THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[66.1] SECOND COUNTERS

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The truth was I had lost my keys in the restricted area, near a choir of sirens.

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AFTER TAKING a deep breath in, I decided to turn around, my eyes raising to meet that of Lucas Bowne who had jumped down from the stage as the rest of the students started leaving. I did spot Ellie in the corner chatting with Roman, another Orange in the corner.

She hadn't seemed to look our way yet and so I hoped anything that Lucas was planning to say wouldn't take too long.

"I thought that was you," he began a twinkle in his eyes.

I marveled at that tiny detail. I loved the way his hazel eyes became so clear in the sunlight even when he had to squint. His eyelashes were long and thick which honestly had to make any girl as jealous, which was exactly how I was feeling at the moment.

I managed a shy smile and Claire managed a short wave as her cheeks reddened in a deep blush. I couldn't blame the girl, had I had lighter skin, I too would have been blushing like crazy.

He grinned widely as Andrew Myers walked towards us too.

"I see you finally found your friend," Lucas pointed out, his beautiful eyes trailing to Claire. My jaw hangs slightly open not knowing what to say before nodding quite uncertainly.

Claire looked at me quizzically.

You could tell she was shy by the slight shake in her hand as she pushed her glasses up her nose, but at least this time she could get a sentence in without stuttering too much as was the case with you know who.

"Found me?" she repeated, before nervously chuckling, looking between us, "was I lost or something?" she mused.

I shook my head, offering a nervous laugh to cover the moment but it seemed Lucas was not so quick to let it go, laughter dancing in his eyes.

"Oh, I was talking about the hide-and-seek games you like to play in the Crown," he explained, "I was just glad she finally found you."

"Hide and seek? The crown-" Claire questioned her eyebrows drawing together but I spun around turning to Andrew Myer's instead signing quickly.

Anything to get out of this awkward moment.

Andrew watched my fingers move in shock, staring at me like a statue until I froze reminding myself that Andrew probably didn't understand sign language, or even worse, he didn't know that I couldn't speak.

"Uh- sorry, I don't uh-" he trailed off looking at me dumbfounded, then at Lucas with an expression that I could have translated as, 'What the heck was that'

I felt like a fool jumping from one uncomfortable situation to another, my eyes trailing to the floor at the second awkward moment in under a minute.

"I think she said hi," Lucas suddenly said turning to Andrew Myers. My gaze moved upward, "right? A sort of greeting" he asked, "it was kind of fast, I couldn't catch all of it," he added, with a slight huff.

A small smile spread on my face and I nodded. It was only then Andrew replied, "Oh, I'm...uh- hi, I'm good."

For a question that simple, he didn't seem that sure of himself in my opinion.

My eyes trailed toward Ellie who was leaving the stage behind us, my eyes dropping to the floor when I saw her curiously look our way before leaving the King's Gardens.