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“He can say the right things at the right time. As far as I’m concerned, he’s very dangerous. Lethal. I don’t think my heart would be able to handle him breaking it.” I slouch into the chair, feeling the weight of a turning point on my shoulders. “I like him. I do. He does things to me that no one else has ever done before. Makes me feel alive. But I can’t fall for a man like Graham.”
Claire frowns, “I’m afraid it’s too late, Angie. You have already fallen.”
21
I arrive to Human Behavior exactly one minute before class starts, with two overpriced barista-made drinks in hand. I silently wish that whipped cream could be packaged separately somehow, because as soon as it gets pumped onto the surface of the piping hot beverage, there is no way of saving it from its demise.
“You better like it because the girl making it kept giving me angry looks over your list of specific requests. I swear you do this for shits and giggles.”
Bryce shoots me a boyish grin. “You caught me.”
“I mean, what man with active testicles orders smoked paprika in their coffee?”
“Spice with the smooth milk. The world is missing out on this phenomenon. It really should be on the menu.” He takes a sip of his drink and closes his eyes as if he is having some holy religious experience. “The one with the lip piercing?”
“Huh?”
“Cafe girl.”
I nod, as I think back.
He flashes me a cheesy grin. “Angry broads turn me on.”
“Of course they do,” I laugh. Bryce loves to challenge my tolerance. Luckily, his sense of humor matches mine and we can both laugh at each other. “How’s life?” I ask, changing the subject back to neutral territory.
“Sexless.”
And I fall apart. It only takes one word from Bryce to have me in stitches. I keep trying to convince him to drop out and join an on-the-road comedy act.
“You laughing at my state of need is offensive.”
I giggle again, “Sorry. No harm intended.” I put my hands up to show my innocence.
“I’m onto you, McFee. Your fake apology doesn’t fly with me. You need to work more on your teacher-face.”
“But I don’t want to be a teacher!” At least not anymore.
“Too bad. It’s in your blood.”
“Whatever.” He barely knows me, aside from how to make me blush.
He fiddles with his phone, making mine vibrate from my bag. He nods his chin toward the sound. “Go on. Check it.”
As soon as the picture of human genitals loads on my phone, I can’t look away. “What the hell, Bryce!” I sneer. And there they are, of all shapes and sizes, and diseases. Ugh! “Why? Just why?”
“Payback.”
“For what?” I ask.
“For not taking better notes. I’m barely scraping by with a C.”
“You are unbelievable.”
After class, I grab a quick sandwich at the campus deli and eat it in my parked car while listening to The Fray. I enjoy the serenity while watching students walk along the sidewalk in front of me. I wipe my mouth and dispose of my napkin into my sandwich bag. I glance up through the windshield just in time to see Mark Tanner hand over a small package to a male student passing by. Neither stops. Neither shakes hands or says a word to each other. It is such a subtle incident that if I didn’t actually recognize Mark, I would not have noticed anything peculiar.
Mark is dressed in casual clothes and aviators. It isn’t even sunny out. I have never seen him dressed down. I might not have recognized him, but I know expensive shoes when I see them. And Mark likes his shoes. I quickly duck my head and act like I am texting. I open my camera app and snap a picture of his retreating form, as well as the student that he brushed into. I email the pictures to my secret address and type into the subject line “Mark Campus Handoff.” How did I even get by before with just a flip phone? I never want to regress back to my archaic ways.
I turn the key in my ignition, and it putters a few moments before finally starting. Great. I pray that I don’t need to get any repairs done anytime soon. I don’t have time to be without a vehicle, nor do I have the money to pay for the service. The money from the few dates I have been on has paid rent, food, car loan, and insurance. Of course, if I accept Graham’s proposition, I would be set for a while.
