The giggle that leaves me is so surprising and so girlie that I almost choke on it and immediately hustle toward the door. “Okay, so, um, just message me when you’ve replied? I’ll come back and get it from you.”
Hudson nods, features still pulled tight, but that silent acceptance is all I need before I hightail it back out into the hall.
See, bees? It was totally fine. There was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Nothing at all.
Chapter 79
Emery
It’s not until I’m walking up the steps to my dorm that I realize my head is so freaking messy that I forgot to go to my math class.
“Urgh,” I groan and drop my head onto the glass door. Probably not hygienic, but whatever.
“Ems?”
Turning around, I spot Oakley coming up the path to our building. “Hey,” I reply and then do a double take, because what the hell has she done to her eyebrows? Before I can stop myself, I gesture at my own eyebrows. “Ah, what—”
She cuts me off, palm up in between us as she makes it up the stairs, drawing level with me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
My eyes are wide as she swipes her pass and the latch beeps. “Okay.”
But holy fuck, I really want to talk about it.
They are thick. And so, so dark. Like too thick and too dark. They look like squashed mocha caterpillars. We make it up the first flight of stairs before she spins around to face me on the landing. The intense pissed off look on her face causes me to stumble back a step.
“I asked for a reshape and a light brown tint. I have no idea what the hell happened, but whatever this”—she waves her splayed fingers around her face—“is, it has to be fixed pronto. So, now you get to help me fix it.”
Carefully, I reach up and touch one of the caterpillars with the tip of my finger, and it crunches under my touch. “Serious question, did you go to an actual salon?”
Oakley deflates. “No. I saw that the beauty school down the road from campus needed models for their trainees. I needed my eyebrows done, and they were offering half off.”
“Babe, I hate to break it to you, but they definitely added half on.” I have to bite my lip to stop my smile.
Oakley stares at me for several seconds before she starts laughing, then kind of crying. “You are so mean. Why do I even like you?”
I shrug, then give her a hug. “I ask myself this every day.”
Oakley straightens and turns to march up the last flight of stairs. “Come on, we need to figure out how to fix this without removing my eyebrows.”
As I follow her up the stairs, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I reach for it and see that I have a message from Will.
Will:Hey, are you okay? Missing you in class.
I quickly tap out a reply.
Me:Hey, yeah, I’m fine. Wasn’t feeling up to being in class today. I’ll watch the replay tonight and check in on the group notes. Sorry for making you worry.
The white lie burns my fingertips, but what else am I going to say?
Hey, sorry, had some super emotional connections with two out of the four men who dickmatized me into thinking they actually cared, then dropped me like a hot potato and are now doing their best to convince me they actually do care, and it’s kind of working?
Yeah, not doing that.
My feet hit the landing to our floor as bubbles appear.
Will:Is there anything I can bring you?
