LITMIR.BIZ

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jam. ‘That’s not a no.’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Well, that’s a no.’

      ‘Yes, it is.’ I pushed off the couch and grabbed the door. ‘Thanks for the eggs.’

      Cam backed up, lopsided grin in place. ‘How about Wednesday night?’

      ‘Good-bye, Cam.’ I closed the door, grinning. He was completely insufferable, but like the night before, being around him did something sort of miraculous. Maybe it was the verbal dueling, but whatever it was, I tended to act … normal. Like I used to.

      Heh.

      After showering, I puttered around the apartment and debated texting Jacob or Brittany to see what they were up to. Eventually, I tossed my cell on the couch and dragged my laptop out. I couldn’t avoid my e-mail forever.

      In my junk folder, there were a few suspicious-looking e-mails. Two with my name as the subject. After receiving the last e-mail, I had learned my lesson, and I clicked delete with a certain amount of glee.

      The e-mails, though—it was strange to get them now. While I’d been in high school, it had been one thing. I’d been surrounded by the kids, but now, after we’d all left for college? Something just wasn’t right about that. Like, did they seriously have nothing better to do? I doubted it could be Blaine, because as twisted as he was, he stayed far away from me. And the phone call? I refused to change my number. Back during the worst of it, when I’d get three to four phone calls a day, I’d gone through a series of telephone changes and they always found out the new ones anyway.

      Shaking my head, I clicked on my in-box and found another e-mail from my cousin. Seriously? I was half tempted to not click on it, but I opened the stupid thing.

      Avery,

      I really need to talk to you ASAP. Call me whenever. It’s very important. Call me.

      David

      My finger hovered on the mouse pad.

      Delete.

       Chapter 8

      Over the next couple of weeks and as summer finally loosened its grip, a sort of odd routine started to occur. Monday through Friday, I got up and went to class. With each passing day, I started to look forward to astronomy. Not so much because I never knew what Professor Drage was going to say or what he would wear. A few days ago, he’d been rocking a pair of acid-wash jeans and a tie-dyed shirt. I think I focused on that more than anything else. But crazy-pants professor aside, it was a certain class partner who made the fifty minutes pretty damn entertaining.

      Between Cam’s side comments during Drage’s lecture and his surprisingly accurate knowledge of solar systems, running away from astronomy on the first day had really ended up paying off in the long run. With Cam as my partner and seatmate, there was no way I would fail the class.

      I spent lunch three days a week with Jacob and Brittany and even went to one of the football games with them. Parties were still a no go, something that neither could really understand, but they didn’t abandon me. Twice a week, they hung out at my place. Not a lot of studying got done, but I wasn’t complaining. I liked it when they came over. Okay, ‘like’ wasn’t a strong enough word. They were great, and it had been way too long since I had friends like them who didn’t seem to care when I acted like a spaz, which was quite a bit.

      At least twice a week, I turned Cam down.

      Twice. A. Week.

      It got to the point where I sort of looked forward to how he was going to slide it into conversation. The boy was relentless, but it was more of a running joke between us than anything else. At least in my opinion.

      I also started to look forward to Sundays.

      Each Sunday morning since the very first, Cam showed up at my door at some ungodly hour with eggs and something he’d baked. The second Sunday, it was blueberry muffins. The third Sunday it was pumpkin bread—from a box, he’d admitted. The four and the fifth Sunday, it was strawberry cake and then brownies.

      Brownies in the morning were the shit.

      Things were really … good with the exception of e-mail and phone. At least once a week, I’d get a call from an UNKNOWN CALLER. I deleted the messages and the e-mails without opening them. There were at least fifteen unread e-mails from my cousin. One of these days I was going to read them, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that or call my parents.

      They hadn’t called me, so I didn’t see the point.

      By the beginning of October, I was happier than I’d been in so long. The scent of autumn, something I’d missed while living in Texas, was in the air; I could wear long sleeves without looking like a freak; and cramming for midterms during lunch included M&Ms and Skittles.

      ‘Can someone please tell me where Croatia is on this map?’ Jacob groaned. ‘Like, is there a song I can come up with that will somehow remind me of this?’

      ‘Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia,’ I said, pointing at the blank map of Europe. ‘And then there is Serbia.’

      Jacob glared at me. ‘Fucking overachieving bitch.’

      I popped a red Skittle in my mouth. ‘Sorry.’

      ‘Can you imagine a song with those names?’ Brit dipped her fries in mayo.

      ‘That is so gross,’ Jacob muttered.

      She shrugged. ‘It’s yummy.’

      ‘Actually, I’m going to nerd out on you, so prepare.’ I picked up an M&M and held it in front of Jacob. His eyes widened, like he was a puppy about to get a treat. ‘With the exception of Hungary, all the countries next to Croatia end with an a. They all sound alike. Think of it that way.’

      His eyes narrowed. ‘That didn’t help.’

      I sighed. ‘You want a song?’

      ‘Yes.’ He stood up at our table, in the middle of the Ram’s Den, and shouted. ‘Yes! I want a song!’

      ‘Wow.’

      He raised his hands as several students turned in their seats. ‘What? What?’ He turned back to me. ‘Was that a little too much?’

      ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Most def.’

      Brit put her forehead on her textbook. ‘Seriously,’ she groaned. ‘I can’t believe he’s making us map Europe on our midterm. I thought I’d left that shit behind in high school.’

      ‘Give me a song, nerd,’ Jacob demanded.

      ‘Oh, my God, you’re ridiculous.’ Shaking my head, I placed my hands on the table. ‘Okay. Here you go. Hungary to the upper left, upper left, Serbia to the lower left, lower left. Bosnia on the bottom, on the bottom. Slovenia to the top, to the top. And where’s Croatia?’

      ‘Where? Where?’ Jacob sang.

      ‘It’s next to the Adriatic Sea, across from Italy!’

      Jacob popped up straight. ‘Again! Again!’

      I went through the song twice more while Brit gaped at the both of us. By the time Jacob whipped out his pen and started scribbling countries across the map, my face was the shade of a tomato, but I was giggling like a hyena.

      And he got the map right, with the exception of putting France where the United Kingdom was supposed to be, but I think he was just testing me on that one, because seriously.

      I tossed an M&M at his mouth. It bounced off his lower lip. On the replay, I got the M&M in his mouth. He swallowed and shot forward, lowering his face next to mine. ‘Guess what?’

      ‘What?’ I leaned back.

      He blinked two times. ‘Here comes your boyfriend.’

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