“Bless you,” Kiara says solemnly, peeling back the lid.
Maddy hands Noah his coffee next. He takes it, giving her a small smile, eyes still slightly narrowed. “Thanks.”
I take out Liam’s cortado and Mel’s cappuccino, steam escaping out the lid, and pass them over. Liam hums his approval. “Appreciate it, man.”
Mel gives me a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
After familiar conversations move around the table for about ten minutes, I glance at Maddy’s (decaf) iced cappuccino and notice there’s barely anything left. Just a thin layer of coffee and ice clinging to the bottom.
“Is it good?” I ask, keeping my tone light. Her eyes flick to mine, and I can see the exact moment she realizes what I’m about to do.
“Yeah,” she says carefully. “It’s good.”
I lean in and take a big sip straight from her cup. Normally, touching Maddy’s coffee is a good way to lose a hand. And from the look on her face, she’s about half a second from hulking out, but then she pastes on a hell of a fake smile.
“Itisgood,” I say quietly. “But I still prefer black, though.”
“Of course you do.”
When I look up again, the table has gone suspiciously quiet and everyone’s staring. Kiara squints at us. “Since when do you share your coffee?”
Maddy shrugs, aiming for casualness, even though I notice a small crack in her voice. “Since today, I guess.”
Everyone’s eyebrows rise slightly, sharing looks with each other. Noah’s gaze moves slowly between us, like he’s having about a million thoughts at once, but eventually looks away again.
I take another sip of my own coffee, thinking about how fucking weird the next couple weeks of my life are gonna be.
9
MADDY
Call me petty, but payback feels really good
Sophie stands at the front of the classroom, finishing her explanation, before clapping her hands once. “Alright, you’ve all seen the demonstration. Try not to accidentally kill each other, and we’ll be fine.”
A couple people laugh.
I’m standing next to Mel and Liam at one of the stations, a blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, and IV kit spread out in front of us. Mel reaches for the cuff.
“Okay,” she says, focused, rolling up Liam’s sleeve. “Sit still.”
“Iamsitting still,” Liam protests.
She starts wrapping the cuff around his arm with precise, practiced movements. I lean against the counter beside them, watching as she adjusts it, and listening carefully as she positions the stethoscope. Her entire expression narrows into concentration like the rest of the room has completely disappeared for her.
“You’re doing it like you’re performing surgery,” Liam mutters.
Mel doesn’t even look up. “If I do this wrong, I get marked down.”
“If you do this wrong, I lose an arm,” he shoots back.
I snort. Then Sophie passes behind us, glancing briefly at Mel’s technique. “Good placement,” she says, nodding once before continuing on.
“Thank you, Sophie,” Mel says, sounding relieved.
“Proud of you,” Liam mumbles with a quick smile.
“Thanks,” she responds. A moment later, she finishes and steps back. “Okay. Your turn.”
