CHAPTER 4

"Sure, right now? Okay, I'll be there in thirty minutes," Finn said as he ended the call and quickly stood up.

"Borrowing your bike, okay? Just going over to the next block."

"Who's Tracy?" Zeph asked.

"You don't know her. She lives in the next block. She just asked for help with her Math assignment. I'll be back later to return your bike," he said without waiting for a reply and went out the door.

He grabbed the bike from their yard like it was his own.

Annoyed, Zeph turned off the TV and stomped up to her room. She threw herself on the bed and buried her face in the pillow, irritated.

She was sitting alone on the bench behind their room, waiting for class. She had gone to school early and didn't wait for Finn because she was still annoyed.

Jealous, huh? a voice in her head teased.

Her eyes were focused on the book in her hands, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

Why did Finn get home so late yesterday? What does that Tracy girl even look like? Is she his girlfriend? A fling?

Her brain was busy running through these questions when two students, who looked like freshmen, approached her.

She smiled at them. She wasn't always cranky—only when it involved Finn.

"Hi, is Finn your classmate?" one of them shyly asked.

"Yeah, why?"

They nudged each other, then handed her a letter that smelled like someone had dumped a whole bottle of perfume on it.

"Please give this to him," the one who spoke earlier said bashfully.

"And this too," the other added, handing her a giant imported chocolate bar.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the chocolate. She quickly took them both.

"Okay," she said curtly, then turned her attention back to the book—even though she was itching to dig into that chocolate.

The girls left without another word. Zeph wasted no time opening the chocolate and began eating. She always had Finn's blessing to eat any sweets given to him. She'd received so many chocolates from random girls meant for him, and he often gave them to her instead.

She also loved reading the letters that usually came with them, but Finn had told her not to—he didn't want to disrespect the senders. Not that he ever read them himself; she'd seen a whole unopened pile of letters sitting in a box at his house.

"Caught you!"

She nearly dropped the chocolate in surprise. She hadn't noticed Finn walk up because she was too focused on eating.

"Who's the poor guy who mistakenly thought giving you chocolates was a good idea?" he teased, though he clearly knew the sweets were meant for him.

"James," she answered casually.

James was the Prince Charming of another section—she didn't actually have a crush on him but said she did so Finn wouldn't catch on to who she really liked.

"Really?" he replied, pretending to believe her.

He took the chocolate she had already bitten and took a bite from the same spot.

Sometimes she wondered if he only saw her as a sister, because he acted so casually around her with no sense of awkwardness or tension.

Awkwardness. Yeah, she actually wanted there to be some!

She nonchalantly took another bite from the part he had bitten. Somehow, the chocolate tasted even sweeter.

"Why'd you leave without me?" he asked, referring to her going to school ahead.

"You took too long."

"It's still early," he said.

She just shrugged.

"So, who's Tracy? Your new girlfriend?" she asked as they sat on the bench.

"Not yet."

She turned to look at him.

"Must be nice to be handsome. Just collecting flings," she teased.

"So you do think I'm handsome?" he teased back.

"No, duh! You look like a monkey!" she retorted quickly, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. He might catch on if she wasn't careful.

He chuckled softly.

Then silence returned as she kept eating.

"Finn!" called their classmate Crystal.

They both looked toward the voice.

"You didn't reply to my text yesterday," Crystal said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Sorry, I was busy yesterday," Finn replied casually.

Zeph knew Finn wasn't into Crystal, despite her being pretty. She was their class muse and she looked like a beauty queen in the making.

"What kept you so busy?" Crystal asked with a flirtatious tone.

Finn just smiled and didn't answer.

"He was busy tutoring someone. Who was it again? Tracy?" Zeph said pointedly.

Crystal's smile instantly dropped.

"Who's Tracy?" Her tone changed as well.

Same question I had. Zeph wanted to say.

"Just someone," Finn said, glancing at Zeph because of what she said.

He stared at her for a moment, then chuckled quietly.

They were both surprised when Finn suddenly reached over and wiped the corner of Zeph's mouth.

"You're such a mess when you eat," he said, rubbing away what was probably chocolate on her lips.

Both she and Crystal fell silent. Zeph's face turned red, though nobody could tell—she'd already checked herself in the mirror earlier, and her face was flushed from sunburn.

"Well, okay then," Crystal said finally, raising an eyebrow before walking off. But she turned back quickly.

"If I didn't know it was impossible, I'd think you two were a thing," she said, referring to her and Finn.

A thing? Like a couple? Zeph almost smiled, but her mood shifted when she remembered the word impossible. So was that an insult wrapped in sugar?

"And why would it be impossible?" Finn asked with a smirk as he put his arm around Zeph.

"What do you think, Hon? Should we tell them the truth?" His eyes twinkled as he looked at her.

If she didn't know him better, she'd have fainted from the sheer thrill of that line.

"Not yet, Hon. Too many girls would cry," she played along.

They stared at each other for a beat before bursting into laughter.

Crystal, clearly annoyed, turned around and walked away for good.