“I don’t know. The eagle has landed.”
One of the parents volunteering at the event walked up to my side, leaned down, and asked, “Cammie, do you think you could take some of these decorations to the storage room in the gym for me?”
I glanced up to see Rachel Jenkins smiling down at me. Mrs. Jenkins and my mom had been friends since junior high, which was probably why she felt comfortable asking me to help instead of asking her own daughter. Her daughter was sort of a bitch, and Mrs. Jenkins knew I’d say yes.
“Sure,” I said as she filled my arms with banners and streamers. “Be right back,” I told Kristy in a hushed tone before awkwardly standing up from the table with filled arms as she shushed me.
Walking toward the gymnasium, I realized I wasn’t sure exactly where the storage room was and I almost turned around. Instead of going back in, I continued walking straight ahead, looking for any other student in the dark when Dalton appeared at my side.
“Hey, Cammie.”
“Hey, Dalton.”
I tried to stay calm as Kristy’s words echoed in my mind. I searched his face, wishing I could see his eyes clearer in the dark. I loved Dalton’s eyes. It wasn’t so much about the green color they were, but more about the brown flecks in them. They stood out in stark contrast against the green, three flecks of brown in his right eye and four in his left. I’d heard him say before how much he hated the brown in his eyes, but to me, it was my favorite part.
“Here. Let me help,” he said, before reaching for the majority of the decorations I was holding and taking them from me.
I followed behind him as we headed toward the gym, neither of us speaking. My gaze roamed over his lean body, the way his jeans hung low across his hips and his T-shirt framed his shoulders and back. He wasn’t overly muscular, but then again, Dalton didn’t play any sports. He told me once that he couldn’t play because his family needed him to work. As far as I knew, he worked at one of the grocery stores unloading crates of produce.
Once we reached the gym, Dalton continued toward the back of the building, entering through an unlocked door before following a long curved hallway with a single door at the end.
“I would have never found this,” I said, shaking my head.
“Yeah. That’s why I waited for you,” he said with a smile as the fluorescent lighting cast a tinted glow over us.
Pulling out a key from his pocket, he fumbled with it before unlocking the door and gesturing me inside with a nod of his head.
“Why do you have a key?”
“Class president, remember?”
When he smiled at me, I wanted to tell him of course I not only remembered, but I voted for him. I would have voted for him for anything he wanted to be—astronaut, vampire slayer, Ninja Assassin of the Year.
“So you get a key to the school? I highly doubt that,” I said, attempting to flirt, but I was pretty certain I’d lost that ability lately. I could barely remember how to smile, let alone do something like flirt with a boy.
“Principal Graham gave it to me for the dinner. I have to make sure everything gets cleaned up and put away.”
Setting the decorations on the floor for a minute, I asked, “So, where are we putting all this stuff?”
“In those boxes.” He pointed at a group of plastic storage containers stacked up against a wall.
I started toward them, but stopped as Dalton’s hand grabbed my arm. He pulled and I slid across the floor so effortlessly that I almost crashed into him.
“Dalton, what are you—”
His mouth covered mine, and I completely lost my train of thought. One of his hands reached for my lower back as the other slipped behind my neck. I fell into his kiss as my mouth opened and allowed him inside, his tongue moving in a slow and delicious rhythm. I was certain at any moment I’d melt completely into a puddle on the concrete floor. I had wanted this for so long that I couldn’t believe it was actually happening.
Was Dalton Thomas really kissing me right now?
Even more surprising was the fact I was feeling again for the first time in ages; Dalton was actually making me feel something. For the last fourteen months I’d been living in a fog, lost in a numbness where color refused to live.
I silenced my thoughts as he deepened the kiss, making sure nothing but color consumed me. His fingers splayed across my back as my chest pressed against his, our breathing falling in rhythm. The heat from him moved through the fabric of my shirt and warmed me completely.
The sound of voices outside caused him to pull his lips from mine and release me. As Dalton moved toward the door, I stood there and stared at him, wondering what the hell had just happened.
“You coming?” he asked.
I followed him without saying a word, leaving the decorations on the floor where I’d dropped them. The two seniors carrying more decorations into the room giggled when they saw Dalton and flirted shamelessly with him.
I walked ahead of him, unsure of how to act or what exactly that kiss had meant. I didn’t want to ruin the moment, so I refused to ask him when he caught up to me moments after I’d gotten outside. We walked the rest of the way in silence, as my mind and heart both raced.
“I’ve wanted to do that for years, by the way,” he whispered to me before disappearing inside the cafeteria.
Glancing around the room for Kristy, I noticed her heading right for me, looking thoroughly pissed off.
“Where the hell did you go?”
“I was putting away the decorations. I told you that. You shushed me.”