it in my
face.
“ As much as I love
listening to you breathe, is there a particular reason you called?
Or is it just to hear my voice.”
“ Very funny. There is a
reason.”
“ I’m listening.” I heard a
door close, and I figured he’d gone into his bedroom.
I took a deep breath and let the words
out. “I need your help.”
“ My help? This is going to
be interesting.”
“ Forget it.”
“ No, no. Come on, you know
I’d help you with anything.”
“ It’s French. I’m going to
destroy my GPA with freaking intro French.”
He laughed. “Have you had dinner
yet?”
“ This is serious, Levi.
Will you help me?”
“ Of course, but answer my
question.”
“ No. I haven’t eaten.” I
was never in that much of a rush to go to the dining
hall.
“ I’ll pick you up in thirty
minutes. Pizza or Chinese?”
“ Neither. I need help with
French, not food.” Although takeout did sound good.
“ And I need food to help
you so I’ll see you outside in thirty minutes.”
He hung up before I could
respond.
The door opened, and Hailey walked in
with her empty pop-up hamper. “So, I have twenty minutes until I
need to move my clothes, want to get dinner?”
“ If you were only two
minutes earlier, I could have saved myself.”
“ Saved yourself?”
Understanding crossed Hailey’s face. “Wait, from Levi?”
“ Yeah…evidently he needs
takeout to help me with my French.”
Hailey sat down on her chair. “Want to
come with me to Bruff first? I don’t know where everyone else is,
and I don’t want to eat alone.” She referred to the campus dining
hall.
“ You don’t want to eat
alone? Wow. I’m impressed you even care.”
“ Are you
coming?”
“ Yeah, of course.” I might
have given her a hard time, but I’d have hated to eat alone during
dinner time. Sometimes the dining hall seemed the most like high
school—social pressure and all.
***
I was a few minutes late meeting Levi,
but he didn’t seem to care. “Hey, you ready?”
“ Yeah, I think I have
everything.” I patted my bag that was filled with my French book
and notebook.
He put a hand on my back, leading me to
his car. “So what are we working on exactly?”
I was surprised that he was asking
before dinner. I noticed the brown bag in the backseat when I got
in.
“ A composition about my
summer vacation.”
“ Oh, this is going to be so
good.”
“ I just can’t figure this
stuff out. I thought my last paper was perfect and I got a
C!”
Levi turned to me with mock shock. “A
C? Alert the authorities.”
I crossed my arms. “Yes, because caring
about my grades somehow makes me lame.”
“ That’s not what makes you
lame.”
“ That had better be a
joke.”
“ It is. It is.” Levi pulled
up out front of his place and parked.
He grabbed the bag of food from the
back, and we went inside. I hadn’t been over since the night we
went to the paranormal bar.
“ Is that enough food?” I
watched as Levi took out a few containers and placed them on the
kitchen table.
“ How much were you planning
to eat, hon?”
“ You know what I mean.
There are four of us.”
“ No, just two.”
“ Wait, Jared and Owen
aren’t here?”
Levi smiled. “No, it turns out they
both had plans tonight.”
I threw my bag down on an empty chair.
“Convenient. Very convenient.”
“ It is, isn’t it?” He took
two plates down from a cabinet, and pulled out two sets of
disposable chopsticks from the paper bag.
“ Whatever. Let’s eat.” I
sat down and opened the containers. “Chicken and Broccoli? Veggie Lo Mein?”
“ Is there a problem?” He
leaned back against the counter.
“ How did you know what I
like?”
“ Wait, you like
these?”
“ Yes, they’re my
favorites.”
“ It looks like we just like
the same things.”
“ Vegetable Lo Mein? You
expect me to believe that?”
“ Your roommate may or may
not have helped out.” He took a
seat.
“ Hailey? Hailey told
you?”
“ I
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