Oliver on my heels. We zipped around the first corner and stopped. Hoping she wouldn’t see me, I peeked around, my heart battering my ribs like a jackhammer.
Classes had let out about twenty minutes ago, but I’d seen her walk into the main office, so I took a chance. Thankfully her locker was near a slower part of the school since she came in so late in the year, there weren’t many people wandering around, and to the few that were, I shushed them while I planted my surprise.
“What if she sees this and still doesn’t want to talk to you?” Oliver asked.
“I’m not giving up on her.” I had to trust what we had before the epic blowup. That was real.
Grace finally emerged, nearly skidding to a stop as she rounded the corner. She glanced around as she crept toward her locker. It was as if she was approaching a wild animal for how cautiously she moved through the hallway.
And then it happened. A smile filled her face. Yes. That was a great sign…
Leaning in, she drew in a deep breath, then glanced behind her and in our direction. I leaped back and slammed my back against the wall.
“You’re a dork,” Oliver whispered.
I backhanded his gut and pushed him away. He kept going, shaking his head.
I chanced another look, and she’d opened her locker, holding one of the roses in her hand. The other two were still in the locker, but what I noticed the most was her smile. Even from this far away and off to the side, I could tell she was grinning by the way her cheeks bulged.
Felt good to bring a smile to her face again.
I shoved off the wall and hustled to the locker room. I knew she’d be doing the same soon since practice started in ten minutes.
I threw on my tank top, shorts, and track shoes. It was nearly sixty degrees out there, and I couldn’t wait to get into the sun to log some miles.
On my second lap of a slow warm-up with Oliver still giving me crap about my flower surprise, Grace trotted alongside me.
“Hey,” she said.
“Back at you.”
“Um…I’m outta here.” Oliver sped away.
“Real subtle, dude,” I yelled after him.
“Thanks for the roses.” Her lips curved up into a small smile.
“You got roses?” I asked. “From whom?”
She eyed me from the side, her smile getting a bit bigger. “Guess I have a secret admirer.”
“Or a not-so-secret admirer.” I nudged her with my elbow, thankful she wasn’t upset by them. I’d gotten a little worried that I might have overdone it. “Oh, and William says hi.”
“Aw. How’s he doing?”
“He’s good. Asked when you’d be coming by again for hot cocoa in the rain,” I teased her.
“Maybe I can stop by and see him this weekend,” she said.
“He’d like that.” I smiled. “You know, he knows all about my favorite girl. I think everyone’s sick of hearing me talk about you.”
“Really?” She arched an eyebrow, as if she didn’t believe me.
“Yeah, really.” I let out a breath of relief that she wasn’t rushing away. She’d not said more than a few words to me since we’d broken up, so this was for sure a good sign.
“So. I hear you’re getting some acceptance letters.”