I scowled, not impressed by whatever the hell he thought was happening here.
“I just mean, it’d be nice to not have to start all over again with someone else,” he explained, his hands up in a placating manner like I was an attack dog about to bite him.
“Well, it’s first come first serve, but I tend to have regulars.”
“Alright, well, I guess I’ll have to be here first on Tuesday then,” he smiled before leaving the room.
I rolled my shoulders back, trying to release some of the tension there as I glanced at the clock. I only had another hour before the library closed, so I set up my textbooks and got to work, pushing aside all thoughts about Nox and his choice to take an interest in me.
Three
October 1, Friday
Enoch
My feet were sticking to the damp mats as I carried the mop and spray disinfectant back to the storage closet. My stomach was growling loudly, and I was on the verge of hanger, so I quickly collected my bags from the staff locker room and headed back out front. Jae was hunched over the front desk speaking to Becca. I smiled at her in a silent greeting before sliding beside Jae.
“Hey,” I said as I slapped Jae on the back.
“Oh, hey. You heading out?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as he looked at me.
“Yeah. I’m starving.”
“Okay, can you drop me at home on your way? My dad’s gonna be here for another couple of hours and I’ve got homework.”
“Sure,” I nodded, swinging my bag around and pulling out my car keys.
“Bye, Becca. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I waved as I headed towards the exit, passing a group of small kids dressed in their jiu-jitsu uniforms.
“Bye,” she called out behind us from the front desk.
I unlocked my car and swung my gym bag into the backseat. I drummed my fingers patiently against the steering wheel as I waited for the group of people standing behind my car to move. My stomach growled loudly again, and I patted it as if the action would comfort it.
“So, my dad said I’m filling in for your Tuesday and Thursday classes. That’s all?” Jae asked once we were pulling out of the parking lot.
“Uh, yeah. I mean, for now. I dunno how long I’m going to have to be doing this whole tutoring thing, but I expect until my grade improves. I think two days a week should be enough, but I can get someone else to cover if you’re not interested,” I explained, squinting against the glare of the setting sun which was annoyingly right in my line of sight.
I need to remember to text Eden and ask her if my sunglasses are in her car.
“Nah, man. It’s no problem.”
We lapsed into a comfortable silence. Jae wasn’t much of a talker and, honestly, I didn’t mind because he had made my thoughts drift back to my tutoring session.
“Hey,” I abruptly called out, turning my head momentarily to look over at Jae, “Do you know a girl named Shiloh?”
“Uh,” he drew the word out in thought for a moment. “You mean from school?”
“Yeah. She’s a senior. Is she in any of your classes?”
He clicked his tongue for a moment before responding, “Nope. Never heard of her. Why?”
I shrugged, chewing on my bottom lip.How have neither of us ever noticed her? It’s not like we go to that big of a school.
“Do you have a crush on her or something?”
“No,” I scoffed. Although, I didn’t know why it triggered that kind of reaction. I thought she was extremely crushable based on the two hours I spent with her. “She’s the girl that was helping me at the peer tutoring office.”
“Oh. Well, she’s probably in all AP classes and you know that we’d never survive in one of those.”
