By the following week, Conrad had become a regular part of my daily routine.
Which was ridiculous.
He'd show up before school.
Text me during class.
Wait for me after school.
Send me random pictures of things he thought I'd find funny.
And somehow…
I always replied.
Sometimes immediately.
Sometimes after pretending I hadn't been waiting for his message.
Parker noticed.
Kennedy noticed.
Even my mother noticed.
Apparently, I was the only person who hadn't figured out what was happening.
Or maybe I had.
I just didn't want to say it out loud.
Because saying it would make it real.
"You're staring again."
I looked up.
Conrad was sitting across from me at the café.
"I wasn't staring."
"You were."
"I was thinking."
"About me?"
"No."
He smiled.
"You're lying."
I rolled my eyes.
"You're incredibly confident for someone who looks like that."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Like what?"
I froze.
I'd walked straight into that one.
"Annoying."
He laughed.
