“It’s not that I’membarrassed. I just don’t get to talk about it much, so it feels…”
“Awkward?”
The couple in the booth behind Carter stood, gathered their things, and left. “A little.”
I leaned forward, giving him my full attention. “Tell me about it. Tell me how you got started.”
Carter said it was simple. He’d seen other people do it and decided that if he had to study, he might as well enjoy it. He’d said it’d been more fun than he’d thought, setting up a microphone to record himself flipping pages, scrawling along with his pencil, scribbling with his eraser. It made him feel like he was accomplishing a lot, killing two birds with one stone, studying while also having fun.
“And it created a good habit when it came to studying in college,” Carter continued. “A good motivator. I can’t slack off, because I’m filming myself. I can edit out a sneeze, sure, but I can’tnotstudy. Then I wouldn’t have a video.”
“You have no idea how much those videos have helped me stay consistent,” I told him as someone walked by. “I’m in the top five graduates of my class, and I give your videos the credit.”
Carter flushed further.
I didn’t hear him when hespoke again. I was too focused over his shoulder, where the person who’d walked by slid into the booth behind Carter; just one person. He sat with his back to me, but the partitions in the booths were low, and I could see his full head of hair.
His full head ofbleachedhair, with stubborn brown roots growing through.
You’ve got to be kidding.
“Eleanor?”
I ripped my gaze back to Carter. “I’m sorry. What was that?”
“I said the top of your class is very ambitious. And your college plans are all set, right? Mullhound?”
There was no way that was Beckham Jennings sitting behind Carter. No way. Even if hehadeavesdropped on Saturday and heard the coffee invite, no way would he actually crash it. No way.
F-O-C-U-S. The word was easy, helping me get a grip. “Right. Mullhound College for undergrad. Pre-Law. After that, Harvard for law school.” My future was as solid to me as if it’d been mapped out in stone. It was easy to do when I had Dad’s path to guide me. “My plan is to take summer semesters and graduate early.”
“Wow,” Carter echoed, eyes widening. “Youarequite ambitious.”
Ambitious. Again. It was a strange word when he spoke it, like it meant something else.
“It is kind of a funny coincidence,” Carter went on, amused. “You’re going to Mullhound, where my father’s a professor with a dedicated pre-law mentorship.”
“I did want to meet Dr. Pembleton, even before I knewyou were… you,” I insisted slowly, now checking every word out of my mouth becausesomeonewas definitely eavesdropping. It put me on edge.“Itisa funny coincidence.”
Carter waved his hand lightly. “I believe you. And honestly? I’d love to introduce you to my father if it means getting you that leg up. He brags about it all the time—that almost all of his mentees graduate from Mullhound with Harvard admissions.” He lifted his drink. “We’ll get Eleanor Brighton on that list.”
A shiver worked down my spine.A-N-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N.
“Lydia mentioned the same thing when we danced together,” Carter went on. “About my dad’s program.”
“Lydia?” I’d known she was going to Mullhound—quite a few seniors in the area were, as it was a good school close to home—but I hadn’t known what she’d been going for. “She’s interested inlaw?” She was copying meagain?
“I guess so. My dad told her he doesn’t accept freshmen, but admired her tenacity.”
T-E-N-A-C-I-T-Y. Not a word for Lydia—a word forme. And she’d already met Dr. Pembleton, had even gotten a compliment from him. My breathing quickened.
The shoulders behind Carter bobbed with a quiet laugh, one that Carter paid no mind to—he probably didn’t even notice—but one I zeroed in on. It was faint, but I’d heard it. A ghost’s ghostly laugh.
“Carter,” I said, picking up my shaken espresso. “I’m feeling a little sick. Would you mind ordering us something to snack on?”
“Oh—oh, sure.” He fumbled to put his mocha down, nearly knocking it over. “What would you like?”
“Anything.”
