AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I'm done, I promise.” Wrestling her hand back, I kiss her knuckles. “But I think me drawing you kinda defeats the purpose.”
Luna shakes her head, shuffling around until she's sitting cross-legged, her hands flexing and unflexing nervously where they rest on her knees. “No, I wanna draw you. Or, at least, try to draw you.”
“I don't think that's right either.”
“Shut up. It's my journal.”
“And you really wanna draw me?”
“You draw me all the time.” Case in point; the pinboard above my desk currently littered with blue eyes and pouty lips and dimpled backs. “Figure it's about time I get my own back.”
The concentration face is back, solely focused in my direction, and like I’ve proved so many times in the past, I’m not strong enough to resist anything she asks of me.
“Okay.” One simple word has Luna fucking glowing. “Where do you want me?”
30
LUNA
Ten minutes.
Ten minutes and I'm done with this crappy class and crappy semester, and hopefully the immensely crappy mood I've been in. I can admit when I'm being a monster, and for the last couple of weeks, I've been a cranky, snippy nightmare.
But in mere minutes, the cranky snippiness will dissipate because my final exam will be over, Professor Jacobs is going to clap his hands and dismiss us and I will be free for an entire two weeks. Free from this class, and its slightly odd professor that still looks at me funny, forever.
Everyone around me is having the same anticipatory thoughts; the sound of furious writing has dissolved into impatient tapping of pens against desks and huffed breaths and absent-minded doodling. When the bell finally chimes, it’s a stampede. I take my time packing up, mostly because I have no interest in being trampled, a little because I intend on keeping the white boots on my feet tread-mark free. I linger until it's safe—for me and my shoes—before getting up, slinging my bag over my shoulder as I dig through it to find my phone.
A good luck text from Jackson sits in my inbox, and it makes me smile. He's put up with me like a trooper. Kept me fed and watered and rested. I’m typing a reply, a handful of steps from freedom, when I get stopped by a hand on my shoulder.
“Sorry,” my professor apologizes when I jolt in surprise, quickly retracting his hand. “I didn't mean to startle you.”
“It's okay.” I force a smile, shifting in place, adjusting my bag just to give myself something to do with my hands. “Did you need something?”
“No. Uh, yes,” Jacobs stutters, neck turning an interesting shade of red. “I just wanted to wish you luck. Next year. Next semester.”
“Oh.” I fight to keep the frown off my face because of all the professors to wish me luck, I wouldn’t have voted for Jacobs. “Okay. Thank you.”
“You've been an excellent student,” he continues, and the lie is as laughable as it is confusing. “And an excellent…” His throat bobs as he swallows. “And a good friend to my Penelope.”
And the conversation has officially crossed over to the realm of weird.
“I really enjoyed your class,” is the only response I can think of. “And Pen is great.”
“She is.”
I’ve never been one for awkward silences so when one ensues, I make myself scarce quickly. The waves we offer each other are even more awkward than the silence.
Not quite as bad as the lingering pat he bestows on my shoulder before I make my escape, but still pretty fucking odd.
I barely make it out the door l before I’m sequestered by another member of the Jacobs family. A pair of thin, freckled arms wrap themselves around my middle and squeeze as a head of blonde hair props itself on my shoulder. “LuLu, we're done!” Pen squeals in my ear, giving me a shake for good measure.
I pat the hands resting on my stomach affectionately, my fake smile brightening to a real one. “How'd you do?”
“Good, I think.” Pen releases me, only for a moment so she can link our arms, and we walk side-by-side toward the courtyard. “Not that it matters. I'll pull the nepotism card if I need to. What's the point of being his favorite daughter if I don't get any benefits?”
“You're his only daughter.”
“That we know of,” Pen jokes, wriggling her blonde brows.
