“Don’t you still have to take finals?”
“Sure, but a college semester’s only sixteen weeks, so we were done almost a month ago. Plus, you don’t have to be at school seven hours a day. You actually have time to study.”
“Sounds glorious.”
“I mean, it’s a lot of work, but you’re going to be amazed at how much easier it is than high school in a lot of ways. Especially since you’re a nerd.”
“Hey, I’m not a nerd!”
He flips to the back cover of my book. “You’re studying for a health final. No one studies for health finals. So, yeah, you’re a nerd.”
“I don’t want to mess up my GPA.”
Virgo laughs. “You’re a nerd. But believe me, that’s a good thing. You’ll rule the world one day.”
I thank him because I know he’s saying it to be nice, not to mock me, but I can’t help but feel a little self-conscious.
A few minutes later, Evan approaches the desk. “Last person just got out, finally,” he says. Then he jumps on the counter and sits so his legs are right next to my book. He tries to catch my eye, to offer me a smile that reads like maybe a request or an apology, or, at the very least, a plea for a truce.
I slide a few inches away, close my book, and slide it under the counter.
“God, I hope no one else shows up,” Virgo says.
“Can we close this place yet?” Evan complains. “I mean, look how dark the sky is.”
“Sorry,” Virgo says. “Only if you see lightning, or if a kid hurls in the pool.”
Evan looks at me. “Don’t you have a little sister? Any fake vomit upstairs you can bring down?”
I laugh. “Somewhere in her disaster of a room, I’m sure.”
Right then, the sky lights up with a flash and then a few seconds later everything vibrates with the booming echo of thunder.
Evan claps his hands and jumps off the counter. “There’s your lightning! Bennett Tower Pool is officially closed!”
Virgo heads off to tell the eighty-something-year-old woman that she has to get out of the water, and then he goes to lock up all the bathrooms. Evan and I work on putting away a few chairs and cleaning up the office.
I shut down the computers and close up the sign-in binders while Evan organizes the pH test kits. Even with the pounding rain and Virgo’s operatic voice reverberating down the hall, there’s an awkward silence between us. It’s the heavy weight of an unfinished conversation, one that I don’t want to have. I can tell he wants to talk to me because he keeps looking over at me, trying to catch my eye. Part of me wants to talk to him, too, to explain what happened the other day and why I can’t get involved with anyone right now and maybe even drop hints about how Sammie likes him. But I decide that the best thing to do right now is focus on cleaning up—that is, on keeping my mouth shut and eyes forward.
He locks up the last cabinet and then breaks the silence. “So we have this surprise gift of an hour or so. We should hang out or something.”
“Um, no. I need to study. Three finals this week. But thanks.”
Virgo comes into the office, drenched and smiling. “I love rain.”
“Let’s do something, yeah?” Evan says. “Viviana is going to call up Sammie and tell her to come hang out with us.”
“I never said I was going to—”
“Come on,” Evan says. “You need a break. See if Sammie’s home yet. Tell her to come.”
Now I’m totally confused. Why is he telling me to call Sammie? Is this part of his appeal for a truce? I really want to say no, but Sammie would kill me if I passed up this opportunity for a health final.
Evan looks at me. “We could all just hang out. Tell her to come.”
“Okay, yeah, I guess. Hold on.” I text her: URGENT. Lover boy wants to know if you’re home yet. Pool is closed due to lightning storm and he wants to hang out. Where are you?
I get an immediate text in return: HELL YASSS. Stuck in traffic but will be there sooooooon. Say yes and I will join you.
“Sammie’s in.”
“Excellent,” Evan says. “Virgo, you in?”
“Sure.” He shrugs. “I’ve got nothing to do.”
Evan looks at me. “Could we go up to your place?”
“No, my mom’s studying and my sister’s there, probably finding ten million ways to distract her. We could go to the roof of my building. There’s an indoor room. It’s used for parties, but when it’s not rented out, it’s open to anyone. And it’s actually great during a storm. When it thunders, the whole building rattles. But it’s even better up there. Mila says it’s like being inside a drum.”
“That sounds like absolute perfection,” Evan says.
Virgo agrees, and we run through the rain to the back door of Bennett Tower. I pull out my key and make a silent prayer to the gods of precipitation and other random occurrences that I don’t run into my mom or Mila in the elevator.