My phone lights up with an Instagram notification. I immediately shield it from Riya before checking. Oh god, he must have seen she liked his old photo. Riya has tons of pictures of us on her feed—there’s no way he hasn’t figured out we’re friends and that we were stalking him.
Ethan
Hey, this is Ethan from tutoring. Can we push Thursday to 4 instead of 3?
I stare at the message longer than I should.
That’s fine, see you then.
Here’s Greg’s progress btw. Thought you might want to see.
A photo of his plant appears in the chat.
Gee thanks, he looks beautiful. Don’t know what I would have done without this update.
He says thanks. He’s getting better at being humble. It’s a growth process.
He’s a plant. Isn’t everything a growth process?
...
Piper Renner, did you just make a plant pun?
no.
I’m screenshotting this
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Too late. Greg’s already proud.
I’m smiling at my phone like an idiot when Riya clears her throat.
“That’s him, isn’t it?”
“He’s sending me photos of his plant.”
“That’s weird.”
“I know.”
“Weird in a kind of adorable way though.”
I lock my phone. “Doesn’t matter. He’s still a jock. And I have an app to finish that will scientifically prove why that’s incompatible with everything I need in a partner.”
“Right.” Riya’s using her ‘I see through your bullshit’ voice. “Because science has never been wrong about matters of the heart.”
“Science is rarely wrong about anything.”
“Uh-huh. Hey, what’s your app say about you and plant boy’s compatibility?”
“I haven’t run those metrics and I’m not going to.”
“Coward.”
“Pragmatist.”
“Same thing sometimes.”
