Page 41 of Lessons in Chemistry

“You?”

“Get a taxi home. It’s fucking freezing out here.”

“Sorry about that. Thanks for listening and for the advice.”

“Any time. I mean that, Casey. If you need to talk, hit me up. Let me give you my number.” He takes his phone out, and we swap numbers. “Take care.”

“Yeah, you too.”

After an awkward pause, we hug. His grip is firm and comforting, and it reawakens the butterflies that cascaded into my stomach when Em kissed me. The confusion train is one crazy ride. I don’t want the embrace to end. But it does. Auggie uses an app on his phone to call a taxi as we walk to the main road. Then he stands and waits while I walk home.

10

AUGGIE

It’s a first for me, but I arrive twenty minutes early for my eleven-o’clock lecture. Okay, I don’t care about the lecture. I want to see Emory to make sure he’s okay. I sit in the corridor with my back against the wall while I wait for him. He arrives five minutes after me, head down, looking deep in thought.

“Hi, Emory.” I stand.

He looks up, cheeks pinking as he makes eye contact with me. “Auggie.”

“Surprised to see me?”

His cheeks get darker. “Yeah, kinda. You’re not normally on time. Plus, last week was the first time you even came to this lecture all term, so I wasn’t expecting you to be here today. Sorry.”

“Hey, don’t be. I know I’m a slacker.” I grin to show him I’m joking and then move closer so I can put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m here because I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Are you?”

He rubs his arm. “I’m not sure.”

“Did you and Casey talk last night?”

Emory nods. His lips quiver.

“Let’s get out of here. I’ll buy you an iced coffee, and we can talk. Apparently, I have a good shoulder.”

He frowns. “A good shoulder?”

“For crying on.”

His mouth forms an O. “We have a lecture.”

“Eh, I’m sure you can catch up.”

His eyes widen.

I shift my weight between my feet. “You’ve never skipped a lecture before, have you?”

“No.”

“Have you missed any lectures this year?”

“No. Why would I?”

“You might have taken a sick day.”

He shakes his head.

“Last year?”