“You did, yesterday. And today.” He looks meaningfully at my fingers hanging by my sides, their tips glistening with the sparkly blue polish. “You painted your nails after our texts this morning, didn’t you?”

I grind my teeth so hard that I can almost feel the enamel flaking off. “I most certainly did not.” I don’t care that I’m lying. He deserves it for being the most presumptuous, conceited boy on the planet. To think—I was actually starting to give him credit for being a human being! “Look, you don’t have a monopoly on the color blue.”

“Good thing,” he says agreeably. “I like blue on you.”

I blink, taken aback by the compliment. But if he’s trying to be nice, maybe I should, too. “I wanted to apologize for yesterday. Like I said, I was, uh, dared to tell a stranger I loved him. I’m sorry if it brought you any unwanted attention.”

“No problem. I imagine you’re suffering the worst of it.” He lowers his head. “Let me know if anyone gives you a hard time, okay? I’ll talk to them.”

The corridor tilts lazily to the side. Is this the same guy who listed all the reasons why a person might have a crush on him?

“What would you say?” I manage. “That I couldn’t help falling in love because you’re so irresistible?”

His mouth quirks. “Something like that.” He checks the time on his cell phone. “I have exactly ten minutes before I need to make up a quiz. So whatever seduction you’ve got planned, make it quick.”

I bang my hand against Lalana’s locker, making the curling peels of paint vibrate. And…he’s back, ladies and gentlemen. The most obnoxious boy alive.

“For the last time, I have no interest in seducing you,” I say between clenched teeth. “I don’t date, okay? I’m not even going to prom. If you knew me at all, you would know that. But you don’t know me. Hence, the whole stranger bit.”

He tilts his head, considering me. The bored expression has returned, but he only looks up-to-his-ears tedious now, instead of out-of-his-skull. “Why don’t you date?”

I frown. I’m not about to tell him the truth: that the last thing I want to do is follow in my mom’s footsteps. “None of your business. All you need to know is that it’s not happening in high school. Not with you or anyone else.”

“Got it,” he says lightly. “So no dating for another decade, huh? I can just see you, ten years from now. Living on a beach in Ko Samui, sipping from a fresh coconut, and falling in love with the first charming guy who comes along.”