Page 27 of Academically Yours

I gave her a little nod. “Nice to meet you, Hazel.”

“It’s right here,” she said, coming to a stop in front of the door. “You have her key, right?” I held it up in my hand.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “I’ll see you on the way out.”

Hearing that seemed to have made her a whole lot more comfortable with me leaving Noelle in her room, so she gave me a nod of approval before turning around and going back to the desk.

I sighed as I looked around the small apartment. Honestly, it was bigger than I thought: a living room, a small kitchen, and then what I assumed was her bedroom and bathroom off to the side. Looking around, I knew how much it screamed Noelle: trendy but with stacks of books everywhere—she just seemed like that kind of girl, especially after she told me I like words. As I tucked her in, I wondered at the implications. At how weird it felt to be in her bedroom, like this. Before I left I made sure she was laying on her side and put a trash can by her bedside on the floor in case she had to throw up during the night.

I quickly opened up her phone in my hand, thankful that it didn’t have a passcode, and sent a quick message to the group chat that included Gabrielle, Charlotte, and Angelina. Hey, it’s Matthew. Got Noelle home safe and all tucked into bed. I’m leaving now, if one of you wants to come to check on her in the morning.

The name was Best Friends Book Club, and I had to admit, it made me smile. It was so very Noelle. Finally, I plugged her phone into the cord on the nightstand, reading the response as the screen lit up. It was from Gabbi: thank you so much, matthew.

I dropped a small kiss on Noelle’s forehead as I whispered good night, shutting the door behind me as I walked out and waved goodbye to Hazel at the front desk.

It wasn’t until long after I had left the dorm building that I realized I had forgotten to tell my friends why I was leaving. Oh well. They’d understand.

I hoped.

On second thought, this was probably not going to end well.