I huffed at that reminder. Poppy pushed me until my back was against the tree. I saw students beginning to enter the school, most of them looking at us. The whispers were already beginning.
“Would you hurt me, Rune?” Poppy demanded.
Defeated by her tenacity, I placed a hand on the nape of her neck, and assured her, “Never.”
“Then to hell with what anyone else thinks.”
I laughed at her fire. She smiled and put her hand on her hip. “How was that for attitude? Bad-girl enough?”
Taking her by surprise, I spun her until her back was against the tree. Before she had a chance to argue, I closed in and kissed her. Our lips were slow-moving, the kiss was deep, Poppy’s lips parting to let in my tongue. I tasted the sweetness in her mouth, before pulling away.
Poppy was breathless. Combing through my damp hair with her fingers, she said, “I know you, Rune. You wouldn’t hurt me.” She scrunched her nose and joked, “I’d bet my life on it.”
An ache tried to form in my chest. “That wasn’t funny.”
She held her finger and thumb about an inch apart. “It was. A little bit.”
I shook my head. “You do know me,
Poppymin. Only you.
For you.
For you only.”
Poppy studied me. “And maybe that’s the problem,” she concluded. “Maybe if you let other people in. Maybe if you showed those you love that you’re still you underneath all the dark clothes and broodiness, they wouldn’t judge you so harshly. They’d love you for whoever you chose to be, because they’d see your true soul.”
I stayed silent, then she said, “Like Alton. How’s your relationship with Alton?”
“He’s a kid,” I replied, not understanding what she meant.
“He’s a little boy who worships you. A little boy who’s upset you don’t speak to him, or do anything with him.”
I felt those words tunnel a pit into my stomach. “How do you know?”
“Because he told me,” she said. “He got upset.”
I pictured Alton crying, but I quickly chased it away. I didn’t want to think of it. I may not have much to do with him, but I didn’t want to see him cry.
“There’s a reason he has long hair, you know? There’s a reason he pushes it from his face like you do. It’s real cute.”
“He has long hair because he’s Norwegian.”
Poppy rolled her eyes. “Not every Norwegian boy has long hair, Rune. Don’t be silly. He has long hair because he wants to be like you. He imitates your habits, your idiosyncrasies, because he wants to be like you. He wants you to notice him. He adores you.”
My head dropped to face the ground. Poppy guided it back with her hands. She searched my eyes. “And your pappa? Why don’t you—“
“Enough,” I spat out, harshly, refusing to talk about him. I would never forgive him for taking me away. This one topic was off-limits, even for Poppy. Poppy seemed neither hurt nor offended by my outburst. Instead, all I saw was sympathy in her face.
I couldn’t bear that either.
Taking her hand, and without another word, I pulled her toward the school. Poppy gripped my hand tightly when other students stopped looking and started staring. “Let them stare,” I said to Poppy as we entered the school gates.
“Okay,” she replied and edged closer to my side.
When we walked into the hallway, I saw Deacon, Judson, Jorie, Avery and Ruby all gathered near their lockers. I hadn’t spoken to any of them since the party.
None of them knew of this development.
It was Jorie who turned first, her eyes widening when her gaze fell to Poppy’s and my joined hands. She must have said something under her breath, because in seconds, all our friends turned to look at us. Confusion was all over their faces.
Turning to Poppy, I urged, “Come on, we’d better speak to them.”
I moved to go forward, when Poppy pulled me back. “They don’t know about…” she whispered, for only me to hear. “No one does except our families and the teachers. And you.”
I nodded slowly. Then she said, “And Jorie. Jorie knows too.”
That bit of information slammed into my gut. Poppy must have seen the hurt on my face, because she explained, “I needed someone, Rune. She was my closest friend except for you. She helped me with schoolwork and things like that.”
“But you told her and not me,” I said, fighting the urge to walk away and get some air.
Poppy held on tightly to me. “She didn’t love me like you did. And I don’t love her like I love you.”
As Poppy said those words, my anger faded …
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.