I Heard His Thoughts While Chasing Him For A Year Chapter 08

I Heard His Thoughts While Chasing Him For A Year Chapter 08

Maybe our honest conversation made Everett especially attentive the next day.

I understood. Caring about someone made people care about her friends too.

He was in a good mood and explained every problem with unusual energy. He even looked at me more often.

“Was that clear? Do you understand?”

His voice was impossibly gentle.

Zoe leaned toward my ear.

“What happened to him? Is he possessed?”

I whispered back, “The power of love.”

She misunderstood, so I waved both hands.

“Not me.”

Zoe studied me, then Everett. I laughed at her confusion.

Everett tapped the desk when he saw us whispering.

“Pay attention. I’m getting both of you to Eastbridge level.”

I patted his shoulder.

“You’re a real friend.”

—

Once I reached Eastbridge, I planned to date someone. I was finished being a third wheel.

The bell rang.

“Keep going without me. Someone’s waiting outside.”

Zoe ran into the hallway.

I watched Everett carefully. Owen stood outside the classroom, but Everett did not look jealous.

The valedictorian could apparently remain calm in any crisis.

“Do you need the restroom?” he asked.

“What?”

“If not, let’s finish this problem. Stop drifting.”

“Right.”

After school, Everett helped with my field cleanup. That was when something began to feel wrong.

He brought a chair from the classroom and made me sit. Then he put a cup of hot chocolate in my hands.

“You don’t feel well today. Don’t move. Wait for me.”

I stared at him.

—

Did he know my period had started?

The drink had extra whipped cream and cinnamon, exactly the way I ordered it.

A horrifying possibility appeared.

Was Everett trying to date both of us?

I liked him, but I still had limits.

Remembering how gently he had spoken during tutoring only made the suspicion worse.

I would rather stop loving him than become the second girl in someone else’s game.

While I struggled with the thought, his voice entered my head.

*[Why is she frowning? Doesn’t she like it?]*

*[Of course. She only likes the aloof poser.]*

*[My friends said an ice-cold heartthrob would never confess first. Am I supposed to keep acting until graduation?]*

*[She’s looking at me. Control your face. Do not smile.]*

Everett’s mouth twitched twice.

My heart pounded.

—

His cold personality was fake?

The amount of information left me dizzy.

Every cold glance and clipped answer rearranged itself in my memory. What I had taken as rejection might have been a performance built from terrible romantic advice.

*[She’s still watching. Do I look handsome while sweeping?]*

His thoughts kept appearing, and my pulse turned unsteady.

Zoe arrived with a grave expression.

“Tessa, I can’t go to Eastbridge with you.”

“Why?”

“Because my dad finally agreed to let me study art.”

Her face transformed into a foolish grin.

I would miss her, but I was happy. Working toward something she loved was its own kind of good fortune.

Zoe called toward Everett.

“I’m applying to art schools now. You don’t need to tutor me anymore. My regular classes are fine.”

Everett barely lifted his eyes.

“Congratulations.”

—

There was no disappointment in his voice or thoughts.

The girl I thought he wanted had just removed herself from his college future, and he reacted as if the news changed nothing.

Zoe leaned toward me.

“I still don’t understand how you fell for a brick wall.”

“Maybe because he’s handsome.”