For his part, it seems he has me stuck in the friend zone. He hangs out with Brody a lot, so he’s always around when we all hit the water, and since I’ve been spending time with Ady, Trent and I are starting to form a decent friendship.
Before I get out of the car, I check my face in the rearview mirror one last time. When I arrive at their unit and knock on the door, I’m greeted with Trent yelling, “It’s open!”
Inside, I find him sitting on the couch with a textbook on his lap. He doesn’t look up to acknowledge me as he taps his highlighter against his knee.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he murmurs absentmindedly without even glancing in my direction.
His distractedness is a letdown. I know better than to think Trent, from what little I know about him, would even notice the extra effort I put into my appearance. It was stupid to even think that he would, but I did it anyway.
“Ady, come on,” I call out, wanting to leave, and head toward the hallway. Ady is staring into Micah’s room, and it doesn’t seem as if she heard me. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” She pulls herself away from his door, and when she walks into the living room, she looks curiously at Trent. “What are you doing?”
“Studying.”
She cracks a smile. “Have you ever done that before?” she teases, but Trent isn’t amused.
He drops the book onto the coffee table and tosses his highlighter to the floor. “Shit’s got me stressed out.”
“What are you talking about? Nothing stresses you out,” she says.
“My mom has been up my ass lately about her expectations of decent grades.”
“Macroeconomics,” I read aloud when I pick up the book. “Who do you have?”
He finally looks at me when he answers, “Carson. Tuesday and Thursday. Why?”
I hand the book to him. “I have Carson Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” I mention and take this opportunity to add, “So, if you need help . . .”
“You actually understand this?”
“Enough to be managing a B.”
“I have a C . . . barely,” he says while thrusting an aggravating hand through his hair. “Can you stop by tomorrow morning? I don’t have class until noon.”
The invitation strikes a match in my chest, and I forcibly hold back the smile that’s tugging on my lips. “Nine?”
He nods, barely looking my way, and then heads into the kitchen with a casual, “Cool,” before he opens the fridge.
And just like that, the flame in my chest snuffs, and no more do I have to fight my smile because now all I am is annoyed.
“Let’s go.” Ady sighs, pushing me toward the door, well-aware of the tension.
I haven’t mentioned anything about Trent to anyone aside from Ady. She didn’t even ask, she just knew. Apparently, I wasn’t hiding my crush very well, and she warned me that he isn’t the least bit interested in getting involved in a relationship with anyone. It should’ve deterred me, I wish it had, but it hasn’t and neither has being friend zoned.
There’s nothing worse than pining over a guy who isn’t emotionally available. Yet, here I am, pining even though I am the one who walked away from him in Boca.
“You’re not actually going to tutor him, are you?” Ady asks as we drive to Lulu’s for dinner.
I roll to a stop when I hit a red light and flick on the blinker. “Why not?”
From my peripheral, I catch her giving me a knowing side eye.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she says. “I just don’t want you to get any unrealistic expectations.”
“It’s just a study session, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh, right,” she snarks, which has me chuckling under my breath.
It’s been nice hanging out with Ady lately. She’s so different from Piper and most of the girls around here. She isn’t one to talk a lot about herself or what is clearly going on between her and Micah. In fact, she isn’t much of a talker at all, at least not about anything that’s too personal.
It isn’t long before we arrive at the restaurant. We order our dinner and chat about the upcoming spring semester, but when curiosity gets the better of me, I can’t help myself from asking, “So, what’s up with you and Micah?”
Her eyes lift to mine. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on.” It is so obvious that Micah has a thing for her.
“What?”
“You’re kidding me, right? Tell me you aren’t blind to how he looks at you.”
“Oh my god. No,” she squeaks. “It isn’t like that at all. Like, at all, at all.” I shoot her an unconvinced glare. “I’m serious. We’re just good friends. And if he’s giving me looks, it’s only looks of concern.”
“Concern?”
“I used to date his best friend,” she reveals. “We broke up right before I moved here.”
“So, he’s your shoulder to cry on?”
She shrugs off my comment. “Does it look like I’m crying on anyone’s shoulder?”
She’s delusional, and I’m not buying it. The two of them are so close that, had I not known better, I would assume they were an official couple.
“Well,” I say as I pick up my fork and pierce an asparagus spear, “it would be an attractive shoulder to cry on. You know? If you ever do decide you need a good cry.”
KATE
With clammy palms, I raise my hand to the door and knock.
I’m nervous.
It’s stupid. I’ve been over here numerous times since meeting Ady, but this is the first time I’m here for someone else.
“Hey, girl,” Ady says as she opens the door, and I step in.
“What are you up to?” I ask, noticing that she’s completely pulled together at nine AM.
“Heading out with Micah. He has some errands to run, so I figured I’d tag along with him.”
“Oh.”
Her brows cinch slightly with curiosity, and I’m sure she can tell I’m a little flustered. Okay, a lot flustered. I assumed she’d be here the whole time considering she’s pretty much a homebody.
“Stop gabbing,” Trent says from where he’s sitting in the living room with his books already open. “I need to leave in a couple of hours, and you have to teach me all this shit before my quiz today.”
For the second time in as many days, Trent manages to crush my hopeful nerves and drag my mood straight into a huge pile of annoyance.
Ady giggles with a sing-song, “Have fun.”
“Right.”
Micah emerges from his room and the two of them head out as I make my way over to sit next to Trent on the couch.
“The quiz is easy, by the way.”
“You already took it?”
“Yeah. Yesterday before I came over here.”
He smiles. “Perfect. You remember the questions?”
“I thought I was here to tutor you, not help you cheat.”
“Nothing is going to help my grade more than you giving me the answers.”
I take his textbook and drop it onto his lap, saying, “I don’t think so,” before pulling my text out from my backpack.