At some point during the second term of seventh grade, Elijah asked me to the school dance.

I said no.

It was a rejection that shocked my cohort, one that the girls in our year couldn't for the lives of them understand. Because Eli was special. Effortlessly so. Even as a pre-teen, he'd oozed a godly level of charisma and confidence that made girls weak at their knees. His iridescent brown eyes were magnetic in a way that was almost enchanting. In a lot of ways, he was like his beloved ocean—beautiful, glittering, carefree. Every girl in town wanted a piece of Elijah Kovač.

Which was exactly why I didn't. Eli reeked of trouble.

But then at the dance, he bought me a cup of Fanta. Fanta, my absolute favorite soft drink in the history of soft drinks. I later learned that he'd unleashed a barrage of questions onto my best friend Lola in order to figure out how to chisel the ice around my cold heart. With that one simple act, an act that I took to signal more than some base-level interest in me, I changed my mind about the popular boy with the hypnotic gaze. I ignored my better judgment and betrayed my gut.

It was how I knew—that the move could work. Buying a girl a drink was a big step, yes, but the potential payoff made it worthwhile.

In the Camden student lounge six years after Eli and I had our first dance, Noah's eyes were bulging from his skull.

"What?" he sputtered. "Buy her a drink? You don't think it's too soon for that?"

"For free drinks?" I waved a hand. "I mean, don't be a creep about it. But he has to make his intentions clear from the get-go. Do you know how quickly girls slot guys into the friendzone?"

"Yep." Dex sighed knowingly.

I felt anxiety radiating from him and placed a hand over his. "Don't be scared. It's simple, really. Just go over to the bar and pull the old 'oh hey, you again!' She'll ask what you're doing, you'll explain that you were buying us drinks. Then, ask her what her poison is." I folded my arms triumphantly, a proud smile pulling at my lips. Damn, I was good.

Though not quite good enough to evade another two minutes of persuasion. That's the thing about using human beings in experiments. They don't always do what you want.

Eventually—and after a literal push from James—Dex hoisted himself from his seat and took his first tentative steps. The three of us watched as he crossed the floor, his gait unusually confident and poised. But then he stopped walking.

And turned around.

I rose from my stool, throwing my arms in the air as if to say 'WTF?!' Dex hovered in place, took in a deep breath, then turned on his heel to walk in the direction of the bar once more.

And then he turned back towards us again.

"Is he... pacing?" Noah asked.

"He's pacing," I confirmed.

After what felt like hours of watching his nervous back-and-forth, Dex inhaled a deep breath of air, swiveled around, and took his final steps toward Holly.

"Yes!" the three of us celebrated.

"That deserves a drink." Noah grunted, picking up his beer and hovering it over the middle of the table. "Cheers!"

James and I returned the gesture, retrieving our full glasses to clink against his. So much for not drinking.

James swallowed. "So, Madi—"

"Madison," I corrected, speaking before I had fully swallowed and almost choking on my drink.

Lovely.

Amusement tugged at James' lips, but he chewed it away. "Madison." He took another long, considered sip, and I found myself watching the path of his drink as it slid down his throat. "Science and math, huh? That must be interesting. Which do you think you'll pursue?"

I stared at him for a moment, stunned by his sudden interest. He's just being polite, I reminded myself. Making conversation. Normal people do that.

"I'm not sure yet. We pick our majors next year. Biology, maybe. I like the idea of working in a lab." I peered down, running my finger along the condensation on my glass. "Just me and my scalpel."

No response. I glanced up.

James and Noah stared back, eyes wide.

After a second of awkward silence, Noah tittered. "Remind me never to go into the lab alone with you."

I rolled my eyes, fanning him off his broadening grin. James' gaze was still searching mine when I circled back to him.

The music overhead roared louder, and I raised my voice a fraction to be heard. "What do you study? English as well?"

"Law," he replied, picking up his drink to take another swig.

I felt my eyes spring open.

"Really?" I repeated, sounding far more impressed than I wanted to. Damn it.

James laced his fingers together. "Why do you sound so shocked?"

"I don't know." I tilted my head studiously, narrowing my eyes as I assessed him. Did I imagine him tensing? "No, you're right," I decided. "It actually makes a lot of sense."

It was James' turn to cock his head. His brow furrowed slightly, but that whisper of a grin still danced on his lips. "Really?"

I only nodded, already regretting where our conversation was headed. Why did I have to speak so much? So freely?

Oh, yeah. Alcohol.

"Why's that?" he pressed. Like a true lawyer.

I resisted the urge to sigh, giving in to the liquid courage pumping through my veins instead. Yep. Still a lightweight.

"You just seem very..." I trailed off, searching for the right words. But there weren't really any right words. "Opinionated."

James' brows lifted to the roof.

"Argumentative," I corrected. As if that would somehow make things better.

"Argumentative?" He scoffed, throwing Noah an incredulous stare. But the latter had already erupted into a fit of laughter behind his hand.

"No." I chewed on my bottom lip, considering each adjective that flashed through my mind once more. "Disagreeable." I smiled, tasting the word on my tongue. "Yeah, that's it. Disagreeable."

"That's a first," Noah said between snorts of laughter.

I frowned. A first? No way. I had James pegged; disagreeable, opinionated, arrogant, and—yeah, okay—fine as hell, but an asshole nonetheless. A nepotism baby. Someone who coasted by on their looks, their privilege. I was sure of it. And I couldn't have been the first person to think so.

"Where did that come from?" James urged. His expression was light, as always, his smile open and mischievous. But the gleam of his eyes had dimmed somewhat. Like a cloud had passed over them, turning bright blue skies to foggy gray.

"Maybe," I replied, "from the same place that your comment about me having a 'bite to me' came from."

Silence. I watched him soak up the words. His words.

Noah groaned. "Oh, dude. C'mon." He pressed the heel of his palm to his eyes. "Tell me you didn't say that?"

James threw up his hands defensively. "I was just playing around—"

"So was I," I said, picking up my half-empty glass and trying to diffuse the rising tension. On second thought, maybe more alcohol wasn't the solution. I placed the drink down again, throwing James a tense smile. "Just playing."

He shook me off with a low chuckle, throwing those muscled arms in the air as if to concede. But I felt uneasiness still lingering between us, heavy in the air.

"Anyway." Noah cleared his throat, his voice cutting through the awkwardness hanging between James and I. "What's Eli up to these days? Still playing ball?"

Screw it. I needed that drink.

I lifted my gin and tonic to my cherry-red lips, using the gesture as an opportunity to think up a response. One that wouldn't evoke an uncomfortable reaction from my audience. Wide eyes, pitiful apologies, more awkward tension ... No, thank you.

"Who's Eli?" I heard James mumble.

Noah peered at him pointedly. "Her boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," I corrected.

Noah's eyes swung to me. I took another swig of my drink to distract myself from seeing the expressions on his face. On James'. Exactly the expressions I'd been trying to avoid.

To my relief, Dex returned before I had to acknowledge them. Right—Dex. I should've been watching him. Who was to say he hadn't proposed? Hadn't told Holly he'd mixed their faces together on one of those creepy baby-generator websites? Oh, god...

"Life is great." Dex threw the new tray of drinks down on the table and practically dived into the seat next to mine, beaming. "Don't you think? Life is just the best." He raised his gaze to the roof, extending his arms as though he were welcoming rain from the heavens. "Life, you rock!"

"So, things went well?" I asked slyly, giving in to temptation and indulging in another glass. Tequila, that time.

"Better than well!" Dex said.

"What did you talk about?" Noah asked, reaching for one of the fresh beers that Dex had brought back from the bar.

Dex opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. He pursed his lips thoughtfully, giving into a loud, hopeless sigh. "No idea, actually. So much. Everything. It was just like 'blah, blah, blah', 'blah, blah, blah', and so on and so forth."

"Spoken like a true English major," James quipped before I could. It was always a race to the joke with him around.

Dex spoke a mile-a-minute while he filled us in on his and Holly's small talk. It was all general stuff, really. Typical acquaintance-level-chat. But it was a step in the right direction. For both of us.

"Damn, Dex. I'm impressed." I placed a proud hand on his arm, grinning at him as though he were my very own child. "You did well."

"Thanks, sensei. We haven't even gotten to the best part, though."

I reclaimed my hand at the same time that Noah asked, "We haven't?"

Dex shook his head. He hesitated, truly reveling in our intrigue. But his next words came hard and fast, almost like saying them made their sentiment that much more real. "She asked me to add her on Facebook!"

If I wasn't a proud mother before, I certainly was then.

Dex dug his phone out from his pocket, pulling up Holly's page to show us the proof. Sure enough, underneath her name and totally aesthetic profile picture was a little textbox that read 'friends'.

"Way to go, buddy." James smiled proudly, as though he was a father watching his son grow into a man. I couldn't blame him. I felt the very same way.

My smile wilted. That ... It didn't feel like I should be feeling any of that. Impartial. I had to be neutral and distant and keep my feelings out of my project. But there I was—getting more and more invested in Dex. In Noah. In ... James?

My third resolution flashed through my mind. Stay away from men.

This ... it was purely business. It had to be.

"I'm going to go," I announced suddenly. Maybe too suddenly, if the look on the guys' faces were any indication. "I have a lot to get done tomorrow. Besides, it seems like my work here is done."

"Of course," James agreed, standing from his seat and motioning for his friends to do the same. "We'll walk you back—"

"Oh, no." I waved them off. "Thanks, but no need. Really. The night's still young. Enjoy it."

I attempted to wiggle past Dex and out of the booth without disturbing him, but he instantly sprung to life. "All good, sensei. We got what we came for."

I protested further, but it was futile. Whether I wanted them to or not, Dex and Co were escorting me back to our dorm.

I tried to walk quickly through campus back to our building, but the boys weren't in as much of a hurry. They relished in the cool breeze that caressed our warm faces, scented like the olive trees peppered around the quad. A student busker filled the evening air with raw strokes of his acoustic guitar, and Noah convinced me to stop for a moment to take in the pretty sound.

It was a quarter to eleven by the time we rounded back to our dorm. Noah and Dex retired to their rooms first, the latter practically bounding inside—still high off the excitement of the night. I remembered that feeling. Didn't know if I'd feel it again. Didn't know if I wanted to. Dark and gray and hollow. The world was as empty as the place my heart used to be.

Distracted by that nothingness, it took a second for me to realize that a shadow was on my heels. I turned, surprised to find James still accompanying me.

Before I could direct him back to his own room, he said. "Thanks again. We really appreciate everything you've done for Dex. I know he's a little ... strange. And annoying. And ..." He cleared his throat, the sound rough and hoarse in a way that jolted me awake. "Anyway. He means well. He's—"

"He's sweet," I finished. And ... I meant it.

James' eyes danced, the contrasting shades of blue sparkling in the dull light of the hall sconces. "I'm glad you think so. At least he's a little less... what was it?"

"Disagreeable," I drawled, stretching my mouth into a grimace. "Yeah, not my finest moment."

That fog cloaking James' eyes lifted then. I hadn't realized it'd lingered. It was replaced by a flicker of amusement like lightning that was almost charming.

Almost.

"You're a good person," he told me.

I felt my nose crinkle. My cheeks heated.

James laughed softly. The low chuckle caught in his throat when he remembered that most of the hall was asleep. "Yeah. I had a feeling that you weren't one for compliments. But it's the truth." He shrugged, reaching forward. For the strangest moment, I thought he was going to touch me.

It was my door he aimed for, opening it just enough for a beam of silvery moonlight from my window to drift into the hall. "Just wanted you to know that," he murmured, "in case, you know, you don't already."

A nod of his head, and then he was gone.

And I was dazed.

I blinked, watching James saunter back to his room. He truly did saunter, like some Tom Ford model taking a runway in Paris. He spared me another glance before opening his door and disappearing to join Dex inside.

Frowning, I looked at the door James had opened, only just registering the gesture. After every encounter with James—hell, after almost every sentence he spoke—I felt my idea of him twisting and changing. Sometimes for the worst. But often for the better.

Maybe I had him all wrong. Maybe he wasn't a shallow, narcissistic, arrogant jerk who coasted by on his looks but had the personality of vanilla ice cream. Maybe he was ... different.

I slipped into my room, smirking to myself.

Impossible.

A/N: Hi lovely readers! Thanks so much for making it to another chapter!

Sooo, Dex made a move 😱 And it went... well?! We don't really know since he can't seem to recall what he and Holly actually talked about...

Let's chat! What are you guys working on at the moment? What's going on? My life is nothing but writing and lockdown, so nothing much over here.

Hope you're all staying safe!
Danielle x