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Her face is more serious than it was before, her gaze locked on mine.

I almost say something else. Almost tell her I didn't just stop. That I've been stopping for weeks. That I'll stop every day if it means we get time together outside of the park. Time together in the daylight.

"Maybe we can make walking our new thing," I joke instead.

She smiles, but her expression quickly settles, her eyes heated this time. "Yeah," she says boldly. "I think we should."

My whole body lights up, a fire rolling through me I've never felt anywhere but on the field. We pass the water fountain at that exact moment, and I almost run to it—throw my whole head into that familiar friend and let the water pour from the spout to cool me off.

But I don't.

I pass it this time, using the energy burning inside me to let my hand fall between us. Lenny's pinky grazes mine, and when she doesn't pull away, I slide my palm past hers.

We walk like that—hands holding tightly to each other, laughing about whether extracting the strawberry's DNA without consent was a violation of its rights. And when she naturally slows down as we approach her class, neither of us lets go right away.

We linger there in the doorway like we're both trying to figure out how to end this when neither of us wants to. A sophomore from the team walks up to us, throwing a Yo, Holloway in my direction and holding his palm out for me to slap mine into.

"What's up, man?" I say, tipping my chin up to him but leaving his hand empty.

His eyes flit around and eventually land in between Lenny and me. His head lolls back in understanding as he pulls his arm away and laughs. "I got you, bro. Catch ya on the field."

I follow him as he struts into Lenny's English class, and when my gaze finds her again, she's already staring.

I part my lips to speak, but before I can, she presses onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. My lips close, my eyes falling shut as I soak in the feeling of hers on my skin—soft. Perfect.

"Bye, Jace," she says as my heart pounds inside my chest.

I open my hand just as she turns to walk away, her fingers slipping from mine.

I watch them fall, waiting for the panic to set in.

What if she regrets this?

What if it never happens again?

What if it changes everything?

But it doesn't.

Because it's her.

And… what if this changes everything?

I smile to myself when the second bell rings, and when she looks back before taking her seat, she smiles too.

I'll see ya, Lenny.

6

Lenny

"Hi."

I freeze, forgetting to actually step into the elevator until the doors start to ding shut again.

"Oh!" I jump forward to avoid being pancaked by metal as Jace and I both jam our hands between the doors. "Sorry." I laugh awkwardly, finally putting one foot inside.

"All good," he says, leaning back on the wall, his foot propped up behind him.