Page 7 of Keep Me

“I’m not late,” she countered, tossing a napkin at me. “Seren, eat. You look like you’re halfway through a dissertation on the social dynamics of the common college idiot. Let me guess Zane already scared one off, didn’t he?”

“He was just offering me coffee,” I shrugged, finally reaching for a powdered donut. “Zane is just naturally scary sometimes.”

“Mm-hmm. So, what happened? He tried to buy you some caffeine, and Zane told him the coffee was poisonous and there was a sniper on the roof?” Cassidy teased, grinning at Zane.

Zane took a slow bite of his donut; his eyes didn’t leave mine as he chewed. There was a crumb at the corner of his mouth that made him look human, less like a statue.

“I just told him the truth,” Zane said after swallowing. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table. “That she’s a lot of work and I’ve already got the job; it’s a lifetime appointment.”

“A lot of work?” I repeated, a small spark of a smile tugging at my lips. “Is that what I am? I thought I was pretty low maintenance.”

“You are.” Zane reached out. He used his thumb to brush a stray strand of hair away from my face. His skin was warm, slightly rough, and the contact sent a jolt through me that had nothing to do with the sugar from the donuts. “It’s just hard work staying vigilant all the time, always ready to poison coffee and give orders to the snipers on the roof.”

He paused, looking at me while I tried to fight the smile forming on my lips. “It’s not an easy project,” he said, humor fading, “but the results are coming along and it’s worth it.”

Cassidy shook her head. “If you two start reciting poetry, I’m leaving with the rest of the bag. Seren, don’t let him get away with that ‘project’ talk. He’s been obsessed with your ‘results’ since his first day at West Bridge.”

“Like you can talk,” I said as I turned to her. “You and O practically showed me the meaning of pining when we were in high school.”

“Yeah,” Cassidy said like my words didn’t affect her, though a faint blush came to her cheeks. “That was high school. This is college, not even freshman college. We’re almost graduates. We are adults. High school pining is one thing, this…” Cassidy gestured excessively at me and Zane. “It’s a whole different scenario.”

“Oh, you love it,” I said, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. I knew Cassidy was not being serious. In fact, her words were the opposite of what she really felt. Cassidy loved Zane like a girl loves her younger brother. She might tease him and try to make him blush, but the only thing she really wants is for him to be happy.

“Speaking of O,” Zane said, a hint of playfulness in his tone. “How is he doing? He hasn’t been here in a few weeks. I don’t know how you’re even surviving, since it seems you two need to breathe the same oxygen to live.”

Cassidy closed her eyes and leaned her head back in an exaggerated agreement of his words. “I know. It’s been the worst three weeks of my life. I miss him so much, but he has really important finals this year and the drive just does not make sense when he needs to work and study and go to classes.”

“Do you remember freshman year when he would come here twice a week to see you?” I asked her. “Life really would’ve been easier if he had just come here with us.”

“I know, I know,” Cassidy agreed, “you are preaching to the choir, but I guess he really couldn’t turn down a full ride, no matter how much he misses me. Plus, it wouldn’t have been fair for me to ask him to do that. To answer your question, though, he’s good. He’s tired. His eyes hurt from studying all damn day. But he’s good. He is always good. He is my O.”

“Well,” said Zane, “I miss the guy, so when he’s done all of the studying and working and constant phone calls with his long-distance high school sweetheart, tell him to get back up here.”

Cassidy laughed. Then she took out her phone, her nails making a satisfying tapping sound as she moved her thumbs against the screen. “Task complete,” she said, “told.”

She put the phone down on the metal table in front of us. “So, what do you two love birds have planned for this beautiful Tuesday afternoon?”

“Well, it is Tuesday,” I started, but Zane finished the sentence before I could speak it.

“Which means Seren has therapy, and no, she’s not skipping.” He looked pointedly at me, knowing I had already asked him the same thing last night before bed.

“Why would she skip?” Cassidy asked, the humor of our conversation faintly falling from her face, replaced by the same concerned look people tend to wear around me. Less often now, though, which is why I noticed when it came back.

I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. Zane nudged my foot with his boot under the table, as if to say yeah Seren, why would you skip?

“I don’t know,” Zane told Cassidy. “Ask her.”

“What? Why am I under attack?” I looked between the two of them, both wearing the concern-face now. “I just want to go home and give my brain a rest.”

It felt like my brain had been doing laps around a football field, like there was too much information I was trying to catch up with. They should understand that. After all, my major was nowhere near as hard as theirs was. Mine should feel like a game of hopscotch comparatively.

“That’s fair,” Cassidy agreed. I raised my eyebrows at Zane. See, my side, Zane. Not yours. “Are you two hungry? These donuts didn’t go far.”

“I have us covered,” Zane answered for both of us, surprising me. I watched him as he dipped to reach his backpack, then pulled out two wrapped sandwiches, pushing one down in front of me. He took note of my expression. “Tuna fish,” he explained without me asking, his left eye forming a wink so quick I almost missed it.

I laughed, the memory of the car ride home from West Bridge surfacing back into my mind. I had almost forgotten that conversation entirely.

“Sorry, Cass,” Zane said, smiling as he spoke the words. I knew that he was not like me, the memory wasn’t pushing his happiness. No, I knew better. Zane was smiling because I was laughing. “I didn’t bring an extra.”