I jumped lightly when Andreas blew on my neck, heat creeping up on my face. What was he doing? Did he want to kill me? Did he figure out that I had a huge crush on him?
“Andreas, that tickles!” I stammered, trying to make it seem like I was ticklish. I was, actually, but it was better that he knew that rather than realizing I liked him.
His adorable little stammer caused my heart to skip several beats, and before I knew it, my hands were smoking. Slowly, I pulled away, but not-so-subtly scooted my chair closer. “That’s the point, Kaden.”
“I hate you, you know that, right?” I furrowed my eyebrows. “Just because you know my secret doesn’t mean you have to exploit it!”
I let out a short laugh, nudging him lightly with the toe of my boot. “To be fair, you know my biggest weakness.”
I quirked an eyebrow.
“Which is what, a kiss to the forehead?” I teased. “C’mere, I’ll give another one!”
I stared at him in shock for a few seconds, my face growing redder and redder until I was practically a tomato, my heart pounding in my chest, my hands smouldering like hot coals.
“I—I was going to say caramels.”
I snorted, bursting out laughing at Andreas. God, he was just so adorable, it made me want to kiss him. And not on the forehead, mind you.
But I knew he thought of me as a friend, someone close. I didn’t want to lose him just because I had a hopeless crush on him.
“Well, that’s too bad,” I shrugged. “I was hoping to give you another kiss.”
My hands twitched in my lap, about to reach up and cover my hopelessly flushed face, but I managed to stop them in time. “You’re going to be the death of me…” I muttered under my breath, though my voice cracked a little.
“I’m kidding,” I lied through my teeth, laughing, poking Andreas’s cheek. Just then, our teacher came inside, and in a loud, bossy tone, told us to flip to page 29 and start brewing the potion.
Colton’s POV:
I carefully walked across the field, Key safety tucked in my pocket. If what I assumed was true, then Key couldn’t be out in the open. I couldn’t let him get hurt. It was okay if it was me, but I would rather die than let anyone hurt my partner.
When I came across another dead end inside of the maze I wandered in, I sighed. I was getting closer, and each time I did, I ended up losing sight of what I needed to find.
And that’s when the maze closed behind me.
(Wait, not done yet.)
(Hhhhhhh Cold)
Somehow managing to flush an even deeper hue of crimson, I subtly pushed my textbook aside and leaned over Kaden’s shoulder. “Can we share?”
I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t refuse. Moving the textbook towards Andreas, I shifted comfortably.
“So we’re making a small healing potion,” I murmured. “Do you want me to go get the ingredients we need, or do you want to come with me?”
“I’ll come with,” I blurted almost immediately, rising unsteadily to my feet and grabbing the textbook. “I’m just—I’ll just bring this so we know what, um, ingredients to get.”
I smiled and nodded on the outside and was a blushing mess on the inside. Thank God he decided to come with me.
We went to the back cabinet to get the ingredients, and once we were done, brought them back to our station and began making them separately.
“I sort of have a feeling she hates me,” I whispered to Andreas while I was crushing the herbs. “She always glares at me, that teacher.”
Storing a small mixture of multicoloured dust, I snuck a sideways glance at Kaden. “She hates everything and everyone,” I whispered, and Copper chimed in with a little croak of agreement.
I crinkled my nose.
“I pity her husband,” I replied back in a hushed whisper. “Or wife.”
Hope smacked me with all three of her tails, clicking her tongue in disapproval.
”What a rude thing to say, Kaden!” she scolded me. ”She’s your teacher!”
”Some teacher she is…” I grumbled.
Or her wife.
Kaden’s simple sentence, just those three words, sent a bonfire of hope roaring up in me. He was… accepting? He was okay with casual mentions of such a typically taboo topic? My heart surged.
“Same here.”
“Hey, Andreas…” I swallowed thickly. “Can I ask a rather… personal question?”
My head turned to the side much more abruptly than it should have. “I—Yeah, sure,” I stammered, “But only if you answer it as well.”
“If a…” I took a deep breath, regretting the decision already. “If a guy asked you out, what would be your response?”
I almost fainted right then and there. Fixing my eyes to tiny mortar and pestle, I tried to crush up a tiny piece of rock, but my hands were glowing so hot by now that the wood began to smoke and turn black. I yanked my hands away, swallowing thickly as my thundering heart made it impossible for me to speak.
I immediately regretted my question. Great, he was going to think of me as a freak for even asking that question. What was even wrong with me?
“Sorry, forget I asked anything…” I murmured, wanting to jump off a building.
My desperation surged. Having no idea what else to do, I frantically pressed the side of my leg against his. “I—Kaden—“ I swallowed, mouth having gone dry. “Ask me again when we get out of class.”
I sighed, nodding. After that, we silently worked on our assignment.
Once we were done, the teacher checked it and deemed it a good job. She gave the vials to us in case we ever needed it. Soon enough, we were heading back to our dorm, but I found no courage to ask the question again.
Kaden hadn’t asked yet. Almost an hour had passed, and we were walking back up to our rooms, but he remained perfectly silent.
Is this really happening? It seemed too in unfathomable, too far-fetched to believe.
Eventually, I cleared my throat. “Ask me.”