Page 106 of Chasing Xander
“Hi. How did things go at the house last night?”
He gave a noncommittal shrug, not wanting to get into the details. She already blamed herself for him missing classes. Telling her what happened would only upset her more, and he didn’t want to do that. “Talked to Finn and Eric for a bit. Other than that, it wasn’t too bad.”
Professor Jamison entered the room and promptly started class. Xander took copious notes and even wrote down the extra practice assignment. When class was dismissed, he gathered his bag and took Kylie’s hand.
“Lunch today?” she asked.
He frowned. “I can’t. I have to meet with my advisor.”
“Oh, okay.” Her face fell. “Maybe we can get together later, then.”
“Definitely.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and then hurried to his next class.
Business Ethics was his favorite class, and he settled in for what he hoped would be a lively discussion—he needed something to keep his mind off the disappointment he’d seen in Kylie’s face. It was going to take a massive amount of effort and focus to get his grades up and stay in his frat’s good graces. Could he do that and still have all the time he wanted with Kylie?
When class was over, he hurried across campus toward the administration building, arriving at his advisor’s office two minutes late. She looked up over her wire-rimmed glasses, a flash of disappointment appearing in her eyes.
“Sorry, Mrs. Mullins.” He set his bag on the floor and took a seat.
She nodded, pushed up her glasses, and opened a folder. “As we discussed last time, per the university’s academic policy, anyone on academic probation has one semester to pass all failed classes while maintaining passing grades in their current classes.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ve gotten a progress report from all your professors.” She flipped through the folder, pursing her lips and nodding, then turning to another page. “It appears you’ve completed all the work for the classes you didn’t pass last semester. But…”
He gripped the armrests, his stomach knotting.
“It says here you’ve missed several classes recently.”
Nodding, he cleared his throat. “Yes. I had a funeral out of state. But I spoke to all of my professors before I left, so they knew I wasn’t blowing off class, and I got all my assignments.”
“Good.” She gave him a tight smile. “However, part of the academic contract you signed with us stated you weren’t allowed to miss more than two classes. According to this, you’ve missed three.”
He flexed his fingers and gritted his teeth. He had no defense to that.
“In order to stay enrolled, you’re going to have to get written statements from your professors stating they knew of your absence and excused it.”
He refrained from groaning out loud.
By the time his meeting with his advisor was over, it was almost two p.m. He pulled out his phone to text Kylie and realized she’d already sent him a message. Smiling, he opened it.Pizza and the horizontal version of Just Dance? My room. Tonight. Celeste will be gone.
He groaned and hung his head. A heavy weight landed in his chest.Can’t. Have a group project for class. Need to meet with them tonight.
She replied with a frowny face.After?
Don’t know how long it will take. I’ll call you?He started walking toward his next class.
K.That was her response. A single letter. He cursed.
Sorry.He added a kissing face emoji, hit send, then tucked his phone away so he could concentrate on his next class and not be tempted to spend the entire time texting with her.
Chapter Thirty-Five
So many thoughts raced through Kylie’s mind, but the most prominent one was the nagging voice telling her Xander was using his classes and the issues with the fraternity to avoid her. Although, she didn’t know why. They’d connected on so many levels, and he’d asked her to be his girlfriend. Why would he do that only to then push her away?
She went about her classes under a black cloud of depression. Self-doubt sat heavily on her shoulders. She hadn’t seen Xander at all today. Now, more than ever, she was convinced he’d changed his mind about her. About them. She was going to become just another girl he’d fucked and then pretended not to know.
As she trudged across the quad, her phone dinged with a message. It was a text from Xander. Her heart jumped to her throat. But as she read his words, her stomach plummeted. She stared at the message through teary eyes.I’m free tomirrow night. Maybe we can get together then.
