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I can't breathe.
"Stop staring at my breasts," I finally say when his eyes get to the neckline of my blouse.
"I can't," he whispers back and swallows. "Why don't you dress like this every day?"
Because I feel so uncomfortable with my body, you have no idea.
He finally looks up at me, and only then do I feel how hard my cheeks are burning, so much that I'm ready to burst.
"Let's get to the questions," I change the subject.
I might have told Dominic about my bullying at school, but no way am I going to say to him that I don't like my body because my classmates also called me fat in fifth grade.
"The third question is..."
"Let's change the rules," he interrupts me, without giving me a chance to finish.
I raise an eyebrow in response as if asking,What rules?It's a test, not a competition.
"For every answer that is correct, you open one button," he continues and gives me a mischievous smile.
My jaw almost drops to the floor, and I open and close my mouth a couple of times before I manage to get any words out.
"How dare you..." I try not to smile, but I can't. I have to admit that it's kind of awesome when a guy like Astor finds my breasts attractive.
"What? I told you: I need motivation." He shrugs easily, as if what he said was perfectly reasonable.
"But I already asked two questions, and you couldn't answer either of them correctly!"
"So what's there to lose for you? You have eight buttons and eight questions left. That means that if I answer a couple correctly, I won't even see your underwear."
I want to punch him and hug him at the same time. I have never seen a guy more impudent than the one sitting in front of me.
"Eight buttons, huh? At least you can count," I say with a smile. "Okay."
When I agree that quickly, I see slight surprise on Dominic's face. He wasn't expecting me to give in this easily.
I know I should've refused, but I don't want to be that shy girl anymore. I have to show how brave I am even though I'm already shaking like a rabbit.
"The next question: Describe the main themes in the novel." I read from a notebook I prepared for our lesson yesterday.
I try to sound as natural as I can, even though I'm already terrified. But what can go wrong? I have beautiful lingerie, which I especially wore for today's meeting, even though I knew that no one would see it. But I always feel more confident wearing nice lingerie. And confidence is what I needed the most today. Moreover, Dominic's going to see only a part of my bra. Unless, of course, he can't answer any of the questions I prepared.
"The main themes are class difference, crime, and injustice, of course," he begins, and my hope evaporates with each word. "But this book is also about dreams and aspirations. We may discuss more later, but now..." He gives me a sly smile. "Am I right?"
I swallow, nodding silently, unable to say anything. My throat is suddenly dry, and my fingers are shaking as if I am about to be executed.
I open the top button of my blouse, regretting not having buttoned the top two before the start of the game.
Dominic watches me intently, not looking away for a second, without even blinking. And I see him exhale with relief when I finally open it as if he was holding a breath while I was doing it—just like me.
"What happens at the end?" I read the next question, scolding myself for preparing such easy questions. But who would've guessed that he would be able to read a five-hundred-page novel in one day?
"Pip goes to Cairo, and Estella marries another man," he retorts right away. It seems like I couldn't even read the question until the end before he had already started answering.
"You fooled me." I finally get it. "You answered incorrectly for the first two questions on purpose."
Of course, he did. He couldn't even remember the names of the main heroes, but now he unexpectedly remembers the city the main hero went to at the end?
