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My entire body seized. “Of course!” How could she even suggest I won’t graduate? That I didn’t want to graduate.
“Even if I ace the exam…I’m only a B.”
She looked at me with scrutiny, with a hint of something in her eyes that had nothing to do with sympathy. It was worry, and not for my grades; but whatever she was thinking, she kept it to herself.
“Honey. It’s all right. It’s only one paper. You can’t be perfect. No one can realistically expect that of you.” She returned her attention to her own studies.
My parents did. Without question. And for them, it was real.
I looked around us, at the mass of students who all had the same purpose. Study. Graduate. Succeed. The women at the table next to us giggled with their heads stuck together. A group of guys to the left rapped their pencils on the table, deep into their reading. The keen students in front of us held a mock exam. Right now, they all had the one thing I was lacking. Focus. I used to be just like them. I used to want to spend all of my time with my nose stuck in a book.
A guy walked by our table, his eyes didn’t leave Grace’s face until he had no choice but to look away. I didn’t blame him. When she was natural, Grace was the most beautiful woman I knew. Her auburn hair was shoulder-length and wavy, never frizzy, never flat. Her lips were the perfect shade of raspberry that she often covered with fire engine red lipstick. She was my best friend and sometimes I wished her beauty had rubbed off on me. I had spent a lot of time wondering what it would be like to have someone look at me the way men always looked at Grace. I didn’t have to wonder anymore. That’s how Max looked at me. At least that’s how I thought he looked at me—with appreciation and possibility.
“Are you afraid that one day some guy is going to recognize you?”
She waved me off. “Guys in school with us aren’t hiring escorts, and if they are, they can’t afford me.” She looked up and gave me a wink. “It’s more the professors that I worry about.”
I snorted. Wouldn’t that be an awkward office hour.
“Are you working tonight?”
She nodded. “Johnnie New York is in town again.”
“The rich guy?” Grace didn’t talk much about her dates. Only a few had ever garnered disclosure, but Johnnie New York—or so she had named him—was a regular and asked for “Jade” every time he was in town.
“They’re all rich, Evs.”
His visits seemed to be more frequent lately. Although she’d never tell me, I wondered if it was because of her. “What’s his deal anyway?”
“He’s in town a few times a month for business. That’s all I need to know.”
“Is he single?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“So you have no idea if he’s single or married?”
This was the part I didn’t understand. I didn’t know how she wasn’t curious. The more time I spend with Max, the more I want to know about him. Not to mention the more I revealed about myself, which was a stupid mistake. Once that list was done, he’d be gone, and I’d be left with only the memory of a man I would never be able to top.
“It’s not my job to ask. We go out. We have a great time.” She hesitated. “He’s a job.”
I leaned across the table, lowering my voice. “Do you like him?”
“He’s attractive, successful, rich.” With a jerk of her chin, she said, ?
?What’s not to like?”
“Going out with him so many times, how does it not get personal?”
Maybe she could teach me the tricks of the trade—no pun intended. I couldn’t afford to fall for Max any more than I already had.
“Sometimes it’s unavoidable.” She shrugged. “Sometimes you just have to admit that So I Married an Axe Murderer is your favorite movie.” She winked.
“What’s his favorite movie?”
Someone shushed us from the next table.
Grace lowered her voice and leaned closer. “All the X-Men movies.”
