“Thanks.” I dig into the tuna club I ordered. Anna takes a bite of her Italian beef sandwich.
“So you’re really going to tutor him?” she asks.
“Yup. Twice a week.”
“You’re a saint.”
I think about all the times she tried to help Nick with his homework in high school. They always ended up bickering. Typical sibling behavior.
“Can I confess something?” Anna says after a moment.
“Sure.”
“I kind of wish you and my brother were dating for real.”
I cough on a bite of sandwich.
“I know, I know. That’s beyond ridiculous,” she says. “He drives you crazy. And the way he jokingly asked you out in front of half the school in high school was unforgivable. But in a perfect world, where my brother wasn’t such a dumbass and could take back all the stuff he’s done, it would be really cool for my best friend and my brother to get together.”
I shake my head and chuckle. “Don’t hold your breath. Sorry. As soon as this semester is over, our whole arrangement will be over too. Then everything will go back to normal.”
She just shrugs and goes back to her sandwich. “Or maybe my brother will surprise us all and win you over,” she says, her tone joking.
I laugh again. “Maybe when hell freezes.”
“Alright, class. That wraps things up for the day,” Professor Muller says. “For Tuesday, I’d like you to read chapters four and five in the textbook. Be ready to discuss the Scottish Referendum of 2014.”
My European Politics course ends. I put my laptop in my backpack and stand up from my desk. When I look up, I see Brody walking up to me.
Before he can say anything, I hand him his empty leather laptop bag. I turn to leave, not at all in the mood to talk to him.
“Poppy, wait.”
I sigh and turn around.
“Thanks for returning my bag,” he says.
“You’re welcome.”
“Pretty light reading assignment from Professor Muller, don’t you think? I thought he’d assign us the whole textbook to read,” he says.
I look at him, caught off guard by his comment. Is he trying to make small talk with me?
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I say.
For a second, we both just stand there. I check the time on my phone to make it obvious I’d rather be doing anything else than talking to him right now.
“So what are you up to this weekend?” he asks.
I frown at him. “Why do you ask?”
He shrugs and he frowns slightly, almost like he’s defensive. “Just curious. Thought maybe you’d want to do the reading together for class.”
“Why would I want to study with my ex-boyfriend?” I can’t hide the bite in my tone. What is his deal? He cheats on me, and now he suddenly wants to be study buddies?
He rolls his shoulders and sighs. “I’m just trying to be nice, Poppy. I hate how things ended between us.”
I let out a laugh of pure disbelief. “You’re unbelievable.”
