“Okay. What do you suggest?”
“Cutting these lessons entirely.” Eva grabbed her trusty green pen and slashed through a few words. “Glass analysis? Talk about boring.”
“I liked teaching it.” Lily sounded affronted, and did she really expect Eva not to pounce on an opportunity like that?
“Well, that’s hardly surprising.”
“Because I’m boring, right?”
“You said it.”
“You are such an asshole.” Lily muttered it under her breath, and Eva was so surprised she huffed out a laugh.
No one had ever been brave enough to say that to her face before.
“Yes, I know. But I’m an asshole who knows what I’m doing,” Eva said, striking forensic entomology from the list as well, because she didn’t want any bugs being dissected in her classroom. “You don’t have to listen to my suggestions, though.”
“I want your input. But you could be nicer about it.”
“If you came in here expecting niceness, Lily, you’re even more naïve than I thought.” Eva glanced up. “Do you have any bright ideas?”
“I was thinking of adding some drugs lessons.”
“As in ‘don’t take them or you might end up dead’?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “No. As in: ‘Here are some—fake, obviously—drug samples, show me which one is cocaine. There are indicators and tests you can use.’ Shouldn’t be too hard to set up.”
“Huh. That’s not a bad idea.”
“You don’t have to look so surprised. Sometimes other people do know what they’re talking about. I used to work in pharma. Which you’d know if you’d ever bothered getting to know me.”
“Don’t take it personally—I haven’t bothered getting to know anyone else, either.”
“So I’m not special?” Lily pressed a hand to her chest. “You wound me.”
Lily’s tone was almost teasing, and Eva shouldn’t be enjoying having someone to banter with. Lily was special in that regard—she was the only one who’d ever dared fire back at Lily.
“You can’t get rid of blood spatter,” Lily said, leaning forward to see what Eva was doing. “That’s not boring.”
“No, but it’s messy.” Eva shuddered at the thought of red paint splattered across the white walls of her classroom.
“The kids love it.”
“Fine. But if I’m the one teaching it, you’ll be the one cleaning up my room afterwards.”
“Wait, you think I’ll still be here next year? What happened to ‘I’ll be surprised if you last the week?’” Lily’s imitation of Eva’s voice made her eyes roll.
“Well, you’re still here, aren’t you? I suppose you’re stubborn enough to stick around.”
“If only to annoy you.”
Eva shook her head, trying to focus on her notes and not the pair of twinkling eyes beside her. Goddammit. Lily was starting to get under Eva’s skin—and not just in an annoying kind of way. In a maybe-you’re-not-so-bad-to-have-around kind of way.
Which was unacceptable. “Here you go.” Eva returned the piece of paper to Lily, her handwriting scrawled all over the front of it. “I trust you can type this up yourself?”
“I’m sure I can manage.” Lily plucked it from Eva’s grip. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get used to it.”
