“Looking at me like I’m a dog with three legs,” I grunted. I looked at the exercise book again. “I’ll get some paper.”
“Sorry,” Keaton said. His words came in a rush now. “I’m sorry. I just – I was surprised. When I’m tutoring you, you can borrow my laptop, if you like. Just for practice exercises and stuff.” He reached around into his backpack and pulled out a slim silver device.
I wanted to walk away. I wanted to grunt something about not needing his help after all. Pride had me paralyzed.
But it was Keaton offering it. Somehow, that made it bearable. Just.
“Thanks,” I muttered gruffly.
“No problem,” Keaton said. I looked up to see him beaming wide at me. Like I had given him a gift, not the other way around.
I cleared my throat and looked back at the exercise book.
“Here,” Keaton said, setting the laptop in front of me. It was open and logged in. “Try creating a graph in the spreadsheet. Do you know how to use this program?”
“We went to the same high school,” I reminded him. We’d all had access to computers in the classrooms. I’d been given a laptop then to help me study. I had to give it back when I left. “I know how to do this.” I clicked around a few things and opened up the options panel for a graph.
“Let’s try to recreate this one,” Keaton said. “You’ll know you have it right if they look the same.”
“Okay,” I said. I bent over the book, trying to understand what I was reading. I put in the labels along the bottom first – they were easier. Then the sides.
“Hold on,” Keaton said. He pointed at the screen, almost but not quite touching it. “See, here? You entered the digits the wrong way around.”
“Oh,” I said. I squinted at it as I fixed it. I pressed the enter button and waited, holding my breath.
“There!” Keaton exclaimed happily. “You did it. Okay, let’s move on to analyzing and understanding the data.”
“Okay,” I nodded. Despite everything, a tiny flare of warmth started in my chest. Keaton was happy with me. He thought I’d done well. He was smiling.
His hand was resting on the bottom of the page of the textbook and I wanted to reach out and touch it.
No; I wanted him to reach out and touch me.
Why did I want that?
I swallowed. I couldn’t do that. Not with Keaton. He would pull back. He would be scared. He would think I was trying to hurt him.
I didn’t even know why I wanted to. It wasn’t worth upsetting him over.
I shifted in my chair and glanced down. Our legs were close by. I could move my foot and our knees would touch.
“What would you do to find that answer?” Keaton asked. I realized I hadn’t heard a word he had said at all.
“Say that all again?” I asked, focusing on the textbook so I could actually hear his words.
Keaton
I was tired from another day of classes – so tired all I wanted to do was rest. Given that I was rooming with the hottest football player on campus, A.K.A. the guy I still wasn’t 100% sure wasn’t ever going to pummel me into the mattress – not in that way – rest didn’t seem to be on the schedule. Especially given what time it was.
“Um,” Olly said, and I looked up at him from the bed. I was half expecting that he wouldn’t mention it at all – or that he’d make some kind of excuse.
“Yeah?” I asked, pretending I’d forgotten that now was the time we had set for his second tutoring session.
“Are you still free?” Olly asked, kind of shuffling his feet. “Because…”
I bit my lip and nodded. I couldn’t keep it up. He was almost adorable – he was so awkward about asking. “I’m free. I’ll get my laptop set up.”
“Thanks,” he said, relief flooding his face. “Is it okay if we don’t go to the library? I have practice in an hour, so I don’t want to waste time walking across the campus.”
