Double Threats Forever (20 page)

Amy sets her backpack on our table. “What are these?” She picks up Brody’s study sheets, her eyes scanning the pages. “These are amazing. Can I get copies? I’ll pay you for them.”

Brody’s eyes narrow at her, and then he looks to me. “Are we talking to
her
now?” He says
her
like she has horns growing from her head and it makes me laugh inside.

“Yeah, Brod. She’s good.” I look up at Amy. “Sit. He’s trying to get me ready for the calc final on Friday.” Amy sits next to me. “This is Brody.”

She mumbles a hello and he sticks out his hand to her. She gives him a weird look and puts her hand in his anyway. Brody has that effect on people. Especially when he’s in his element, which he is now. It doesn’t help that he’s wearing a
Come to the Dork Side, We have π
tee.

“You don’t have to pay me. If you’re cool with the Megster and not acting like a beeyotch anymore, I’d be happy to share.”

This time I laugh aloud. “Brody, stop. We’re good. I promise.”

He raises a brow at both of us. “Are you any good at this or are you hopeless like Meg?”

“I have an A, so I’m all right. A little extra studying won’t hurt though.”

“Good, you can study with us and help Meg too.”

Amy studies Brody for a minute, not knowing what to make of him. I remember looking at him the same. But he definitely grows on you, as seen by the number of girls he’s hooked up with in the last year.

“What happened to practice?” she asks.

“We had our last game before break yesterday. I told my coach I had to miss practice for the rest of the week to study or else I’m not gonna have grades to play when we get back.”

“Good point. Where are the girls?” She keeps eyeballing the door, probably nervous they could show up at any minute. Just because we’re okay doesn’t mean they are.

“Steph is probably with Dominic. Keesh is at practice. She’s a whiz at this stuff and doesn’t need the extra tutoring.”

“Why doesn’t she help you?”

“She knows I’m in good hands with Brody.”

She seems to think this over for a bit. “Okay, let’s get to work. Let’s start with limits.”

By the time they’re through with me, two hours later, I think I’ve got the first two chapters. Four more to go. And only two more days to study. I hope this shit sticks. College acceptances are contingent on passing grades your senior year. It would really suck if I get denied because I can’t figure out how to solve a differentiation problem, even though I’ll never have to do again for the rest of my life.

It’s almost ten before I’m relaxed at home and ready to talk to Alex. We haven’t connected much in the last week, only through a few texts back and forth. But we’ve played phone tag for the past few days.

“Hey, can you talk?” I ask, relieved to hear his voice through my cell.

“Yeah, I have my computer in my lap. I wanna see you.”

“Awesome. I’m sending a request through now.”

His face shows up on my laptop and I end the call on my cell.

“Hey, beautiful. It’s been too long.”

His eyes are tired. Even through the grainy video on my screen I can see the dark circles under his lashes. “Yeah, it has. How are you? You look pretty beat up.”

“Well, nice to see you too.” He combs his fingers though his hair. “You don’t miss anything, do you?”

“Not when it comes to you. Are finals kicking your butt too?”

“Definitely. The internship too. When I’m not there, I’m at the library studying and writing papers. There aren’t enough hours in the day. This year is turning out to be the most difficult by far.”

“I’m sorry.” The worry in his eyes makes my heart break.

“No need to apologize. It’s the hardest, but definitely the most fun. Now that all the bullshit lower division classes are out of the way, I finally get to learn all the stuff I’m interested in.”

“You creating any award winning buildings yet?” I ask, teasing him.

“Not yet, baby. Soon though.” He winks. “I’m just sorry we haven’t been on the same page for a while. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. But I’ve been busy too. Tomorrow is my first final. And I’ve been going nutty getting ready. I’ve never been so worried about exams before. I think these college apps have totally thrown me for a loop. I can’t concentrate. I feel like I’m going to screw it up and end up going to a trade school for making bolts or something.”

He chuckles. “I don’t think they have trade schools for that.” He smiles and I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. I need to make a
gif
animation of his smiling face so I can look at it when I’m stressed. “Just relax and do the best you can.”

“Easy for you to say. You already passed calculus. And at Berkeley too, for crying out loud. My man is a genius. Are you sure you want my unworthy ass?”

“Yes, I definitely want your ass. And the rest of you too.” His sexy grin comes through loud and clear. “Only a week and I’ll be back in town. You ready to see me again?”

“Of course.”

“Are you sure? It hasn’t been that long. Are you sure you miss me enough yet?” His teasing smile makes my girls part warm, squeeze, and dampen.

“I miss you plenty.” I squeeze my thighs together to get a hold of myself. “We just need to get through finals alive.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How about we just worry about school for the next week? I know you have a lot to deal with. So do I. So no more stressing about missed calls. If we have a chance, we’ll text. Otherwise, just go to work and study your ass off and I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”

“Wow, Megan Miller. You’re starting to sound like a college student already. By the time you get here, you’re gonna be a pro at managing your time.”

“Here?” I question with a raised brow.

His mouth rises on the left side into a crooked smile. “You caught that, huh?”

“I did.”

“No pressure, remember? Just a thought that came out … unintentionally.”

“Hey, we have enough stuff to worry about. Let’s not start thinking about where I’ll end up. I’ve decided to not give it any more thought until I get my acceptance letters.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“I’m gonna need all the luck I can get.” And that’s the truth. I can tell myself to forget about choosing a college for the next three months a million times and I doubt it’s gonna work.

“Baby, I gotta go. I still have a lot to do for my morning class.” The expression on his face has gotten serious. The smiles and sexy grins are gone.

“Same here. Social studies is tomorrow. So I’m gonna go through my notes one last time. But, hey, I get to finally see the baby tomorrow. Mrs. Gelson is coming to visit after school. I’ll send you pictures.”

“Cool. I can’t wait to hear all about it when I get home.”

“Okay. Try getting some rest. And kick ass on your finals.”

“Same to you, Megan.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” He smiles.

“Goodnight.”

He flashes me that sexy grin again, his eyes narrowing on mine. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“Love you,” I tell him, meaning the words to my core.

“And I love you.”

Our first day of finals has come to an end, finally. This morning, I couldn’t finish my social studies exam fast enough. I kept thinking about Mrs. Gelson’s baby. She’s visiting today. She should be here any minute with baby Mia and I can barely sit still.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna come back from break to a substitute. Did you get someone good? Someone cute?” I ask Mrs. Fuller. She won’t be back until after spring break. She couldn’t have waited until after I graduated to get knocked up.

“What about your stud, Alex? Don’t tell me you’re looking again,” she says, narrowing her eyes at me.

“No way. At least not the way you’re thinking. I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt my eyes to see a nice looking guy fifth period every day.”

She chuckles at my joke. “You’re too much.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” Travis chimes in, rolling his eyes. “Why don’t you just eat already? Stop babbling away and sit. Pacing and chattering isn’t gonna make her get here any faster.”

Mrs. Fuller laughs. “And I thought I was impatient,” she says through a mouthful of food. She waddles over to us and sits down with a piece of double pepperoni pizza in her hands.

“Meg could win a gold medal in that department. She has the patience of a two-year old.” Travis has no problem digging into his lunch.

The door flies open and we all look up at the same time. “Where is she?” Steph asks, her hands in the air.

“Sit down and eat,” Mrs. Fuller tells her. “She’s running late. Mia probably had other plans this morning. She’s adorable, but she already runs her mama and daddy.”

“Oh, I’m sure Noah is gonna be very mindful of you and Mr. Fuller as soon as he makes it out of your womb,” I joke.

“He better be.”

“Are you really naming your baby after the guy in that chick flick?” Travis asks with disgust.

“That guy’s name is Ryan Gosling. Don’t hate just because you’re jealous of his hot body.” Steph throws her napkin at him. “Those abs are …” She fans herself.

“Well said, Stephanie,” Mrs. Fuller says.

“Amen, sister,” I agree.

“Where’s Mr. Fuller? I need some back up.” He shakes his head with a sigh.

The door opens again. This time we see a stroller enter first, with Mr. and Mrs. Gelson right behind.

“Oh,” I squeal, jumping out of my seat. Steph is right on my heels as we get closer to the baby.

“Hey, girls,” Mrs. Gelson says. “A little excited, are we?”

“They’re crazy,” Travis says. Mr. Gelson sidesteps around us and sits next to our friend.

Mrs. Gelson pushes back the shade on the stroller to reveal a little Mia all prettied up in a lavender outfit with itty bitty white flowers on it. She wears a matching elastic headband around her head and is covered with a crocheted blanket. I have blankets like this in my baby stuff my mom keeps stored for me.

“She’s adorable,” Steph says, wiping a tear from her eye. “She looks just like you. Look at her dark hair and little mouth. How cute.”

“Wanna hold her?”

“Yes, I’d love to,” Steph responds, wiping another tear.

As exciting as it is for me, it has to be ten times more for Steph. Mrs. Gelson is her teacher.

I glance over at Mrs. Fuller. Her hubby is here now, standing behind her, massaging her shoulders. Her hand rests on her belly as she looks at Mrs. Gelson in awe.

“This is gonna be you in a few weeks,” I tell her.

Her smile lights up the room. “I know. I can’t wait,” she says, patting her baby bump.

Steph and I each take turns holding Mia. Travis won’t hold her. He’s happy enough to let her hold his finger.

We only stay for a bit, ooh-ing and aww-ing over the baby before we leave the two couples alone. We still have finals, and I only have one more day to study for calculus. I leave Steph and Travis in the quad and head to Mr. Dunhill’s room for more tutoring with Amy and Brody. If only they could crack open my head and pour the study guides in.

Chapter 20

“Oh my god!” I scream, running down the hall and circling the couch my parents are sitting at a few times. “I passed. I passed!”

When I’m out of breath, I fall back onto the loveseat with a big sigh of relief.

“What in the world are you yelling about?” my dad asks. “You passed what?”

Through gasps for air, I explain to them that my math teacher finally posted our grades.

“Great, honey. We’re proud of you. Did you call Brody?” Mom asks.

“Yeah, I already sent him and Amy a text. They can’t believe it. Brody only beat me by five percentage points. He’s probably emailing our teacher right now to get his grade checked.” I laugh just thinking about it. His study methods worked so well, I almost scored the same as him. I know he’s wracking his brain trying to figure out what he could’ve possibly gotten wrong.

My dad looks at my mom. “Did she just say Amy?” Poor guy looks confused.

“Yeah, where have you been?” She plays it off like it’s not a big deal. “They’ve been talking for months. Pay attention, mister.”

He shrugs, picks up the remote, and changes the channel. “So what did you end up getting in the class?” he asks, while he surfs through the channels at record speed.

“I got a B.” I practically jump out of my seat. “I’m gonna go get ready. It’s time to celebrate.”

“Where are we going?” I ask as I hop into the front seat of Josh’s truck. “I’m ready to revel in the glory of my bad ass B in calculus.”

“Shh,” he says, with an index finger pressed to his lips. “It’s a secret.”