“It’s fine. I’ve got it,” I reply dismissively. The guy might have already forgotten by now anyway.
Gravlin meets us near the sidewalk, and we make our way back to their truck silently. I wish there was a way for me to sit in the backseat without seeming like a pouting brat, but there isn’t, so I’m going to have to suck it up and sit between them. I am going to fasten my own seatbelt though.
I adjust the belt strap before I even get in to make sure I can reach it on my own and buckle up without a fuss. I have my knees locked together so tightly, I can feel the muscles burn on my inner thighs.
Gravlin’s movements are a little jerky when he puts on his own seatbelt and shifts the truck into drive. The tension in the cab is making me feel jittery, so I run my palms over my legs. I can’t wait to get out of here. All I can think about is how I shouldn’t have stormed away from the table. I shouldn’t have let him see that the question bothered me. Now we’re in an awkward stalemate because I got offended over a question.
When Gravlin turns into the parking lot, I click my seatbelt off, and by the time he parks, I’m already turned so I can get out of the car as soon as Oswald does. His fingers curl around the handle, but he stalls. “Do you have lunch tomorrow around the same time?”
“A little earlier. I should get going,” I remind him.
“Yeah, okay.” Oswald hops down and extends his hand to me again. When our palms connect, I get a flash of anger, then a wave of fuzzy calmness dampens it for the briefest of moments before I tug my hand away.
I know it’s rude, but I don’t thank either of them or say goodbye, I just hustle down the walkway. I realize about thirty seconds later I don’t have my bag, but I can’t bring myself to stop. I feel like the biggest idiot.
The stomp of running feet can be heard before he calls my name. “Waylynn.” When I turn, Oswald is rushing forward with my bag strap over his shoulder. “I think you’ll need this.” His lips are holding a mock grin as he lets my bag slip down his arm and deftly catches it before it can hit the ground.
“Sorry, thank you.” I take the weight of the bag, not sure if I should say anything else, like sorry I’m a bundle of nerves, feel free to ignore me from now on and forget this ever happened.
“I’ve got to run, but I’ll see you soon.” He starts to back away.
“Bye, Oswald,” I say softly. I’m not even sure he hears me, but he sends me a quick wave and takes off, sprinting back where we came from.
I’m so wrapped up in my head, I end up taking the long way to the math building, which nearly makes me late. I’m searching the filled rows for an empty seat from the back of the room when the TA steps up to the podium. She glances over at me once, and I think about just leaning against the back wall instead of trying to get into one of the few empty seats remaining in the middle of the rows, but I think that will put more attention on me.
Biting the bullet, I slip into the closest row and shimmy past desks and laptops, hoping my butt isn’t going to knock off someone’s computer. When I drop into a seat, I could cry in relief, but I get busy sliding my desk in place and getting my own computer open. When Emily, the TA, starts speaking, I tug out my phone to record the class. I already know I’m going to be torturing myself with how I acted for the next few hours, so I probably won’t remember the lecture later. There’s a text on the screen from an unfamiliar number.
Unknown:Call when you get home.
I swallow and struggle to find the voice recorder. Once I hit record, I set the phone down, but I can’t stop thinking about the text. There’s only one person it could be from. I just don’t know what he wants or why Oswald gave him my number.
I’m exhausted at the end of class. My mind has been working overtime, and it wasn’t on math equations. “Hey, I saved you a seat. I didn’t think you made it to class.” As soon as I see his face, I remember his name—Liam.
“Oh yeah, I was running late, but thank you. It’s been a crazy day.” I start to walk up the aisle with him at my side.
“You still up for food?” he asks hopefully.
I’m on the verge of saying yes and pretending to eat because I feel bad, when I see people abruptly dodging to the left of the hall. Oswald’s dark hair flops as he jogs through the crowd and stops right in front of me. He’s breathing hard enough that his chest is rising and falling in sharp jerks. There’s a sheen of sweat on his forehead and across his cheeks, but damn he looks good. My stomach does that flippy thing.
“Sorry…I’m late,” he pants.
I open my mouth to tell him he isn’t late, since I didn’t expect him to come, but I roll my lips in instead.
“Hey again.” Oswald eyes Liam, but this time, it’s different. I don’t know what has changed, just that something has.
Now I feel even worse about telling Liam I don’t want to go with him. He would know I was blowing him off.
“You’re cool if I tag along, right? She mentioned you guys might grab something to eat.” Oswald directs his question to Liam.
“Yeah, sure, man,” Liam agrees, but the lightness that was in their conversation yesterday is absent. Everything feels a little forced now. My shoulders hunch as we walk toward the exit.
“So where are we going?” Oswald asks, interrupting the silence between us.
“You guys can decide. I’m not really that hungry,” I admit.
“Still full from lunch? It was good though, right?” Oswald supplies, and it feels intentional, as if he wanted Liam to know we ate together earlier, yet I’m the one who opened the door for him to say it.
“You guys already ate?” Liam asks, and his steps slow.
