“Seems you have a new partner,” Mrs. Kuft informed her. “You are now paired with Ms. Stone.”
The girl glanced across the bench; her smile was warm and welcoming. Natti returned it with a wave. Kevin snorted a laugh next to her and shook his head.
“Right!” Mrs. Kuft raised her voice to the class. “Today you will be starting—”
“Sorry I’m late.”
Natti nearly fell off her seat when the familiar, honey-sweet voice drifted through the gate. This couldn’t be happening! Not for a third time in one day. She refused to look and instead turned to watch all the girls’ faces light up at the sound. It was like entering a Twilight Zone episode. Practically every girl was trying to catch a glimpse over Natti’s shoulder. Their cheeks rosy with color as they all swooned in their seats. Even Mrs. Kuft, who had to be in her mid-thirties, seemed weak at the knees.
Kevin groaned and turned away with a scowl along with many of the other boys in the class. Though some had actually smiled first and bowed their heads in some sort of respect. She recognized two young men standing at the opposite end of the court from the parking lot that morning. They whispered to each other and sniggered at the scene before them.
Natti hesitated, but curiosity finally won out. She let her eyes fall away from the crowd. Two tennis shoes appeared in the corner of her peripheral vision, and she slowly turned, finding Seth just a few feet from her. He gazed down at her with that beguiling smile. Her heart rate increasing, Natti’s eyes wandered over his well-fitting gym uniform and the Wilson Pro tennis racquet in his hand. She couldn’t deny how hot he looked.
“Hi again.” He nodded to her.
Kevin glanced her way just as all the girls’ eyes latched onto her, many of which looked murderously jealous. Only Wanda sent her a small, sympathetic smile before her face fell, looking completely crushed.
“Ah . . .” Natti shrank backward in her seat, not sure what to do. She didn’t want to appear rude in front of the entire class. “Hi?”
She blushed, making Seth laugh; the magical sound was as hypnotic as his eyes. How could he be so perfect? It was like he should be in modeling or in films, not going to a pathetic high school in the middle of the desert. Yet she felt it again, that heaviness. Why was she constantly feeling that around him? It was like his living and being there was a lie.
After a moment of gawking, Natti realized neither Mrs. Kuft nor Kevin found the exchange amusing. “Mr. O’Keefe, you are late yet again!”
Seth returned his attention to the teacher, her sour face melting when he locked his eyes on hers. He flashed a pleasant grin which made her giggle like a school girl.
“Yes . . . ah . . .” He glanced back at Natti. “I got a little distracted. You understand. Right, Mrs. Kuft?”
Natti could already feel knives being driven into her flesh from the other girls’ sour glares. She caught sight of Kevin shaking his head in disbelief.
“Oh!” Mrs. Kuft looked lost for words. “Well, we all get distracted once and while. Take a seat.”
Natti’s jaw dropped when Mrs. Kuft let Seth slide by, not even giving him a warning. How could she just let him walk by when she had to run laps for being tardy? As if in reply to her thought, Seth winked at her and then jogged over to the two boys waiting at the other side. One jerked his head toward her with a grin that sent shivers down her spine. Seth turned to look at her. He whispered something to his friend, wiggling his brow and smiling like the cat that ate the canary. The others laughed.
“Al-l-l-right,” Mrs. Kuft called. “As I was saying you will be breaking into your groups today to practice your strokes, especially your lobs. So get your partners and take your places at your assigned courts.”
She blew a whistle that dangled around her neck, making everyone jump. Before Kevin could slip away, Natti tugged at his shirt.
“What’s up with them?” She gestured to Seth and two other boys with him.
Kevin scowled at the group. “Well, sounds like you’re going to know them anyway, if you don’t already, so I might as well tell you. That’s Seth and his buddies, they’re seniors. Based on that little exchange, I take it you’ve met Seth, their ring leader.” Natti nodded in response. “Well, you probably also have heard of his reputation.”
“More like seen it in action,” Natti commented.
Kevin’s brows rose as he stared.
“Oh, no!” Natti shook her head. “I didn’t mean . . . I sort of walked in on him and his girlfriend this morning.”
“You mean one of his girlfriends.”
“What?”