To Taste the Fruit by Lorelei Sutton (the best electronic book reader TXT) 📕

"Noel!" I can hear him mutter something under his breath, and then a strong arm encircles my body and steadies me. I stagger a little bit, leaning against his chest without quite knowing what I'm doing. 

"W-What happened?" I ask dizzily, stars dancing in front of my eyes.  

"You just stood up underneath the open cabinet and your head hit the corner of it." I try to make out his facial features as he stands above me, everything starting to come back into focus.  

"Oh, shoot. Clumsy me," I start to laugh, probably looking like an idiot, while not really getting the humor in my own situation. It takes a while for me to notice that his hand is still around my waist. 

"Are you sure you are okay?" He asks, his breath close to my ear. I can't prevent a sharp intake of breath, aware of the way my heart is beating like a drum in response. His face is so close, and I can see his dark, mesmerizing eyes. 

"Yeah, y-yeah, I'm sure," I jerk away from him rather ungracefully, now as red as a tomato. "My head is pounding a little bit, but I'm fine." 

"Do I need to take you to the nurse?" He probes, stepping closer.  

"No, no, seriously..." My voice trails off as he gently takes the paper from my fingertips. He stares at it for a while, and then smiles. 

"This is one of my English papers from last year! I wonder why Mrs. Hatcher still has it." 

A pounding erupts in my head, and I lean against the counter, hoping he won't notice how unsettled I am. "It must be a great paper," I respond weakly.  

Of course, he immediately notices and bends even closer. "Noel, don't you dare lie to me. You had to have hit that cabinet really hard." I almost jump halfway across the room as his warm fingers brush against my forehead. 

"It's just a headache, that's all." A headache from both the cabinet and Sebastian's dizzying proximity, I must admit. I lean back a little, hoping to regain my sanity. "I already had one before." 

"I don't believe you. Let me take you to the nurse." He’s touching my arm again. I can't take much more of this. My heart will explode. 

I turn away quickly to straighten the papers on the desk, my vision a little foggy. "There is really no need. Believe me, Mr. President." My voice is soft, but with an unmistakable tremor to it that leaves me on edge. "Congratulations, by the way." 

"Oh... thank you. I was surprised this morning, honestly." He shows that thousand-watt smile again, melting my bones. My knees shake a little bit. 

"Why?"  

"You should have taken the election for your office by a landslide. No one could be a better secretary than you." He says this plainly, full of honesty and sincerity. For a moment, though, I sense a slight waver in his own voice. It is the first time I have ever heard him sound like this. 

"You are being silly," I laugh lightly, pretending I hadn't noticed anything different, "there are lots of talented students here that would do an excellent job if they had the position." 

"You're being even sillier," he jibes, and we both laugh even harder. It seems to be a tension-filled type of laugh, the type that you never want to end because of the imminent threat of silence. "Sure, there are some that would do an excellent job. But I know you would do a fantastic job. I mean, come on, you're the only one who will voluntarily take on classroom duty for teachers that no one even likes." 

Okay, this atmosphere is getting just a little bit weird. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was flirting with me. But surely he isn't. Surely this is some sort of weird dream that I will wake up from in the next few minutes and then discover that my alarm clock had screwed up.  

"Oh yeah," he continues, "I completely forgot why I even came in here. Ana asked me to tell you that she was waiting for you by your car because I was passing by here anyways on the way to the Student Council room." He checks his watch, and then frowns slightly. "I'm already late." 

"I'm sorry, don't let me keep you." It is like suddenly I have emerged out of a slow motion bubble, suddenly popped back into the normal world. I realize that his hand was still slightly brushing against my arm and then slowly start edging towards the door. I have to get out of here. 

He just stares at me as I start to trip over myself while exiting the room. His expression is unreadable, and although I usually pride myself on being able to diagnose faces, this one leaves me stumped. My pace quickens slightly as he starts walking.  

"Wait," he speaks, his voice almost commanding in tone. I lean against the open door, staring back at his approaching form. He now looks almost nervous, which is strange because I have always seen him being confident and self-assured. "Are you coming tonight?"  

"I have no idea what you are talking about," I reply, though inwardly quivering. He opens his mouth to speak again, and I get even more frightened. I have no idea why his closeness makes me feel so… nervous, and vulnerable, but I what I do know is that I need to escape these feelings in my heart. "I really need to go! I'll see you tomorrow!" I smile brightly, knowing I had just cut him off. I quickly retreat into the masses of people, giving him a little wave.  

My head is still pounding, but my heart is in even worse shape. There are too many unanswered questions that I can't stand it. I want to believe that the meeting meant something, but am afraid to assume too much. Calm down, stupid teenage-hormonal heart, I tell myself slowly, this was no big deal.  

I know what it is. This whole day has been so bad that I'm taking a normal conversation with Sebastian and expanding it farther than my wildest fantasies, as if to make my day seem better. He only went looking for me because Ana had asked him to. And all this hand touching business is normal between friends. 

I nearly slam into the brick wall while exiting the building, and then start wobbling over to the parking lot. Everything seems like its dancing all over the place, jumping from the left to the right side of my vision constantly. I can make out a face by my car, and take slow, measured steps towards it. 

"Noel! What's wrong?" Ana races forward, supporting me with her arm, "you look like a zombie." 

"N-nothing," I respond quickly, "nothing at all." She just stares at me, knowing I am lying. I immediately feel really guilty after seeing her curious face bouncing all over my line of sight. Darn my emotions. 

"You can't fool me with that," she smiles, and then slowly some sort of convoluted understanding dawns upon her. "Something must have happened with Sebastian."  

"No! No, no, no, no," I immediately reply, "nothing like you think." Red warms my cheeks, and I turn away while hoping she didn't catch my embarrassment. I know she will make a big deal out of things, and I want her to at least wait until we are away from the student population before she freaks out. 

A tall figure appears in the corner of my eye. Accompanied by Rachel and Josie, the confident man strolls aimlessly into the gravel parking lot to our left. His head is thrown back in silent laughter, and both of his tanned arms are wrapped around the two girls' shoulders. They are coming in our direction, and soon we will be in their direct line of sight. 

"Ana, could you drive for me?" I ask her frantically, all but pushing her into my vehicle. I just can't deal with any sort of confrontation at the moment. It just isn't going to happen. 

"Sure, but only if you tell me all the details," she winks, and I feel relief at the fact that she hasn't noticed his presence. And if I have anything to do with it, she won't notice anything for quite a while.  

As I watch, almost like a guard dog, she swings the door open and slides in. I cast a furious glance at the ticking time bomb coming our way and retreat to the other side of the vehicle, entering the passenger seat. Ana grabs my keys and starts the Jeep, wincing at the coughs my precious car was emitting as the engine revived once more.  

"I really hate to drive your car," she moans, peering at the side view mirrors to make sure the coast is clear. My blood runs cold when she suddenly rolls down the window.  

"Hey guys, you need to move!" I whip my head around after Ana stops yelling, noticing with alarm that the group had stopped close to the Jeep, still talking. Pure dread consumes my thoughts.  

"Don't be too harsh, Ana," I whisper nervously. To me, it is like everything is happening in slow motion. Too scared to accept what's going to happen next, I take deep breaths and turn back to the front. What luck. 

I have to say, I didn't expect to fail quite as quickly as I did. 

"Darned kids," Ana mutters, revving the engine and starting to put the car in reverse. "Talking in the middle of the parking lot while a car is trying to back out is just so mature. I really can't believe some people in our school." 

"Maybe they just didn't notice us," I say cautiously, leaning back against the seat while still taking deep breaths. She didn't notice. Praise Jesus. 

"You know, I don't think so," she reluctantly agrees, "but that doesn't make it any less annoying." As she shifts back into drive, she comments abstractly, "I wonder who they were, anyways." 

"Uh, no one important." My voice is shrill, and I almost choke on air. Really, Noel? Really? 

"Why does your voice sound like that?" She asks, almost as an afterthought. Her thoughts seem to be focused on something else, something besides the road and the other students. I keep silent, sensing that she is in her own little world. 

It is only when she nearly jerks off the road that I get nervous. "Are you okay?" I ask concernedly. She jerks into position, her head snapping up in response to my question. 

"Yes! Yes, I'm okay. I'm just tired. How's your head?" She replies really quickly, acting as if she has been jumpstarted from a battery. I'm used to this kind of reaction from her, especially when she is called on in class by a teacher, but this seems a little different from normal. I didn't notice before, but her eyes look a little bloodshot and I can see some dark circles underneath them. 

"Ana, when did you go to sleep last night?"  

"Well, it was a little late," she admits, tightening her grip on the wheel. "But it's really nothing. I'm going to take a nap when I get home. Speaking of, what happened to you? Why aren't you driving?" 

"To be quite honest, I feel a little dizzy." I subconsciously put a hand to my head, feeling the sizable bump that had formed there. It throbs even still, but not as much as it did minutes before. 

"What did Sebastian do to you?" Ana smiles while swinging the car around a sharp corner and as a result nearly sends me through the window. "It must have been something good." 

"I hit my head." 

"You hit your head, yeah, that must have been—wait, what?" Ana looks at me dubiously. "I go to the trouble of sending Sebastian after you and that's all that happens?" 

"Thanks for the concern." I wince slightly, rubbing my temples lightly. I can't believe it's still hurting. Ana's reckless driving doesn't help matters either.  

"You know I care, but I also know that you probably have the hardest head on the planet." She playfully bonks my head with the side of her arm, sending blinding