I nodded. It weirdly felt like the two of them were my fairy godmothers, warning me to hurry so I wouldn’t turn into a pumpkin when the clock struck the hour. I hurried up the ladder and pushed open the trapdoor in the ceiling. “Goodnight,” I whispered down to them.

“Congrats on your first boyfriend, Scarlett,” Uncle Rob said.

I smiled, closed the door behind me, and replaced the rug. I tentatively put a little of my weight down on the carpet. Huh. It was actually secure.

Uncle Rob’s words spun around in my head. I had my first boyfriend. And I made it up to my room without being seen. I sighed and fell backward onto my bed. Jacob Miller was my boyfriend. I just need him to officially ask me.

Chapter 30 – Mr. Halifax

Monday

“See you at lunch,” Jacob said as we stopped outside my first class.

I swear his eyes dropped to my lips.

But I didn’t get a chance to find out if he’d been about to kiss me, because Sophie grabbed my arm and pulled me backward into Mr. Halifax’s room.

I was just able to wave goodbye to Jacob. “Sophie,” I hissed. “I think it was about to happen.”

“And I love that for you, but we were going to be late.” She hurried to the back of the room.

I sat down next to her. We were practically the first people in here.

She sighed and put her chin in her hand. “God, look at Mr. Halifax’s ass in those jeans. I think he only wears jeans when he’s on edge, you know? It’s so hot.”

“That’s not what you were saying about him on Saturday.” I really did not want to be early to Mr. Halifax’s class. And I certainly didn’t want to stare at his butt in a pair of jeans. I opened up my calculus book and just stared at it so I didn’t have to look at him.

“But we agreed that it couldn’t possibly be Mr. Halifax texting you.”

We had agreed on that. But I wasn’t 100% sure. Wanting something to not be true and it actually not being true were two entirely different things. “What if it is him though?”

“Ew. No. Stop it.”

I sighed. Why was it gross when Mr. Halifax liked me but hot when he liked her? I shook my head. I didn’t need to analyze this. “Sophie, what if I sent him scandalous pictures of me in a bathing suit?”

“You didn’t.”

I think she just wanted to believe that it wasn’t Mr. Halifax. There was significant evidence that was kind of pointing at him.

“He’s not even looking at you, Scar. If he was your stalker, wouldn’t he be like...stalking you better in class?”