Page 58 of Head Under Water

Oh yeah. That reminds me why we’re here. I brush my hair back from my face, making sure to show off the fact that I’m wearing the bracelet. “Well, I had to say thank you.”

His brows draw together. “Thank you?”

“For the bracelet.”

His eyes flick to the bracelet for just a second.

“And the rabbit…” My words seem to fall down a set of stairs. Was I wrong? Were the gifts not from him? Maybe Mom sent them after all. An embarrassed grin twists my lips. “They weren’t from you, were they?”

His face is serious and stoic for a beat too long. Then he cracks a smile. “Got ya. Do you like them?”

Relief floods through me. “You really shouldn’t have, but yes. I love them.”

He presses his lips to my cheek. The memory of our kiss after the date flashes in my mind. It was a nice kiss. Probably perfect actually. Careful. Polite. Gentle. And now I’m wishing I could kiss him again, but when I start to lean in, he speaks.

“We should get you a coffee then, too, hmm?”

I swallow, brushing off the attempted kiss he didn’t seem to notice.

“What time’s your first class?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

AGE 19

When the day of our presentation arrives, Will’s late to class. Because of course he is.

Professor Gene pulls me aside before he begins his lesson. “I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news.”

My stomach sinks with the sort of feeling I imagine sailors have right before their ships capsize. It’s brutal and gut wrenching. Something’s wrong.

“Mr. Kendricks is no longer going to be part of the volunteer program. He’s handed the reins entirely to you. Of course, that means you may need to rework your presentation, and I’ll give you some time to do that.”

The words are foreign, and I lack the skills to interpret them. “He quit? How? Why? You said it was both of us or neither of us.”

Is he actually going to screw me over here?

“Yes, well, he and I discussed that, and I don’t feel it’s fair to you, especially this far into the semester. So you’ll take on the volunteer load alone, and you and I will work together to decide what’s doable from here. It’ll work out, Ms. Sullivan. Never fear.”

He offers a small smile, then dismisses me back to my table in a state of stupor. I sit through the class not really listening to a word of the lecture, almost entirely oblivious to Banks’s presence next to me.

I can’t focus on anything.

Will wouldn’t just quit. He’s far too stubborn. Something happened.

My mind refuses to accept this.

After class, I march straight to his dorm.

I knock on the door, but he doesn’t answer. When I turn around, fuming, I nearly run into him. He stands there with a bag of food from one of the sandwich shops on campus, staring at me like I’m the last person he expected to see here.

“What are you doing?” he asks, eyes narrowing.

“I could ask you the same thing. You abandoned me.” The word is out before I can soften it.

“Abandoned?” He shakes his head. “What are you talking about? You’ve wanted me to quit all along.” He digs his key from his pocket. “Wish granted.”

I take a step back, letting him pass but keeping close behind. “You did this on purpose. To embarrass me on the day of the presentations.”