law school.
“Eh. Sometimes I feel so left out with you two.”
“You know you wouldn’t want to come,” I said with a laugh.
Suse shrugged and looked away. I knew she knew it was true.
W e turned to watch the other end of the table explode in laughter. Erich had gotten up from the table and was demonstrating some ridiculous new dance move. Astoria was telling him he had to be exaggerating; that the dance couldn’t be that stupid. He was adamant that it was. I smiled and agreed with Astoria when my opinion was asked. That was the quickest way to get out of any question involving Astoria’s opinion, I knew.
Suse and I turned away from them again. I stifled a yawn.
Suse picked at her pale pink nail polish and looked up at me with chocolate brown eyes. “You know, you never told me what happened to you earlier. You told me you were leaving the store around five and you didn’t get to my place until six. I don’t live that far from where you were.”
I stared at her for a moment, wondering how she would handle the truth. Some things just didn’t happen to come up in conversation. But I had my ideas about how she would react. I decided to keep it vague for the moment. I told her about my idiot car and getting both a jump and a study date from a fellow second-year.
“Wow, a date? Denise, you haven’t even talked about dating anyone since I met you. This is huge!” Suse was clearly enjoying this knowledge.
“Not a date. People study together all the time.” Yeah, obviously I wanted to think it was. Even though I knew it wasn’t. He wanted some help with Evidence. That was all. But still . . .
“Anyway, I’m coming over tomorrow to help you get ready.”
I didn’t object. I knew I could use the help.
As Suse continued to squeal and throw a fit about my study “date”, I threw nervous glances at Astoria, hoping she wouldn’t pick up on our conversation. I wanted Astoria to know the full story even less than I wanted Suse to know. Luckily, Sharon and Erich had her atten tion. They were laughing over stories about their summer jobs.
Eventually, the conversation returned to Suse going on and on about how all the first years loved her and hinting to me that I was really missing out by not coming to the function Monday night. I let her. I contented myself by thinking about John’s emerald eyes and imagining something funny and unforgettable I could say the next afternoon when we met up.
Annoyed with myself for even thinking it, I still couldn’t help but wonder if John really had a girlfriend. The rumor around school was this alleged girlfriend, Sasha, had already put in her early decision application to our law school. She was apparently a senior at Boston College. I liked to pretend she didn’t exist and hope hard proof of her existence would never come.
Hey. Even if I had no chance, it was nice to dream.
The star of the show demanded my attention, announcing that she was ready to open presents and cut the cake. I turned to face her and attempted to push John to the back of my mind. It wasn’t hard to do once I started to worry about Astoria’s reaction to her present again.
Chapter 2
STUDY BUDDY
The next day, I replied to Astoria’s text as I left the library because she’d asked where I was. Still not really feeling like telling her about John, I gave her a vague reply.
I got into my car, dumped my books and laptop in the passenger seat and started the engine. To my surprise, it sputtered to life on the first try. I took that as a good sign. I did a little happy dance in the driver’s seat as I buckled my seatbelt while still holding my phone in one hand.
Just as I was about to put my phone in the cup holder, my text message alert tone sounded. I flipped open my phone and found a new message from Astoria.
Who you studyin’ with? You hate studyin’ with people . Astoria’s message was right to the point, as always.
A guy. From our evidence class, I again left my return text
“Eh. Sometimes I feel so left out with you two.”
“You know you wouldn’t want to come,” I said with a laugh.
Suse shrugged and looked away. I knew she knew it was true.
W e turned to watch the other end of the table explode in laughter. Erich had gotten up from the table and was demonstrating some ridiculous new dance move. Astoria was telling him he had to be exaggerating; that the dance couldn’t be that stupid. He was adamant that it was. I smiled and agreed with Astoria when my opinion was asked. That was the quickest way to get out of any question involving Astoria’s opinion, I knew.
Suse and I turned away from them again. I stifled a yawn.
Suse picked at her pale pink nail polish and looked up at me with chocolate brown eyes. “You know, you never told me what happened to you earlier. You told me you were leaving the store around five and you didn’t get to my place until six. I don’t live that far from where you were.”
I stared at her for a moment, wondering how she would handle the truth. Some things just didn’t happen to come up in conversation. But I had my ideas about how she would react. I decided to keep it vague for the moment. I told her about my idiot car and getting both a jump and a study date from a fellow second-year.
“Wow, a date? Denise, you haven’t even talked about dating anyone since I met you. This is huge!” Suse was clearly enjoying this knowledge.
“Not a date. People study together all the time.” Yeah, obviously I wanted to think it was. Even though I knew it wasn’t. He wanted some help with Evidence. That was all. But still . . .
“Anyway, I’m coming over tomorrow to help you get ready.”
I didn’t object. I knew I could use the help.
As Suse continued to squeal and throw a fit about my study “date”, I threw nervous glances at Astoria, hoping she wouldn’t pick up on our conversation. I wanted Astoria to know the full story even less than I wanted Suse to know. Luckily, Sharon and Erich had her atten tion. They were laughing over stories about their summer jobs.
Eventually, the conversation returned to Suse going on and on about how all the first years loved her and hinting to me that I was really missing out by not coming to the function Monday night. I let her. I contented myself by thinking about John’s emerald eyes and imagining something funny and unforgettable I could say the next afternoon when we met up.
Annoyed with myself for even thinking it, I still couldn’t help but wonder if John really had a girlfriend. The rumor around school was this alleged girlfriend, Sasha, had already put in her early decision application to our law school. She was apparently a senior at Boston College. I liked to pretend she didn’t exist and hope hard proof of her existence would never come.
Hey. Even if I had no chance, it was nice to dream.
The star of the show demanded my attention, announcing that she was ready to open presents and cut the cake. I turned to face her and attempted to push John to the back of my mind. It wasn’t hard to do once I started to worry about Astoria’s reaction to her present again.
Chapter 2
STUDY BUDDY
The next day, I replied to Astoria’s text as I left the library because she’d asked where I was. Still not really feeling like telling her about John, I gave her a vague reply.
I got into my car, dumped my books and laptop in the passenger seat and started the engine. To my surprise, it sputtered to life on the first try. I took that as a good sign. I did a little happy dance in the driver’s seat as I buckled my seatbelt while still holding my phone in one hand.
Just as I was about to put my phone in the cup holder, my text message alert tone sounded. I flipped open my phone and found a new message from Astoria.
Who you studyin’ with? You hate studyin’ with people . Astoria’s message was right to the point, as always.
A guy. From our evidence class, I again left my return text
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