It was a total accident.”
“I can’t believe they let you stay enrolled here after that,” Sophia said. “No offense.”
“None taken. And they wouldn’t have, except my dad said he’d pay for the repairs and a few other upgrades. And hey, it gives him another way to tell me I’m a fuckup every time we speak. It’s a win for everyone.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a win for you.” Aniyah’s voice was low and soft. She sounded almost…compassionate.
Xander shrugged. “I get to stay in school.”
“True.”
“Well, in my opinion, you didn’t do enough damage.” Carter walked over and held out his fist for Xander to bump. “Not all heroes wear capes, my man.”
Xander looked at Carter’s fist curiously before giving it a soft bump. “Thanks. I think.”
“Okay, Carter, story time’s over,” Sophia admonished. “We have work to do.”
“Coming, Mother,” Carter whined as he winked at us. “You guys going to be here a while? We can hang out after Professor Scrooge is done with me.”
“Hey, you’re the one who wants my help, jackass.”
Carter turned to look at Sophia. “Can we be real here? When I asked you to study with me, what I meant was will you let me copy your homework, write all my papers, and let me look over your shoulder on quiz and test days? I never expected any of this actual studying crap.”
She put both hands on her hips. “Why would I ever agree to that?”
“Because I’m a football player and you’re super hot.”
“How do either of those things translate into me doing all your work for you?”
“It’s unwise to ask questions you don’t want answers to,” Aniyah warned.
Sophia put her hands up. “You’re right.” She squeezed the bridge of her nose and turned back to Carter. “Just…we either do this my way, or you can find a new study partner.”
Carter sighed. “It’s too late. All the other smart girls are taken already.” He looked truly devastated by this fact. “See you guys later,” he said to us as he made his way down the hall.
“This campus has some really interesting characters,” Aniyah said.
“Yup,” I said. And it seemed I was destined to meet them all.
S O P H I A
Carter kept staring at the door like a puppy who needed to go outside to relieve himself.
I smacked him on the arm. “Come on. Focus.”
“I’m trying.”
“You’re not usually this all over the place.”
“I know, but I had a shitty day, and the people in the living room seem way more entertaining than learning how my brain developed. Who even cares, as long as it works, right?”
“You need to stay eligible,” I reminded him.
“I know,” he replied miserably.
“Tell you what. Give this your undivided attention for twenty more minutes, and then we’ll go out there and get a drink.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded before pointing to his notebook. “Now read over your notes again and tell me what doesn’t make sense.”
And that was how we passed the next twenty minutes. Carter wasn’t a dumb guy, despite the things that came flying out of his mouth. He just didn’t care about psychology. He was only trying to fill a general requirement, and for that reason, he resented having to put so much effort into understanding the material.
When we emerged from the room, it seemed Drew’s group was also taking a break. Carter immediately began mingling with the others, and I sidled up next to Drew.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Really well. We all have similar beliefs in terms of the role of ethics in business, so that’s making the process a lot easier.”
“Ah, you’re the good guys, huh?”
Drew looked surprised by my assessment. “How do you know we’re not ruthless future moguls?”
I tapped a finger against my top lip. “Hmm, let me see. That guy looks like he’s going to spend his life driving only electric cars and have solar panels on his roof, and the girl, while slightly intimidating, seems like she’s going to be a crusader for Greenpeace.”
“What about Xander? He almost burned down a library.”
“As a form of meditative therapy,” I pointed out. “What a shark.”
Drew snorted out a laugh at my assessment, which made me smile in return. “And then there’s you.”
“Me?”
“Yup. A guy who goes to school all day, soaking up every bit of information he can, while also holding down a full-time job and helping hapless sorority girls out of bad situations. Total monster.”
When Drew didn’t reply, I turned my head to see him watching me, a weird look on his face that I couldn’t decipher.
“What?” I asked.
He