by Ali Parker
I couldn’t help but imagine being on Alex’s arm for those parties either. Going with the hottest guy in school to the three biggest events of the season, it couldn’t be so bad, could it?
“I’ll agree on one term,” I said.
“Anything,” he said, stepping closer to me.
I recalled how his body felt last night and I tried hard to clear the fog in my head as he came closer to me. If I were going to help him, I’d have to get over my nervousness in his presence.
I cleared my throat and locked eyes with him. “I’ll tutor you in Cost Accounting if I can bring my roommate to all three parties.”
He shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”
I smiled. “Then it's a deal.”
He reached out his hand, and I shook it. Then his head dipped low to mine and my breath caught in my throat. “Nice doing business with you, Lily.”
I wasn’t ready to let him out of my sight just yet. “How about we meet this afternoon to get started?”
“Can you give me an hour to shower and change?” he asked.
I glanced at my phone. “I’ll see you at the student union in an hour.”
His head dipped closer to mine, and for a split second, I swore he was going to kiss me again. It wasn’t until something pressed against my stomach that I snapped back to reality and noticed he was handing my books back to me. They felt heavier in my arms as I watched Alex jog away from me as quickly as he had appeared.
Chapter 7
Alex
With Bret in our shared shower when I arrived home, I barely made it back to the student union in time to meet with Lily. He always took the longest showers, which annoyed me to no end. I hoped Lily didn’t think I was a slacker because I was a minute later than our arranged time. Bret was almost as bad as a chick when it came to taking long showers.
But she didn’t say anything as I slid into the seat across from her. She chose a table far away from the main entrance. I wanted to think it was so that I wouldn’t be distracted since there were plenty of empty tables closer to the small cafe across the room, the hub of the building.
She covered the surface of the table with books and papers.
I grinned at her, hoping she’d forgive me for last night—since she seemed rather upset about me forcing her to leave—and forgive my tardiness.
Her cheeks turned a shade of pink, and I knew keeping this girl on my good side would be easy. I knew that look from her was the same that other girls gave me when they were around me. She was dazzled by my good looks, and it was evident I had quite an effect on her, one that I could use to my advantage. She seemed a little hesitant to come to my parties, but as long as I played my cards right, I’d pass Cost Accounting at a low cost to myself.
I wondered if that concept was one discussed in class. Did my profitability grow along with her popularity? It was a win for both of us.
“What particular aspects of the class are you having the most trouble with?” she asked. “That way we don’t need to waste a lot of time on subjects that you’re already familiar with.”
“Umm,” I said, scratching my chin. I needed to shave. The skin was prickly around my face, and I was only half sure that it was from embarrassment. “I haven’t done well on any exam this semester.”
“Okay,” she said without any judgment. It was a much different experience than when I told Mom about my grades.
Lily flipped to the front of our textbook and moved the other reference books asides. With that subtle movement, my shoulders relaxed. Being around so many books made my muscles tense, not something I wanted to happen around a beautiful girl. I had a reputation to protect.
“I’m going to start with our quizzes and exams, going through them will streamline the process for what Professor Tarrington is looking for with the final exam.”
As Lily began with the first exam, I found it hard to keep my eyes on the text she showed me. There was a stack of them next to her, all of them with A’s at the top. She hadn’t received one bad mark on any of them.
She was much smarter than I gave her credit for. I knew she was intelligent, but from the way she swooned over me, I had a little reservation about her tutoring me just to get on my good side.
My initial impression was proven wrong in a matter of minutes when she started going over the concepts. No wonder she skipped an entire college grade. Numbers came natural to her, just as sports came easily to me.
Lily was in her element. It was fascinating to hear how Cost Accounting seemed to make a little more sense the way she explained it. Why wasn’t she a teacher’s aide? If she stood in front of the class each day, I’d definitely pay more attention. Especially if she wore that sexy doctor’s outfit.
“Alex,” she said, her lips forming around my name.
“Yeah?”
“I think you should take some notes,” she said.
I finally met her eyes and blinked. She looked slightly annoyed, and I realized I had focused more on her body parts than her words.
I cleared my throat and grabbed my notebook, flipping a few pages in. I flipped over the few pages that I wrote in all semester. Her notebook was almost full with her perfect handwriting. If she didn’t already think I was a slacker, she would now.
After reviewing the concepts from the previous units in class for almost two hours, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. She honed in on my issues without speaking to me as if I were dumb which was the opposite of Tarrington’s methods. If you didn’t understand him, then too bad. He wasn’t even willing to help me. But I was happy to follow his advice and get a tutor. Spending time with Lily was much more fun than him. He seemed to lose the “fun professor” reputation after his indiscretion.
“I should get going,” Lily said, closing our primary textbook. The others she used were a great help as well. Why hadn’t I ever thought to use reference books? Oh, yeah, because I didn’t care much before today. “You should work on this week’s assignment tonight. I think you working through these concepts on your own will help solidify them in your mind. Next time we meet I can go over them with you and make suggestions.”
“Can we meet tomorrow?” I asked. I wasn’t desperate to see her again, but I really wanted to. We had a good thing going, and I didn’t want all our time to go to waste if I didn’t fully grasp everything tonight.
“No,” she said.
I frowned. “Why not?”
“I’m heading home tonight, and I won’t be back until late tomorrow.”
I worked my jaw. I wouldn’t see her for two days. That wasn’t going to work for me. As much as I wanted to continue our streak of me understanding accounting, I wanted to see her more. I enjoyed spending time with her, which surprised me more than how easy this class sounded after she explained it.
“So, Monday then?” I asked.
She dipped her head once but didn’t verbalize her agreement. I had to work on that.
“I guess I’ll see you later,” she said once her bag was packed.
I lifted it from the table and slung it over my shoulder. This girl always carried a back-breaking amount of books, and now I knew why. I recalled that she carried a navy blue bag with her on a daily basis, but now she had a bright pink one. Had meeting me changed her personality that much overnight?
“I want to walk you to your dorm,” I said.
“Oh, you don’t have to.”
“I know, I want to.”
“I was going to get a coffee,” she said, indicating the cafe across the way.
I reached for my wallet. “Let me get it for you. It’s the least I can do for all your help.”
“Thank you,” she said, crossing her arms.
I grinned. She probably didn’t have anyone doing much for her. She seemed so independent and sure of herself, at least in an academic environment. I hoped to bring her out of her shell in the time we spent together. Getting to know her was much more fun than it had been with any other girl in my past.
The walk to her dorm w
as too short for me. I wanted to drag out our time as much as I could. The idea of working on the assignment without her made my palms sweat. Being around her made me understand the class, but I knew the moment she was gone then I’d probably forget everything again. Bringing a half-blank assignment to her might show that I wasn’t taking this seriously. And I was.
No one was more surprised about that fact than me.
“Can I have your cell phone?” I asked.
“Um, sure?” she said, handing it over.
I quickly programmed my number in her phone. A couple of girls walked out of the dorm, and their eyes lingered on us. Lily chewed on her lip. She was gnawing so hard I wondered if I should have bought her a pastry with her coffee. I smiled to myself wondering if I should say that to her, but I didn’t want to ruin the good thing we had going for us with a bad joke.
I sent a quick message to my phone from hers, and my text tone sounded from my pocket.
“Good,” I said. “I’ll text you if I have any questions.”
“I-I guess,” she stammered.
We stood there awkwardly for a moment. I was unable to end our time together, and it didn’t look like she wanted to either. She seemed unsure of me contacting her, but I wasn’t about to let her out of my life for days without having her in my pocket if I had any issues. Without her, I might slip back and we’d have to start all over again, which might annoy her enough to break our deal.
In typical Alex fashion, I took advantage of the situation and stepped closer to her. We weren’t on a date exactly, but I had the urge to be closer to her. I took her in my arms, the floral scent of her hair flooded my nose. I held her in my arms for a moment before kissing her cheek. I wanted to kiss her on the lips as I did last night, but we had to keep things professional until I got what I needed from her. After the final exam, we could do whatever our bodies told us, but for now, a chaste kiss was all I could offer.
I hoped that would persuade her to allow me to contact her while she was at home, but I wasn’t ready for how the jumble of feelings inside me added to how good she felt in my arms.
Chapter 8
Lily
The ride home that afternoon was brutal. I should have left earlier but the prospect of spending time with Alex was too good to pass up. The pleading in his eyes did me in.
Throughout our session, I knew he started to understand what Professor Tarrington taught us in class. Our professor was a bit dry which was why I had to work hard with other reference books to fully understand everything. I hoped with the tools I handed over to Alex that he would be able to figure it out on his own. I didn’t want him to completely rely on me to help him all the time since I wouldn’t be able to take the final exam for him. I did want him to pass so he wouldn’t think I wasted his time and took advantage either.
The two-hour trek turned into almost three, and by the time I pulled up the driveway, my tense shoulders were nearly to my ears.
I looked forward to sitting down with Grandma’s famous tea and cookies. Since I told her I was coming home today, I knew she’d have a fresh batch waiting for me. For the entire semester, she kept telling me I was too thin and insisted I ate my weights worth of sweets when I was home to fatten me up. I didn’t argue with her at all.
Attempting to push the front door open, I was met with resistance from the other side.
“Grandma?” I called through the crack in the doorway. I pressed my shoulder against it as I pushed again. My mind immediately went to the worst case scenario as I imagined Grandma on the floor behind the door.
My temperature spiked. “Grandma!”
“Hold on!” she called from inside the house.
I let out a sigh as my heart fell back into its normal rhythm. Something slid across the floor, and the door opened quickly.
I stepped over the threshold to take in the sight in front of me. Labeled boxes were piled all over the place.
“Grandma?” I asked, turning to her.
Her blue eyes met mine as if she were waiting for me to put everything together. She fluffed the top of her white hair but said nothing.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“It’s quite obvious, isn’t it?” she said.
Her insistence on answering most of my questions with more questions was an annoyance when I was a kid. It became endearing as a teen because she was the only family I had left after my parents died. She only did it when I already knew the answer, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around it at all.
“You’re moving?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said with a broad smile. “To an assisted living facility.”
“Why?” I asked. “Is something wrong? Are you sick?”
“Not exactly,” she said.
“What does that mean?” I pressed.
“I’m old, Lily,” she said matter-of-factly. “I can’t properly care for a house by myself anymore.”
I winced. She never had these issues when I was at home. Were there signs I should have seen when I came home last? I was just home for Thanksgiving, and everything seemed okay. Was her health worse than she led on?
“I can take a year off from school,” I said. “I’ll come home and help you. I’m sure I can find some community college courses to take.”
“You've sacrificed enough in your life to take care of me,” Grandma said. “I’m actually looking forward to leaving.”
“You are? But my dad and me were raised here. You want to let go of those memories?”
“I have photo albums, and I’m sure you can make an online one for me to look at if I ever learn how to use that blasted thing. Where I’m going, I don’t have to cook anymore, and the apartment is much smaller. More manageable for someone like me.”
When I thought of those homes, I always imagined people in wheelchairs and those who were very ill. Grandma still had her wits about her. Would that change once she went there?
“They also have an athletic facility with a walkers club,” she said as if she knew what I was thinking. Who was I kidding? She was practically a mind-reader on her worst day. That didn’t ease my mind about her leaving.
“But where will I go on school breaks?” I asked.
She took my hands in hers. They were cool as always, but right now they felt cold and so did my heart. “I’m sure you can stay on campus. Socialize more. It will be good for you. I won’t be leaving until after the New Year when the new owners come in so we can have one more Christmas here if you'd like.”
“I would like that,” I said, blinking hard. I knew she didn’t tell me her plan because I would have fought her each step of the way. She already had someone else moving into my home, so this was a long time coming. Even though I hated surprises, she knew me well enough that it had to be behind my back.
“What can I do to help?” I asked her. There was nothing left for me to do except roll with her decision.
Later that night, I laid awake in bed staring at my ceiling. There were a few small star stickers that glowed from the ceiling where I placed them when I was ten. There were so many memories in this house, how was I ever going to say goodbye in a month?
I turned over, trying to get comfortable when my phone rang. I sat up. It was almost nine-thirty, who would call me now? Grandma had already been in bed for an hour, so I scrambled across the room to grab my phone from my purse.
“Hello?” I said into the phone without looking at the screen. What did Amber need this late? She rarely called me at all, she always texted. I hoped she didn't’ need me. I told her I was leaving—
“Lily,” Alex’s voice said from the other end of the line.
“Alex?”
“Yeah, I need help with the last part of the assignment. It took me some time, but I think I'm starting to get it—”
“This isn’t a good time,” I said, unable to concentrate on school right now after finding out about Grandma moving. “Can I call you tomorrow?”
“Sure, I guess,” he said.
I pulled
the phone from my ear, but he said something else. “What was that?”
“Are you okay?” He asked, his voice filled with concern.
“I’m fine.” He was sweet to ask, but I was not in the mood to talk to anyone about anything right then. “I have to go.”
I hung up the phone and turned it off, shoving it back into my purse.
I flopped onto the bed and squeezed my eyes closed, willing myself to clear my mind and get some rest.
The next morning, I felt a little better about the move. I wasn’t happy about it at all, but Grandma showed me the website for the place, and it looked more like a community than a facility. That eased my mind a little.
“They have activities scheduled all the time, so I won’t be bored,” she said, fluffing a pan of scrambled eggs with a spatula. “I think I'm going to start knitting again and finally finish that scarf I started last year.”
It was more like three years ago, but I didn’t correct her. For eighty-seven, she was sharp as a whip. She was getting older though and having people look after her eased my mind. I’d have to make more trips back home even though that would cut into my study time. I wanted her to know that I would still be in her life no matter where she lived.
Two slices of toast popped up from the toaster and I buttered them. The kitchen smelled amazing. The eggs were fluffy and yellow, definitely different from the tray of them from the cafeteria that was served each morning.
Heat pricked my eyes. Things were changing all over the place, and I wasn’t sure if I could take it all around Christmas. Would every year be a reminder of what I lost? In a way, it was as if I were losing my parents all over again.
I plated our food and brought it over to the table.
I glanced up, hearing a banging out front.
“Was that the door?” Grandma asked.
