said, and she grew visibly relieved.
Even though she was buying into the act her boyfriend dished out, being around both of us at the same time was making her uncomfortable, and I didn’t like the way that made me feel.
“See you around,” he said before pulling her away with little effort.
Danika gave me one last glance before leaving with him. I stood there for a minute, lost in my own head and all twisted up with the knowledge that Sunny had just dropped on me earlier. Danika had wanted out. Jared had convinced her to stay. He had her so well played, and she couldn’t even see it. And I refused to be the one to tell her.
It went against everything I believed in to stay quiet and to play backup. As unnatural as it felt for me to sit back and wait, I knew it was the right thing to do. Being passive when it came to something I wanted had never been my strong suit, but fuck, I had no real experience when it came to long-term relationships. And like I’d said before, I’d learned my lesson about getting involved in other people’s business the hard way. No matter how I felt about Danika or how badly I wanted to be with her, I couldn’t do shit about it. If she was going to end things, she needed to do it on her own terms.
The second her relationship status changed, I would make that girl mine. But for now, I knew that I had to let her go and hope she’d eventually find her way to me. No matter how much it hurt to watch her walk away with him, I had to let her do it.
Grade Check
Danika
Aside from the one day a week I had scheduled with Chance, I never saw him. That day on campus when I was with Jared had been a fluke or something because I hadn’t seen Chance walking around or in the commissary since. I’d been tempted on more than one occasion to text him, but I stopped myself every time, determined not to send him mixed signals, no matter how mixed up my own heart felt.
Jared had been the model boyfriend, doing and saying all the right things. I could tell that he was trying so hard to make things right between us, but it all felt like too little, too late from my perspective. No matter what he did, I found myself wishing he wasn’t doing it. The more he pushed, the more I felt pushed away. It was totally messed up, but it was the truth. We were still together, but I sensed that it wouldn’t be long before that changed. I couldn’t keep doing this to him, pretending like we were okay when we were anything but.
I got to our tutoring session first, making my way into the office and attempting to get comfortable before Chance arrived. I scanned the area like a hawk, spotting him before he saw me. I noticed the way other girls reacted to him, their heads craning in his direction, phones up to sneak pics as they whispered to their friends. Chance gave it zero attention as he walked through the library, his eyes on the phone in his hand.
I looked forward to this singular day all week. And then dreaded the second it ended. God, I was so messed up.
“Hey,” I said as the door pushed open, and he sauntered inside. It took everything in me to stay seated instead of standing up to greet him with a hug.
“Hey yourself.”
I knew that he missed seeing me as much as I missed seeing him, and I should have hated myself for how good that made me feel.
“Has the professor updated your grade yet?”
“Not yet, but I keep hitting refresh,” he said as he moved to sit down in the chair next to mine instead of our usual as far apart as possible routine.
We were waiting on his math grade to reflect his latest test results. Once we had that information, we could formulate a plan of attack for his final.
“How do you think you did?”
“Passed, but not sure by how much,” he said, sounding a little less than confident.
“You’ve passed every other test this semester so far, so I’m sure you did better than you think,” I attempted to reassure him.
“This one was harder though,” he added, his green eyes sparkling under the fluorescent lights.
“I know, but hey, you’re almost done.” I smiled