“You know what I mean,” Austin says. “She’s all, ‘Ooh, Levi, tell me more.’” Hands and ball under his chin, he blinks at me with the biggest eyes he can muster.
I do know. I feel a stupid grin on my face, but it’s just Austin. I don’t have to fake it with him.
Sometimes Kit goes slack-jawed and tongue-tied when her gaze hangs on mine. I may as well have won a trophy. My friends are the best, and Mia and Sophie are cool too, but it’s a struggle to pay attention to the others when she’s around. I just want to fixate on her and keep those beautiful dimples on her face all night. I want to see all her hilarious facial expressions and hear her jokes and opinions and stories. I’m insatiable in the Kit department. She’s constantly getting quiet or asking someone a question, wanting to pass on the limelight. It’s kind and selfless, but she always does it too soon. Sophie’s all too quick to pick up the attention Kit lays down.
“Are you ever going to talk to me about Sophie?” I ask.
“Ahh …”
This is so unlike him. He hasn’t told me anything, and he’s usually downright chatty about the girls he notices. Half the time he wants advice. He must be hesitant. Or concerned.
If Sophie’s a big deal to him, I can certainly relate to concern.It’s easier to maintain our inertia. He dates nearly anybody and never for long, while I avoid girls like the plague. It’s been working fine for us, and I’m terrified to step out of that. I certainly have my reasons. Panic wells up just thinking about them. This time is different though. I can trust her. She holds my money against me, for goodness’ sake. Leave it to Kit.
I peer at Austin, waiting for more. Kit does this to me, and I blabber on about things I’d never otherwise share. Then again, it’s probably more the big blue eyes staring at me as she waits. Like a whirlpool I sink in.
“She’s cool. We’re just friends.”
Right. Not today then. “Alright, Samwise.”
No more ridiculous dazing about Kit. I need to prepare for my student council meeting. It’s a circus, but I can’t quit. On the bright side, our vice president lives on Club, and I’ll be listening for any hint of their floor camping trip. My floor has been plotting a prank for the ages, and timing is everything. This time, Club’s resident advisor will find his car hoisted onto Bennet Hall’s roof, a throwback to a legendary prank Flooders pulled off back in the 1960s. It’ll be a cool nod to our floor’s status as the oldest and most storied at Mayberry. We’ve got several senior engineers on board this year, including Haymitch, whose experience in construction is clutch. Dude’s as competent as they come, handling pulley logistics and building like it’s second nature, all while managing with a major vision disability.
I’ve also been tasked with finding a secret prep spot on campus to make sure our building efforts stay under the radar. That will mean persuading an administrator or two to let us use the space, ensuring they’re neither entangled in the prank nor left feeling tricked when it comes to fruition. It’s risky, but the guys are right—I’m probably the only one who can handle the politics.
I pull up my council notes on my laptop, refocusing on the task at hand. Soon the group will take interest for next year. Since I’m secretary, they’ll expect that I’ll want to be president senior year. I lean back in my chair and let out a long breath. I couldprobably manage winning the election, but it would require so much work. Winning Kit over is worth every ounce of effort, but student body president? It’s not even something I want. For that matter, secretary isn’t either. I don’t know why I do these things. I need to pray it over.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Sophie,Mia, and I head west to the “lab building” after lunch. Every building on campus has a formal name, but students just call them by their purpose. At least Saga gets a nickname—otherwise, it’d just be “food building.” Dorms stick to their official names. You know, more tradition.
I’m already sweating, and my hair sticks to my neck. I peel it away. It’s the middle of September, Texas. Get your act together.
Oh.
Spotted—do you hear Kristen Bell’sGossip Girlvoice?—Levi Whitaker striding with purpose from Albert Hall. Stay tuned for more sightings, Upper East Siders. XOXO. Gray chino shorts, white linen button-down, and that leather backpack … Levi could’ve walked off a sailboat—or out of aGossip GirlHamptons episode. The backpack, with its simple flap and buckle design, adds an understated elegance to his look. Nothing he wears is flashy or trend-driven, just clean, classic. Well, except for thoseblack-and-orange Flooders socks he sneaks under his pants. I clamp my mouth shut to keep Mia and Sophie from noticing him, so my greedy little eyes can take in Off-Limits Guy without ridicule.
Ever since we went out for wings, Sophie has invited Austin and his buddies to join us most nights. Or maybe we’re joining them. It’s hard to say since I just show up where Sophie tells me to. Sometimes we take a walk outside, look for stars in the often-cloudy East Texas sky, or meet at the Memorial Student Center, called MSC—one of the more straightforward nicknames—for a show or card game. On weekends we usually hang out on their floor in their lounges. Bless Sophie and her planning. We’d all be lost—or certainly less entertained—without her. She and Austin constantly scheme together, happily bickering.
Lucky—scary?—for me, Levi nearly always joins Austin. Their legendary bromance is even cuter up close. Each silently ensures the other gets what he needs and then teases and smacks his buddy’s arm to keep it all under wraps. Yet another reason to find Levi supremely likable. Apparently I tally up the reasons he’s dangerous as well as the reasons to like him. If only my brain had a mute button.
Whenever he’s close my mind goes to war. Part of me insists I can finagle some way to make things work with him, but the rest of me revolts, insisting the risk is far too great.
Levi’s fancy watch glints in the fierce sunlight. He still dodges the topic of his wealth like Neo dodges slow-mo bullets, but his unparalleled sophistication and self-assuredness give him away. The guy’s a natural leader, a human magnet.
Even on a mission to class, Levi’s swagger says the future doesn’t faze him. How is he so steady? I try to trust that God has my back, but doesn’t Levi ever worry? He seems driven by different motivations. His eyes flit about in observation and calculation, as if he sees things I don’t. Sometimes he gets up to speak with someone or refuses to do something and I can’t imagine why.
He can be impatient, entitled, even arrogant when his intelligence is challenged, but when I try to compare him to Aiden, it doesn’t stick. They’re nothing alike. I hear Levi doesn’t participate in some of the floor antics, like dog piles or wrestling, which makes me want to see him as pretentious, but stories float around about his former rap battles and prank wars that disprove the theory.
Doesn’t matter though. I can’t afford to get too close. He’s triggered my two worst freak-outs since I’ve been here. Not exactly date material. No, I have to take care of myself. So I drool from afar like all the other girls on this campus. He’ll lose interest in me soon, and hopefully I won’t have to watch him flirt with whichever girl?—
“Kit, snap out of it,” Mia says two steps ahead.
I scramble to catch up.
At least they don’t know the bear trap my brain got stuck in. My habit of introspection is saving me from some major teasing.
“Tiguere,“ Mia calls to Levi. “Go learn something.”
We’re just one building away now. Maybe she was waiting for the right moment to acknowledge his presence. More likely, she’s just not as creepy as I am, accidentally searching for him all the time.
