Page 52 of Mud, Love, and Chemistry

With a roll of my eyes, I give him a sideways look as I muster up the will to say, “Thank you for showing all that to me.”

“No problem.” He hikes a shoulder to his ear, a blush rising in his cheeks. “Well, we survived this together. Do you maybe want to do this every week?”

My spine stiffens. “You mean, me come here every week?”

Nodding, he rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. It’s nice to work with someone in person rather than communicating through email. And you can get some more practice with the apps.”

With pursed lips, I take in his offer. It’s not the worst idea, but it’s not the best.

“And, I don’t know, maybe you and I could work toward becoming friends?” The hope in his voice shines through as his deep brown eyes beg me to say yes.

I can’t, though. I want to, but I just can’t. Not after our muddy history and all the lies. “The best I can give you is frenemies.”

His mouth ticks up on one side, and he holds out his hand. “I’ll take what I can get.”

Chapter 16

The next few weeks fly by. Between classes, homework, tutoring sessions, and the study group, my time is completely eaten up. I barely hang out with my friends, and Lisa has been voicing her opinion on that fact almost daily.

“I’m sorry,” I say as I ready my backpack for lab day. “This semester’s kicking my ass.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lisa waves me off. “I know you’re busy. I just want a girls’ night once in a while. Is that too much to ask?”

Guilt weighs me down. “No, it’s not, but I don’t know when that’ll be. After classes and study group this week, I’ll be hunkered down all weekend since midterms are next week.”

“You’re racking up quite a tab, you know?”

“I know, I know. Tell you what. You pick any day after next Friday, and I’ll scrap whatever plans I have to do a girls’ night.”

Lisa sits straight up on the couch. “Really?”

“Really. I owe you some friend time.” The truth is, I could use some, too.

“The following Saturday night, then.”

I jerk my head back. “That was fast.”

“It’s Halloween weekend.” A sly grin spreads across her face as she nods. “You’re coming out with us and I’m picking our costumes.” When I start to protest, Lisa jumps from the couch to clamp her hand over my mouth. “Uh uh. You haven’t gone out for Halloween in years. I’m pulling my card. No excuses, Brynn.”

My whole body slumps with defeat. “Fine,” I say, the words muffled under Lisa’s hand. “Don’t make us into a bunch of sluts, please.”

***

Lab is fairly uneventful. With midterms coming up, Dr. Hinkle only gives us individual assignments for the day, and when we’re finished, we’re supposed to study. I appreciate the extra time to brush up on my O-Chem. Besides, it helps keep Sam out of my hair.

Hiking class doesn’t do much to combat my boring Tuesday. When I walk in, I see Professor Duncan at his desk reading, and the words “Study Day” written on the white board. As if I didn’t just do a mini-cram session in O-Chem lab, now I’m going to be studying for my hiking midterm, too? And what exactly do I need to study? This is hiking, for crying out loud.

With a groan, I slouch in my chair.

Professor Duncan closes his book before grabbing some papers. “As you can see, I’m giving you a study day to prepare for midterms next week. You can either do this alone, or in a group. It’s up to you.”

I fight the urge to groan. I’ll be studying alone, thank you.

He rounds the desk, flopping the papers in his hand. “But before we get into that, I’ve got some of your individual hike reports to pass out.”

This information perks me up. I’ve been nervously awaiting my report for weeks. I can’t say I’ve been looking forward to it, since I know Sam most likely gave me a C or lower, but I have to know. I need to prepare myself for how much of a hit my GPA is going to take. How hard am I going to have to work to bring it back up? Will acing the midterm be enough, or will I have to plow through a bunch of extra credit? I will not let hiking class be the end of my straight-A’s.

My stomach knots itself as Professor Duncan moves toward me. He says nothing as he sets a packet, face down, on my desk.

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