“Neither can I,” I replied softly. We stood a step apart, not touching, just gazing at each other. The bell rang again, but he didn’t move. “You’re late.”
“So are you,” there was no more laughter in his voice. Those radiant eyes bore into me, cutting past every defense mechanism I had. That gaze stripped me, causing me to feel everything at once, making me realize exactly how much Trystan affected me. My heart pounded harder in my chest, as a shiver worked its way down my spine.
After a second, I knew why he didn’t want to leave. This felt surreal, like everything would vanish like smoke in the wind when he left. I didn’t want to say it, but it was the only way to vanish the fear. “Everything will still be the same after class. Go. I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”
Reluctantly, Trystan turned and put his hand on the door. He looked back at me, like he was going to say something else, but he turned and pushed through the door instead. I watched the door slowly close, until I couldn’t see Trystan anymore.
When he was gone, I sucked in a sharp breath of air. It felt like I didn’t breathe the entire time he was here. The tension flowed out of my body, and I threw myself into the nearest chair. The theater was dark, save for the safety lights spilling off the stage.
I sat there, alone, in the darkness wondering what just happened. Staring at the empty stage, I felt like my life just took a turn. It was one of those moments that mattered, where I could feel it and I knew this incident was important. This wasn’t a fling. No, it was more than that. Trystan loved me. Somehow, we finally came together.
Maybe living like a lunatic wasn’t a bad idea. I would have never done anything like that a year ago. Crossing a room and throwing my lips on a guy seemed like something someone else would do, but I did it—and it worked out. It made my life better, it dramatically changed everything.
I stared at the spot where we stood, where Trystan told me that I was the girl in the Day Jones song. My gaze fell to the floor. A scrap of white poked out from under the chair. Rising slowly, I walked toward that piece of paper like it was my destiny. Those words were Trystan’s heart poured onto paper. There was no mask, nothing hiding any part of him. That was what drew me to the song in the first place.
Reaching down, I picked up the paper and held it in my hands. The entire song covered the front and back of the page. Trystan’s familiar handwriting lined the margins, along with codas and breath marks mingled amongst the lyrics.
Grasping the page in my hands, I looked down at the last line. Mari. My name was there, written in thick dark lines. Pressing my eyes closed, I shuddered and pressed the page to my heart. I was the girl who brought Trystan Scott to his knees. I was the girl he fell in love with.
CHAPTER 3
~TRYSTAN~
The rest of the day passed sluggishly. The clock seemed to tic slower, like it was stuck in tar. Trystan leaned back in his seat after taking a verbal beating for being late, like it mattered. He was out of there in a few months. These last few weeks were fluff, filled with busy work. Trystan hated busy work. It was a waste of time. He’d rather have a test than do another bunch of worksheets and endless essays.
Trystan’s mind drifted back to Mari, the way her lips felt against his. Trystan got that far off look in his eye and totally missed that someone was talking to him.
“Mr. Scott, will you please share with the class your thoughts on the matter.” The teacher was already beyond irritated with him today.
Trystan straightened in his seat like he was going to answer, but after a moment, he smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “I’m sorry Ms. D’Miagmo, but I don’t know.” There were a few sniggers from the girls behind him, but Trystan ignored them. He also ignored Brie. Her gaze was burning a hole into the side of his face.
“Mr. Scott, please take this class seriously or I will ask you to leave. You must have an opinion on the matter, and since opinions aren’t right or wrong, I want to hear yours.” She arched a gray eyebrow at him and folded her arms over her chest. The woman could have been a schoolmarm. She just needed a wooden ruler and permission to beat kids over the head with it.
Trystan smiled at her, but knew it was pointless to try and get any sympathy. D’Miagmo had it in for him. There were some teachers that decided on day one that they didn’t like him. He had no idea why, but there was always one teacher who thought he had an easy life and needed to be taught a lesson. Ms. D’Miagmo was that teacher.
Trystan opened his mouth, but Brie cut him off, “Ms. D’Miagmo, I think it’s obvious that Trystan feels uncomfortable answering this question because of his religion. Isn’t it against school policy to discuss faith issues in the classroom anyway?” She flipped her golden hair over her shoulder and blinked her big blue eyes at the teacher.
Ms. D’Miagmo sucked in air through her nose like a horse. Now Brie was in the line of fire. “Brie dear, and what religion does Trystan practice that he can’t discuss this matter?”
Brie looked up from her nail like she was thinking about getting a manicure. “He’s a conservative Baptist,” she said with utter certainty, and then added, “and everyone else here is Catholic or Jewish so it’s not right to press him on this. Faith issues aren’t open for debate in public school.”
The teacher arched an eyebrow at Trystan. “So let me get this straight? You can’t discuss women’s rights because it makes you uncomfortable… because of your religion?”