Counting Down with You(23)

“I mean he’s a weirdo,” I say, slipping out from underneath their arms. “He says he sees a spark in me or whatever.”

“Karina Myra Ahmed, what did you just say?”

I wince. I shouldn’t have dropped that casually into a sentence. “Nothing. I said nothing.”

Cora looks at Nandini incredulously. “Do you hear her? I’m going to kill her. I really am. Will you bail me out?”

“Absolutely,” Nandini says, holding her pinky up. Cora hooks their pinkies together and they shake on it.

I roll my eyes. “Good. Please do. At least then I won’t have to become a doctor.”

“You can’t just say things like that and then pretend it never happened,” Cora says, linking her arm with mine. Nandini does the same on my other side and we exit the cafeteria together, heading for Nandini’s locker since it’s the closest. “What do you mean he sees a spark in you? What did he actually say?”

I sigh and relay the conversation in a hushed tone as we settle in front of Nandini’s locker. By the end, they’re both staring at me wide-eyed.

“What?” I ask self-consciously.

“I’m not even going to say it,” Cora says, turning away and pressing her face against the side of a locker. “You’re not going to hear a peep from me.”

I squint at her, trying to make sense of those words or catch a glimpse of her expression behind her blond hair, to no avail.

“What is she talking about?” I ask Nandini.

“You’ll see, dude,” Nandini says, patting my head. “You’ll see.”

It really doesn’t get any more cryptic than that. I sigh again and resign myself to the fact that my friends are chaotic neutrals.

Ace sits next to me in English again. This time, I don’t do anything aside from pointedly slide him a piece of paper and a pencil. “Bring your book bag next time.”

“You’re no fun.” Ace takes the paper and pencil, but not before he pokes me in the side using the eraser. “Also I need to talk to you after class.”

I give him a sidelong look. “About what?”

“I’ll tell you later,” he says, turning his gaze on the whiteboard. Now he wants to pay attention?

The urge to grumble is hard to resist, but I make it through class without a single muttered insult. I consider patting myself on the back for that. I deserve it.

When Nandini and Cora wait for me expectantly at the door, I wave them off. Nandini raises her eyebrows, her gaze flickering toward Ace before she nods.

Cora says, “What—” but doesn’t get to finish her sentence before Nandini pulls her into the hallway.

I turn to Ace. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I can’t make it to the study session today,” he says, his voice quiet. “I have a family thing.”

I blink. “A family thing.”

“My dad insists on having family dinners every Friday,” Ace says, shrugging. “He usually leaves for business trips afterward, so we eat pretty early.” He looks uncomfortable again, like when we spoke about Xander. It piques my curiosity, but not enough to pry.

Then his words register.

“So you’ll be skipping our lesson every Friday?” I ask in disbelief.

I’ve been following Miss Cannon’s outline as a base for our sessions. If I turn five weekly meetings into four, every single lesson will have to be adjusted in order to accommodate the change.

Ace grimaces. “Listen, I know but... I can’t not attend.”

The reluctant look on his face is one that I understand all too well. Sometimes our parents don’t give us a choice.

I frown. “I get it. I really do. But that’s so many days unaccounted for...”

Before Ace can reply, Miss Cannon appears in front of our desks, beaming. “I assume your study sessions are going well?”

I hesitate and look at Ace. He looks back at me with his lips pressed together harshly, and I’m reminded that when he showed up at our first session together, he was shocked that I hadn’t complained to Miss Cannon about him.

“Great,” I say, turning my attention back to Miss Cannon. “Alistair has shown a lot of initiative.”

“Do you feel you’re learning a lot from Karina?” Miss Cannon asks Ace, still grinning. Her happiness is infectious and, despite my concerns, I smile in return.

“More than I expected,” Ace says. He’s staring at me instead of Miss Cannon. “I hope to continue learning more.”

The weight overlaying his words makes me squirm, heat rushing to my cheeks. “I hope so, too.”

Miss Cannon sighs happily, folding her hands together and clutching them to her chest. “I’m so glad this is working out.”

Ace doesn’t look away as he says, “Me too.”

Without much left to contribute, I start packing up my things and head for the door. Miss Cannon lets me slip past her with a small smile. As soon as I pass through the doors and into the hallway, fingers wrap gently around my wrist and pull me back beside a row of yellow lockers.

I look up at Ace in surprise. His rings are cold against my skin. “What?”

“I thought you were going to tell her about me bailing today,” he says. He doesn’t phrase it as a question, but his gaze is imploring as he looks at me.