Shhh!

     One down, four to go, Veronica Jeong thought as she slid one notebook away and pulled a different one in front of her. A big test was coming up soon, and being the good student her parents wanted her to be, she had to study like there was no tomorrow. 

     Leaning forward and resting her cheek on her hand, she began to read. The library was bright and quiet; a gorgeous winter day-perfect for curling up in the library with a good book. Or, in Veronica’s case, biology notes. 

     “Hey.”

     A voice pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up into the sickening beautiful blue eyes of none other than the infamous Collin Winter. He was across the table she was sitting at, standing in front of her. Veronica gave him an annoyed look before returning to her notes. 

     “What’re you studying?” He walked over to Veronica’s side of the table and peered over her shoulder. “Ah, biology. A personal favorite of mine.” He leaned in close to her ear and smirked. “You know, I could give you a private lesson in that subject some time. I’ve been told I’m quite the... tutor.” 

     She turned in her chair angrily so her back was to the boy. That did not deter him, though. In fact, it egged him on. He came around to her other side and kneeled, gently putting a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from turning around again. 

     “Come on, Jeong, I was only kidding.” He gave her an apologetic pouting face. She found it sort of endearing, but made absolutely sure he would never find that out.

     “Shhh.” She put a finger up to her lips, shushing him. “This is a library. You’re supposed to be quiet. People are trying to read, you know.” She grimaced and grudgingly added, “And my name’s Veronica. Not Jeong.”

     “Well, Veronica,” he teased, lightly grabbing her wrist and pulling her hand away from her face. “Maybe we should go somewhere we can talk.” He moved closer. “Or... we could do something that doesn’t require talking.”

     She raised an annoyed eyebrow at him. “Like studying?” 

     He rolled his eyes and sat in the chair next to her, exhaling dramatically. “Fine, you win. This time.” He winked at her and leaned back in his chair, exuding a very easygoing energy. 

     Veronica tried to go back to reading, but her eyes kept wandering to the boy next to her. He was sitting there. Just sitting. He had no books, no papers, nothing. Exasperated, she threw up her hands and asked him in a voice a bit louder than expected, “What exactly are you doing here, Collin?”

     A vigorous “Shhhh!” came from various voices also attempting to study near the pair. 

     Veronica’s face flushed, embarrassed at her little moment of no control.

     Collin thought it was cute and chuckled as he scooted his chair closer. He put his hand over Veronica’s left hand which was resting on the table and intertwined his fingers with hers. “Well, I wanted to be by you. Isn’t that obvious? I was never trying to hide my intentions.”

     She quickly snatched her hand out from under his and placed them in her lap, away from Collin. She blushed harder and felt her pulse speed up. 

     He decided that was enough for today and stood up, cupping her cheek in his right hand. “Alas, it seems you do not wish for my company right now, so I will say goodbye until next time. Till then, Jeong.” He winked mischievously as he moved a stray hair behind her ear and walked away, leaving Veronica alone at last. 

     When he was out of sight, Veronica hit her head angrily. Why was she so nervous around this boy? She should have learned how to control these feelings better by now!

     She let out an audible groan of frustration as she let her forehead fall to the table.

     “Shhhhhh!!” This time, the response from her peers was much more aggressive. 

     With one final flush of the cheeks, she picked her head up, shook it to clear her thoughts, and returned to studying. However, the rest of the session wasn’t as productive because images of those tantalizing-No, just... pretty? Not even that. Well formed.-eyes of Collin remained glued to the front of her mind.