Asylum (Asylum, #1)(15)
Dan wondered about the wisdom of asking Felix for dating advice—although Felix did seem to be relaxing into the program, too. He still studied alone in their room all the time, spoke like a science teacher, and required ludicrously small amounts of sleep. But his manga magazines had disappeared and he seemed to enjoy doing his own thing.
“Well,” Dan said. “I’m thinking of asking Abby out. What do you think my chances are?”
“Ah, yes. I can see why you’re so nervous. . . .”
“You . . . can?” Dan waited, although he wasn’t sure he wanted Felix to elaborate.
“You are facially symmetrical, but suffer from slightly protruding ears. You’re not exactly tall, and your lack of muscular definition, well . . . Abby is, on the other hand—”
“Yeah,” Dan said, cutting him off. “She’s cute as hell.”
Felix paused and gave a quick shrug. “I’d say she is, in the popular vernacular, out of your league.”
“I thought so, thanks,” Dan muttered. He really shouldn’t feel put out, considering the source of this judgment, but still . . . it stung.
“But only by a very narrow margin.” Felix beamed from his desk chair. “Does that answer your question?”
“Yes,” he said. “You’ve been a big help. Thank you.” Dan gathered up his afternoon notebooks and headed out the door.
That phrase, out of your league, plagued Dan all the way across campus. Felix was right in a way. Dan had never met anyone like Abby before, someone who lit up his world a little whenever she happened into it.
The first of the chapel bells started ringing, signaling one forty-five and the start of his next class. Late. How had that happened? It had been a little after one when he’d left the dorm. Dan sprinted as best he could the rest of the way, arriving outside the social sciences building huffing and sweating. On the last chime, he tumbled into the corridor. Jordan and Abby were waiting by the classroom door.
“There you are!” Abby called. “We thought you weren’t coming.”
“Just running late. Roommate stuff.”
“Sure, we all know you were going for a dramatic entrance,” Jordan teased, nudging him lightly. Dan filed in after his friends and shuffled to a seat under the stern gaze of their professor, a tall, middle-aged man with a short goatee and salt-and-pepper hair.
“Well, if it isn’t the Hydra,” Professor Douglas said, pulling his glasses halfway down the bridge of his nose. “Don’t make it a habit, you three.”
Hydra. Clever, Dan thought. He smiled.
“Sorry!” Abby said, whipping out her binder at lightning speed. “It won’t happen again.”
Professor Douglas nodded and turned to the whiteboard.
After class, they walked together back toward the quad. A tall, lantern-jawed kid ran up to them on the path, planting himself in Abby’s way and putting a hand on her arm like he knew her.
“Hey, Abby! Jordan.” The guy smiled, showing a megawatt, dentist-approved grin. “Y’all want to grab a coffee or something?”
Of course he had a charming Southern accent. Why wouldn’t he?
“I’m Dan.” Dan stuck out his hand, forcing the guy to let go of Abby’s arm.
“Ash,” the boy said, gripping Dan’s hand like a vise. “Pleased to meet you. So . . . ?” Ash cocked his head in the direction of Wilfurd.
“Sure, I’m down,” Abby chirped. “Guys?”
“Sounds good to me,” Jordan said.
Dan just shrugged and tried to smile in a way that said, okay, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. Quietly, hands in his pockets, he dropped back a few paces. Jordan joined him, giving him the sort of deliberate, laser-eyed look that made Dan feel extremely uncomfortable. He wasn’t going to say anything. If Abby wanted to hang out with Ash, that was none of his business.
But Jordan didn’t let up.
“He goes to Abby’s high school,” he whispered conspiratorially as he twirled a pencil in his fingers. “She introduced us in drawing class. I guess they run the art club together at their school.”
“Oh,” Dan replied. “I guess he seems nice enough. . . .”
“But?”
“But nothing.” Dan kicked a stick out of the way, sending it spinning into the grass. “He’s nice. But maybe that’s all there is to him. Anyway, who cares about nice? Most people are nice.” He thought about his high school. “Nice” kids were a dime a dozen there, and none of them really caught his interest. Not that he much cared. He was at the top of his class, and in a year, he’d be headed to college far away from them all.
Jordan raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think you’re being a little harsh on the kid? You’ve known him all of ten seconds, Dan. He’s just one of those guys, you know? He gets along with everyone. People like having him around.”
Dan kicked at the ground. “I don’t get that. How do you do that? Get along with everyone, I mean.”
“Try being a little less jealous, for one,” Jordan said.
He meant it lightly, but Dan took it to heart. Was he being that obvious? Maybe he should just get over himself and accept that of course Jordan and Abby would have other friends. But for his part, Dan didn’t feel like he needed anyone else.