‘That sounds cool.’
She looks more surprised than I would prefer.
‘It does?’
‘A guy can have layers,’ I tell her, full of mock offence. ‘Just because I’m a dumb jock doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate classicalmusic. My soccer coach at Marshall turned me on to it, for studying mostly, but I know my Mozart from my Mahler.’
‘Colour me impressed,’ she replies. ‘I assumed you’d be more of a rock or rap kind of a guy.’
‘Just because I’m blasting Kendrick before a game doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a little Debussy when it’s time to concentrate.’
‘Well,Claire De Luneis great.’
She smiles at me and I smile right back because as soon as that dipshit is gone, she’s right back to being herself. A happier version of Mia, who doesn’t walk on eggshells. The same Mia who was pressed against my body in the early hours of the morning.
‘And enough of that dumb jock stuff,’ she says as I hose those thoughts down with a deep chug of soda. ‘I thought we’d agreed to knock that off.’
‘That reminds me.’
With an impossible amount of pride, I throw off my backpack and pull out my psych paper, holding it up for her approval.
‘Ta-da.’
‘Ethan!’ she exclaims, snatching it out of my hands. ‘You got a first on your paper?’
The look on her face is an even better reward that the score itself. ‘Can you believe it?’
‘Yes. I absolutely can.’
Shit. Something inside me swells up, and for once, it is not my dick. The way she’s looking at me, the conviction in her voice.
‘You studied your ass off, you got a good grade,’ Mia says. ‘You deserve this.’
I take a mental picture of the moment, Mia looking at me from behind the bar, the sun shining in through the window to light her like an angel, and add it to my mental scrapbook of positivereinforcement. Along with Clive’s approving nod, the peppermint scent of Dr Vine’s office and … and that’s it. Woah. Everything suddenly feels shaky and I have to pinch my thigh through the pocket of my pants to distract myself. Am I about to fucking cry?
‘It’s nothing, one paper, just a fluke.’
I shove the essay back into my backpack and zip it up tight, as though I’m afraid it might escape somehow.
‘So, this thing tonight, Bryn’s recital,’ I say, switching subjects to the only other thing I can think of. ‘Am I the last person on campus to hear about it? Like the bop?’
‘I don’t think so,’ she replies. ‘According to Alice, we’re mostly going so he doesn’t end up playing to an empty auditorium.’
‘You should come!’
Alice reappears with perfect timing, beaming at the side of me like the sneaky little pixie she’s turning out to be.
‘Tonight?’ I reply. ‘Me?’
She nods slowly. ‘Yes, Ethan. Tonight. You. Come on, it’ll be fun.’
Hanging out with Mia and Alice would be fun.Couldbe fun, if it weren’t for the fact Oliver will be there too.
Mia lets out an uncomfortable laugh. ‘I think Ethan has better things to do than sit through a student orchestra performance, right?’
There’s a question in her voice and in her eyes and it doesn’t make me think shedoesn’twant me around.
‘It’s not just any student performance,Mia,’ Alice argues. ‘It’s Tchaikovsky’sViolin Concerto in D major.’
