"Mr. Elliot." Mr. Lee greeted coldly as he stepped away from me and dropped his hand. The hand that was tilting my chin up only seconds ago.

"Mr. Lee." Mr. Elliot nodded in his direction, a look of suspicion outlining his face. I truly found his looks to be rather dull. There was nothing unique about him at all. Typical black hair with brown eyes. He had dark and thick eyebrows, unlike Mr. Lee's who were lighter and more contained, if you will.

It felt odd being in his presence, seemingly the fact that Mr. Garcia had spilled his guts to me about girls crushing on him, or the way he'd look at them.

Mr. Elliot's gaze fell on me. "Poppy," he acknowledged, nodding in my direction. I waved quickly and dropped my hand. I felt both their gazes on me. Instinctively I looked down at my hands, in which they began to shake more. I gripped tighter on the water bottle Mr. Lee gave me, attempting to contain my anxiety. Mr. Elliot's presence was making me uncomfortable.

"I just needed the forms. Mr. Brainer said you had them." Mr. Elliot said, finally taking his gaze off me and switching to Mr. Lee, and then back to me again. He repeated the process and I couldn't help but wonder if he suspected anything.

"I don't have them." Mr. Lee said unfeelingly, the tension thick as a fog. Mr. Lee clearly didn't like him. "Tell Mr. Brainer I ran out of the forms."

"Fine." Mr. Elliot responded, his voice glazed with an uncertainty. He hovered near the doorway and looked at the both of us again before leaving without shutting the door.

With what seemed like anger, Mr. Lee shuffled over to the door and forcefully shut it, and then made his way back over to me.

"Can I let you in on a secret?" He asked me, a glint in his gorgeous dark blue eyes. I nodded, but I couldn't help the odd feeling that clawed at my back. Mere seconds ago Mr. Lee was cold and vicious-like around Mr. Elliot, and once he left he turned back to being completely and irresistibly warm and carefree.

"I have more forms. I didn't give him any because I despise him."

I giggled and my anxiety level dropped; my suspicious thoughts shoved themselves to the back of my head. I allowed myself to smile.

Why? I wrote, my pencil wobbling as I held it between my fingers.

"It's not my place to discuss. But keep your eye out for him." He held a look of caution in his eye, and I raised my hand and gently touched my finger on his sharp jawline, slowly sliding it down to his chin. He was looking out for me, and that idea itself ignited a sensual feeling of joy to spread in my chest. I nodded at him slowly to indicate that I would indeed keep my eye out for him.

"You're one unique girl, Poppy," he said quietly, and then sighed. "You stand out."

Is that a bad thing? I wrote.

"Most definitely not," he replied. "I've never met a student quite like you."

I violently blushed at his compliment. He sighed again and tapped his fingers, one, two, three times on the desk before getting up and walking back to his own desk. The usual scent of peppermint paddies lingered around me for a few more seconds.

It was raining later that day, but because the last meet was canceled, we were attending this one no matter what the conditions.

I was adjusting my pony tail and gathering my gym bag when Vera made her second attempt at talking to me.

"Please talk to me," Vera whined. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Oh shit," she muttered, and then winced after she realized what she said. "I didn't mean to say it like that."

I just blankly gazed at her, completely unsure of how to respond.

"Please communicate with me," she corrected herself. "Please write to me. I miss you and I'm sorry. That guy.. I really liked him and I guess I tried a little too hard to impress him."

I acknowledged her apology. I felt myself wanting to give in- to go back to be being a close friend of Vera McCarthy. She was perfect and funny and at the same time, ruthless and daring. She held so many traits that I simply lacked. The only thing I'd be doing is weighing her down and preventing her from meeting new people.

I shrugged my shoulders and intentionally unfocused my attention. She immediately got the hint and walked off.

We all stood outside in front of the bus for the second time now. The rain was pouring down and we all had jackets on, including me. Last time I had forgotten one, so the shield from the pelts of rain really helped out a lot.

One by one we entered the bus, the dark chromatic blue and purple lights down the aisle triggering embarrassing memories of last time. I would definitely avoid using the bathroom this trip, no doubt about that.

I took the same seat as last time, and the butterflies angrily flapping around in my stomach, as if they were bouncing off the walls of my insides when Mr. Lee chose his seat next to me. There was a seat across from us that was inviting and empty, but somehow he found it in himself to want to sit next to me, and that itself caused me to smile and blush. I attempted to hide my burning face with my wet sleeve, which resulted in rain water being wiped across my cheek. At least it cooled it off. For a little while, at least.

"You got a little something on your cheek," Mr. Lee said humorously when he turned to me, a smile tugging at both corners of his lips.

I excitedly grabbed my notepad out of my pocket. A huge part of me liked the fact that he noticed. He was being observant. The rain water clearly wasn't obvious, so his eyes had trailed to my cheeks and that thought erupted a burst of adrenalin in myself.

Do I really? I wrote.

"You do, Ms. Rose," he said deeply, our eyes intensely battling with each other. "Would you like me to get it off for you?"

I blushed immediately, nodding and smiling at the same time.

It felt like time slowed down. Everything was slow. The way he raised his hand and the way he blinked. His eyelashes would slowly reach below his eye when he blinked, and the process would repeat and reveal his dark blue orbs. My hands were shaking and my vision was slightly fuzzy, but these effects had absolutely nothing to do with an anxiety attack. In fact, I had no idea why my body was reacting like this, but I didn't mind it at all.

His hand pressed against my skin, and ever so gently his thumb grazed my cheek. I gazed at the rain water now sitting on his thumb- the rain water that was once on my skin.

"All better," he whispered. He brought his thumb up to his mouth, and I hyperventilated with what he did next. Ever so causally, he kissed the rain drop on his thumb, and it was gone. Just like my sanity.

And after that, I couldn't sleep for the whole ride. The only thing I could do was daydream about him, when I was sitting right next to him nonetheless. He was my only focus of attention, and it felt as if every move I made was being watched by him. And the bad thing? I loved every single minute of it, and the thought of us reaching our destination for the meet made me sick to my stomach. I could spend my whole life sitting next to him like this, side by side, as we shared a tiny connection that the rest of the bus was completely and utterly oblivious to.