Page 18 of Trick Play

“Are you okay?”

Her eyes narrowed before she turned her head, ignoring me.

So, not the right thing to do. Noted.

I pulled out my laptop and opened a new document to take notes, but I realized I already missed some information.

Something bumped my elbow, and I looked back to see a notebook being offered. I followed the arm to see the owner was Kennedy.

“Copy what you missed,” she whispered, so I quickly took it, put it down, and typed out the few lines before twisting to hand it back.

I caught a scent I couldn’t immediately place. I stared at her as she reached out and pulled her notebook back.

“Thanks.”

She nodded and leaned back.

What was that smell? It was pulling at the edge of my memory but just out of reach.

“As we move past the difficulties and dangers of early photography methods, I want you to pay attention to how things improve and take notes. I want to see how many things you can connect to a modern camera.”

I sank down in my chair, wishing I had anything left in me to care about this class. I read over the syllabus, and while there are two tests, they’re only worth ten percent of our grade. The other ninety percent is our final project, so as long as Kennedy and I find a way to work together and do a good job on it, I won’t have a problem passing.

Professor Clements droned on about methods no one used anymore, allowing my mind to wander. The memory hit me like a defenseman on the ice.

Strawberry champagne.

That was the scent I caught off Kennedy’s notebook. The smell of her. How could I have forgotten that?

I bought her a bottle of perfume for her seventeenth birthday. I thought it sounded sophisticated and feminine, like her.

Flashes of us in high school ran through my mind. Kissing her neck, inhaling that seductive scent from her skin. Running along the beach, laughing until we collapsed onto the sand next to each other. Sneaking into her room late at night so I could hold her for a little longer.

She still used that perfume? There was no way the bottle I bought her lasted this long, so she had to have bought it again. Did she think of me when she did?

What did that matter?

It absolutely shouldn’t.

She liked how it smelled. Nothing more than that. She probably forgot where she even got it originally.

I was clearly making something so tiny into too big of a deal. Right?

After making sure the professor wasn’t paying attention, I pulled my phone from my wallet and opened the message thread with Haley.

Ethan: Does it mean anything that Kennedy still wears the same perfume I bought her back in high school?

I drummed my thumbs on my thighs while I waited for her response. I wasn’t sure if she was in class or not, but I desperately hoped she’d check her phone.

Haley: …

What was that supposed to mean? That wasn’t an answer.

Haley: Yes and no. She might just like the smell and it became her signature scent, or it’s nostalgic for her

Not helpful.

Haley: I wouldn’t read into it. I don’t think she harbors any warm feelings for you, if that’s what you’re hoping