Apricity

13❥Partners

I didn't know what to do with embarrassment that Roman understood I didn't know how to tie my shoes. The question itself set my nerves on edge when he asked me.

And then he just crouches down and ties them for me without saying a word. But then the look he gave me while he was securing the knot in my laces was strange. It wasn't ridiculing, it wasn't judgment I saw in his eyes, it was more like... understanding... or maybe like curiosity.

If Roman was curious, if he started asking questions about me and my past, I didn't know yet how I would answer them. I wouldn't know if I would be able to at all. I also didn't know if Roman would ever even care enough to ask.

However, no matter the conflicted feelings I felt, I wouldn't let my own embarrassment make things awkward between us.

So in class the next day when I was staring at him again because he was really handsome, I wasn't going to hold myself back from bothering him. "I haven't seen you smile once since I've known you."

He only grunted in response and didn't look up from his paper.

"I bet there's something out there that makes you happy enough to smile. I wonder what your humor is like. What makes you laugh Roman?"

He looked up from his paper only to frown at me. He looked disgusted with the idea of laughing. I raised my brows at his reaction and felt a smile make its make on my lips. "You know I'm going to treat this a challenge now, right?" I ask him.

"It would be a waste of your time," is all he says.

"Mm, only if it doesn't work."

"That's exactly what I'm saying Bear."

"That's what you say now." Roman paid no attention to my whispered tease. I decided it was okay to give him a little break from my pestering.

Mrs. Jericho got the attention of the class before it was time to wrap things up. "Next class, we'll go over our first project assignment. I will assign each of you a partner to work with. I want you to make sure you really get to know your partner because this project may require some time outside of class to complete."

At first, I was excited to hear about it. Then, I realized I was only excited if Roman were to be my partner. But what if I wasn't assigned to Roman? No one here was my friend. In fact, most of the people in this particular class hated me. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Vera was my partner, but that was still very risky territory.

"I'll go ahead and let you know who your partners are going to be today. Alyssa, you're going to be working with Collin. Vera you're going to be working with Allison."

I guess that crosses Vera off my list of hope. "Justin with Wesley," Mrs. Jericho continues, "Michael with Jonathan."

"Roman you're with Daniel," She says, and my stomach drops in disappointment. Then, as if I thought my stomach couldn't drop any lower, Mrs. Jericho says, "Briar with Naomi."

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"I don't know what to do," I complained to Valentina later that day. "She already looks at me like she wants to cut me up into tiny little pieces at practice. What's going to happen when we have to spend even more time with each other?"

"Bee have you ever actually tried talking to her? You two were friends at one point."

"I did try once and she shut me out," I grumbled. I was familiar with the feeling of being shut out. If Naomi wasn't welcoming the first time I tried to explain myself, then I wasn't going to waste my time trying again.

Val sighs deeply before responding again. "Well, I guess it could be worse. You could have been paired with Roman."

I didn't know how to respond to that. Valentina was looking at me and I realized she was waiting for me to agree with her. "I was actually kind of hoping he would be my partner," I say instead.

She blinked for a long time in shock. "Huh?"

"You made him out to be the worst human on the planet. He's really not that bad," I shrug. "He's just a big grump but he doesn't seem very threatening to me."

Valentina's big brown eyes went from blinking in confusion to narrowing in accusation. However, I didn't know who her accusation was towards. "I wouldn't get too comfortable around him, Bee. He's family, so I know we share great-looking genes, but don't let that fool you into anything."

"I don't have a crush on him if that's what you're worried about," I defended.

"I'm not worried about you having a crush on my cousin, I just don't want you to get hurt Briar." She was speaking in her mama bear tone. I appreciated that Val was protective towards me, but I just felt like it was unnecessary in this case.

I wanted to assure her anyway. "I'm careful."

"Anyway," Val swayed the topic back to Naomi. "If she's mean to you in any way you think you can't handle, you come to me right away. I already keep my eye on her during practice but I'll be needing your feedback when I'm not actually with you."

I just shook my head at my best friend. I wanted to brush off her offer, but it still stuck in the back of my head. I really, really hoped that I wouldn't need Valentina as backup in the time it'll take me to finish an entire project with Naomi as a partner.

A/N: tiktok is hard and I don't have the skills but I'm trying anyway. Finally promoting this one thooo ! (:

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