Page 39 of Campus Crush
Gordy scratched the back of his neck. “Which is?”
I stood and paced a few steps, dragging a glitter-covered hand through my hair and immediately regretting it. “It’s aStardew Valleydiorama. You know, that farming game.”
“I knowofit, but I’ve never played it.”
“Well, Abby does.” Time for brutal honesty. “And so do I. In fact, I’ve been playingwithher for months. Online.”
Gordy’s brow furrowed. “Weird that you didn’t mention that when we ran into her at the festival.”
“Yeah, well…she doesn’t exactly know that I’m her online friend,” I exhaled.
His eyes widened. “Are you catfishing her?”
“No!” I sat back down. “No. I didn’t know it was her at first, and by the time I did, I knew she’d never accept me as Bear.”
“Bear?”
“BigBear88.”
He laughed. “You used the name of your childhood dog and your hockey jersey number for your handle?”
I gave him a look. “Not the time, man.”
He sobered. “Okay, so let me get this straight. You’ve been secretly playing a farming game online with a girl who turned out to be the tutor you’re crushing on?”
“Yeah.”
“And now you need to find a way to tell her the truth without her losing her shit on you.”
“Pretty much.”
“Shit.”
“I know.”
He took a seat across from my chair. “When are you planning to tell her?”
“This week. It’s our last week of tutoring, so I was planning to use that as an excuse to maybe go somewhere else, do something fun to celebrate, and then I would give her this and tell her the truth.”
I hadn’t been sure about the timing, but her reaction to me at the festival gave me hope that this wouldn’t blow up spectacularly in my face.
He let out a slow breath, then nudged the glittery base of the diorama with one finger. “Well… for what it’s worth, this is actually kinda sweet. Messier than I thought it would be. But sweet.”
“I’m banking on the effort winning me points.”
“She’s into you, man,” he said quietly. “Why do you think I spent so much time with her roommate at the festival? It was clear you two were feeling each other.”
I sat back down and stared at the tiny barn, the mini crops I’d glued in with tweezers, and the hand-lettered sign I’d made that said, “To Peach, from Bear.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Because this was either going to be the moment that changed everything…or the last time I ever got to be part of her story.
So far my plan was off to a great start.
When I’d showed up for my final tutoring session, Iconvinced Abby to let me take her somewhere. It wasn’t all that hard to convince her, especially after I reassured her that I felt confident about using the skills she’d taught me on my final.
She’d given me the tools and confidence to pass math—now I just needed to use that confidence to win her heart.
