to. Why? What’re you doing?”
“Oh. Uh. I was going to go over to the student union and grab some lunch. I’ve got work at two.”
“Wow. Really?”
“Yeah, two to eight. Six hour shift.”
“Every day?” she asked in horror. Probably they should have been walking faster, but in all honesty, Taylor had no burning desire to beg off the conversation.
“No. Just Mondays and Tuesdays. Then Fridays six to six.”
“What?” she almost screamed in surprise. “Are you insane?”
“Just trying to make it work,” Greg said. He realized they were, in fact, walking toward the student union and not at all in the direction of her dorm, but he chose not to comment on that fact. “It shouldn’t be too bad. At least it’s not Saturdays like last year.”
“So have you heard anything on the test yet?”
“No, not yet. I should hear by tomorrow night.”
They crossed the street, and now it was clear to him they were, in fact, going to the student union.
His next question lodged in his throat and heart, but he needed to stop letting fear reroute his courage. “Have you heard from Mitchell yet?”
“No. I was going to call him after class.” Taylor sighed. “I probably should do that actually. See if he’s heard anything.”
Greg said no more as they climbed the wide steps of the student union and he opened the door for her. If he could get them to the lunch area, it was a good sure bet that Nelson would find them. The question of how to get her to Merel’s was also on-loop, making present thinking less than easy. “You want to get some lunch?”
“Uh, sure,” she said after only a very brief thought. She took off her cute cap and stuffed it in the pocket of her coat. “You know, can we wait?” Smoothing her hair down, she stopped right in the middle of the walkway. “I really should call Mitchell now. Not that I want to, but…”
“Oh. Sure.” With that, Greg angled them into the large sitting area and found a table to start stacking his stuff on. “You do that. I’ll see if they’ve got my stupid Poli Sci class online yet.”
“Yeek, what, do you have a death wish?”
“Let’s not talk about it.”
Taylor left her things with Greg at the table he chose, and she went to place the call in the quieter area just beyond the side double doors. It wasn’t outside, but it had a couple of padded benches, so she sat down on one and took a long breath before placing the call. “Yes. Mitchell Conrad please.”
Trying not to think about all things Taylor, Greg pulled out his laptop and found the Poli Sci class link. He was deep in the middle of trying to decipher all of the assignments between here and May when she came back and slipped up onto a stool.
“You get him?” Greg asked, his attention evaporating from Poli Sci.
“Yeah.” She shook her head. “Nothing so far.” Putting her phone in her back pocket, she put her head in her hands. “They are really going to hate me now.”
“No,” he said. “Don’t lose hope. It’s 24 hours before the thing starts.”
“20.”
“It’s 20 hours before the thing starts,” he corrected without missing a beat. “You know, not that this is here nor there, but have you thought any more about going to talk to Merel today?”
Taylor groaned and let her head flop onto the table on her hands. Slowly she banged it there three times.
“I’m not saying you have to,” he said, feeling bad about causing that reaction. “But I’m pretty sure she’s going to be there this afternoon.” He thought for a minute about the new Monday meals. Today was Monday. Lauren would’ve gone to eat there for Clara’s sake. Paige would have followed. That meant Nelson wasn’t coming. However, that, then, ran into other problems, namely that they would all be at the student center. Still... “I just thought, you know, before tomorrow and everything.”
Dragging her head up, Taylor looked at him with glassy, tired eyes. “You really think that would help?”
“Yes. I really do.” At least he hoped it would and that it wouldn’t cause more problems.
“Fine.” She sighed hard. “Do we want to grab something to eat here and then you can go over there with me? You are going with me, right? I’m not going over there by myself.”
Greg thought it all through at the speed of light. “Yeah, but I won’t be able to stay.”
“I know. I know. You’ve got work.”
“Yeah,