Page 43 of Huge Games

I can see that Celine and Elias are typing.

CELINE-Yay. That's awesome news. Go Travis!

ELIAS-Well done, man. Can I be you when I grow up?

TRAVIS - Are you trying to make me feel old again?

ELIAS - You are old, dude!

CELINE - Can I come apartment shopping with you?

ELIAS - You're supposed to be studying Celine.

TRAVIS - I'd actually appreciate some company. My mom and Gabriella have hair appointments, and my friends are all busy. I don't know what I'm looking for. I have five appointments tomorrow between nine and eleven.

CELINE-I'm in.

Elias is quick to reply.

ELIAS - I'm down.

If they're going, I'm not going to be the odd one out. I type quickly,'I'm down.'

TRAVIS - I'll pick you all up around eight-forty-five.

Celine responds with a smiley face. Elias drops a thumbs up. I send one of those green tick symbols just to be different, and I feel like a high schooler in the process.

Dropping back onto my bed, I smile at my phone andthen toss it next to me. It'll be good to see Celine, and part of me is looking forward to the stupid back-and-forth that flies around the group whenever we're together. I've seen Ellie have the same dynamic with her stepbrothers-turned-baby-daddies and Gabriella with her three neighbors-turned-boyfriends. There's something about three men and one woman that seems to bring out the humor in everyone.

Travis is chill, Celine is fiery and funny, and even though Elias seems to have a giant chip on his shoulder most of the time, he's got a dark sense of humor that amuses me. Before Celine brought us together to play her revenge games, I had a different view of Elias. I still don't like how he can be cutting and egotistical, but he seems to want to care for Celine. His willingness to step in for her when they weren't even very close beforehand says something new about his character that I can't ignore.

Elias and Celine are already in Travis's car when they arrive to collect me. I jump into the backseat with Elias, checking out Celine, who twists to greet me between the seats.

"I can't believe you guys were on time." Celine's hair is still wet, and she has it twisted in a knot at the back of her head. "I thought I'd have time to dry my damned hair."

"Punctuality is important." Elias cracks his knuckles in his lap as I fasten my seatbelt.

"Punctuality is necessary when you're an old man like me."

"Stop saying that." Celine rests her hand on Travis's knee and squeezes. "You're not that much older than us."

"It feels like a lot."

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know. You guys seem way more chilled than I feel. It's like I'm already in the rest of my life, and you guys are still preparing for it."

Elias opens the window and rests his big arm slightly out of it. The wind whips through the car as he stares out. "I'm not chilled."

"Me, either," I say. "Trying to work out what the rest of my life will look like is way more stressful."

"Tell me about it." Celine turns, and her face is grim. "If I ever actually get through this course."

"You'll get through it," Elias says, sounding so confident, it makes me frown.

"Just because you're a friggin' genius doesn't mean I am."

"Wait, who's a friggin' genius?"

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