Why was she nervous with me, but could speak to those math guys as easily as she did? These guys were the spitting image of Hollywood nerds: white shirt, checkered pants, too colorful suspenders, and a bowtie.
How were they even invited to this party?
“You could ask her to teach you, you know?” Kaan suggested, and when I looked at him, he went back to taking sips of his beer after remembering he had one.
I laughed. “Yeah, right. She couldn’t even talk to me. What makes you think she’d be able to spend one-on-one time with me?”
He shrugged. “Maybe she’s different when there are no other people around. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
“But it would,” I argued, my eyes back on the brunette girl. “If I walk up to her right now and ask her to teach me how to bake and someone hears her rejection… do you know what Tori would write about me on her stupid blog?”
Kaan’s hands shot to his head, eyes wide. “Fuck. You’re right! She’d ruin your image. She’d be all like Eden King’s time as ‘The King on Campus’ is over. Girls are now rejecting him, which makes me wonder if this is just the start of his downfall. What’s next? He fails at hockey? Something like that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah,somethinglike that.”
Tori was a much better writer than Kaan made her out to be, but he was still right; she would’ve somehow managed to ruin my hockey career while ruining the fuckboy image she created for me.
But perhaps I didn’t care about either of those things as much as I once thought.
4
ALANA
“On the other hand, differentiation involves offering unique products or services that stand out from the competition. Think of PineApple. They don’t compete on price. Instead, they offer innovative, high-quality products that…”
I slid a hand down my face, sighing quietly as I tuned out Professor Thompson and his ramble on competitive advantages.
The last thing I was interested in was my business class. Unfortunately for me, I had no other choice but to take it. If I wanted to become a successful photographer, I had to know how to build my own business and learn about SEO, accounting, advertising, et cetera. I suppose taking classes in business was going to be helpful for that.
I hated every second of it, though. Business wasboring.
I’d never been one to fall asleep in class, always believed knowledge was power. I loved to learn new things, and, while that might’ve been controversial, I thought studying was fun.
Business, however, made me yawn and force myself awake with a few slaps every now and then.
“For example,” I heard my professor say the next time I realized I should listen to him, no matter how bored I’d been. “Elysian Motors focuses on luxury vehicles for a high-end market segment, combining elements of both cost leadership and differentiation within that niche.”
My eyes fell to the projector wall behind him, watching as the slide changed to a graph of market share and profit margins.
I took a deep breath before letting my head drop to the top of the table before me.What was I still doing here?
Did Ireallyneed this class? I mean, maybe business was a learn-as-you-go type of thing, you know?
“Hey, is this seat taken?” a voice appeared from beside me, and while I was sure whoever was talking wasn’t actually talking to me, I still looked up.
I usually stayed unnoticed in class and was one of the few people whoalwayssat alone unless Asiya was with me. Making friends wasn’t my strongest forte, but that was alright. Sure, I would’ve preferred it if I had the chance to talk to more than just one person, but it was quite peaceful this way.
But either way, as I looked up, I was greeted by twoverygreen eyes and a dimple-inducing smile. A few strands of Eden’s curly, blond hair hung right in his face, but he didn’t seem to care or bother to push them back.
My hands were kind of itching to do it for him, though.
“Uh…” I cleared my throat, or tried to anyway. “I guess it’s uh…”
Eden’s smile widened at the same time as I could feel my face getting hotter with every second. “Still can’t talk, huh?”
Oh, God.
I dropped my head back onto the table. Perhaps I should move across the country—I heard Oregon was great.
