Page 114 of Degradation
‘Sure.’
I take him up to my floor. He doesn’t say a word the entire way.
‘I’ll just get another chair,’ I say as I lead him into my room.
He looks around slowly.
‘Or we could sit on your bed,’ he suggests.
‘Oh, no, I think it would be better to have a hard surface,’ I say, briefly wondering at the odd look on his face.
But I don’t understand, so I decide to ignore it for now. I can maybe ask him about it later. Right now, I’d rather start working. The headache I’ve had since this morning hasn’t gone away, so I’d like to get an early night, though I have a feeling I might be heading to the campus doctors tomorrow to get some migraine pills. For me, this kind of headache only gets worse, and I don’t have any more of the pills I was prescribed at The Heath.
We grab our laptops and walk through the rest of the project, getting a decent amount done over the next couple of hours despite the fact that he’s a bit chatty, which I find a little annoying when I’d rather we just get the work finished. I give him one-word answers and try not to engage until he understands and stops.
Luckily, the headache begins to abate after a while. When it gets to one in the afternoon, I glance over at him.
‘Are we finished for now, do you think?’
‘Sure, I’m getting hungry anyway. Want to come back to the Quad with me for a sandwich?’
I smile easily. ‘I’m actually meeting Lu this afternoon, but maybe next time.’
He hesitates for a moment, but then shrugs. ‘Sure. When do you want to get together again?’
‘I’m not sure. Next week?’ I say. ‘Oh! I’ll give you my cell and we can figure it out closer to the time.’
He nods and hands me his phone. I put my number in the contacts, and he calls me.
‘Now we have each other’s numbers,’ he says, looking at me strangely again.
I give him a thumbs-up. ‘Great. See you in class.’
He falters. ‘Yeah. See you in class.’
He packs up all his stuff and swings his bag onto his shoulder. ‘Well, bye.’
‘See you,’ I say without looking up as I message Lu to tell her I’m ready when she is.
Lu’s reply back to me is almost instantaneous, telling me she’ll meet me outside the front of the KIP house in five. I let the guys know I’ll be with Lu in the group chat and my phone buzzes no more than seconds later with a message.
[Mav] xx
[Blake] Be careful, gorgeous, and when I get back, I want to
?
[Shade] Stop confusing her, Blake!
[Blake] Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll have fun explaining it to you later
[Shade] FYI, Applegate needs us to go to some research grant thing tonight. We’ll be back late. Don’t wait up for us. xx
I get my shoes and coat on, grabbing my phone as well as the manila file with both the police reports. I go downstairs and find that Lu’s already waiting for me in the driveway.
I open the passenger door as I survey the red sports car she’s driving in surprise. ‘Another cousin?’
She winks at me. ‘Boyfriend.’
