Page 27 of Campus Crush
I’m sorry.
I promise I do want you to know who I am…
But not yet, okay?
I can’t lose you, Peach.
SIXTEEN
The next day, I walked into the tutoring center and found Abby at our usual table. Despite the term being halfway done, there was hardly anyone here. It should’ve made things feel more relaxed, but the tension in Abby’s body said otherwise.
Her shoulders were hunched, and the usual confident demeanor I’d grown accustomed to with her was nowhere to be found.
Guilt ate away at me.
Was this because of yesterday?
Had I screwed up and made a mistake by not telling her I was Bear?
No. I’d made the right decision.
And now I needed to activate part two of my plan, which was figuring out why she didn’t like me so I could come up with a way to change her mind.
She glanced up at me and gave me a soft smile. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“How’d your quiz go?”
I smiled wide and pulled my laptop out of my bag. “You’re gonna need to see it to believe it.”
Her lips curled up more as I opened the student portal and found my math quiz results. I spun my laptop to face her so she could see. The bold B- wasn’t exactly honor roll material, but compared to my previous F, it might as well have been an A+. “I passed the midterm, and if I can keep this up, I’ll definitely pass the class.”
“Foster!” Abby’s face lit up, and she squeezed my arm. “That’s amazing!”
Her touch sent a jolt through me, and when she quickly pulled her hand away, I wondered if she’d felt it too. There was a moment of awkward silence before she cleared her throat and returned to teacher mode.
“The number tracking app I recommended—have you been using it?”
I nodded. “Every day. Ten minutes of practice, just like you said.” The app was designed for people with dyscalculia, giving exercises that strengthened number recognition and sequencing. “I’m up to level four now.”
“Already? That’s really impressive progress.”
I shrugged, trying not to look too pleased with myself. “Turns out I’m competitive even with math apps.”
She laughed, and the sound made warmth fill my chest. “Who would’ve thought, a hockey player being competitive?”
This was new territory—Abby making jokes, being comfortable enough to tease me.
I liked it.
I wanted more of it.
“So,” she said, getting back to business, “where are you still struggling?”
For the next hour we worked on my math skills.
As we were packing up, I mentioned something I’d been thinking about since yesterday. “That was a nice thing you did for that girl at the café yesterday.”
