For once, I didn't hesitate.

I even said goodbye to my friends and turned, not caring who was watching or what they thought. I walked the stairs down to the field and turned towards the back gate, making my way towards her.

My strides were long and full of energy, making the journey short. The barrier between us had disappeared with that picture. The boundary was always undeclared. After her confession to having sex, there was a unmentioned limit to what I could say. Between that and her issues, the picture got rid of that barrier.

She was under her tree, shoveling food in her mouth. It probably looked graceful from a distance but I knew that it wasn't. Yet it was kind of...Attractive.

"Hungry?" I smirked, watching as she got a scare. She made a face.

"Shut up. I haven't eaten this whole day." She argued. I sat down next to her.

She placed her fork neatly on her bag and closed her lunchbox. She then proceeded to grab her fork, placed it on the lunchbox and then put it in her bag.

The simple action made my blood rush once more. A regular thing with Adeline. I knew that once she got up to go to class, the objects would a mess at the bottom of her bag but that didn't stop her from doing it.

The sudden complicated thoughts of lunchboxes and messes passed when I realized she was watching me. I smiled, not bothered that she caught me.

The wind picked up, ruffling her hair. Her hands moved to push it away from her face. In the process she had shifted closer to me. I don't know if she had done it unintentionally or intentionally but it was a smooth move. I, on the other hand, was less subtle and simply moved closer, nudging her shoulder in the process.

She wasn't shy. There wasn't a barrier. She was different, I thought.

"I guess I should do more favors for you if it gets me more of those pictures." The words left my mouth before I could process them. I silently cursed myself.

There might not be a barrier but you still don't want to push until you can't to back anymore.

But a small smile grew. "Well if it's the pictures you want then I guess I don't have any more favors for you to do."

My eyes left her and roamed over the scenery of the back gate. Trees swayed in the wind, cars passed at regular intervals. Every now and then a person would walk pass the gate.

"I don't think it's the pictures that I want more of. I think it's you." My eyes refocused on hers who was already watching me. "Maybe I want more of you."

I don't know what would've happened. My words had had the effect that I only then realized I wanted them to have. But the bell hsd run, signaling the end of lunch period.

I got up and offered her a hand. I didn't mind being late for class but my bag was still by my friends and that would make me late enough.

She squeezed my hand before letting go. "My last period is Natural Science. Come fetch me."

As we both turned and walked in separate directions, my mind thrust five words to the front: It isn't a game anymore.

I turned around once more but she wasn't looking my way like I had hoped for.