Noah took his bag off and sat down, already feeling peeved by the seating arrangement. Melanie always sat directly to his right, but now, Julie was in her seat. Everything was off balance, and he didn't like it.
"Why are you here?" he asked curiously because he genuinely wanted to know. As far as he knew, Melanie wasn't in the business of doing private tutoring, and for him, it had been an exception, so why was this exception now being given to Julie.
"I wanted to get some more practice so I can have a better understanding. I talked to Professor Bryant, and she agreed to let me study with you."
A part of him wanted to point out the obvious— Julie didn't need extra help. She was great, and she also had the highest scores out of their entire class. Every time Julie received an exam back, there was a big fat A on it. There was no need for her to be here, and Noah had a feeling of why she was here. The question was, why had Melanie allowed Julie to be here for studying when she didn't need it.
"Are you both ready to start?" Melanie asked, turning from the board.
He wasn't ready at all, but she started anyway, and Noah found that this was the first tutoring session in a while where he did not learn anything. It was hard to concentrate when everything was off. It was like when Melanie told him that during exams, it was best to sit in the same seat he usually sat in because he would be able to remember things easier sitting in the same spot where he first processed the information. And though he was in the same exact spot, everything else was off.
First, Melanie was next to him but not next to him. She was standing when she should have been sitting next to him. Second, she wasn't relaxed. She didn't have her heels kicked off as she went over every new term with him, giving him examples and details. Actually, she was letting him and Julie do a lot of the work together, which only proved his point from the beginning— Julie didn't need this class.
Their whole dynamic was messed up. Noah couldn't joke with her or laugh with her because right now, the Melanie he knew wasn't there, but Professor Bryant was, who didn't laugh or joke around with him. It felt like his first day of class all over again, and he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
By the time the session was over, Noah was happy for it to be, though he had been looking forward to it all day. His time with Melanie was precious to him, and the fact that he had lost that pissed him off. Noah planned to make up for that stolen time by taking Melanie home like he usually did, but when they made it to the parking lot, Melanie waved him off instead.
"Wait," Noah said, frowning. "Where are you going? Don't you want me to take you home?"
Melanie turned around and lifted up a brand-new pair of car keys, and that's when Noah noticed that she had finally gotten her new car.
"No need," she said. "Julie, do you have a way of getting home?"
"Oh," Julie said as she pulled her hair back. She stood next to him, shyly looking down. "I was just going to walk back home. I don't want to inconvenience anyone—"
"Nonsense," Melanie said. "Noah can take you home."
Why would he do that when he had plans to go over to Mel's apartment and spend time with her? But now it was obvious to him what Melanie was doing. She was trying to create distance between them. She was drawing a line.
Noah swallowed his irritation. "Yeah, I'll take you home."
"Thank you," Julie said, smiling before she walked over to his truck.
Noah didn't follow after her, and instead, he walked over to Melanie as she tossed her purse in the back seat.
"Nice car," Noah commented lightly, biting down his annoyance. "You didn't tell me you got it."
"I didn't get a chance to," she said without looking at him as she closed the back door before opening the front. "But now, you know."
Frustrated with her treatment, Noah walked over to her side and closed the door before she could get in. Melanie looked at him affronted, but Noah ignored it. The only person who had the right to be mad was him. After all, she was the one blowing him off.
"I know what you're doing," Noah said accusingly.
"What am I doing?" Melanie asked stubbornly before waving him off. "You're in my way, you know. And it's late. You don't want to keep Julie waiting."
"Yeah," Noah said dismissively as he looked at Melanie's new car again. He couldn't help but think he should be in it right now. He took a step back from her. "Good night, Melanie. Get home safe."
"You too," she said before she got in her car. Noah watched as she drove off, tapping down his irritation. After their last talk, he knew that some things would be different, but he had never expected this. He didn't like this at all. This distance, he wasn't fond of.
CHAPTER
28
MELANIE
I
T WAS SATURDAY NIGHT, AND FOR ONCE, WHEN SOMEONE KNOCKED ON MELANIE’S DOOR, it wasn't Abigail or Noah. When Melanie opened her door, behind it stood Damon. He smiled warmly at her, dressed nicely in a pair of slacks and a white button-up with a gold watch adorning his wrist. He looked very handsome, etching away some of the worries Melanie had when she decided to invite him over for dinner.
