“Just don’t. You’re not forcing me to go to another one.”
“Alright. Let’s go to Becky’s, grab some coffee, and study?” Becky’s is the cafe right in the heart of campus. It’s where most of the students go just to hang out or study or go on a date if it’s crunch time. I don’t need to study, but something to get him near me. Can’t make the kid fall in love with me if I’m not near him.
“Okay. Yeah,” Clayton nods his head. “This is my last class for today,” he pauses, but when he speaks again he sounds more nervous. “When are you free?”
“I’ll meet you there at five,” I confirm with a wink.
“See you at five,” he says. Watching him clean up his notes and pens, he shoves them into his bag and flies out of here.
Clayton
All I have to say is… what?
Max came in today with a different demeanor to him. Hovering over me while I sat at my desk. I hadn’t know what to expect, but if you asked me if I thought I’d end my day by getting coffee and studying with him… Well, I’d call you crazy.
I was terrified to see him after Saturday night. After my world tilted on its axis. There wasn’t a single part of me that wanted him to confront me about it, but him acting like it never happened also hurts a little.
Maybe he was too drunk and he doesn’t remember it at all.
Oh, god.
The thought that he doesn’t remember kissing me at all makes me sick.
I push those negative thoughts away and be thankful for the clean slate he’s given me.Us.
Sitting at the desk in my room, I pull out my laptop and catch up on all my emails. A few assignments from professors, but the one that catches my eye is the one from the school board.
Clicking it open, I scan it over.
My mouth drops open and it grows dry from how long I leave it hanging.
The dean, Max’s father, Mr. Levine is leaving this school. He’s been here for a long long time. I think he’s worked at this University for almost ten years.
It makes me wonder if it has anything to do with a certain brunette that shares his name.
Taking that information, I tuck it away and remind myself to ask Max about it. The email said Mr. Levine wants privacy during his transfer, but what could have happened that makes someone leave their job after so long?
Was it Max’s fault? Did something happen behind closed doors? Mr. Levine has always been respectable. A nice guy. Pleasant around students. We’ve shared conversations over the years and even bonded over Transformer movies. It was always light and airy between him and the students. Showed up when needed, sat silently when expected. He was a good dean. A good man even.
Noticing the time is half way to five, I pack up my bag and head to Becky’s early. The sky is overcast, expecting rain today, that smell of fresh air when the weather is coming a telltale sign.
At Becky's, I find a table in the corner away from other people to give us some privacy. Sitting with my back to the wall, I watch the front door waiting like a kid about to go to the park, antsy and excited to see him.
Something about pretending we never knew each other makes this alluring and more fun for me.
Only here for about five minutes alone, he walks in dressed in a different outfit than he had on in class. This afternoon he was in sweatpants and hoodie, but now he's dressed in dark wash jeans that are cuffed at the bottom, black slip on Vans, and a shirt that makes him look like he's drowning. Across the front of his shirt it sayswait, I'm goated.
His hair is pushed back with a skinny, zig-zagged plastic headband.
Max smiles when he sits down in front of me, slinging his bag from off his shoulder and putting it in the seat beside him.
“Hey,” he says casually.
“Hi,” I say, my voice almost cracking.
“How was the rest of your afternoon?”
“It was good. Got caught up on emails and marked my calendar for assignments due. Yours?”
