Sneakers screeched against the gym floor as a grunt came from Miranda, the girl standing closest to where I was seated.
I had my own spot. A seat on the bleachers reserved for only me. Terrance had his own spot as well, and it was next to mine. There were fewer than twenty people at this game, a pretty good turnout for a Tuesday night.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I yelled through my cupped hands.
Serena, my roommate, shot me a look as she repositioned herself on the court. I didn’t play sports. I would probably never play sports, but one thing I did do was cheer on my roommate as she played club volleyball. And after the day I’d had, I was about to cheer the hell out of this game.
The team was six people, three guys, three girls. Serena, Miranda, and Catherine Joan. Yes, she preferred to go by both names, but we didn’t abide by it. CJ was much easier to cheer. The guys were Michael with the Ass, aka Serena’s boyfriend; Cody with the Cheekbones, aka the one with a crush on me; and Just Tony. Just Tony was cute, but he was just so … Tony. Serena didn’t dub him a physical attribute nickname.
“Seriously?” Terrance asked, looking at me over the teal Wayfarer sunglasses he chose to wear indoors.
“The same could be said to you,” I said, pursing my lips as I eyed his glasses.
He clicked his tongue as he turned away from me, mouthing the word whatever as he refocused his attention on the game.
Terrance and I met in an Intro to Theater class last fall. Me as a prerequisite to Basic Costuming and him for Stage Electronics.
The ball soared over the net and toward Serena. She dived for it, catching just a piece of it with her cupped hands. The ball skimmed the net as it fell into the opponents’ court.
The referee blew his whistle, calling the point for the other team.
“Oh, come on!” I said, pushing to my feet, gesturing wildly. “That was clearly over the net!”
The referee looked my way with the same face he always gave me.
I put both hands up in surrender, though it definitely wouldn’t be the last time I objected to one of his calls.
“Get your head in the game, Carroll!” I yelled, using Michael’s last name for emphasis.
He pointed a finger my way as a warning; I raised my eyebrows in response. “I think your frat brother wants to fight me,” I said to Terrance with a laugh, my eyes never leaving the court.
“He does not love when you yell at him,” Terrance said, his eyes on his cell phone.
“And I don’t love when he misses an easy bump.”
Terrance laughed. “You take this way too seriously.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You do!” he said, shoving me lightly with his shoulder.
The ball volleyed twice before Cody spiked it.
“Pay attention,” I said with a quick elbow to his side.
“Suck it, Unblockables!” I yelled to the other team as Terrance and I jumped up, arms raised. “Stupid team name anyway,” I whispered to Terrance.
“Because I’d Hit That is so much better?” he teased.
“But you would and do hit that,” I said, motioning with my chin toward CJ. “You would probably hit literally everyone on this team … and I probably would, too—look at them.”
“Except you actually wouldn’t, because you could be with Cody but you aren’t,” he said.
“Paris,” I said, my eyes following the ball as it volleyed. “Plus, dudes … you know?” I shrugged, going for indifferent. I didn’t need a guy in my life. I didn’t need anything to distract me from going to Paris.
“But you know that kid likes you,” he added. “And as his friend—and yours, I feel like I need to say something. Once upon a time you two were good together.”
“Once upon a time … um, Paris,” I teased.
It was the only reply I needed. I was going to Paris for a summer, longer if I opted in to the abroad program, which I was planning to do—I just hadn’t told my friends yet. I had very little motivation to be in a relationship that would end come June first.
Terrance sighed. “Paris,” he repeated.
My eyes moved to Catherine Joan, who was about to, hopefully, serve the game-ending ball. The score was 20–24, us. “All right, CJ, let’s do this!” I yelled, clapping.
“Yeah, CJ, I’m starving; let’s finish this!” Terrance yelled as he clapped as well, wincing when he received my elbow to his ribs. “But I am starving,” he whimpered.
“Oh my God, shut up,” I said, laughing as I watched the ball volley once, twice … spike.
Terrance and I shot to our feet, cheering.
“I’m cheering because it’s pizza time!” Terrance yelled. “Yay, pizza!”
* * *
“Can we not go back to our room?” I pleaded as we walked toward our dorm.
“Why not?” Serena asked, hooking her arm around my neck and bringing my head in to her. “I smell bad or something?”
I broke free, shoving her lightly. “You’re so gross,” I whined, pulling the hair band out of my hair, then fixing it back into a bun.
“We could go to the house,” Michael offered with a smirk, pulling Serena in to him the same way she’d just pulled me in.
“Literally no one wants to go to your frat house,” Catherine Joan said, her eyes on Terrance.
Serena sneaked a quick pinch to the back of my arm. Everyone knew Terrance and CJ had a thing going on, but neither of them would openly admit it.
“Then we’ll go to your room,” Serena offered.
Catherine Joan shook her head. “Not gonna happen. The Terror of Room Two-Two-Four is there with her boyfriend.”
The group released a simultaneous cringing groan.
“Okay, well, that’s out,” I said, not wanting to be anywhere near CJ’s room if the two of them were there. God only knows what we would walk in on.
“Cody, options?” Serena asked, knowing I wouldn’t.
“Dog allergies, remember?” CJ said, pointing to her face, answering before Cody could. Cody’s dog and CJ didn’t get along, in the sense that Roger could kill CJ without even trying.
“Looks like that just leaves our room.” Serena smiled sweetly.
I groaned. Miranda had to meet her Western Civ. group at the library, so her place was out, and Just Tony had a shift in the engineering lab. Our options were severely limited.
“I hate you all,” I said as I held the lobby door for the group.
* * *
My phone vibrated against the table in the lounge. I’d convinced the group that the lounge on our floor was a much better eating place than the floor of our bedroom.
HUDSON: Hey
“Who’s that?” Serena asked, reading over my shoulder.
“French TA,” I said, flipping my phone facedown as I took a bite of pizza.
Terrance wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “How’d that go today?” He wiped his hand against his jeans.
I shrugged as I tossed a paper towel his way. I knew they would all want to know, but I wasn’t in the mood to get into the whole thing, so I gave them the abridged version.
“So now what?” Serena asked.
I shook my head, chewing. “Get a tutor, I guess.” I covered my mouth as I spoke. My phone vibrated again.
HUDSON: I can tutor you if you want
“Are you seriously going to ignore his texts?” Serena asked.
I flipped my phone facedown again. I nodded with a shrug. “Yeah, probably.”
“Who is this kid?” Cody balled up his paper towel and shot it into the pizza box.
“If only your aim was that good on the court,” I said.
Serena laughed. “Seriously, though,” she said, smirking at Cody.
My phone vibrated again, but I didn’t bother to check it.
“What is going on with you?” Terrance asked. “You’re all—” He waved his hand in my direction.
“I know, right?” Serena added. “Your hair is all”—she motioned around her head—“and you’re in sneakers. I mean, come on.”
I sighed. “I’m not in the mood, guys. I had two professors be completely unhelpful and a TA who wants to pick my brain apart because he thinks it’s interesting, or fun, or—who knows.”
“Again, who is this kid?” Cody asked.
“Wes Hudson,” I said. “He wasn’t unhelpful, just completely insulting.”
“Hudson?” Catherine Joan asked. “Like, brown-hair-blue-eyes-always-wears-a-red-hat Hudson?”
“Maroon hat,” I said.
Cue the simultaneous eye roll.
“Fine, maroon hat,” she sighed.
“Yes, that’s him.”
“The French TA with the Eyes?” Serena asked, pointing to me with her rainbow-patterned water bottle before twisting off the cap. “You’ve mentioned him.”
I’d mentioned Hudson to Serena before, for several reasons. The first was about all the ways I would have dressed him if I had the opportunity. The second was his blue-gray eyes. The third was also his blue-gray eyes. The fourth was the time he tripped going down the stairs to the front of the room.
“So, tell me what the TA was wearing today. Was it awful?” Serena asked with a smirk. “Edie loves talking about this kid’s clothes.”
I buried my face into my hands. “I’ve seen worse,” I said, muffled. “And I don’t love talking about his clothes. He literally gives me no choice.”
“Were his eyes all Pantone-y?” Serena teased.
“What the hell is Pantone-y?” Cody asked, his own Pantone-like sage-and-amber-colored eyes searching mine.
“Pantone—you seriously don’t know what that is?” I asked as my eyes roamed the faces of my friends. “Guys.”
“Dude, not everyone cares about the world of fashion like you, Edie,” Michael said, leaning back in his chair and stretching his legs under the table.
“They’re only, like, the world authority on color. They literally invent a new color every year.…” I looked around. “Nothing?”
I rolled my eyes at all the head shakes.
“His eyes are kind of Pantone-y, though,” CJ said as she nodded. “Like, they’re all blue-y and gray-y and, like—” She cleared her throat before taking a bite of her crust. We stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
“And…,” Serena prompted.
CJ shrugged, her eyes on her plate.
“Oh my God, what?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “It’s just that he’s, like, the nicest person on campus.”
“I am not sold on that,” I said, watching her avoid eye contact. “And besides, I’m pretty sure he just feels sorry for me, so…”
“I’m sure he doesn’t feel sorry for you, Edie,” Serena said, her hand on my shoulder and catching my gaze. “Seriously.”
I nodded. She was probably right, but she didn’t see the look on his face, or the tone of his voice. Serena wasn’t someone who was accustomed to people feeling bad for her.
CJ took a sip of her water. “He’s really nice, Edie. Like, really.”
“Yeah, you’re acting a little sketchy,” Michael replied to CJ, his brow furrowing dramatically. “I feel like you’re selling this kid a little hard right now.”
CJ picked up her phone, her eyes on me and then Serena.
Both our phones vibrated.
“Are you serious?” Cody asked as Serena and I checked our phones.
CJ: Really nice = hot as hell
Serena let out a big laugh. “You couldn’t say this out loud?” she asked.
CJ glanced toward Serena. “Just give him a chance, Edie,” CJ said through gritted teeth, her eyes on Serena. “That’s all I wanted you to know.”
“Yeah.” I nodded as I set my phone down. “That’s exactly what you wanted us to know. And you’re not wrong, he is really nice.”
“Anyway,” Cody said, his eyes on me as he leaned back in his chair, mirroring Michael.
“Why French anyway? Spanish is a hundred times more practical,” Terrance said through a mouthful of food.
“Coco Chanel. Hermès. Minaudière. Chic. Boutique.” I counted off on my fingers as I said each word. “I mean, come on. I need this if I’m going to survive in Paris for the summer … and beyond.” I glanced toward Cody. Our eyes met and then his went to his lap.
Crap.
“That’s right, you have that class—” CJ snapped her fingers as she tried to think of the name.
“Global Trade Dynamics.” I sighed, the undue anxiety from Galloway’s office creeping back into the pit of my stomach, overpowering the urge to crawl under the table to avoid talking about Paris in front of Cody.
Serena pointed at me. “That’s the one.”
“Yeah. I mean, Paris aside, I feel like I should know at least a little French if I’m going to stand a chance in the fashion industry.”
“What did you say you had, like, three meet and greets with some major people, right?” Terrance asked.
“Three for everyone, but we’ll all be attending a convention where we can go off on our own and there will be wholesalers, garment manufacturers, and a bunch of retailers.” I sighed. “I want to work somewhere in between the manufacturer and the retailer. I need to be able to communicate with both.” I struggled to maintain a conversation when the dining hall was crowded; how was I supposed to pay attention in an entire convention center full of people speaking in all sorts of accents and languages?
“Okay, so let us help you. What should we do? Help you study? Yell at the professor? Enlist the help of the TA with the Eyes?” Serena said, looking to our friends.
“Seriously, Edie,” Cody said, glancing toward Serena, clearly unamused with her nickname for Hudson. “If you need the help, just say so.”
“Thank you, but no. I’ll just—I don’t know. I’ll figure it out,” I said, the thought of being alone with Cody again tightening my stomach. The last time we’d been alone there was yelling and storming out and a slew of unfriendly text messages. The fact that we were both sitting at the same table was progress.
“Let me help you figure it out,” Serena said, popping the last bite of pizza into her mouth. “We can tight tea forever.”
Tight tea forever. I gave it a second to settle in. Fight this together, maybe? That was something Serena would say.
“I appreciate you jumping in to help—all of you—but just let me try this on my own first, okay? If I don’t get anywhere, then I’ll enlist your help,” I said. “I’ll let you yell at whoever you want.”