The elevator ride back up was its own form of torture, testing my ability to act normal while trapped in a small space with someone who made my brain short-circuit.
I fumbled with my key card, acutely aware of her standing behind me, probably watching my hands tremble.
Finally, the door opened, and I stepped aside to let her in.
She walked past me, and I caught a whiff of her scent.
“Nice room,” she said, looking around at my neat desk, the books stacked carefully on my shelves, the single photo of my family on my nightstand. “Very organised, very you.”
“Very me?”
“Thoughtful, put-together. A little bit guarded.” She turned to face me, and the room felt much smaller with her in it. The tension bristled. “I like it.”
I felt heat rise in my cheeks. “Thanks. Sorry about the… everything.”
“It’s fine. So,” she said, dropping into my desk chair effortlessly, “about this week and last. I wasn’t avoiding you.”
“You weren’t?”
“No, I actually had stuff come up. My advisor needed help, then a friend dragged me into something. Bad timing, that’s all.” She paused. “But I should’ve explained better.”
Relief hit me so hard I almost swayed.
“Oh.” I winced. “I’m sorry for the meltdown text. That was… dramatic, possibly criminal.”
“It was honest,” she corrected, and something in her tone made me look up. “I like honesty, even when it’s unhinged.”
Our eyes met, and for a moment, the air in the room heated up again, like it had every time we were next to each other.
“Anyway,” she said, standing up and breaking the spell before I could do something embarrassing like combust. “Since it’s Saturday and we’ve both been buried in schoolwork all week, I thought you might want to get out for once.”
“Get out?”
“Go somewhere.”
“Where?”
“That’s a secret.” Her smile turned slow and mischievous. “Unless you’re too scared to trust me.”
My spine straightened immediately.
“I’m not scared.”
“Good. Then get dressed in something warm because it is freezing outside.”
I glanced down at my pyjama shorts and oversized T-shirt, suddenly very aware of how underdressed I was.
“I need to change.”
“Obviously.” She took a step closer, close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in her green eyes, close enough that I could feel her warm breath on my face. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
My throat went dry. The word “privacy” should not sound that loaded with meaning.
“I… uhm… okay.”
“Unless you need help picking something out?”
My brain blue-screened.
