off. Almost there, then pull it back. I need to ask him.
“Grant,” I swallow. “Do you think we’d ever be, you know, more than friends?”
He stares at me, that stoic Grant look only he can make. It never fails to send tingles through some part of my body.
“Well, there’s an easy way to find that out, ya know,” he grins.
“What’s that?”
Oh, there is? Enlighten me, shaman.
“Actually, never mind. You hungry?”
“Nah, I’m okay,” I lie. “I had some snacks during the game.”
My stomach chooses this precise moment to rumble.
I look down, and he stares at it, then puts his big hand over my stomach.
He screws up his face. “Did you just—“
“Nope. Not hungry. I ate earlier…” I grin.
He shakes his head. “I have some extra swipes for the dining hall. I got you. It’s okay to ask people for help, you know.”
I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Right. What are friends for?”
“Exactly.” As we head off to the quad, I think of a couple things my body is telling me I’m ravenous for.
Unfortunately, none of them are on the tasting menu tonight.
6
Maya
“I’ll be there tomorrow,” my dad says over the phone. “Do you have everything boxed up and ready to go?”
“Yep. Everything is ready,” I say, glancing around my grungy apartment. Since Greene State is on trimesters, spring term officially ends in late May. My lease is up tomorrow, the second of June, so I’ve got all of my things boxed up and ready for my dad to arrive with the van in the morning.
“Perfect. I’ll see you there tomorrow. Enjoy your last night. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I hang up with my dad and sigh, looking around at my dinky little apartment. It’s been a difficult winter and spring term here at Greene. There have been moments of doubt that I would even stay enrolled, but I’ve stayed positive through it all and feel like I’ve come out on top. Even though I’m technically behind since I missed winter term, I took the maximum course load in spring term to make up for it.
I pour a glass of sweet tea to relax on my couch when a knock jolts me out of my relaxed mood.
I look through the peephole, and see my landlord, Xavier, on the other side of the door.
“Maya, you there?” he says, looking at his phone. “Or did you move out yet?”
I open the door. “Hi, Xavier.”
He scratches his head, looking surprised. “What are you doing here?”
I squint, not sure what to make of his comment. “I…live here?”
He shakes his head. “You’re supposed to be gone by now. Out by June first.”
“No. My last day is June first,” I protest, although a funky feeling registers in my chest.
Shaking his head, he pulls a rolled-up paper from his back pocket and unrolls it. “Your lease,” he says. “You have a copy of it, too, but I’ll show it to you.”
His finger rolls to the part at the bottom of the lease where it says I’ll be gone by two p.m. on June first.
“Oh, no,” I say, clenching my teeth. I frown.
He clicks his phone and shows me the time. “It’s already past two. I gave you some wiggle room.”
“My dad is arriving tomorrow, though. Can’t I just stay one more day?”
Xavier frowns. “Maya, I’ve got a cleaning crew coming in tomorrow morning. And I’ve got to do the inspection myself tonight. If you can’t be out of here in a few hours, I’m gonna have to keep the four-hundred-dollar deposit.”
My stomach sinks. I’ve been pinching every penny this year in order to save money for Italy and not have to eat solely beans and rice.
“Just give me a few minutes, okay?”
He nods. “I’ll make a few calls out here and stay in the hall way for a little while. But I’m not going to just wait around all day.”
I call up my girlfriends, and they’re all moved out of the dorm already and headed back home.
I don’t even know someone with a car.
All of a sudden, I look down from my apartment and see a boy walking with a bat and glove, and it hits me.
The Greene State baseball team has to stay at school past the end of the year because the playoffs happen in June.
Grant.
He picks up after two rings. “Well, well. To what do I owe this pleasure? You back in Michigan yet?”
“No.” I swallow. “Grant, remember when you said I shouldn’t be afraid to ask people for help?”
The noise in the background, his