"He was in your bed shirtless?" Lily gaped.

"Lils, when you put it like that..."

Despite my clear indignation, Lily and Tabitha began to giggle.

"Rose and Antonio, sittin' in a tree," Tabitha coyly began.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Lily sung.

I closed my locker and rolled my eyes at the pair of them. "We've never kissed."

"Yet," Tabitha added.

I turned crimson, walking away from the two and their relentless teasing.

"Aww, look at her blush," Lily cooed.

I heard Tabitha snicker in the distance. I shook my head and waved the two of them off before making my way to class. Coincidentally, I had biology first period—my only class with Antonio. Frankly, I was relieved he hadn't heard my confession last night. There was no way of knowing how he'd take it. At least this way, our friendship was going to remain the same.

Per usual, Antonio arrived to class late. When he settled down next to me, I smiled.

"Hey," I greeted him. "You must've woken up early, I didn't even see you leave my room."

He nodded without looking at me, and I slightly frowned at his bland response. I didn't know why, but I could feel a slight shift in his behavior–usually, he'd greet me with an annoying remark. We spent class in an unusual silence, until closer towards the end of the period when the teacher began to hand out a worksheet.

"Alright class, complete the worksheet with the person next to you. Whatever you don't get done is homework," the male teacher droned.

When I received the paper, I rotated my body to face Antonio. He strangely stiffened.

"Alright, what do you think the answer is for number one?" I asked.

"Dunno," he grunted.

"You didn't even look at the paper," I gazed at him strangely. He refused to look back at me.

"Alright... what about number two?"

Antonio's eyes averted down at his desk. "I'd rather we work separately."

There was a cold silence after his words, and I oddly felt a little rejected. Why did he seem distant?

"Why? We always work together," I softly spoke, more so thinking aloud.

He was still avoiding eye contact, and I was beginning to feel irked. I suddenly understood why he was behaving so strangely. "Oh, I get it." I bitterly chuckled.

Antonio glanced at me in confusion. Just then, the bell rang. I scoffed and stood up, briskly walking out of the classroom. I became lost in the heap of students spilling out into the hallways, however I didn't get away as quickly as I expected. Rather, a hand grasped onto my wrist and led me away from the crowd. I yelped as I stumbled into a secluded hallway, where the noise of the other students became distant.

"Really?" I questioned, wrenching my arm away from Antonio. With a glare on my face, I turned around to face him.

"Why are you acting weird?" he asked me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Me?" My eyes went wide in disbelief. "What about you? Leaving my room before I even woke up, ignoring me just now in class... I never would've told you about my past if I knew you'd be this way."

"What? You think I'd avoid you because of that?" Antonio looked almost hurt by the assumption.

"If not that, then what?"

"It's nothing," he muttered with a shake of his head.

He turned around to walk away. This time, it was my turn to pull him back. While my tug barely moved his sturdy figure, he still stopped, as if he couldn't help but care.

"It's not nothing," I insisted.

"Forget it," Antonio retorted, eyes blazing.

"I won't. Now tell me what the matter is!"

The bell rang, but neither of us made a move to go. We stared at each other almost angrily.

"Now we're late for class."

"No one's forcing you to stay," Antonio replied in a surly tone, crossing his arms to resemble my stance.

I cast him an unimpressed look. "That's not my point. If you could just tell me why you're—"

"Ugh!" Antonio cut me off with an inhumane sound. He rummaged through his unruly hair in frustration. "You don't get it!"

I puckered my freckled nose and slowly uncrossed my arms. "Get what?" He turned around to compose himself, and I could see his back muscles rippling through his t-shirt. Again, I asked, "what don't I get, Antonio?"

"I'm not good for you, Rose," he said hoarsely.

Rose.

Antonio never called me that–he always called me Flower. Yet somehow, I liked the way my name sounded coming from his lips. So... passionate.

"That's not for you to decide," I quietly replied, my heart racing.

Antonio suddenly turned back around to face me, taking a large stride in my direction. My breath hitched and I had to crane my neck up to look at his towering figure. There was a heated look behind his eyes that warmed my insides and made my stomach do a flip. And then, he placed his calloused hands around my jaw, one on each side. The mere touch made my soft lips part open.

My heart was beating so loudly that I was certain he could hear it. By the way his eyes roamed over my face, he appeared to be facing an internal battle.

"Tell me to leave, and I will," he said desperately. His cold and minty breath fanned my face.

My next words shocked Antonio, and even myself.

"Kiss me."

Antonio did not need to be told twice.

His lips smashed onto mine. Fireworks erupted around us. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. My legs turned into jelly as I positively swooned.

I was almost afraid I'd fall, but thankfully, I was held upright when he swiftly pinned me against the lockers behind us. The sound of my body hitting the metal resounded through the empty hallway. I smiled against his lips and dropped my books and binders, leaving my hands free to tug at his dark hair. Meanwhile, his calloused hands roamed from my waist to my hips to my—

"Ahem." The sound of someone clearing their throat made me freeze. "Don't you two have class?"

The female hall monitor glared at the pair of us from the opposite end of the hallway. I pushed Antonio away from me like he was on fire, and plucked my schoolwork off the floor.

"Hey, stay right there!" The teacher began to walk towards us, her heels clicking against the floor.

I squealed and began to flee, fixing my disheveled hair and clothes in the process. Antonio stayed put and nonchalantly watched me. It was as if he had nothing to hide from. As if he was almost proud to be caught with me. He didn't seem to care that my cherry chapstick was smeared over his lips, or that his hair was disheveled from my merciless tugging, or that his shirt was wrinkled from my body being pressed against his.

I faintly blushed. Had I really done all that to him? It was good the hallway monitor had come when she did. Otherwise, I feared we'd get carried away.

"Wait, Flower," Antonio called after my departing figure. I spared a glance back at him, and time went still. I anticipated a confession of sorts, but was quickly disappointed. "You dropped a pencil."

I mustered a smile and shook my head at him. He smirked, and despite having turned around, I could feel his eyes trail after me until I was out of sight. Just as I turned the corner, the hall monitor caught up to him.

"Antonio Brown, is that you?"

Of course she knew him by name.

Once I got a safe distance away, I took a moment to catch my breath and place a hand against my heaving chest. Was my heart beating this fast because I'd nearly gotten in trouble, or because Antonio and I had just kissed?

For some reason, the answer to that question made me smile.

• • •