The following day, Keeley stored the brownies in a plastic container in her locker and sighed heavily.
How was she going to do this without getting spotted by one of Lacy"s cronies? The last thing she needed was that psychopath getting the wrong idea.
Should she even be doing this? Her father"s guilting tactics were second to none but she really didn"t want Aaron to think she was doing this because she liked him.
He had to know she didn"t want anything to do with him, right? Everything she had done so far was either unfriendly or downright hostile. A sudden gesture of goodwill might confuse him.
She walked around in a state of mental turmoil all morning and hesitated at the door of the literature cla.s.sroom. Was he already in there?
What was she supposed to say? "Hey, I know I was really rude to you yesterday and my dad gave me a hard time about it so have some brownies?" That would sound terrible.
Maybe she could simply pretend she gave them to him. Her dad wouldn"t know…
A shadow fell over her and something—someone"s chin?—rested on top of her head. "You"re blocking the door."
Keeley froze in place. She wasn"t ready to confront him.
He embraced her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. It was a rather intimate position for a school setting; one he had done dozens of times while they were dating.
Gathering her wits about her, she calmly stated, "I can"t move with you like this. Let go."
"I don"t think I will," he replied coolly. "You can walk like this if I walk with you."
She scowled. Was he completely insane? People were watching!
"If you don"t let me go I won"t give you brownies!" she blurted.
He released her instantly. "Brownies? You made me brownies?"
"Don"t get the wrong idea," she insisted, uneasy at the hint of excitement emanating from him.
Knowing this iceberg"s tiny s.h.i.+fts in expression could be problematic at times.
"You backed me into a corner yesterday making me accept those sc.r.a.pbook supplies in front of my dad. He lectured me for being rude so I made them as a return gift. Then we"ll be even. Don"t you dare do anything like that again!"
Keeley knew him too well. It was impossible to miss the smugness in his otherwise blank expression as they sat down.
She laid her head on the desk in defeat. He definitely saw this as a victory. It wasn"t like that! Stop thinking weird thoughts, Aaron!
"Do you have them on you?"
She refused to look up and mumbled through the gap in her arms. "They"re in my locker."
"Give them to me after cla.s.s. We can eat lunch together."
"No!" she shot up in alarm. Eating lunch with him was what caused all of her troubles in the first place! "After school. Fifteen minutes after the last bell rings."
"I have a Portuguese lesson after school."
"That"s my deal, take it or leave it," Keeley said firmly. "I can always eat them myself."
If she was spotted handing something over to the Ice King in front of Lacy or Max, her life may as well be over. They should be gone by then.
"Fine," he said crossly. "But if I"m late you"ll be held responsible."
s.h.i.+vers ran down her spine. That was a threat. Which was worse, a threat from Lacy Knighton or one from Aaron Hale?
She wanted to lean toward the former but Aaron could be pretty terrifying when he wanted to be. She didn"t want to find out what being held responsible for wasting his time would mean.
"Got it," she squeaked before returning her head to its previous position on the desk.
She couldn"t bear to look at him once she began imagining horrible repayment scenarios.
This was the worst idea she had in a good while. She never should have made something for him.
"Relax," Aaron commanded as he stroked her hair.
That made her even more anxious, okay?! Why was he so touchy feely today?
"It"s impossible to relax around you," Keeley mumbled.
He withdrew his hand and icy waves rolled off of him. That was exactly why it was impossible to relax around him! Just being near him was like standing under an air conditioner that"s turned on way too high.
His obvious displeasure continued throughout cla.s.s and she tried focused intently on her notes in an effort to tune it out but it was difficult considering his frigid aura had about a four foot radius. Even the people sitting in front of and behind them were affected.
Lunch couldn"t come fast enough. She bolted out of there as if her skirt were on fire and hid in the nurse"s office, claiming to have a headache.
Keeley was pretty sure she only got away with staying in there for the rest of the day because she looked so pale and clammy.
Thankfully she was able to convince the nurse not to call her father. He would know she was faking it based on their conversation the night before.
She didn"t want him to know how afraid she was because then she would have to come up with a plausible reason why.
The nurse kicked her out when the final bell rang and she hid in the bathroom until she thought the coast was clear. Lacy should be gone by now.
Keeley cautiously peered outside of the bathroom door and saw that the hallway was mostly empty and Aaron was standing impatiently by her locker. Oops. She waited too long.
"Sorry about that, I haven"t been feeling very well today and was in the nurse"s office," she explained somewhat nervously. "I"ll just get you those brownies and you can be on your way."
"I don"t have all day," he said coldly.
His intensity pierced her so badly that she fumbled over the combination three times before getting the lock to open. She picked up the Tupperware container and held it out gingerly as if it were a bomb, not meeting his eyes.
"Here. There"s no need to return the container; just take it and we"re good. Please don"t talk to me anymore."
Aaron"s knuckles whitened as he gripped the container. "You hate me so much?"
"I…I don"t hate you," she lied, crumbling under his frightening stare.
Maybe flattering him could get him off her back. "I"m not worth your time or effort so you should go talk to people in your own social circle."
"Who are you to decide what I deem worthy?"
Each word was colder than the last. Keeley hadn"t seen him this angry in long time. She was used to emotionless, detached Aaron, not this icy beast.
She shouldn"t have provoked him. Or made the stupid brownies in the first place.
Her eyes darted down the hallway. If she didn"t care about leaving her locker open, she might be able to make an escape.
He noticed her line of sight and menacingly stepped closer so her back was pressed up against the lockers.
"You think you can run away from me?"