Staring intensely into her textbook, Rapunzel made an extraordinary effort to ignore the drum-rolling thumps of her heart, pounding furiously within her ribcage.
Oh God, why is it that the one time in my whole life I decide to do something remotely outrageous fate decides to step in and bite me in the butt? I mean come on, what were the chances that out of all the guys in that entire club I just so happen to have a make out session with the one who would, not only transfer to my school, but become my new science partner?!
Slouching further down, she absolutely refused to be the one to make the inevitable first offense.
And why should she anyway? After all, wasn't she the one who approached him first? So really, doesn't social protocol dictate that the guy make the next move?
Not that she really expected him to make any such moves right there in the middle of a chemistry class.
However with that being said, images of New Years immediately flashed in her mind and it was all she could do to suppress a groan in utter mortification.
Or maybe it was yearning.
It was, after all, one hell of a kiss.
I wonder if it would be just as good second time round… or maybe even better now that now that I think I've got that tongue thing down.
Wait, did that come from me? Oh God the images…
STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!
Shaking the indecent pictures out of her head like an etch-a-sketch, Rapunzel vowed to just get on with her studies and pay absolutely no heed to the handsome not-so-stranger beside her.
She lasted for about three seconds before she gave into temptation, discretely catching sight of him at the corner of her eye. He was sitting- or more like lounging- back in his seat- examining over what appeared to be a class schedule.
Huh, it would appear Rapunzel wasn't the only one who could play 'Silent treatment'.
No teasing remarks, no knowing glances, not even the slightest indication that last week actually happened and she wasn't crazy?
Why can't he just get on with it already? The anticipation alone was already enough to drive her to the edge of insanity.
Maybe he's being merciful and pretending the whole New Year's Eve incident never happened... Or maybe the kiss just wasn't as big of a deal to him and all this anxiety is all for nothing.
The latter thought oddly left her more disappointed than hopeful.
It wasn't until Mr. Grimms began droning on about the mass of reactants that her new partner started to sketch 3D squares and other random doodles on the corners of his schedule.
Biting her lip, Rapunzel couldn't resist but take advantage of his distraction and so used the opportunity to discreetly gain a better facial observation-
And be still her heart, he was even more attractive during the day then she thought possible. His hair was a lighter shade of brown than from what she remembered from the club, wavier too. It was the kind of hair that her fingers just itched to run through… again. She fisted her hands on her lap, urging herself not to give into such a compulsion.
And then there was his nose which was actually quite lovely (for a nose anyway). Not hooked or crooked in anyway but nice and straight with a slightly up-turned curve at the end which brought her line of vision down towards his mouth and those sinful lips which she had a hard time pulling her eyes from. Probably because she had a first-hand experience on what those lips were capable of. Not that she had that much experience in that kind of department, but before him the best she's ever gotten were short, wet and kinda sloppy. His kind were the ones that could make a girl's stomach flip, toes curl and cheeks flush.
And then there was the little tuft of hair on his chin. What was it called again? She wondered. A goatee or something like that? Well whatever it was she kinda liked it. She thought it gave him an air of maturity- something of which the other boys in her class severely lacked.
All-in-all she concluded that his side profile was quite impeccable.
"Doesn't that sound like fun Miss Del Sol?" Mr. Grimms interjected, his booming voice pulling her back to the reality of first period chemistry.
"I… I beg your pardon?" She stammered.
"The homework assignment. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"Emm… yes." She answered slowly, cautiously. "I suppose it does?"
"More fun than staring at Mr. Rider's chin?"
Embarrassment. Humiliation. Complete and utter mortification; not one of these nouns were accurate enough to diagnose the cause of why she felt like her face was set on fire.
"I… I'm-
"Just be sure to pay attention to the board Miss Del Sol."
Completely slack-jawed, she could do nothing but nod mutely as the rest of the room erupted in a fit of muffled giggles and whispers.
But nothing could compare to, hands down, the smuggest smirk she had ever encountered right beside her.
The jerk actually had the nerve to find her supreme awkwardness amusing.
With a silent whimper, she slid back behind the safety of her textbook with her elbow propped up on the desk for good measure- acting as a barrier in attempt to prevent any further interactions between them.
I wonder if I can get away with this position for the rest of the year.
Unfortunately the action proved to be futile since it wasn't five seconds before she felt the end of a pencil poke her arm.
Rapunzel stiffened in her protective stance as she could only imagine what he had to say to her. When he gently poked for entrance again, she stubbornly remained unresponsive.
Jeez, take the hint!
When the poking finally ceased, she heard an audible sigh from his side of the desk followed by light rhythmic tapping of the pencil on the table. When he abruptly stopped she peeked over her shoulder just in time to see an alarmingly impish smile adorn his face as he signalled for Mr Grimms.
"You have a question Mr Rider?" Grimms asked.
"Eh no, sorry but I think I may have misplaced my textbook."
Clearly unimpressed with the statement, Grimms eyed him down from behind his glasses. "Well seeing as it is your first day I suppose I could overlook it," he huffed. "But I suggest that you to be more responsible in the future when taking my class. Now Miss DelSol if you would be so kind…"
With an irritatingly triumphant grin, he leaned in as closely as he could manage while Rapunzel reluctantly placed her textbook between them to share. That was a pretty clever move, but it still didn't stop her from avoiding eye contact.
"Miss Del Sol, huh?" He whispered in her ear.
"Shh pay attention." She desperately tried to ignore the stupid tingly sensation she got when he increased their proximity and pressed his arm against her own, inadvertently giving her a rather splendid impression of his bicep which, even with that treacherous hoodie, she could still feel how solid and toned his arms were.
She bit back a sigh. Deep breaths Punz. Deep breaths.
"So Miss Del Sol... Does that by any chance come with a fist name?" He asked, as his hushed baritone voice ignited chills where his breath touched the area of skin just below her ear on her exposed neck.
Exhaling, she bracing herself for the inevitable. "Rapunzel."
He blinked. It was the usual response.
"Rapunzel? As in, 'Let down your gold hair'?"
"Was there more than one." She responded dryly.
He let out a small breathy chuckle "Yeah right. Honesty, I would have pegged you for Cinderella. But seriously, how about this time you tell me your actual-"
She promptly turned to the front cover of her textbook and pointed to the stamp that read her full name:
Rapunzel Del Sol, Corona High
"Well I'll be damned. Can honestly say was not expecting that." When Rapunzel finally glanced up at him she found his bright brown eyes holding her gaze as he considered her attentively.
"Rapunzel Del Sol," he said her name slowly, as if the words were tangible and he was testing out the feel of it on his tongue. "My how exotic."
"Exotic?" She quietly scoffed. She already knew her name bizarre, he still didn't have to tease her about it. "That's an interesting synonym for weird."
"Well aren't all beautiful things in some degree unique?"
She immediately began to formulate a snippy comeback, the way she usually did whenever the subject of her name was broached. But something about his sincerity stopped her, and for some reason unknown to herself, she merely averted her eyes and blushed. "Could we please pay attention to the lesson now?"
"Aw, but you're far more interesting. Especially when you blush like that." He pointed to her divulging blood tinted cheeks and chuckled as she touched her palms to the accusing area. "So where did you run off to the other night?"
Stunned by his abrupt forthrightness, her already ridiculously big eyes widen at the change of subject- And especially to that topic.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, I seriously wanna know where you ran off too. Call me a paranoid but when a girl runs for the hill after a kiss like that I find it a little disconcerting. You, em… had a boyfriend you needed to get back to or something?"
Well that was something she wasn't expecting. Cocking her head slightly, Rapunzel considered his question as he had just asked her if she preferred bathing in orange juice or apple. "Why would I ki-…err, do that if I had a boyfriend?"
"Well it's not exactly an unheard-of possibility." He said through a rueful smile.
That's it, she had to set him straight once and for all. Calculation her words carefully, she took a breath and averted her eyes back down to the desk, keeping her focus on a heart incised on the wooden surface that read: "K.J LUVS E.S"
"Look, despite the impression that I've clearly given you the other night, I can assure you I'm really not the type of girl who goes around kissing strange men at parties. In fact I make it a habit not to kiss any strange men period. It's just that my friend Pascal kept ranting on that I never do anything crazy or impulsive and well, there was also the factor that I assumed that I would never actually see again- not that that puts me in any better light... so um... look do you think we could just put that whole crazy incident behind us, you know. Just start over and forget it ever happened?"
Peeking up she saw that he was considering her request with a creased forehead and a somewhat sympathetic expression. Then finally, he nodded, "I understand."
"Thank you." She sighed in relief.
"But no."
"Bu- wait what? What do you mean no?"
"Well I don't know about you but I got New Year's pretty much locked in," he tapped to his temple, "Pretty much impossible to erase."
"But couldn't you at least-"
"I mean how could I simply forget? Especially when you're clearly still into me."
God lord, if Rapunzel's eyes got any wider they'd probably fall out of her head. But seriously, let's back the damn truck up for a moment.
"WHAT!? I'm sorry but did you just completely blank out on the part where I asked you- "
"Ms Del Sol, is my lecture interrupting your crucial discussion?"
Oops, I guess that came out louder then intended.
"I…we were just… Sorry sir," she answered back, simmering her voice back down to a more respectful manner.
"Yes well, if there is another disturbance from this side of the room again I may start to get rather generous with the detection slips. Just because it's the first day back does not mean my tolerance for frivolous behaviour has in any way subsided."
Rapunzel turned another shade of red, but this time she was far from bashful. Seventeen years she's lasted without so much as a demerit and only 5 minutes of sitting next to guy and she was already on the brink of frigging detention.
What if that went on my permanent record! The goody-two-shoes inside her wailed.
Suddenly a small, jagged piece of paper slid across to her side of the desk right up to her fingertips. She glanced at its sender with a well-deserved daggering glare, to which he promptly responded with a teasing wink and reverting back to his lounging position, only this time with a distant air of insufferable self-satisfaction.
She should just ignore it.
Or better yet, she should rip it up into tiny pieces of confetti and through it back in his stupid, smug face.
She should not give into her infernal curiosity and unfold that piece of paper.
…Maybe just a peek?
"Dear... Repunzzel?
That doesn't look right
Hey Blondie,
Yeah I know my spelling sucks.
Anyway, meet me by the quad at lunch if you wanna continue our 'crucial discussion' "
Amused yet a little thrown off, Rapunzel shook her head. There was only one thing to say to that.
(A.N) Oh, the suspense!
Hey people, hope you didn't think that I'd forgotten about this old fic. Despite my absence, I assure you that I'll be sticking with this till the end.
And hey just for fun, can anyone guess who "K.J and E.S" are?
*This should be easy for those Once Upon A Time lovers!*
As always reviews are not only welcome but encouraged :)