my teeth, I reposition my bag strap and watch him carefully. I know nothing about cars beside where to put windshield washer fluid in, and how to check my oil. If I ever got a flat tire I’d be screwed. Everything else? It’s why I have my Dad and a roadside assistance card.
“You can go,” he tells me, standing up and looking at me from around the hood. “I think I know what’s wrong. Wouldn’t want to make you late.”
I frown. “I feel bad ditching you.”
“You’re not going to be much help standing around,” he points out. I make a face at the blunt statement knowing it’s true. He gestures for me to go, making my shoulders drop a little.
“Thank you. For everything.” I take a step away, then stop again and turn. “I’ll make it up to you. Dinner or something.”
He just nods once before turning his back to me and focusing on the car again. When I give him a once-over, I swear the corners of his lips are tilted up into a tiny smile.
I find myself smiling too.
When I arrive at Carter’s room before class begins, I drop my bag next to his on the front table and greet him like usual. I don’t want to mention last night, though I know I should thank him again. He didn’t have to give me a ride home, which would have saved him from having to comfort me after my breakdown.
“Want to lead the discussion today?” he asks, giving me an out like he knew I needed it. Or maybe he’s not even thinking about last night.
“Sure. Where we left off?”
He grabs his textbook and flips to a bookmarked page. Like me, he color-codes the chapters with Post-It tabs. His eyes scan over the page before he hands it to me and points toward a highlighted chapter. “I think we’ll start off with a pop quiz based on this section to make sure they read. Then we’ll begin with any last remarks on Wednesday’s discussion.”
I nod and read over the text to memorize the topic. I’d been reading up on it the other night but got distracted when Easton knocked on my bedroom door. Even though nothing happened between us that night, I never went back to the passage because I couldn’t stop thinking about how East and I had talked before he left.
Just talked.
About … nothing.
“Piper?”
I blink at Carter, cheeks heating. “Huh?”
Amusement flickers across his face as he leans against the blank whiteboard. “You okay? You spaced out on me.”
“Oh.” I wave it off. “Yeah. I was thinking about homework, that’s all. Speaking of, these guys have their first paper due soon, right?”
His head bobs. “Correct. I’ll need your help grading them. I figured we could choose a day that works best for both of us and go over a grading rubric then split the papers in half to grade.”
After agreeing, we let the oncoming students fill the room and break any conversation. The pop quiz seemingly puts a damper on everyone’s Friday as Carter writes the questions on the board and tells everyone to take out a sheet of paper to answer them on.
Based on the pinched faces and minimal writing, I’m pretty sure nobody did the assigned reading. It makes me think back to my freshman year, where I color-coded everything and wrote two sets of notes to get lectures in my head. I did readings ahead of time and studied way too hard when I knew exams were approaching.
I was always serious about schoolwork and grades, which is a huge reason I hated going to parties with Jenna. She’d bust me out of my dorm room and drag me along by guilting me about never seeing her because I was too busy worrying about getting A’s in class.
Looking back now, I realize I might have been too focused. How much did I miss out on because I thought nothing could be more important than homework? Danny used to tease me whenever I called him to complain about a party I went to by force, telling me I should stop complaining and have fun for a change.
“Enjoy things while they last, Pipe. It won’t last forever,” he’d always say.
And God was he right.
The fifty-minute period goes by smoothly, though conversation was limited after everyone turned in their quizzes. Carter would intervene and ask someone to speak up or reiterate a point I made to get dialogue flowing.
When class ends and almost everyone files out in grumbled