Page 13 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“Ugh, why’d he leave so fast? Kriz, remember when he turned around and wrote on the board last Friday? I don’t think a single woman exhaled for an entire minute,” Chloe said, laughing.
“We’re boycotting Professor Ho—” Kriz looked at me and winced. “I mean, Professor Martins.”
“What? How come?” Chloe glanced between me and Kriz and made a face. “Oh God, don’t tell me this is because he ignored Luna that one time. That was a year ago, guys.”
It had happened right after I met Kriz and Chloe at orientation. We were walking to the cafeteria when we came across Gabe in the quad. Not knowing any better, I did what any friendly person would do and greeted him—only for him to walk right past me. I almost wondered if I was invisible, and then Iwished I was because he’d humiliated me in front of the girls I wanted to be my friends.
What made it more embarrassing was that Chloe still remembered. Though who could blame her?
“Of course it’s not that,” Kriz said in my defense. “He was a major ass to Luna recently.” She looked at me, silently asking if she could tell Chloe what I’d told her. At my nod, she launched into the story, and I added commentary along the way.
I thought Chloe would wave it off and say we were overreacting. Instead, she glowered. “What a dick,” she exclaimed. “I don’t know how you endured that car ride with him. I would have told him off and slammed the door hard on my way out.”
“That’s . . . a little extreme.” But I couldn’t help but be touched that she was angry on my behalf. Maybe there was a chance we could actually be friends after all.
“That’s nothing. Extreme would have been keying his car.”
Kriz laughed. “Heisstill a professor.”
“Who cares? Luna’s not in his class.” Chloe looked at me. “Forget about him. There’s a party tonight, and I have it on good authority that the football team’s showing up.”
The sudden switch had me blinking. “Oh. I have a test tomorrow that I need to study for.”
“So study then go out. The party won’t start till, like ten. That’s plenty of time to cram.”
“What subject is it for?” Kriz asked.
I winced. “Economics.”
“Ugh.” Kriz wrinkled her nose. “Not a fave, but I can help you review. Come over after your shift and I’ll quiz you while we prep. We can leave for the party around nine-thirty. We’ll have drinks, dance with cute boys . . . it’ll be fun.”
I bit my lip. Going out before a big test felt wrong, particularly since econ wasn’t my favorite subject either. Farfrom it, in fact. I didn’t want to risk a bad grade affecting my standing—not after that call with my parents.
As if she picked up on my hesitation, Kriz offered, “We can leave early if you need more time to study.”
“Not too early,” Chloe argued. “I don’t want to miss the fun.”
Kriz nodded. “Nottooearly. But we’ll get you a ride back if you need to bail,” she told me. “C’mon, Lulu—you’re only in college once.”
“And let’s be real. One test isn’t going to tank your grades,” Chloe added.
They both had a point. I could join them for a while then pull an all-nighter if needed. It wouldn’t be the first time.
No alcohol, though. That would kill the chances of me retaining anything I studied. And I’d only stay for two hours tops.
Smiling at them, I said, “Guess we’re going out tonight.”
gabe
Tala
How are you doing there?
Gabe
The usual. Busy.
Tala
