Prom King by Alexa Riley

Chapter Five

Celeste

Itoss my half-eaten sandwich into the trashcan as I exit the library. I love my mom, but she can’t cook to save her life. I mean, how does someone even begin to mess up making a sandwich? It’s not even technically cooking. I can’t help but laugh it off. I suppose she can’t be brilliant at everything she does.

I pull my schedule out and check where my next class is. I swear this school can be a maze. I've been lucky so far today, and no one has said anything about what happened yesterday. Except for Apollo, but I'm pretty sure Emerson told me his name was Crew.

Not wanting to test my luck, I avoided the cafeteria today just in case. I didn’t want someone to bring it up, or worse, do something to embarrass myself yet again. After my first class was finished, Apollo was waiting outside to show me to my next class. He told me he’d be in the cafeteria after that, but I wasn’t sure if that was an invitation or not. Instead of intruding on this lunch group, I hid out in the library. I didn’t want to assume I could sit with him if he was only being nice.

“Celeste?” I turn when someone calls my name, and I see a younger guy staring at me. He has to be a freshman since he still has a baby face with full cheeks. He’s got a school shirt on with the eagle logo and the word rowing across his chest.

“That’s me.”

“Score.” He smiles, pulls out his phone, and begins to text.

“Did you need something?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

“Nah, I found you first. Thanks,” he says before he turns and leaves.

What the heck was that?

“Okay then,” I say to myself as I make my way toward my next class. I actually find it on my own this time and feel a little spark of pride.

“Celeste!” Someone shouts my name again before I enter the classroom, only this time I don’t have to turn around to know who it is. I’d recognize Apollo’s deep voice anywhere.

“Hey.” I step back out of the doorway, not wanting to block anyone from coming or going.

“You didn’t come to lunch.” He makes it sound like an accusation.

“I packed my lunch today.”

“You could still eat it in the cafeteria.” He smirks, stepping closer to me. “I wanted to give you something. I forgot earlier.” He lifts his hand, revealing the glasses I lost yesterday, and I gasp.

“You found them.” I try to take them from his hand, but he pulls them back.

“I want a trade.” That cocky smirk on his lips grows bigger, and I see a dimple form in his cheek.

Oh great. He keeps getting hotter by the second. I’m sure he’s Mr. Popular around here because he’s the finest senior I’ve seen. I should keep my ears open and listen for any gossip about him. Then maybe I can squash this building crush, because Apollo has heartbreak written all over his handsome face.

“What do you want?” I nervously bite my lip, and his eyes lock on my mouth.

“Your number. That way I can text you when I can’t find you and not have the freshman rowing team searching for you.”

“Wait, what? Why would you do that?” Well, that explains the guy from earlier. Apollo doesn’t answer me but pulls his phone out and waits for me to give him my number. Did he really want to track me down that bad to give me my glasses?

“What will you give me if I give you her number?” Emerson comes out of nowhere and drapes an arm around my shoulder.

Apollo narrows his eyes on my friend, and the scowl makes him somehow more adorable. Damn it. Emerson and I texted back and forth a little bit last night and today.

“You gave him your number?” he asks me, but he’s still glaring at Emerson.

“He helped me,” I remind him.

“I did too, so I think that means I should get your number also.” Apollo reaches out and pushes Emerson’s arm off my shoulder. Emerson chuckles, and I realize he’s enjoying this.

“Fine,” I huff, rattling it off. Half a second later, my phone vibrates in my pocket.

“I’ll be here after class. We can walk to the gym together,” Apollo says and then finally hands me my glasses.

“I got her,” Emerson says as he starts to push me into the classroom.

“Watch it,” Apollo grumbles from behind us. “Don’t be late with her.”

Emerson nods, and I glance back over my shoulder once more as we go into the classroom.

“Crew’s got his sights set on you, girl.” We both grab a seat in one of the middle rows.

“I thought his name was Apollo?”

“It is, but nobody calls him that. I honestly don’t think anyone remembers he’s got a first name. Everyone calls him by his last name, Crew, the teachers included. Plus his last name holds some weight around here. His dad owns about half the property in Craven Cove.”

“Oh.” I pull out my notebook and then grab a pencil.

“He told you to call him Apollo?” Emerson looks at me quizzically and with an air of disbelief.

“That’s what he said his name was.” I shrug, but Emerson keeps giving me a strange look.

“Is Crew in this class?” a pretty blonde with long legs asks as she takes the seat in front of Emerson. She turns in her chair to face him, not sparing me a look. “I saw him out in the hallway.”

“Nope.” Her smile drops at Emerson’s response. “Are you seriously still crushing on him?” he asks her. “Girl, you gotta let that shit go at some point.”

My stomach tightens, but isn't this the gossip I wanted? Now that I’m getting it, I’m not so sure I actually want it. I thought Apollo was flirting with me, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. He might just feel like a jerk for how he acted in the coffee shop the other day and is trying to make up for it.

“We hung out a few times over the summer.” She smirks.

Emerson starts to ask her something else, but the teacher walks in and starts the class. I do my best to pay attention, but my mind keeps going back to each of my interactions with Apollo. I bounce between thinking he’s hitting on me or just being nice. My lack of dating over the years has me questioning everything. I spend most of my time around adults generally, so all of this is a crash course in high school social circles.

“We have gym.” Emerson knocks my elbow and pulls me out of my thoughts.

“What do we even do in gym?” I ask. It’s a random elective I got tossed into. Most everything else was already taken, so I got stuck with physical education. I don’t think I’ve ever been inside a gym before.

“You’ve never had gym class?” I shake my head. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“All over.” I try not to get defensive.

I never know what to say when I get asked that. Some people have turned their noses up at the fact that we bounced around a lot. They will use any excuse to look down on my mom. While I do have a dream of settling down in one spot someday, it hasn’t bothered me. At least my childhood has been interesting, and it’s not like I know anything different.

“That’s cool. I’d like to get off this rock one day.”

“It’s nice here. You don’t like it?”

“There’s not many like me around here. I want to get out and see more.”

“You should,” I encourage him.

As we walk to the gym, Emerson peppers me with a few more questions about where I’ve lived. Once we’re there, he points to the door of the girls’ locker room.

“You go in there and change. Then everyone meets back here.” He points to the middle of the basketball court.

I take the stairs down to the locker room, where they are giving everyone a slip of paper to get a locker. I sit down on the bench after I find mine and start to change.

“I can’t believe you talked me into taking gym,” a girl groans loudly a few lockers down from mine. The same blonde girl from my last class is standing next to the girl complaining. I think I heard the teacher call her Amber.

“Don’t be dramatic, Kristen. It's the last class of the day. Plus Jackson and Crew are in here.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

This girl really has a thing for Apollo. Not that I can blame her. He’s the hottest guy in this school, but hot often translates to jerk. Apollo’s family is loaded too. He also has that cocky smirk, and I can’t forget his reaction when I bumped into him at the coffee shop. His actions today say differently, but I don’t know. My mom would tell me to be careful and that all he wants is to get in my pants.

I shake the thought from my head. I don’t think someone who looks like Apollo has a hard time getting into girls' pants. I’m guessing he has his pick of them.

Pulling my hair up into a ponytail, I get dressed and slide on my sneakers. When I’m back upstairs, my eyes are immediately drawn to Apollo. He towers over everyone, including the gym teacher, so he’s kind of hard to miss.

Next to him is Amber, and he leans his head down to hear what she’s saying. When she reaches out and touches his arm, I turn around, not wanting to be caught staring. Why do I suddenly feel like crying?

“All right, we’re going to check your coordination today,” the gym teacher, Mr. Rose, says. “Everyone pair up.”

“Oh! Crew, be my partner,” I hear Amber squeal.

“Are you with me, new girl?” Emerson asks, and I nod.

“Yes please.”

“Not happening. She’s mine.” Apollo snags my hand and pulls me with him. “Sorry, Emerson, you get Amber.”

“Hey!” Amber puffs out her bottom lip at Apollo, but he doesn’t pay her any attention.

It’s almost cold, and I wonder if this is how he treats the girls he’s dated in his past. She said they hung out over the summer, so that can only mean one thing. Right? Amber turns her gaze on to me, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead.

Great. I’m making all kinds of friends.