1LEWIS
As we pull onto campus, I stifle a sigh of relief. This trip is killing me—I can feel my neurons shriveling up, and I’m pretty sure I look like death.
I cut the engine.Fucking finally.A mile more and I’d be crawling out of my Dodge on my hands and knees.
“Glad to be of service, ma’am,” I say brightly.
The girl arches an eyebrow. “That was fast.”
Was it?
It makes sense, though. She spent the entire ride giggling at every single goddamn thing her boyfriend said—rubbing her nose against his, melting into his arms. That kind of thing. I must’ve dry-heaved at least three times. I kept things pro, though.
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Any time! You guys are cute together.”
“That’s so sweet of you!” The girl’s eyes are shining. “We’ll be sure to hit you up next time we need a driver.”
“You betcha.”
Man, the shit you gotta do to make a living…
I hop out and scan the scene. The other drivers are hanging outby their cars: Lane and Adam laughing over one of their phones; Donovan grinning as I make my way over to the gang.
“What happened, man? Looking pretty green, there.” He laughs. “Let me guess… Passenger puke on your seats?”
“Nope, but I nearly did. What’s up with all the couples around here recently? Absolute disgrace, dude.” I shake my head. “It’s bad enough I have to put up with your girlfriends…”
“What can I say? You’re the last man standing.” Adam fist-bumps me.
“?‘I’m a survivor, I’m not gon’ give up!’?” I sing, absolutely butchering the Destiny’s Child song.
Seriously, though—talk about a lone knight. I’m basically an endangered species, what with the whole Lois Lane thing, and then the Wolinski power couple situation… Sycamore Heights is cursed.
I would’ve bet money on Donovan staying the same old fangirl magnet he’s always been, but then he went and fell in love with Wolinski 2.0—a romance binge-reader with a mean streak. Adam left me hanging, too. He’s hooking up with Don’s little sister and didn’t even get his ass kicked for it. Adam is Adam, though, I reason. Everyone loves him, and I don’treallywant my best friends falling out—especially not over a girl. Their girlfriends are cool and all, but I don’t get why they need to rush into relationships so fast—to me, it just feels like a whole lot of crap to deal with. Too much explaining, too much effort.
Relationships take up valuable headspace, and considering I hardly get a second to myself these days, I can’t imagine adding a girl into the mix. The idea is enough to give me a nosebleed. There’s the Campus Drivers, the finals, and the NBA Draft just around the corner, which means girlfriend stuff’s definitively off the table. My approach is to just stay focused on my goals and go for an easy hookup when I need one.
I run through the head count and frown.
“Hey, where are the girls?”
“Amelia went back to DC,” says Adam.
Lane pipes up. “Lois and Carrie are on their way.”
I lean against Don’s hood and peer at the thing he’s turning around in his hand.
“What the hellisthat?”
He holds it up for us to see. “A sleep shirt for Carrie!”
“Wow. A sleep shirt, huh?” I drawl.
“Check out the back, though.”
Don flips it around to show us the letters on the other side—WOLINSKI—and pumps his fist in the air. “Boom, baby!”
