Page 18 of One of Them Girls

I pull her into my side, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

“Say cheese,” I tell her, snapping a photo of the two of us.

4

Cassi

Headphones in,head down, I run through the study guide the professor gave the class. I don’t know why, but for some reason, math makes my head spin and I rather do anything else instead of trying to figure out algebra. It didn’t make sense in high school, and it definitely doesn’t make sense now.

Dropping the sheet, I cover my face, groaning in frustration.

Would getting a tutor help?

How will I ever pass this class?

Maybe I can find someone to do it for me.

Uncovering my face, I take a deep breath and pick the sheet back up.

You can do this.

“Boo,” he rasps in my ear, making me jump.

“What the hell, Avi,” I whisper-shout, slapping his shoulder. Xavier laughs, sliding into the seat next to me.

“What are you doing?” he asks, making himself comfortable.

“What does it look like?” I grumble.

“Considering you’re in a library and look frustrated, I would say school work.” He smirks, picking up the paper I dropped. “College algebra?”

“Yeah,” I say, rubbing my temples.

“College algebra should be pretty much the same across the board, right?”

“Probably.” I frown, wondering where he’s going with this.

“When’s it due?” His eyes focus on the paper.

“Thursday,” I tell him.

“Well, how about I keep this.” He waves the paper back and forth. “And I’ll look over it. Then I will help you out.”

“Really?” I say skeptically.

“Really. I won’t do it for you, but I will help you learn the material.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, running my finger on the edge of the table, unable to look him in the eye.

“Hey,” he says softly, tugging on the ends of my hair. I look up and see him biting his lip. “You want to get out of here?”

“That sounds awesome.”

Xavier watches me pack up my belongings before resting his hand on my lower back and walking me out of the library.

Once outside. he turns. “What would you like to do?” he asks, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“What would you normally be doing if you hadn’t invited me out?”

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