It was finally Tuesday.
Most of the morning classes had passed in a haze, half the room mentally somewhere else entirely, running through equations and half-finished sections instead of whatever the actual lecture was about. Even Jackson, who’d spent the better part of a week convinced this project was going to end him, seemed strangely calm about the whole thing, more settled than I’d expected given how much he’d complained.
By the time lunch rolled around, we found our usual spot and sat.
Evelyn arrived first, leaning down to press a quick kiss to Jackson’s cheek. "Hey, babe."
"Hey, you," Jackson said, sliding over to make room.
Sasha showed up a moment later. "Hey, guys." Her eyes landed on me, held a beat longer than the greeting strictly needed. "...Hi."
Evelyn glanced between the two of us, something curious flickering across her face.
"Did I miss something?" she finally said.
Silence settled over the table for a second or two.
I leaned back. "You did. A lot, actually. But we’re not telling you. Including Jackson."
"Hey," Jackson said, mock-offended. "Don’t drag me into this."
"You’re already in it."
Evelyn turned to Jackson, pouting exaggeratedly. "Babe, your friend is bullying me."
"He’s your friend too."
Everyone laughed, Evelyn included, the tension breaking easily.
Sasha sat down beside me, and glanced my way once more, quick, quieter than the first look.
Evelyn saw it. She said nothing, though the look on her face made it clear she’d be asking Jackson about it the second they were alone.
The rest of lunch passed easily enough after that, and by the time we made our way to class, the earlier tension had mostly faded into the background.
Class settled in, and Nicole walked to the front, setting her things down.
"Before we start," she said, "quick reminder. Projects are due by six p.m. tonight, submitted by email. Late submissions lose five marks per hour, so plan accordingly."
A groan rippled through the room, though it was quieter than the usual chorus, most people clearly having already accepted their fate days ago.
"You’re too beautiful to be this cruel," someone said, just loud enough to be heard, clearly hoping charm might buy him something.
Nicole smiled. "I’ll take that as a compliment."
The groans got louder.
The guy behind me leaned forward slightly. "Her smile’s like sunlight breaking through a week of storm clouds."
Jackson turned, smirking. "You should write a book. It’ll sell."
A few people snickered. Nicole, either not hearing it or choosing not to acknowledge it, had already turned to the board and picked up the marker.
"Alright. Let’s get started."
The rest of Thermo went by quickly enough, and I sent my project off well before the deadline, one less thing weighing on the day.
The last class, Professor Thompson’s, dragged an extra hour past its usual time, the kind of overrun that made the whole room visibly deflate as the clock kept climbing. By the time we finally got out, it was 6:15 instead of 5.
Jackson and Evelyn walked with me toward the parking lot, Evelyn apparently sticking around for whatever plans the two of them had that I hadn’t asked about and had no intention of asking about.
"I’m thinking I probably pulled off a solid six out of ten," Jackson said, entirely too pleased with himself. "Maybe a seven, if Professor Collin’s feeling generous."
I nodded along, saying nothing, knowing full well the project wasn’t even scored out of ten to begin with.
"Nathan," Evelyn said, nudging my arm. "I think someone’s waiting for you."
I looked up. Nicole, standing by my car, phone in hand, not looking up yet.
"Night, guys," I said, already peeling off toward her.
Jackson called something after me I didn’t quite catch. I didn’t turn around to ask.
By the time I reached her, she still hadn’t looked up.
"Hey."
She looked up then, and the second her eyes met mine, she smiled. "Hi."
She slipped her phone into her bag, but her eyes never left mine, like she was more interested in keeping my attention than whatever had been on her screen.
"You’ve been waiting," I finally said.
"I have."
"For me to drop you home."
She nodded, a small, cheeky smile appearing on her face. "Hm-mm."
I looked at her for a second before letting a faint smirk pull at the corner of my mouth.
"You do remember you have a car, right?"
"My car’s boring."
That got a smile out of me. She really had an answer for everything. I shook my head, unlocked the car, and opened the driver’s side door.
"Get in."
She smiled and walked around to the passenger side. We got in, buckled up, and I pulled out of the parking lot.
For a few minutes, neither of us said anything. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, though. It was the kind we’d gotten used to lately, where neither of us seemed to feel the need to fill every second with conversation.
Nicole eventually turned toward me.
"So."
I glanced at her briefly. "So?"
"How was your day?"
"Cool." I said, eyes on the road. "I finally turned in that project my Thermodynamics professor assigned."
Nicole made a face, already catching on to what I was doing. "Did you?"
"Yeah. Definitely the most difficult assignment we’ve had all semester."
"Wow." She shook her head sympathetically. "Your professor sounds mean."
"She is."
"Oh." She glanced at me, pretending to think about it. "It’s a female?"
I smirked, saying nothing.
"Is she hot?"
I pretended to consider it. "Hm... So-so."
Nicole laughed, turning toward the window, though the smile on her face didn’t go anywhere.
After a beat, she looked back at me. "Anyway, how do you feel now that it’s finally done?"
"Relieved."
She smiled. "Then we should celebrate."
I raised an eyebrow. "Celebrate?"
She nodded like I’d just asked whether water was wet. "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you finished the project."
I glanced at her. "That’s not really a reason to celebrate."
"It is."
"How?"
She thought about it for a second, then looked at me with complete confidence. "Because if you hadn’t finished it, we wouldn’t be celebrating."
I glanced at her again. She gave me an innocent look, like her logic had been perfectly reasonable.
I shook my head, smiling despite myself. "Where to?"
She was quiet for a moment. "How about... my place?"
I said nothing for a while.
Nicole finally glanced at me. "I know how it sounds, me always bringing up you coming over. I just..." She paused. "I just want to spend more time with you in person, instead of over text or a phone call."
I thought about that for a moment, realizing that maybe I’d been reading too much into her asking me to come over when, really, she just wanted to spend more time with me, which was a lot easier to understand once she actually said it out loud.
But still...
I exhaled slowly. "We can go to a bar—"
"Alone. With you," she cut in. "Not surrounded by thirty strangers."
I glanced at her.
"Please." She tilted her head slightly. "I can’t even do anything to you if I wanted to. There’s always a chance you’d hate me afterward, and I’m not dumb enough to risk that."
I couldn’t help but smirk at how she always had a way of saying things that somehow made perfect sense, even when they really shouldn’t have.
She caught my smirk, tilting her head a little more, clearly taking it as encouragement. "Please."
I stared at her for a moment, knowing I’d already lost this argument somewhere between her first invitation and that ridiculous little look she was giving me now.
I shook my head, turning my attention back to the road, though I was still smiling. "I’m only saying yes because at this point, saying no would make me look like the bad guy."
"Yay!"
I paused for a second before laughing. Nicole laughed too.
"You’re saying yay like a kid," I said through a laugh.
"I’m a girl," she replied, like that settled it. "It happens."
I glanced at her once more. She was smiling to herself, looking genuinely happy about something as simple as getting to spend the evening with me, and for some reason, that small expression stayed with me longer than it probably should have.
I turned my attention back to the road.