“I’ll take the blame,” Coop whispered to them. “Just pretend you don’t know me.”
The guys nodded that they understood, even if they weren’t happy about it.
“No. You’re not taking the fall,” Rafe said. “I have a plan.”
“What? No.” Coop didn’t trust new plans, especially from his roommate.
“Wait here.” Rafe’s eyes were dazed with inspiration, like this was some game.
Coop yanked him back and pushed him against the wall. But Rafe wiggled out of his grip.
“Trust me,” he said sincerely.
Kelvin stepped out of the elevator. He was four steps away from turning the corner.
Then three.
Then two.
Rafe jumped into his path. He put a hand on Kelvin’s chest.
“Aren’t you Coop’s roommate?” Kelvin’s speech sounded a bit slurred.
“Stop,” Rafe said. “I may be a little, or a lot, drunk right now, but even sober I could feel the spark between us. Every time you were waiting outside our room, I pretended that you were waiting for me, that you were as attracted to me as I am to you. Even though Coop hates your guts, I can’t. You’re too fucking hot to hate. I don’t know if you’re straight or gay or bi, but I’m here, you’re here, we’re both drunk, and anything can happen late at night.”
Coop listened closely, but the hall went silent. He wanted to check, but couldn’t risk it. He glanced at Akash and Tom to see if they heard anything.
A moaning sound came from the elevator bank, as did the light sounds of kissing.
No.
Coop snuck a look. Kelvin had Rafe up against the elevator doors and attacked his mouth. Coop could not unsee that.
Rafe opened one eye and took his hand off Kelvin’s ass to wave the guys to the stairwell. Kelvin’s moans would haunt Coop for years to come.
They made it downstairs and joined Tim in the alley. He asked where Rafe was, but Coop just said not to worry. Nobody needed more detail than that.
As they walked through the quiet town, empty roads that Coop and Matty had traversed in better times, Coop kept thinking about what they just did. There was no way around it: that was cool. A part of him wished that the kids from high school could’ve seen him in action. No way would they call him String Cheese again.
But then again, fuck what they thought.
Chapter 34
Matty
Professor Chertok was notin the mood to play with robots. While the kids got into their seats, he stared them down, gripping the podium for balance. Matty couldn’t read him, but he gulped down expecting the worst.
“I hold my students to certain standards. I believe all of you are bright minds and have great potential to change our world.” His voice boomed out across the room, bringing everyone to a stand still. “I’ve never liked the curve because I always believed bright minds didn’t need it, but I’ve come to terms with it. I thought that was the worst thing I had to deal with, but not this year.”
Professor Chertok’s shoes clacked against the tile. Matty’s breath hunkered down in his throat. He wished his professor could be more predictable during these moments. The professor walked over to Kelvin’s table. Matty could smell the fear simmering in the room.
“This year, I have cheaters, too. I have students who hire professionals from Google to help them with their own projects and sabotage another student’s creation!” His hands slammed down on Kelvin’s desk, turning the kid’s face white. “Science is about integrity, above all. We all want to do well and be the best, but we need to do it honestly, or else what we’re trying to accomplish in this world won’t mean a damn thing.”
He returned to the podium and shuffled around his papers. “Marathon was almost destroyed,” he said quietly. He wasn’t just a robot to the professor. None of those machines were. Matty didn’t get why Professor Chertok was directing his anger at Kelvin, though.
“Unfortunately, my competition was deemed an ‘optional student activity’ and not a class assignment, and thus the zero tolerance cheating policy cannot apply here. Because we live in a world of lawyers and donors, true justice cannot be served.” Professor Chertok strummed his fingers against the podium. “Mr. Kapoor.”
“Yes?”
