grin. “Did you guys make it back?”
“Yeah, it got too dark to take more pictures. He got me back just in time to get the last dessert.” Her smile is fat as she watches the tallest guy in the quad approach.
Interesting.
“Morning, Cherry,” Ethan says. He hands a paper sack to Danielle.
I give him as dirty a look as I can muster for the nickname. “Guess we’d better get to the study room before Julian sends out a search party.”
“Yeah,” he says. He takes a bite of his bagel and turns to Danielle. “See you later.”
I’ve already turned to walk away, and Ethan is behind me, not making much of an effort to keep up. I try to guess when the sun sets at this time of year, and why he was out until midnight if Danielle was eating dessert at dusk.
“Why don’t you walk on the sidewalk?” Ethan asks. “The grass has to be difficult in those things.”
I glance over my shoulder. He’s several yards behind me, but his face scrunches up, lip curled, mocking my shoes. “I’ve already seen the view from there,” I say, facing forward again.
“Always in search of something new to amuse you?” His tone is loaded; he’s not talking about the paths between buildings.
“Something like that.”
“So you’re even bored just walking down the sidewalk?”
“I didn’t say I was bored, I said I’d seen it before.” I sigh, and stop walking. “There’s a crack in the concrete about five feet up, and next to the cigarette butt wedged in it is some mossy stuff. Beyond that is the stain of some pink chalk with Greek sorority symbols. Two more steps, and there’s another crack, diagonal this time, but nothing is growing in it.”
He says nothing, so I turn around. I close my eyes a second, flipping through my mental sketchbook of images, stopping at a landscape of the campus the day before yesterday.
“You arrived here in a white Nissan, driven by an African-American woman with a silver charm bracelet. The license plate number ended in 6B—the first half was blocked by the beige sedan behind you. You had your camera satchel, and a green backpack with a blue logo. Packing light for a six week stay, don’t you think? And when she drove away, you reached down like you were tying your shoe, but you ran your palm over the grass, like you’d never felt it before.”
His eyes narrow, wary, then he smirks. “Nice of you to notice me, Cherry. I didn’t realize I’d made such an impression.”
“You didn’t. You were just part of the scenery, then.”
“And now?” he taunts.
“I’m not that impressed.” I shrug, baiting him back. “You’re rude, you’re not a team player, and you eat hunched over your food like you think people will steal it.”
Again, he hides an expression with a sneer. “So basically, you have a good memory and you’re a snob, like all the other stuck-up geeks here.”
“SHiP happens,” I say with a sarcastic smile, and turn my back again.
“Hey,” he says, still not bothering to keep pace with me. “Are you and I going to keep this up the whole time?”
I glare back. “Keep what up?”
“This little hostile act between the two of us.”
“I’m not hostile.” I stop and force him to catch up. “Seriously. I’m not, but whatever baggage you’re carrying around is a little hard to ignore. Maybe you should keep it in check during class hours.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can handle your bullshit but Julian is one hundred percent serious about this scholarship. He lost by half a point last year, and it wasn’t his fault. The fact we’re already a team member down is stressing him out. You need to carry your load of the weight.”
“You think you can handle me?” His eyes are hard and his jaw is set, and he takes a step, towering over me, even though I’m in an extra four inches today. “I’ll do my share, Cherry, but otherwise our relationship ends there. I didn’t come here to get some kind of surrogate family, or make best friends
“Yeah, it got too dark to take more pictures. He got me back just in time to get the last dessert.” Her smile is fat as she watches the tallest guy in the quad approach.
Interesting.
“Morning, Cherry,” Ethan says. He hands a paper sack to Danielle.
I give him as dirty a look as I can muster for the nickname. “Guess we’d better get to the study room before Julian sends out a search party.”
“Yeah,” he says. He takes a bite of his bagel and turns to Danielle. “See you later.”
I’ve already turned to walk away, and Ethan is behind me, not making much of an effort to keep up. I try to guess when the sun sets at this time of year, and why he was out until midnight if Danielle was eating dessert at dusk.
“Why don’t you walk on the sidewalk?” Ethan asks. “The grass has to be difficult in those things.”
I glance over my shoulder. He’s several yards behind me, but his face scrunches up, lip curled, mocking my shoes. “I’ve already seen the view from there,” I say, facing forward again.
“Always in search of something new to amuse you?” His tone is loaded; he’s not talking about the paths between buildings.
“Something like that.”
“So you’re even bored just walking down the sidewalk?”
“I didn’t say I was bored, I said I’d seen it before.” I sigh, and stop walking. “There’s a crack in the concrete about five feet up, and next to the cigarette butt wedged in it is some mossy stuff. Beyond that is the stain of some pink chalk with Greek sorority symbols. Two more steps, and there’s another crack, diagonal this time, but nothing is growing in it.”
He says nothing, so I turn around. I close my eyes a second, flipping through my mental sketchbook of images, stopping at a landscape of the campus the day before yesterday.
“You arrived here in a white Nissan, driven by an African-American woman with a silver charm bracelet. The license plate number ended in 6B—the first half was blocked by the beige sedan behind you. You had your camera satchel, and a green backpack with a blue logo. Packing light for a six week stay, don’t you think? And when she drove away, you reached down like you were tying your shoe, but you ran your palm over the grass, like you’d never felt it before.”
His eyes narrow, wary, then he smirks. “Nice of you to notice me, Cherry. I didn’t realize I’d made such an impression.”
“You didn’t. You were just part of the scenery, then.”
“And now?” he taunts.
“I’m not that impressed.” I shrug, baiting him back. “You’re rude, you’re not a team player, and you eat hunched over your food like you think people will steal it.”
Again, he hides an expression with a sneer. “So basically, you have a good memory and you’re a snob, like all the other stuck-up geeks here.”
“SHiP happens,” I say with a sarcastic smile, and turn my back again.
“Hey,” he says, still not bothering to keep pace with me. “Are you and I going to keep this up the whole time?”
I glare back. “Keep what up?”
“This little hostile act between the two of us.”
“I’m not hostile.” I stop and force him to catch up. “Seriously. I’m not, but whatever baggage you’re carrying around is a little hard to ignore. Maybe you should keep it in check during class hours.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can handle your bullshit but Julian is one hundred percent serious about this scholarship. He lost by half a point last year, and it wasn’t his fault. The fact we’re already a team member down is stressing him out. You need to carry your load of the weight.”
“You think you can handle me?” His eyes are hard and his jaw is set, and he takes a step, towering over me, even though I’m in an extra four inches today. “I’ll do my share, Cherry, but otherwise our relationship ends there. I didn’t come here to get some kind of surrogate family, or make best friends
Similar Books
