I hold back my laugh. “Yes, well… It has to do with you.”
“It does.” He glances at the dessert table as a few of my fellow teachers stop there to grab plates. I can feel eyes on us, but I don’t look away from Caspian. His focus returns to me, and he seems…hopeful, perhaps, at the simple fact that I never once let go of his hand. “I don’t have all the answers, Lee.”
Somehow, I highly doubt that. “But you know what you want.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re waiting for me to catch up.”
His lips tip into a smile. “We have time.”
I blink up at the cafeteria ceiling, a few banners hung for the snowflake dance that’ll be here in less than two months. “I think we should go on a date.”
When I bring my gaze back to Caspian, that hope is bright in his eyes. “A date.”
“Yeah, you know… That thing people do when they kinda like one another?”
His eyebrow pops up. “I thought you more than liked me.”
“God,” I groan, Caspian’s smirk all but convincing me I’m in over my head when it comes to this man. Although I knew that from the moment we met, didn’t I? “I don’t know if I can handle you being this cheeky. I have a heart condition, you know.”
Caspian pats my chest. “You’ll manage.”
He sounds so sure.
I clear my throat. “Guess I don’t have a choice, huh?”
Caspian’s eyes ping between my own, his tone turning serious. “You do. You always have a choice, Lee.”
“Doesn’t that kind of counteract the whole fate thing?”
I notice my coworkers starting to regroup and realize our lunchtime is nearly over. Caspian’s hand on my chin brings my attention squarely back to him.
“You’re only powerless if you believe yourself to be.” The words are spoken firmly, the same ones he gave me before. “We always have choices in life.Weweave fate, Lee Donovan. Not the other way around.”
I don’t have a chance to decipher his meaning before the principal calls us back to task. I give Caspian’s hand a squeeze. “You okay to bike home?”
His lips spread into a smile, and it takes me a second to realize why.Home. “Yeah. I’m good. See you tonight. For our…date?”
I groan again. “No pressure.”
“None.”
Caspian lets me go and waves a goodbye to Emmeline as he heads out of the cafeteria. I watch him until he’s out of sight.
Emmeline catches my eye as I return to our table. “Your boyfriend is lovely, Lee. Where did you manage to find him?”
I huff a small laugh, not bothering to counteract theboyfriendassumption. “Would you believe me if I said he fell from the sky?”
She grins at that, her catlike eyeglasses giving the physics teacher a playful yet sharp vibe I’ve always found suited her. “Well, you know what they say about shooting stars.”
“What’s that?”
“When you see one, you have to make a wish.”
I hum, our school’s tech gal launching back into the online grading system as my mind whirs.
Make a wish, huh?
