Dev takes a swig and sits back in the seat to regard me. “I still think this whole thing is dumb.”
“It’s not. When Will and I were in Bath, he was saying how much he loves cricket and how he wants to be able to talk to me about it. But then I’d watch the game and have zero idea what was going on.”
“On Saturday? England vs. West Indies? That was a good game.”
“See! Please, I need totryto understand this game. It’ll be my in with him.”
“He already spent the day with you in Bath. Don’t you thinkyou’re already... in?” His mouth pinches as if he’s eaten something disgusting.
“I don’t know. Maybe I am right now, but what are we going to talk about next time?”
“Hmm, that is a puzzler. Have you ever thought about bringing up something you care about?”
“I’ll bring up my stuff too. But for now I need to know more about what he’s interested in.”
“And what happens when he wants to talk about something else?”
“Well, I’ll learn more about that stuff too. I’ve made a list.” I pull out my phone. “Cricket is obvious. I should know something about types of beers and probably a couple of breweries. And I should know about some of the other sports just in case. Soccer—or it’s football here, right?—but also... what’s the name of it? The violent one?”
“Rugby?”
“Right! Yes, that. And, I don’t know? I was thinking something with music. Maybe—”
“Stop. You’re making my ears bleed.”
“What? I’m only trying to be prepared.”
“To be a totally different person around him! Why do you even—actually, never mind.” He takes another drink and shakes his head. “I don’t know, Ellie. This sounds time intensive. The classes here are no joke, I’ve got cricket, my extracurriculars—”
“You mean Quidditch.”
“Yes, Quidditch. And practice interviews, college applicationworkshops. I was debating trying out for the academic triathlon too. I can explain more about cricket now, but I don’t have time to tutor you on how to date a British boy. Plus, that’s myworstsubject.”
“Believe me, I’d ask someone else so I could avoid all this teasing. But everyone is as clueless as me. I mean, really, am I supposed to ask Huan about cricket?”
Dev smiles.
“Or maybe Sage can tutor me with her vast cricket vocabulary?”
“Don’t doubt her. She probably studied up on it before getting here.”
I lean forward. Time to bring out the big guns. “Speaking of Sage...”
“Hmm?” His voice is normal but his eyes narrow.
“Let’s stop playing. You clearly like her.” Dev looks ready to deny it, but I interrupt him. “It’s cool. I can see why you do.”
He blinks. “Can you? No one else gets it.”
“Sure. You’re both serious about school. You’ve been in the same honors classes. You have lots in common.”
“Yeah. But it’s not just that.” He leans in eagerly, like he’s excited to finally have someone to share this with. “She’s so confident in herself. She never apologizes when she outscores the rest of the class. She’d never even think to. And you can have a real conversation with her. I mean, not that she and I have had a lot of deep conversations or anything, but I bet we could.”
I can’t help but smile. His enthusiasm is adorable.
“I think you two would be great together. And we can makethis work for both of us. You can come by our dorm in the evenings when Sage is around. I know you’re dying for a reason to anyway. Now you have an excuse that doesn’t include you being creepy. You help me out with Will and I’ll put in a good word with Sage about you.”
“She’s not going to care about your opinion.”
