Daniel knocked into someone's shoulder as he walked through the halls, quickly calling out an apology to the guy he'd run into.
He shook himself out of his school-induced stupor, mentally reminding himself to watch where he walked.
Abby and some of the kittens were standing by the lockers up ahead of him in the hallway, and Abby grinned and waved at him.
She probably thought he had something to do with that stupid list.
Frankly, he had zero interest in the girls on the team. They weren't his type.
Pulling his phone out from his pocket, he brought up the group chat between the football team.
Who sent that stupid list to the overheard account?
The group chat was silent, like it had been since he'd sent that message when he first saw the post. He hadn't really figured he'd get a response. If any, he figured he'd get a bunch of "oh come on, it's harmless" texts.
Grace would hate that stupid list.
He could hear her voice in his head, telling him off for pitting girls against each other and putting pressure on them to look a certain way. He could basically read the article she'd inevitably print about it already.
He smirked at the thought.
His smirk faltered when he remembered the last time they'd spoken.
"We're done, right?"
And they were done. Just like that.
He'd felt her eyes on him on Monday, like they were burning a hole in the side of his head. But she'd probably been judging him, adding 'gets involved in fights' to her long list of reasons why she wasn't interested in him.
What was he meant to do but respect her feelings? Or lack thereof, rather.
His head faced down towards the ground, Daniel didn't look up until he reached the top stair. And there she was, looking right back at him.
Damn, she was beautiful.
She took a step towards him, and for a second he thought maybe all hope wasn't lost.
"Hi, um...Bouldin Beat?"
Of course. The paper.
No, they were done.
"No, thanks."
No, in a perfect world he'd take her paper and stay and talk to her for a few minutes. Maybe she'd tell him about what she'd written and he could tell her how smart she was and how she was probably going to change the world.
But this wasn't that world. Because she'd said they were done.
So he kept walking, resisting the urge to turn around and look at her. He kept his head aimed straight ahead until he rounded the corner and looking back wasn't an option anymore.
He passed a group of girls as he walked down the hallway, hearing a snippet of their conversation.
"What does the paper even have in it? Isn't all the good stuff on overheard?"
"I don't know, the girl said it was about the environment."
"Don't we hear enough about that?"
Daniel just shook his head.
He pulled out his phone again and brought up the group chat, sending another message knowing he still wouldn't get a response.
Have a little respect, guys.
As he walked through the front entrance, he spotted some kid walking away from one of the benches, leaving a copy of the paper sitting on it. He walked over to it, hesitating a moment before picking it up.
He stuffed the discarded paper into his bag. He'd read it later.
He liked the environment.