Page 7 of False Assumptions

He managed to keep his attention mostly on the class discussion and ignore the way Layla’s hair swung forward when she looked down to write notes. And the way she ran her hands through it to push it back. And the curve of her neck when she swept it up and did that crazy thing with a pencil that chicks sometimes did to put their hair in a messy bun. How did a pencil keep your hair all wadded up on the back of your head? It made no sense to him. That’s why he studied literature and not physics.

“I hope everyone’s gotten their books for their projects already. Next week we’ll talk more aboutTemptationby Vaclav Havel.Thank you for a good discussion today, everyone.” Dr. Rankin turned to collect her things, signaling the end of class.

With his laptop and books safely stowed in his bag, Evan stood and faced Layla. She’d said she wanted to discuss their project. He had plans to go talk to Abby, his roommate’s girlfriend’s friend, about their book and see if he could get a better idea of the cultural background and some good ideas for where to go with their research. He’d done some Googling, and talked to Elena, his roommate’s girl who spoke Spanish. She’d laughed at him and said, “My parents are from Mexico, Coop. I don’t know any more about Chile or its culture, either now or in the past, than you do.” But she’d offered to put him in touch with Abby, a Spanish major, and Abby’d told him to come by the language department today after class.

While cursory research divulged information about the military coup in the seventies and the subsequent reign of terror, he didn’t know where to go with that. He always did better talking out his ideas with someone than just letting them rattle around in his own head. He liked projects where he got to work with a partner for that reason. Which had made Layla’s attitude toward him all the more frustrating. So he’d bounce his ideas off Abby to see if something good came out and try to force Layla to take him seriously.

But if she was willing to work with him … He didn’t know what might’ve precipitated this change, but he wasn’t going to question it. Hell, maybe she’d asked Dr. Rankin for a partner change and been lectured about her attitude. That made him smile.

He cleared his throat, but Layla didn’t look up from putting her things away. “So, you said you wanted to discuss our project.”

That got her attention. She looked up at him. “Yeah.” Standing, she shouldered her bag. “I did.”

“Great.” He could tell she wanted to say something else, but he didn’t want to keep Abby waiting, and he also didn’t want Layla to think she’d be dictating this whole project. “We have an appointment in the language department to discuss Chilean culture and the historical background of Allende and her book. Let’s go.”

Without letting her say anything, he headed for the door, but she caught up to him quickly. “Wait, what? Who are we meeting?”

He glanced back at her. “Her name’s Abby. Friend of a friend. But she agreed to help.”

She snorted and muttered something under her breath, but he didn’t catch it. Whatever. If she wanted to morph back into a frigid bitch, that wasn’t his problem. He’d do his part. If she wanted to do hers, she had that chance, but after the hot and cold treatment he’d gotten so far, he decided he didn’t care what she did. If she didn’t want to talk to Abby with him, then that was up to her.

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