She hangs up, and I watch her stare down at her phone in silence. I give her a light kick under the table, and she jerks her head up.
“Who was that?” I ask casually, taking a sip of my fruit juice.
“The dorm office.”
The juice goes down the wrong way, and I splutter.
“They’ve found a room for me. I need to get down there this afternoon.”
The breath is snatched out of me. I nod, keeping my gaze lowered to my tray. Silence has fallen around the table, and I should say something, sayanything. I should tell her—
“That’s awesome!”
Becca to the rescue.
“Yeah.” Lewis stretches out in his chair. “Awesome. Right, Lane?”
“Totally.”
I flash him a smile, and he raises his eyebrows, folding his arms behind his head. Lois stares at her water bottle in silence before leaning down to scoop up her bag, tidying away her stuff, rearranging her tray, scraping her chair back to stand.
“Where you going?”
“I need to jump on a bus. The dorm’s pretty far away. I should leave now, give myself plenty of time.”
I frown. “But you haven’t even—”
“Did she really just say she’s going to catch a fucking bus?” Donovan lets his fry fall to his plate.
Becca laughs. “I think she kinda just did.”
“Run, Lois! Run for your life!” Adam scowls.
“Absolute disgrace,” says Lewis, shaking his head.
Don carries on staring at her, his mouth hanging open.
“You’re sitting here at the Campus Drivers’ table, and you’re telling us you’re about to get on abus? Fuck, Lane.” He glares at me. “Did you break her?”
“You guys are eating,” she says, shrugging on her coat. “And you’ve got class this afternoon.”
“I can fit a ride in,” Adam offers.
“Same,” Lewis chimes in.
I shove my tray back, steady my voice. “I’m taking her.”
All eyes turn to me.
“I can handle myself, don’t make this into a big deal.” She scowls.
“There is no big deal. I’m taking you.”
“You’re going to skip class?Again?”
“Let’s go.”
I snatch up her bag and stride toward the exit, ignoring my friends’ laughs as I go. Shit. I had totally forgotten about the whole dorm situation, but considering how things seem to be panning out, maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all. Every fiber of my being has been wanting to pin her down on that goddamn couch and continue what we started. Maybe it’s better she leaves—because I can’t deal with this anymore.
