Nathaniel lifted a dramatic hand to his chest. “You think I’m annoying?”
“No,” I said. “I don’tthink,Iknow.”
A playful gasp escaped his throat. This was all a game to him but I was being entirely serious. I glanced toward the doors,praying campus security showed up so I wouldn’t have to spend another second with Nathaniel’s crooked grin.
“You still haven’t told me why you hate me,” Nathaniel mused.
“I told you already…I don’t hate you,” I said.
“Okay, well you certainly don’t like me,” he pointed out.
“Does it matter?” I asked, slowly returning my attention to him.
“To me? Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like being disliked,” he said.
“Not many people do,” I shrugged.
“Yes,” he agreed, “but if there is something I do that upsets you, I’d like to know so I can stop.”
“You can’t live like that,” I scoffed.
Nathaniel tilted his head to the side. “Like what?”
“Being a people pleaser,” I said, waving a hand dismissively. “People are going to dislike you no matter what. You can’t pleaseeveryone. What does it matter ifIdislike you when you have so many people thatdolike you?”
Nathaniel straightened in the booth, elbows resting on the table. “Are you saying that you’ll dislike me no matter what?”
I thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you are my competition.”
A frown pulled at his lips. “Competition?”
“For first place,” I said. “You are the barrier keeping me from coming first ineveryclass. I want the scholarship for next year andyouare the only thing getting in my way.”
Nathaniel studied me as if I were a night creature crawling into the sunlight for the first time. “You do realise you can get the scholarship without ranking first ineverysubject, right? It‘s more about your marks.”
“Yes, obviously,” I said through gritted teeth. “But the teaching staff base their recommendations on ranking. That’s why there is such a big focus on it.”
Nathaniel sighed. “It’s just one class.”
“I know. But I’m not going to risk it.”
“Well, at leastthismakes sense. Danny said I must have wronged you in my past life.”
“Who the fuck is Danny?”
“Just some guy I’ve been talking to,” Nathaniel chuckled.
“You’ve been telling some random guy about me?” I asked, gobsmacked.
“I told you I don’t like being disliked!” Nathaniel defended himself. “And he asked me how my day was!”
