#works-in-progress

Chapter One: 

“He looked at her for a long few moments, scanning her up and down like he was trying his darndest to telepathically learn her life’s story. ‘You have nowhere to go,’ he finally said. He stated it as if he knew for sure, and she hated him at that moment, just because he was right.” 

Chapter Two:

“ ‘You’re like a mom,’ she blurted, her mouth still sticky with peanut butter. Only after the words were out of her mouth did she realize what she said. His eyes went wide, and jam spilled down the crust of his half of the sandwich as he squeezed it too tightly. ‘I… I’ll ignore that if you tell me why your skin is green.’ ”

Chapter Three:

“ ‘No! No way!’ When he only responded by sticking his lip out further, she leaned forward, grabbed a hold of one side of his suspenders, pulled them back and then let them snap back against his chest. ‘Ow!’ He squawked, scrambling away from her to press himself against the other counter. ‘That hurt!’ ” Chapter Four:

“ ‘Is it just your hands?’ ‘What?’ ‘I mean,’ he let go of her wrist and her hand stopped burning, ‘does anything else catch fire? Or is it just your hands? Can you breathe fire?’ ‘I’m not a dragon!’ ‘Right, of course not. Sorry. Can you shoot the plasma away from you, or does it stay on your hands?’ ‘I can shoot it.’ ‘Will you?’ ‘No.’ ” Chapter Five:

“She found herself able to answer her question of ‘why not’ rather quickly. Why not? Because sitting across from Drew, eating (excessively delicious and perfectly spiced) pasta, felt like a date. Or at least, what she imagined a date might feel like. She’d never been on one, and sappy movies annoyed her to no end so she couldn’t say for sure, but it certainly seemed like one.” Chapter Six:

“Watching chocolatey syrup drip down his chin she just knew that Drew was not the kind of guy who could handle jail. Hell, he’d probably freak out about getting yelled at by a teacher, it was anyone’s guess what he’d do if he got arrested. Shea’s fork clattered to her plate, guilt twisting her stomach. If something happened to him, it would be her fault.” Chapter Seven:

“When he finally pulled his hands away from his flushed face, he passed his glasses over to her. ‘Hold these.’ ‘Why?’ ‘I changed my mind about not wanting to be hit by a car. I’m going to go wander into traffic now, and it will quite likely work out better for me if I’m blind.’ ”

Chapter Eight:

“Laughing, Shea made to stand up. ‘Anyway, I’m going to bed before you decide to fall asleep out here again.’ Before she had the chance to move, Drew’s eyes had gone wide and he’d latched both hands to her wrist. She blinked at him, a little shocked by the fact that she hadn’t been startled enough to punch him. ‘What?’ ‘Please, don’t leave,’ he squeaked.”

Chapter Nine:

“She was just… bored. She was bored. Something she hadn’t had the chance to be in years. For a moment she impatiently tapped her foot against the floor, as if somehow that would make something happen. As if it would make Drew come back faster to entertain her. She nearly slapped herself for that. What was wrong with her? She didn’t need him. She didn’t need anyone.”

Chapter Ten:

“She threw back the curtain once more, to ask Drew how he felt about the tank-top, somewhat bemused by the way his blush had gotten darker each time she’d asked for his opinion. ‘Joan Jett,’ he said, with a nod, before she spoke. ‘Very cool.’ ‘If you’re saying it’s cool I probably shouldn’t believe it,’ she mocked. Instead of getting flustered, his eyes went wide. ‘You… you don’t know who she is?’ ”

Chapter Eleven:

“ ‘See, now you’re cooking,’ he chuckled in the brief moment of silence before the cassette clicked and the next song started. ‘I am not,’ she insisted. He bit his lip, then smirked at her and turned up the music. ‘What?’ He mockingly called over the blaring lyrics about running away that made her face heat up even before he quipped, ‘Sure you never heard this before? Seems like it could’ve been your theme song.’ ”

Chapter Twelve:

“The moment she stepped out of her room something clicked, then whistled and she ducked just in time for something to whiz by where her head had just been. Whatever the flying object was splattered against the door frame, some sort of liquid spraying the back of her neck. She swiped at the moisture rapidly, already wondering what form of toxic poison it might have been.”

Chapter Thirteen:

“He didn’t notice the note she slid across the desk at him until she smacked his shoulder. It took him a moment longer than it should have to make out “What are you doing?” scrawled across a loose sheet of paper in perfect handwriting. He began grumbling out an answer, before stopping halfway through.”

Chapter Fourteen:

“She looked momentarily stunned as she stared down at the paper clutched in her hand, and her knuckles going a paler shade of green was a good indication that she was upset. He found himself scrambling backward even before she shoved the flyer toward him, furiously demanding, ‘What the fuck is this?’ ”

Chapter Fifteen:

“ ‘Stop that!’ Shea blurted. ‘Stop what?’ he demanded, annoyed, and confused, and annoyed that he felt confused. ‘Trying to apologize?’ She threw her hands up, all but shouting, ‘Yes!’ as if that should explain everything she was feeling.”

Chapter Sixteen:

“The moment her head jerked back ever so slightly he was sure that he’d messed up, but it still took him far longer than it should have to pull his hands away from her shoulders. Even as his hands slowly dropped back to his sides, he couldn’t look away from her eyes staring into his. They really were a startling shade of green. He was sure that he’d never seen such gorgeous and memorable eyes in his whole life.”

Chapter Seventeen:

“He blinked and glanced around as if the room itself could answer the questions his brain was too sleepy and muddled to ask. It was when he spied the blurry image of Shea at the kitchen table, her cheek pressed sleepily against one hand, reading a book splayed out on the table by the glow of the other, that he started to piece together what must have happened. At least some of it.”

Chapter Eighteen:

“His heart swelled for a moment, overwhelmed by how sweet a gesture it was. The amount of time and care she must have put into doing the work for him was… was… well, overwhelming. As fast as the sight of what she’d done made him feel as… - happy? loved? - good as it did, they crashed just as fast, and he was sent spiraling.”

Chapter Nineteen:

“They were close enough he could have kissed her, and for the briefest moment, his eyes fluttered shut, body willing him to do just that. Intentional or not he wasn’t sure, but either way, her hand landing lightly on his knee as her other thumb stroked over the bandages she’d finished placing on his face sent a rolling heat past his navel and a cold clarity to his mind.”

Chapter Twenty:

“He could see someone pulling the karaoke machine onto the stage, and was instantly filled with so much excitement that Shea’s grip on his arm was the only thing that stopped him from running through the door. ‘Can you fly over the moon after we get inside?’ she teased, moving back into him until his breath caught in his throat and his heart fluttered inside his chest.”

Chapter Twenty-one: