It was a lie, but I guess I could help her. I knew my shit in Chemistry as well as Math. It was the touchy feely subjects like English and Psychology that bit my ass.

“Help me?” Her eyes lit up like I’d said the most ridiculous thing. “I don’t need help.” “I wasn’t asking if you did,” I shot back.

“No, you’re just assuming,” she retorted, not meeting my eyes as she continued to unload her supplies.

“Not at all. I know what you can do.” My voice cracked with amusement, but I wanted her to look at me.

“I thought that if we’re going to be friends,” I continued, “this might be a good place to start.”

Getting off my chair, I walked towards her, hoping she would know I wanted anything but friendship. “I mean…” I kept going when she didn’t say anything. “It’s not like we’re going to be able to go back

to climbing trees and having sleepovers, is it?”

Her chest filled with a quiet breath, and she stopped unloading for a split second. Her eyes met mine, and for a moment, I thought she’d let me plant her ass on the counter and let me show her how a sleepover between us would work.

But then she narrowed her eyes and talked more with her teeth than her lips. “Like I said, I don’t need help.”

“Like I said, I wasn’t asking,” I repeated, not missing a beat. “Did you think that Porter was going to let you conduct experiments with fire by yourself?” I had no idea what her experiment was, but after catching sight of some of her materials and Porter’s apprehension about leaving her alone, I gathered that it would involve the burners.

“How do you know about my experiment? And who said we’re going to be friends?” she sneered before bending down to get something out of her bag. “You know, maybe too much damage has been done. I know you’ve apologized, but it’s not so easy for me.”

This was not the Tate I knew. Tate was tough. Even when I’d made her cry over the years with my pranks, she held her head high and moved on.

Tate didn’t need grand gestures. Did she?

“You’re not getting girly on me, are you?” I was trying at sarcasm, but I wanted a fucking miracle.

Yes, Jared. Thank you for apologizing, and I forgive you. Let’s move on.

That’s what I really wanted.

But she buried her face in her binder and ignored me. Or tried to look like she was ignoring me. My fingers were humming, and I balled up my fists to try to erase the urge to touch her.

She kept staring at her papers, but I knew she wasn’t reading anything. She was feeling me like I was feeling her.

Finally, she sighed, giving up the petense, and looked up at me like my mother did when she’d had enough. “Jared, I appreciate the effort you’re putting in here, but it’s unnecessary. Contrary to what your ego is blowing you up with, I’ve been surviving just fine without you for the last three years. I work better alone, and I would not appreciate your help today or any other day. We’re not friends.”

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 630