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Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
I pause, huffing out a sigh as my fingers hover over my laptop keyboard. Concentrating with that sound in the background is near impossible, no matter how many articles I have to read for my next assignment. My bathroom tap has been dripping non-stop all morning and I’m so close to ripping it out of the wall myself. Instead, I send a quick text to Gemma, ready to use her connections to fix my problems. No less than a minute later she’s walking through my front door and lounging on my bed.
“I really have to change my code.”
Gemma shrugs, looking unbothered. “Misty would just tell me anyway.”
“Isn’t that a major breach of privacy?”
“Probably. Anyway, what seems to be the problem?”
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
“Oh, yeah. That is super annoying. Give me a minute.”
Perks of being best friends with the manager of the student accommodation. Gemma makes a phone call and Gemma’s older sister, Misty, arrives moments later.
“Eden! It’s been so long!” Placing her toolkit down, she wraps me in a hug that smells like summer and pulls back to give me a concerned look at arms length. “Have you been sleeping lately?”
“Jeez, that obvious?” I take my glasses off to rub my eyes, probably not helping the dark circles underneath.
“Eden has a crush,” Gemma sing-songs from my bed, munching on some cookies I thought I had hidden from her.
“Gemma,” I warn, spinning around in my chair with my arms crossed over my chest. I hold my hand out for a cookie, and Gemma hesitantly hands me one.
“A crush?” Misty turns to me, her blue eyes glowing eerily like Gemma’s. They share the same genetic code and they both have a liking for gossip— wonder if that’s related.
“Irrelevant. Can you please fix my tap? It’s been dripping non-stop all day and it’s driving me insane.”
“Just like Oliver is.”
“Shut up.”
“Oliver, hey?” Misty’s voice becomes muffled as she moves into the bathroom.
“Yep.” Gemma pops her ‘p’, giving me a grin. “He’s her tutor.” Rolling my eyes, I try to focus on the article in front of me again. It doesn’t last.
“Is that legal?”
“Oh my God! He’s my age!” I want to slam my head into my desk, but instead I just rest it in my hands, trying to hide from the proud look Gemma shoots me.
There’s some banging and clanging in my bathroom and Misty emerges moments later. “All done! Just a loose washer. Now, you have to tell me about this Oliver.” She sits next to her sister, accepting the cookie that Gemma passes her. I roll my eyes.
“He’s tutoring me for my Literature subject.”
“And?” Gemma interrupts. Shooting her a glare, I continue.
“And nothing. We went out for dinner like twice. He’s nice. I enjoy his company. There’s nothing else to it.”
Misty looks at me for just a moment, and it makes me thankful that I don’t have an older sister. They always seem to be able to sniff out secrets.
