(request for PianistBookworm !)

CONNER turned in his paper with utter confidence. The past couple of weeks, his teacher had tasked him and his class with writing a ten-chapter short story with a topic and storyline of their choice. Naturally, Conner breezed through this assignment. It was almost second nature to write at this point. He was done his story before anyone else in his class was.

And by "anyone else", he meant Bree Campbell.

Yes, she was in his english class again. And yes, she was still grounded. But that didn't change how either of them felt.

As Conner passed to his desk, another body plopped into the one beside him. "Kind of think I nailed that one, not gonna lie."

Conner turned. "Yeah, I think I did too."

Bree smirked, leaning back in her desk. "I don't doubt it," She replied.

Conner felt his cheeks heat up. Sure, it had been three weeks since school started up again, but nothing had happened between the two of them and Conner still couldn't string proper sentences together. "What's your's about?" Is what came out of his mouth next. He instantly found himself curious of what she had written on those papers.

"Oh, the usual," She shrugged. "A complex female protagonist is faced with the death of a loved one, and she has to figure out how said loved one died while running away from the ghosts of her past and so on and so forth..." Bree raised her brows. "How about you?" She asked Conner.

He felt his body heat up, and he nervously tugged on his collar. The mere prospect of the story made him embarrassed. He'll admit, he'd written it well and the plot was pretty good, but some of the events weren't ones he'd want Bree to read. "Just... stuff," He said lamely. "You'll have to wait and see."

Bree didn't seem satisfied with Conner's response. "I'm counting on it," She grinned, stepping out of the chair to go back to her proper seat. She snuck a glance at Conner, and when he caught her eye, she mouthed something to him. "Bet you I'll get a better grade!"

Conner rolled his eyes. He bit his lip to stop himself from full-on beaming. "Bet you you're wrong!" He mouthed back.

**************

Bree was probably right.

As their teacher walked down the aisles giving back tests, he stopped at Bree's desk for a moment to talk to her.

After he moved on, Bree smiled cheekily. "Ninety-six," She boasted silently, holding her test up so he could see.

Conner sat straighter in his seat. He was eagerly awaiting to see how he did on this assignment.

But the teacher breezed right past him, opting to shoot Conner a meaningful look instead.

"Before I let you all go for the day," The teacher said over the class' chatter. "There's one story in particular that I thought deserved more than an A plus." He looked in Conner's vicinity. "I've decided to share this story with you all. I believe it may encourage you to do better on your next project." He took out a stack of typed papers that Conner instantly recognized as his own.

Conner's heart leapt. Partly because his story was being read to the class, so surely he'd done better than Bree! On the other hand, Bree was the last person in the world he'd want to share this story with. He lowered his head onto his desk, already feeling his cheeks begin to melt. Of all the stories to read out loud, it had to be this one!

The teacher cleared his throat, flicking open the first page of Conner's story. As he read, the whole class stopped their bickering and stared, enamoured by the tale of two lovestruck teens braving the uncertainties of a class trip gone wrong.

The more the teacher read, the more Conner wanted to die. The ties between his relationships and the ones the main character had in the story were so blatantly obvious. He had no idea why he decided to write about what he wanted his relationship with Bree to be like. He didn't even know why he made it a class project! But for whatever reason, there was a part of Conner that hoped she'd hear this story because he couldn't seem to find all the words to say it himself.

After the final chapter (sealed with a kiss), the class applauded as Conner's teacher placed his paper marked on his desk. 100%.

Truth be told, Conner didn't really pay attention to his grade. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bree staring at him. She wasn't trying to hide, or catch his attention. She was just staring. Conner's stomach squirmed as he sank deeper and deeper into his chair.

Oh God, why did I write that? She probably thinks I'm super weird now and that I'm some spineless pathetic stalker! She's going to break up with me!! She's going to break up with me before we even started dating!

Conner's entire body was covered in red. The second the bell rang, he'd stuffed his things into his bag and burst out the door. He ducked his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Nice story."

Conner froze. Slowly turning back to the classroom, he saw her. Her mouth was quirked into a cute grin, and Conner could faintly see a trickle of red on her cheeks. Lord, she was beautiful.

Bree leaned against one of the many silver lockers. "It sounded a bit familiar, though." She looked Conner up and down, fiddling with her bracelets. "I wonder why?" The mischievous glint in her eyes persisted.

Conner felt his insides turn gooey. "Yeah, so strange..." He said quietly. He glued his eyes to her purple high-tops so they weren't glued to her face instead. He was also daydreaming about what would happen if he slammed his head between a couple of locker doors.

Bree shifted. She was acting a little shy, and it scared Conner. Had he offended her?

"Did you mean it?" She asked softly. "What you wrote?"

Conner looked back up, surprised. She was staring at him again, except this time her cheeks were definitely red. Her eyes were big, and sincere. She looked like she didn't want to hear the answer.

But Conner wanted to say it.

"Yes," He admitted. He meant every word.

He studied Bree's expression carefully. The thoughts in his head amplified tenfold. Oh God, she thinks I'm creepy! She thinks I'm a creep!

Bree took a step closer to him and Conner felt like running.

I hate confrontation! I hate confrontation! HELP ME!

"There was one thing that seemed a little out of place, though. Something I don't remember happening," Bree mused as she kept walking closer.

Conner couldn't breathe. She was going to slap him. Oh my God, she's going to slap me!

Bree looked up at him. "The ending."

Standing on her toes, Bree leaned up and kissed him.

Conner's head began to spin. He was pretty sure his heart had just fallen out of his chest. He instinctively pulled her closer to him and began to kiss her back. The feeling was magical, more magical than anything Conner could ever write.

He needed to blink more than a couple times to bring himself back to reality. "I like you," He blurted.

Bree laughed. "I like you too." She smiled widely.

Conner ended up kissing her again.

The class bell rang, and the two teens reluctantly looked around them, seeing others struggling to get to their next class. "We're going to be late," Conner muttered.

Bree began to walk away when she stopped. There was something else she wanted to say. "My house, after school?" She turned to Conner, who nodded brightly. "Climb through the window, I'll leave it unlocked."

Conner clutched the paper to his chest long after Bree was out of sight. "Oh, crap!" He yelped, realizing something. "Bree!" He called to her, dodging through the crowds. "I got a better grade than you!"

****************

sorry for the lack of updates everyone! i've got a lot of other books to focus on now, but they still own my heart and all that so don't be discouraged

thanks to PianistBookworm who requested this! i hope i did it justice, and i'd appreciation if some of you could give me prompts/scenarios to write about if you have any.

anyways they're so cute uwu and check out my other fics because there's a lot more cuteness uwu
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