“Grand, grand, yeah.” He had as posh an accent as Sebastian, but it didn’t dothingsto me like Sebastian’s did. “Are you a psychology student, then? I’m sure I recognize you from Psychology 1B in first year.”
“Oh.” I was surprised and a bit embarrassed because I hadn’t noticed him. I’d switched to psychology my second semester of first year. “Are you a psychology student?”
“Cognitive science. Leaning heavily on the AI side.”
That was surprising. For some reason, I’d assumed he was an engineering student like Sebastian. “Very cool.”
“Yeah, I think so. You know I’ve seen you around.”
I felt even worse that we’d spent the last three years in the same school building on campus and I’d never been aware of him.
“You’re Sebastian’s friend.”
Zac gave me a wide, toothy grin. “That’s me. Roommates, actually. I live in a flat with him and Harry on the Royal Mile.”
My eyebrows rose. “Fancy.”
He laughed, seeming a little embarrassed. “Well, it’s Harry’s place, really. So where are you heading off to?”
“Podcast duties.”
“Ah, of course. I’ve been a longtime listener. You’re very good.”
I wondered if Sebastian had put Zac up to this to make me even more amenable to a friendship with him. Like a“Look how nice my friends are! Let’s be friends too”kind of thing. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I really better go. It was nice seeing you again.”
“You too. Hopefully I’ll be seeing more of you.”
“Sure. Bye.”
As I got on my bike, I chuckled to myself. Sebastian had texted me every day since our coffee “date.” I’d never met anyone so determined to be my friend. And weirdly, despite my attraction to him, talking with him was so easy. I didn’t overthink every word I spoke or typed. But perhaps that was because he’d friend-zoned me, taking all the romantic pressure out of the situation.
I’d decided to follow my mum and Aunt Jo’s advice and just go with it. Which was why I had decided to not only meet him today at Teviot but also to bring my date to Whistlebinkies tomorrow night.
Sierra was waiting with Jan at the recording studio when I hurried inside. Kenny gave me a wave as I darted into the recording booth.
“Where’s Aiysha?” I practically fell into the seat.
“Class.” Jan narrowed her eyes. “You’re late.”
“I had a seminar way across campus. Your face is late.”
“What does that even mean?”
I shrugged, smiling at my immaturity.
“You’re in a good mood. Is this about the date?”
“No, shut up.” Sierra waved a hand at us. “Wait for us to start recording.”
A few hours later, the podcast session was done, and I’d told Sierra we all needed to meet to figure out a fixed schedule that would allow the three of us more time for our dissertations and coursework. Thankfully, my friend agreed that the podcast was going to have to take a back seat, as much as it pained us. It meant a lot to me, and I didn’t make the decision lightly.
Jan, however, seemed all too happy at the prospect of taking it over early. Her episodes so far had been a revelation. She was crazy and hilarious, but she’d surprised me by being sensitive when she needed to. I guess it was just me she didn’t feel the need to be sensitive with.
I strode toward Teviot feeling a lot less stressed than I had this morning. I’d spent an hour in the library scheduling my first interview for my dissertation. I’d reached out to a few social media influencers of different genders, some I knew who’d already spoken out about their trials on social media, some who hadn’t but who had varying degrees of followers. Yes, I wanted to interview people who had a ton of followers, but I was just as interested in chatting with people with smaller followings who seemed to dedicate a lot of time to their platforms.
So far only two people hadn’t gotten back to me, but the interviews were scheduled, and I’d gotten a positive response from a university who had conducted a huge research project for the UK government on the correlation between the mentalhealth crisis in the country and social media. I was feeling a lot more organized and on top of things.
I spotted Sebastian as soon as I walked into the Library Bar. He was sitting at a table by himself, but a girl stood by his chair, her hand on the back of it. Everything about her body language screamedflirt. Sebastian grinned up at her and whatever he said made her laugh, her body bowing closer to his.
