Page 91 of Chasing Infinity

The next few weeks fly by. I do what I promised and do my best to focus on getting my life as back to normal as I can. Grace and I wander into the library during the study hall hour and claim a table to work at. I reach for my laptop and set up a makeshift workstation so I can attempt to knock out some of my outstanding assignments. Grace settles into the chair across from me and starts playing on her phone.

We’ve only been sitting for a few minutes when Eli and Monica St. Cloud walk in holding hands. They find a couch nearby and sit close together. I watch them out of the corner of my eye. Eli leans close to Monica and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. I’m not surprised when I don’t feel any jealousy or anything else. My lips press together in a thin line, and I shake my head to clear it and focus on the assignment I’m working on. Over the last month, Eli and I have fallen back into our general routine. He’s back to being my best friend, and honestly, I’m happy with that.

“Ugh, I literally can’t believe him,” Grace sneers over at Eli and his new girlfriend. I roll my eyes and hit the backspace on my laptop. I’ve got to finish this essay before tomorrow, so I don’t have time for distractions. “It’s barely even been a month since you two split up, and he’s already trying to hook up withher? You’re way prettier than her, anyway.”

“It’s fine, Grace,” I tell my friend, not interested in this conversation. “We broke up mutually. I’m not really upset that he’s found someone else.”

“Well, I am,” Grace huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “He could at least give you the courtesy to not date anyone for the rest of the year.”

“The year?” I ask her incredulously, even though the school year is only a few weeks from being over. It’s April now, and school lets out in mid-May. “That’s a little extreme. Especially since I really don’t care. I told him I thought we weren’t working as a couple right now, and he agreed. That’s all there is to it. Neither of us was feeling the relationship.”

“I know, but still.”

I shake my head at my friend and peek toward where Eli is sitting again. He’s leaning even closer to Monica now, his heart on his sleeve as beams at her. He seems happy, and honestly, that’s all I care about.

It’s not that I’mnotstill interested in him in that way. I could still see myself dating Eli again at some point. He was a decent boyfriend—or at least I think he was. He’s my best friend, so he knows me on a level that other guys might not. But also, in some ways, I felt like he didn’t know me at all.

Eli didn’t pressure me into anything. He respected my limits, but he wasn’t happy about them. Eli and I did some handsy stuff, just testing the waters and experimenting. However, I still felt unsure about it, and I wasn’t comfortable taking things further with him. That’s also why I’m not too upset about being single once more.

If I’m single, I don’t have to worry about falling short of meeting expectations.

“Ugh, I can’t sit here any longer and watch this. I don’t know how you can stomach it,” Grace mutters, bringing me back to the present. “Come find me whenever you’re done with your paper.”

She grabs her water bottle and leaves me sitting there alone. I’m not too sad to see her go because I still need to finish this essay. I narrow my eyes and try to find that deep level of focus, so I can power through my assignment.

“Careful, Parks. If you frown for long, your face will get stuck in that position.”

I groan at the interruption. My eyes flick up to see Noah standing before me with his arms crossed over his chest. I lean away from my computer and stare up at him. “I don’t think that’s true.”

He leans towards me and grins devilishly. “Would you like to test the theory? I’ll leave you to it to frown at your computer all you want—for research.”

I roll my eyes. “What do you want, Noah?”

“I was just overhearing Grace’s frustration at your lover boy across the room there. That really doesn’t bother you?”

I groan in frustration and toss my head back. “No, why is everyone so concerned with how I’m coping with Eli having a new girlfriend? We agreed to break upmutually. You know this. Grace knows this. Everyone knows this. Do I need to shout it off a mountain? I really don’t care who he wants to kiss now.”

“Monty’s an idiot.”

“What did he do now?” I ask, feeling exasperated.

Noah smirks at me again and shuffles around until he’s sitting next to me. His shoulder presses against mine, and I raise my eyebrow at him, wondering if he notices the contact. He doesn’t move away from me but continues, “Oh, it’s mostly just because of his mere existence. But no, if he thinks Monica will ever live up to you? The poor guy really is an idiot.”

“It’s fine, Noah. Why does it feel like no one is listening to me when I keep saying that repeatedly?”

Noah leans back in his chair in a relaxed manner. “Because it sounds like a little mosquito buzzing in my ear when you talk.”

“Thanks for that.”

“I live to please, Parks.”

“Will you please leave me alone now? I really need to finish this assignment.”

“Sure, sure. I’ll see you later. Go be a perfect student, get those straight A’s.”

I stick my tongue at him as he walks away, both of us aware that Noah gets just as good of grades as I do. Noah extends his hand and slaps Eli upside the head as he walks past him. Eli makes a strangled noise of protest and swings around to glare at Noah. In response, Noah just flips him the middle finger and struts away.

Eli looks over at me like I’m supposed to do something about it, and I bend my head to let a curtain of hair cover my face to obscure the amused grin on my lips. I’ll give it to Noah; as much as he can press my buttons sometimes, he has an incredible skill of amusing me.

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