Definitely not.
Just because I’d wanted a word with the girl didn’t make me weird.
This was what I was telling myself as I worked in my blackroom at school later that day. It was actually a walk-in closet off the main newsroom, but it worked for my purposes.
I stared down at a photo of Hazel that developed before my eyes. I knew I didn’t have to do it the old-school way, but there was something about the process that was… Magic.
I grinned down at the photo, remembering what she’d said earlier about me being magic. It wasn’t what she’d said, but how she’d said it. So earnest. So serious.
I’d spotted her walking in that cute little cap like some sort of actress trying to avoid the paparazzi and was just heading her way to tease her about it when he beat me to it.
Justin.
I’d never had an issue with the guy before, but I was developing a distinctly bad vibe about the dude with the giant arms.
Who had biceps like that? Only people who had something to prove. Something to compensate for.
The thought had me letting out a huff of amusement, but I couldn’t quite shake this unpleasant sensation at the memory of how she’d looked up at him.
Worse, the way she’d looked when he’d walked away.
She’d smiled—well, almost smiled. Good enough when it came to Hazel. And I’d caught the blush. It was minimal, but it was there when she’d stared after him.
So...that was the guy.
I took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. I needed air.
“What are you still doing in here, Will?” Max asked when I came out of the blackroom. Her frizzy dirty blonde hair was falling out of that long braid she always wore, and she pushed her glasses up her nose when she looked up from the paper she was proofing, a red pen hovering over it as she waited for a response.
“Just finishing up,” I said.
She kept watching me until I finally said, “What?”
She glanced up at the clock on the wall meaningfully. “I’ve never once seen you stay late before, that’s all.”
“Yeah, well. I had an assignment I wanted to get done,” I said.
She nodded, but her gaze lingered on me when I headed over to the desk where I’d dropped my stuff earlier in a ridiculous rage.
There was nothing to rage about. I’d known she’d liked someone. I just hadn’t known who.
Knowing who her crush was didn’t change anything.
But somehow it had, because now it wasn’t some theoretical guy out there but Captain America’s protege.
Her fellow swim team captain. A teammate and a good guy, by all accounts. So yeah...I kind of wished I didn’t know all that.
Part of me felt like I should be rooting for the guy. They probably deserved each other.
“Are those photos for the newspaper?” Max’s voice was mild. Too mild.
“Uh, no.” I’d been working on the paper since I’d transferred here last year so I knew Max well enough to know that this mild voice…? It wasn’t genuine. She was getting to something, and I planned on being out the door before she could.
Most likely she’d try to talk me into taking on additional assignments, or writing an article to go with my photos. She’d been trying to get me to take more of an interest in the paper outside of taking pictures since the day I’d signed up.
She didn’t seem to understand that I didn’t care about the newspaper. This wasn’t some passion of mine, just a means to an end. My parents were big on extracurriculars.
Or rather, colleges were big on extracurriculars, and my parents were big on college.
All three of my sisters were currently off at good schools. Two of them were even Ivy Leagues. Me? Well, no one was expecting Ivy Leagues, but they were still hoping I’d get in somewhere good and follow in my overachieving sisters’ footsteps.
“So what were you working on then?”
I flashed Max a grin. “Has anyone ever told you you’re nosy?”
She laughed. “I’m pretty sure it comes with the territory when you’re a reporter.”
She was still waiting for an answer, and it was useless to avoid answering Max when she had a bug in her bonnet so I caved. “Just developing some pictures for your friend.”
Hazel. I didn’t know why I didn’t just say her name. Probably because Max was watching me closely, and I was a little afraid just what she’d see if I said her name.
Max tapped her red pen to the paper, her gaze never leaving me, not even for a second. This chick was kind of scary sometimes. Nice. Smart. Fair…
But scary.
“You did an amazing job with those pictures,” she said.
“Yeah, well…” I shrugged, already heading toward the door. “I’m not done yet.”
“Can I ask why?”
I stopped a few feet from the door. So close to freedom. I turned back with a wry smile. “You just did.”
She laughed under her breath. “You’re right, I did. Why the offer to help Hazel with her image?”
I shrugged. “She seems nice.”
That might have been the lamest sentence to ever come out of my mouth.
The slight hitch of disbelief in Max’s gaze said she thought so too.
“You could just ask her out, you know.”
Her words came as such a shock I made a humiliating sputtering sound before I managed, “What? That’s...no. It’s not like that.”
She arched her brows and pursed her lips. There was no denying the amusement in her eyes, and I could only sigh as I shifted my backpack. “Okay, fine, maybe it is like that. I think she’s cute. I wanted to get to know her better…”
“But?” she asked, her brows hitching up.
I cleared my throat. Man, this was embarrassing. “She likes someone else. So….you know. No big deal.”
She tipped her head to the side, her brows drawing together in confusion. “So, let me get this straight. Rather than just man up and risk rejection, you’re going to actively help the girl you like get the attention of another guy.”
I blinked and clamped my mouth shut when I realized I had no good response. When she said it like that...
“You said it yourself,” I said. “The photographs came out great. It’ll be perfect for my portfolio.”
Her brows arched, and her eyes widened behind her glasses in obvious eagerness. “Does that mean you’ll be entering the competition?”
I just barely held back a groan. “No. This is just for fun. I know that concept is lost on you, but trust me, sometimes people just do something because they enjoy it.”
She hitched her lips to the side, unamused. But she knew I had a point. She and everyone else on this newspaper staff took it so seriously. Like it actually meant something. It was a high school paper, for crying out loud.
No one was about to win a Pulitzer.
But by they way Max and her buddies treated this contest, you’d never know it was just a dumb regional competition for newspaper dorks. Sure, photography was one of the categories, but I hadn’t even thought about entering.
“Alright then,” I said, backing away toward the door. “Good talk.”
“Wait,” she called.
I tipped my head back with a sigh. Again, I’d been so close.