Dev shrugs one shoulder.
“I don’t think you should give up hope. I know she likes spending time with you—I bet everything else will fall into place with time.”
“Mmm, yes, it’s all coming together. In fact, she could barely control her lust as we talked about protons and electrons. Couldn’t you tell?”
I laugh. “Well, if the only thing you were talking about was protons, that might be the problem. You need to step up your flirting game.”
“Because you know so much more than me about flirting?”
“I might.”
He smirks and shakes his head.
“No, really, I want to hear this.” I sit down and cross my arms. “You thinkyou’rea better flirt than me?”
“I could probably learn a couple of things. But I don’t think you’re the one to help me in that department. Well, unless you want to help me pick out a different name,Elle? Should I go by Devid? Or Deviel? Or maybe you could help me pick out some interests?” I throw my chemistry notebook at his head and he ducks, chuckling. “Hey! I’m only joking.”
I wave at the door. “Go on, get out of here. I’m going to need every ounce of free time I can get to finish this by Friday and you’re wasting precious minutes making fun of me.”
I pull out my textbook from a messy pile on my desk. To my surprise, Dev pulls up a chair next to me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“What does it look like?”
“Sage won’t be back for forever, you know.” I flip open my book. “She takes weirdly long showers, considering how short her hair is.”
“Actually, I didn’t come to your room because of Sage. I was waiting for you.”
I look up. “Why?”
“To make sure you were okay. And to study. Withyou.”
My heart does a small flip in my chest. I’m not sure why since we’ve studied together plenty of times over the last few months. Maybe it’s the realization that I was hoping he was going to stay to study, but didn’t want to admit it until now. Plus, for once he’s not even making a snarky comment.
He retrieves my notebook and lays it on the desk. “Studying next to you keeps me focused.”
“Really? I didn’t realize my study habits were so helpful.”
“They’re the opposite, actually. I know if I say something you’ll start talking and we’ll never finish our work. I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut when I’m around you.”
Andthere it is.
I shake my head. “I guess I’ve done the whole world a favor, then.”
Chapter
26
“Ellie?”
I stop and turn to find Dr. Allen in the hallway outside the cafeteria. Dev and I exchange a quick glance. Earlier this afternoon in chemistry she handed back presentation grades to all the groups and I’m still on a high from our grade. I worked my ass off all last week to nail that presentation and am ecstatic to get an A-, especially since the only reason for the deduction is that Sam confused the nuclear equations for the alpha and beta decay reactions when he was presenting his portion to the class. Seeing her now makes my stomach flutter, though. Dr. Allen doesn’t speak to students outside of class.Pleasetell me she’s not rescinding our grade.
I give her a weak smile. “Hi, Dr. Allen.”
“Good afternoon. I was hoping to talk to you for a moment. I’ve been thinking a lot about your presentation.”
“Oh?” My palms begin to sweat. What if she thinks I cheated? Or did Sam say something nasty about me?
