Ouch.
Great, now I’ve dropped my books all over the floor. The girl calls a “sorry” as I crouch down, frantically gathering everything while trying to keep my dress in check. As I scan the floor for anything I missed, someone steps through the crowd and bends down to pick up a pen. Oh, that’s Levi. He holds it out to me, his confident movements turning hesitant.
My heart pounds in my chest because I hate to make a scene in public and not because some guy is handing me a pen, right? My mind screams “run,” but I try to act more chill than I feel.
He looks like Aiden the sequel. Please keep him away from me.
“Are you alright? Did you find everything?” Mesmerizing hazel eyes—I didn’t need to know about those—sweep my face as if he’s memorizing it.
Right, the pen. “Thanks, but that’s not mine.” With my best impression of an Olympic race walker, I high-tail it out of the lobby.
I squeeze past two of my girls in the G1 row and collapse intothe flip-up seat beside Ayumi, still breathless. Mia and Sophie acknowledge me and continue belting out “Up Again” as it plays over the loudspeaker.
He’s just a guy. I have to get a grip. I don’t have to talk to him. He didn’t even do anything. For that matter, Aiden would never bother to pick up a pen for someone. My throat grows tight. I try to swallow away the sensation with sheer will and end up in a choking fit.
Sophie is completely lost in her dramatic singing, and Mia’s dark curls bounce as she sways, so maybe I’m safe from commentary.
Ayumi nudges me gently. “You okay?”
Mia stops mid-song. “She has the black lung.”
Levi saunters down the aisle surrounded by an entourage. He’ll pass immediately behind me. I grip the armrests and go still.
“When are you gonna knock Pretty Boy down a peg?” Mia leans around Sophie to tease me, her voice mercifully low. “I could arrange for you to save a dog from a taxi.”
“NoHitchmoves required, thank you.”
Sophie jumps into “I Knew You Were Trouble.” She has no idea how accurate her song choice is. My cheeks twitch at her enthusiastic rendition. She could pass for a young Taylor Swift, especially when she leaves her hair wavy. Full-on Fearless era.
Mia joins in to sing, thrilling Sophie. Ayumi’s dark eyes and tight black braid usually give her a severe look, but when she brims with laughter, I break into giggles. Just what I needed. I shake my head at my suitemates. I haven’t wished for my book-character friends once since I’ve been here. God wrapped up flesh and blood girls, complete with hilarity and movie quotes and songs for days, and dropped them into my suite as a beautiful present.
Thank you.
I elbow Sophie. “Your birthday’s in a month, right? We need to get planning.”
She sucks in a breath and strangles me with a hug across the armrest. “Yes!”
I rub the ear that is now permanently impaired. “I have an idea. Want me to run it by you or keep it a surprise?”
“I love surprises! Aw, Kit, you’re the best.” She hugs me again.
She twists around, and Austin throws her a little smile—they know each other?—on his way to the section behind us. Knowing Levi is back there makes me want to turn around and find him Where’s Waldo style. To keep tabs on present danger. Not to catch a peek.
CHAPTER THREE
“Kit,get your juicy butt in here,” Sophie says. “Mia’s turn.”
While my floormates were brainstorming a nickname for me, I’ve been sitting against a pine, catching up with my family text chain. What a bunch of nuts. Two empty benches nearby, but the smell of this tree is almost like home.
I brush pine needles from my shorts. “Coming!”
Mia gives a dramatic bow and takes my place outside as I squish onto one of the waiting room-style love seats in Griffin Hall’s first floor lobby.
“Okay. Floor name for Mia.” Zoe’s still all business. “Suite D, talk to me.”
Tradition!—cue Tevye’s song fromFiddler on the Roof. I’m getting used to it all, drinking the Kool-Aid. The night of brainstorming floor names for new G1-ers is clearly a whole thing. The G1 upperclassmen rock their faded floor shirts as they chatter on the other sofas. Some of them contribute to the task at hand andmany distract from it. We’ve gone full cult with the hubbub and matching outfits—even we newbies were instructed to wear black—but the giddy atmosphere is contagious.
“Merida,” Sophie says. “Mrs. Weasley. Beyoncé. Ooh, on horseback. In the music video for ‘Run the World.’”
