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from Oliver’s, I saw a hint of a smile start to form at the corner of his mouth. I sank down in my seat. “Yes, Professor. I’m fine.”

    “Are you sure?”

    Yes, now leave me alone! “Yes.” I managed, as I felt the burn of pink on my face.

    “And Miss Blake? How is she doing?”

    “She’s fine, too; just needs a day to recover.” But she’s going to be horrified when I tell her that you brought it up in front of the entire class.

    Professor McBaldy Bald gave me a sharp stare from over the tops of his round, thin-rimmed glasses and then he began talking about English-related topics. My tension and the warmth from my cheeks faded and my mind started wandering again. I couldn’t concentrate on anything except Oliver. Is this what a “crush” does—wreak havoc with your mind? I had liked boys before, but never had one distracted me the way he did.

    I peeked sideways to see if he was looking at me. He wasn’t, but I thought I saw a smile start at the corner of his mouth while I was looking at him. I had to have imagined it. How could he know I was looking at him? I tried to focus on the class, but to no avail; my mind and my eyes wandered back to Oliver and this time he was looking at me. I panicked and looked away. My body tense, I waited what seemed like an hour, but was probably only ten seconds, and glanced over at him again. He was still looking at me, with a small smile that melted my heart. He turned forward. I didn’t know how much more I could take.

    Class continued that way, with my mind and my eyes wandering to him over and over again. He was going to think I was a freak! Then I heard a most wonderful sound—Professor McBaldy Bald excusing us five minutes early. It was only five minutes; but, right then, it was like a lifetime. That balding man just scored some points back with me .

    I lingered at my desk long enough to walk out just as Oliver was passing by. I smiled at him and he smiled back. My heart-rate picked up. Oh, that smile; it was mesmerizing. He asked in his cool, smooth voice, “How’s Kiera today?”

    I struggled for a moment, trying to form a complete sentence. Man! I have it bad! “She seems better. I think it was really hard for her to stay home. I’m pretty sure she’s never missed a day of school,” was what I finally rambled out.

    “That’s good to hear,” he responded, flashing me more of his gorgeous smile. My heart skipped a beat, or three.

    Summoning the strength to speak again, I asked, “How was Carter after you left?”

    “He’s fine. I think it was more the idea of her not feeling well that was causing him to feel like he did.” We walked along the arched hallway together.

    “So, you and Carter are roommates?” I didn’t want him to stop talking. I wanted to know everything about him and I could listen to his voice all day.

    “Yeah, he seems like a really nice guy. And he really likes you and Kiera.” He gave me a tiny smile as he glanced at me. I could feel my heart pounding harder against my chest.

    “Kiera has always had a crush on Carter, but she’s too shy to do anything about it.” Oh, my God! Why did I just say that? I hadn’t just said it; I had blurted it out. “I don’t know why I just told you that. Please don’t say anything,” I pleaded, feeling the stinging pink return to my cheeks.

    “I won’t,” he said with a wink. What was that supposed to mean? “Well, we’re here.”

    “Where?” I said, looking at the door to my next class. “How did you know this was my class?”

    “It’s mine, too,” he said with a crooked grin. “I heard your name in roll call yesterday.” No way! How am I going to make it through another class with him? On the other hand…I honestly didn’t think he had to be there in order to distract me.

    “Ladies first,” he said, opening the door for me. I stepped inside.

    It was a small, regular classroom with desks lined in rows facing the front of the room and a large wooden