***
“I bet Cole is totally pissed right now,” Alex told me later that day. We were in his room, and I was snuggled down into the pillows on his bed. I could smell the detergent that Katherine used to clean the sheets, along with Alex’s musky scent. My anatomy book was propped up in front of me, and we were supposed to be studying together. But as soon as Alex heard the garage door close, indicating that his parents had left for vacation, he’d logged on to his computer to play GoG.
“How come?” I asked, flipping to the end of the chapter to see how many more pages I had to read.
“We always throw an end-of-the-year party. It was supposed to be tonight, but with Will babysitting, I don’t know if it will happen.”
“But what about exams?”
“What about them? We have the next two weeks to study.”
“Okay. So what’s he going to do?” I asked, even though the prospect of a party made me nervous.
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know, but he’ll think of something. There’s no way Cole will turn down a chance to show off.”
I tried to go back to studying then. If there was going to be party, I knew Riley, Heather, and the rest of the gang would want to come over and I would get nothing done. After ten minutes of rereading the same passage, I slammed my book shut, unable to concentrate with the annoying music coming from Alex’s computer.
“Alex, do you have to play that right now?”
“Yup,” he said, grinning at me. Somehow, even though I was slightly annoyed, his smile made my stomach flutter. Alex was too cute for his own good. “And now that you’re my girlfriend, you should start playing GoG too.”
I snorted. “I have no problem with your obsession, but online gaming isn’t really my thing.”
“But think about how much fun it would be. We could conquer the entire continent of RuWariah together.”
“Shouldn’t you be more focused on studying?” I didn’t have a clue what the RooWar place was, but I knew that I had no desire to conquer it. “Two weeks of studying isn’t much.” Knowing Alex, he wouldn’t even start studying until the weekend before. That would leave him with no time to properly prepare. The thought made me nauseous.
“Jackie, stop worrying so much.”
“We only have fourteen days,” I pointed out. “Come on, Alex. I saw your grade on the last anatomy test. You’re going to need at least a ninety on the exam to even think about getting a B in the class.”
“That’s okay. I’m fine with a C.”
At this, I felt uncomfortable. How could he be so unconcerned about not doing his best? “Well,” I said, taking a different approach. “We need to start thinking about where we’ll apply for college. If you want to get into a good school, your transcript will need to be polished.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll just go to the local community college like Will.”
“But don’t you want to go somewhere more…prestigious?”
“Like where? Yale? Jackie, my parents can’t afford that.”
“But if you worked hard and got good grades—”
“I’m a geek, not a brainiac. No school is going to give me a scholarship,” he said. Three seconds later, “Argh! Damn these undead priests that keep respawning.” His fingers were pounding away at the keyboard, his eyes glued to the screen.
I became quiet. I didn’t understand how Alex could be okay with settling for less than the best. Snapping my textbook shut, I untangled myself from the bed and stood up. Yes, living with the Walters had taught me how to loosen up, but that didn’t mean I was going to let my grades go slack.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“Um—yeah, fine,” I said, picking my way across the littered carpet. “I’m going to head back to my room. I really need to finish reading these chapters before tonight.”
Alex swung around in his computer chair. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
I offered him the best smile I could muster. “Just nervous about these next two weeks. Don’t worry about me.”
“Well, are you going to come to the party?”
If I could avoid it, then no, but something told me that wouldn’t happen. “Of course,” I told him.
“Awesome. See you then.”
***
Sure enough, four hours later, I was watching my friends get ready for the party.
“Tonight is going to be to die for, y’all!” Riley gushed, sounding more twangy than usual.