Page 76 of Eye of the Beholder

“Good,” I say. My voice sounds faint. “Um, you’re taking your ACT soon. I just wanted to know if you’re ready.”

“I could probably stand to do some punctuation review,” he says. “I sent in my college applications, but I’ll update them with the better scores.” He hesitates. Then he says, “Do you want to quiz me later?”

“Yes,” I say before I even think about it. I sound entirely too eager. “I mean, yeah. I can do that tonight.” This time I sound appropriately casual.

“Great,” he says, his voice light. “I’ll see you later.”

I might put too much thought into how I look that evening, considering I’m just quizzing him on punctuation…and considering I’ve been trying to get his friend to like me. It’s silly, but I don’t want him to think I look like a slob or something, especially since we’ve been in this weird funk. I wear a cute pair of boots over my skinny jeans, because it’s been snowing, with an oversized sweater and a scarf.

When Cohen opens the door after I knock, I go in and pull my boots off, careful not to let snow get anywhere but their entrance mat. He turns and goes wordlessly up the stairs, and I follow. When we get to his room—it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve been here—he closes the door behind us. Then he turns to me. Is he taller than he was? He’s definitely more handsome. His crooked nose just makes him look rugged rather than funny looking. I don’t know how that’s possible, but I can conclusively say that it’s true.

He’s just staring at me, his dark eyes intense, his back against the door.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I say, my voice slightly breathless. I don’t know what to do or where to sit or what to think when he has that look in his eyes.

Like he’s about to kiss me into oblivion.

“How’s Jack?” he says, and I blink in surprise. That’s not what I expected to hear at all.

“Um,” I say. “He’s good? I guess?”

“How was Florentino’s?”

I swallow. “It was fine.” What’s going on?

“Still going out with him?” Cohen says, his eyes never leaving mine. And then, before I can answer, he’s moving. He casually makes his way toward me until he’s less than a foot away.

I swallow. “I think so,” I say, my voice squeaking—surprise, surprise. “We’re not going out so much as…going out.”

Cohen raises one eyebrow. He has a freckle above that eyebrow, I can see.

“I don’t think we’re dating,” I say, trying to clarify. “We’ve just been on a few dates.”

He nods, stepping even closer to me. “When are you going out with him again?”

His lips look so soft. I sort of want to—

“Right,” he says, the word more an exhale than actual speech, and I jump. He steps back suddenly, and I’m surprised to see a smile at the corner of his lips. There’s relief evident in his eyes, although I don’t know why.

I frown as I try to collect my thoughts. “What the heck, Cohen. What was that?”

“What doyouthink it was?” he says, sitting in his desk chair.

Seduction. But I’m not going to say that. “You can’t just do stuff like that to people.”

“What did I do?” he says, his voice calm. He pulls a stack of flash cards out of his desk drawer and then looks up at me.

“You can’t stand that close to someone,” I say. I don’t understand my sudden irritation, but it’s definitely there.

Cohen unwinds the rubber band from his flash cards. “I wanted to see how you feel about Jack.”

“And you couldn’t just ask me?” I say.

“I could, but you could lie,” he says. He still sounds annoyingly calm.

I throw my hands up in the air in frustration. “So getting in my face was the better option? Did you get your answer?”

And that obnoxious smile is back at the corner of his mouth. “I did,” he says.

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