A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 96

A LITTLE OUT OF IT

The cafeteria was louder than usual, but I barely paid any attention to it as I sat across from Kaia, my fork slowly moving through my food without barely any interest.

Caelum had dropped me back home after our.. time together, thankfully, my parents hadn’t been home. The last thing I needed was walking through the door, having to explain who he was.

Explaining Caelum would have opened a whole conversation I wasn’t ready for, and I didn’t have the patience for the questions, the assumptions, or the judgment that would come with it.

Especially from my mother

I knew exactly how she would react, she had a way of taking something small and turning it into something bigger than it needed to be and would say things she probably wouldn’t think twice about afterward, but won’t be that way for him

And I wasn’t about to put him through that

Maybe that was one of the reasons I hadn’t told them who my tutor was. They knew I had a tutor, they just didn’t know Caelum was the person helping me. Keeping it that way had been easier.

I continued picking at my food, barely noticing the conversations happening around us, until Kaia’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“It seems like the boys won’t be joining us today,” I looked up at her, II heard they have practice because they’ve got a match coming up next week,” she continued. “They’ve got to be on their A game, especially since one of their teammates hurt his leg and can’t play.”

Glancing around the cafeteria, I noticed the empty seats where they usually sat, their team had a lot riding on the upcoming match, and with one player already out, they couldn’t afford to lose focus.

I nodded, twirling my fork through my food as Kaia continued talking, my attention drifted between her words and my own thoughts until she suddenly tilted her head.

“What about Caelum?” she asked, “where is he since he clearly doesn’t play any spot,” the slight jab in her tone didn’t go unnoticed.

My brow lifted at the comment, but I kept my expression neutral. I wasn’t about to let her know it bothered me, “He had something to take care of,” I said simply, “he couldn’t join us.”

That was all she needed to know, except my mind had already wandered somewhere else. Back to earlier, just after third period.

I still couldn’t believe he had done that

One second I was walking down the hallway and the next, he had me pulled into an empty classroom. Before I could ask what the hell he was doing, or even process what was happening, his lips were on mine with no warning or a chance for me to react.

Just him taking control of the moment like he already knew exactly how it would affect me.

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A Kiss At Midnight

And the annoying part..It worked.

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Afterward, he told me he wouldn’t be able to join us during lunch because he had some kind of group tutoring session. I barely even caught the details because my brain had been too busy replaying the kiss.

He was getting bolder, that was for sure. But at the same time, I couldn’t exactly say I hated it.

“Delilah?” Kaia’s voice pulled me back and I blinked, looking at her. “Oh, right,” she picked up her phone from the table and unlocked it, swiping across the screen a few times before turning it toward me from across the table.

“What do you think?” I look at the picture she was showing me, It was a dress, a cute one. A fitted shape that hugged the waist before flowing into a slightly flared skirt, stopping just above the knees.

Kaia watched my reaction, waiting for my opinion. I looked at the dress for another second before handing the phone back slightly.

“It’s actually really pretty,” I said, “the style suits you, It’s cute without looking like you’re trying too hard.”

She took her phone back, a pleased smile appearing on her face. “I know, right?” she said, staring at the screen again before sighing, “I’m just not sure about the color.” She glanced at the picture, “I was thinking maybe I should go for something a little bolder instead, It’s the fall festival, and I don’t want to wear something that’s just cute. I did that last year already.”

A memory of last fall filed my mind. It had been simple but somehow managed to make everyone look twice, she had walked into the festival looking effortlessly good, leaving half the boys there trying to find the courage to talk to her. A few of them had actually approached her, only to walk away looking disappointed after getting rejected.

This made the corner of my lips lift, my gaze returning back at the dress on her phone. “Where did you get it from?” I couldn’t help asking.

Kaia looked up. “The dress?”

Nodding “Yeah.”

She leaned back slightly, thinking. “It’s from a friend of my aunt’s, he’s a designer. He actually custom made my aunt’s dress, and after she wore it, he asked her to reach out if she ever needed anything else made,” glancing down at the screen again, “I was actually thinking of using him for my prom dress too, we have a couple more months to prepare for it, so I figured the earlier the better.”

“But for now, he’s helping me with my outfit for the fall festival and homecoming.” she scrolled through the picture again, pausing for a second as made a face, “and probably the winter dance too, if the school actually decides to have one this year. Considering they cancelled last year’s, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

I looked at her, already imagining the chaos another school event would bring, “I think you should go with emerald green.”

Kaia looked up from her phone. “Emerald green?”

“Yeah.” I leaned back in my chair, “It would look good with your eyes, the color would make them stand out

more.”

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A Kiss At Midnight

Her expression softened with uncertainty. “You think so?”

Giving her a confident look. “I know so,” that was all the answer she needed.

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She lightly tapped her hand against the table, a smile spreading across her face, “Then emerald green it is,” looking looked down at her phone again before glancing back at me, “actually, you should use him too, it would be fun. We could both have our dresses made by the same designer.”

I couldn’t help smiling at the way her eyes lit up with excitement. “I’ll think about it,”

Her smile remained. “I hope it’s a positive answer,” she picked up her drink and took a sip before setting it back down. “Um..” the hesitation immediately caught my attention, “speaking of homecoming…”

Leanimg forward slightly, she lowers her voice as if she was about to ask something important. “Are you going with someone?”

My gaze remained on her for a second before scoffing. “No,” picking up my fork again, I casually moving my food around. “Why would I? It’s literally just a school dance, not a damn royal ball.”

Kaia watched me for a moment before tilting her head. “How about going with Caelum?”

My eyes lifted to hers. “Why would I go with him?”

The look she gave me immediately made me pause, It was the kind of look that said, Are you seriously going to pretend you don’t know what I mean and make me say it?

I kept my brow raised, refusing to give in, not backing down, till she slowly raised both hands in surrender.

“Fine. I’ll let it go,” a small smile playing on her lips, “for now.” I gave her a look, “I was just curious how long you were planning on keeping this going and pretending there isn’t an invisible pull between the two of you.”

My lips parted to respond, but the bell rang before I could. The sound was a little too convenient. I let out a subtle sigh, grateful for the interruption as Kaia shakes her head, clearly amused but doesn’t push any further.

We both got up, throwing away the remains of our food before leaving the cafeteria, the hallway was already filling with students rushing to their next classes as we made our way toward Kaia’s locker so she could grab

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