I rolled my eyes. “For the record, Dennings, a lot of people swoon over my dashing good looks and think I’m wickedly funny.”
Greer giggled. “Exactly.”
Josh sighed. “Yeah, fine, but you’re forgetting about…”
“The Sage factor,” Samir supplied.
“Right,” Josh said. “Right!”
Greer looked confused. “Huh?”
I kept drinking while they explained. “If you were to date Charlie,” Samir said, “you wouldalwaysbe second place to Sage. Just like every single girl he’s been with has. They’ve known each other their whole lives, and yeah, they mightsaythey’re”—he madeair quotes—“‘just friends,’ but we all know it’s going to be more than that someday. It’s, like, inevitable.”
“Uh-huh.” Josh nodded. “That’s why things pretty much end after a month. Becausenobodycan compare to Sage Morgan.”
“Wow,” I said, in this bored voice. “That’s quite the theory.”
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Samir asked.
I shrugged, hoping they didn’t notice me strangling my almost-empty plastic bottle. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
The guys laughed, and I drained my drink. Greer spoke then, with that melodramatic sigh: “I think you should go for it, Charlie. Go tell Sage how youfeel. Live happily ever after!”
I rose from the bench and made sure I had my balance before trying to walk. Luckily the world wasn’t totally spinning yet. “Thanks, Greer,” I said, locating my backpack. “It means a lot.” I turned to Samir and Josh. “Make sure she gets back to Simmons okay.”
Josh took a step toward me. “Hey, we didn’t mean anything by it, Charlie.”
“Yeah,” Samir added. “We just think you’d be good together, that’s all.”
I nodded. “I gotta go.”
It didn’t occur to me until I was pounding up the stairs that I had no idea where Luke’s room was…because I had never been there before.Second floor or third?I debated, stopping halfway up to the second for a breather. I’d somehow run most of the way back to main campus and now was feeling sort of dizzy. Not to mention, sopping wet fromthe rain. My stomach was also churning, but I didn’t want to think about that.
Third floor, I decided. PGs usually lived on the top floor, in the unclaimed rooms from the room lottery the spring before. I remembered Jack being completely stoked about how he’d gotten first pick; he ended up choosing some room on the second floor with a private bathroom. “I’m living large now, Chuck!” he’d declared. “It’striplethe size of our freshman room!”
It also didn’t occur to me that Luke’s door might be locked. I found his room about three-quarters of the way down the third-floor hallway, once my eyes focused in on his nameplate:
LUKEMORRISSEY
POSTGRADUATE
GROSSEPOINTE, MICHIGAN
Although, the postgraduate part had been crossed out; instead, there wasSUPER SENIORwritten in chicken scratch off to the side. I shook my head, knowing it wasn’t Luke’s handwriting. Luke had nice handwriting, interesting handwriting. Half cursive, half print. I suddenly wondered what my name would look like in his handwriting.Charles Christopher Carmichael, I thought to myself, and then promptly grappled for his doorknob and heaved my shoulder into the door. But I went nowhere; it was locked. “No…” I whispered.
“Hello?” Luke called from inside.
“It’s me!” I responded.
A beat later, I heard the click of the door unlocking, and then Luke was in front of me.
“I have something for you!” I blurted before he could say anything.
He let me inside. “What is it?”
“A souvenir,” I answered, now unzipping my backpack. I pulled out my quarter-zip and unwrapped it, revealing my Prince Charming crown. It was gold and silver, and I was a thief because it was against the rules to take anything from the costume shop.But whatever, I thought.What’s done is done.When I moved to give it to Luke, I laughed. He was wearing my blueSurvivorbandanna, which I’d given him over a month ago for that dance.
Face on fire, he quickly ripped the thing off, messing up his hair. I quickly smoothed it back down, realizing he must’ve taken a shower recently. It was soft and damp, and the air smelled like peppermint. “Did you steal this?” he whispered as I crowned him.
