Chapter 4: Skating Alone and a Bad Boy Rescue

I quietly held out the fruit: "How about you two victims split it?"

No one responded, and I felt awkward.

"Six peaches, three for you and three for him. Eight apples, four each. Eight bananas, four each..."

They watched me divvy up the fruit.

When I got to the last basket of strawberries, I split it in half.

"You half, him half."

"Why do I have twelve and he has thirteen?"

Carter suddenly spoke.

How did the valedictorian count the strawberries in two seconds?

"Ah, then I’ll help by eating one."

I reached into Sean’s bag to take the extra.

But Sean yanked it away: "You want to go back on your word?"

"No, I..."

"You want to deny you like me better? Between Carter and me, you prefer me, right?"

What the heck, the bad boy is so dramatic, I can’t keep up.

Maribel tugged my sleeve and dragged me away.

Only then did I notice that Sean and Carter weren’t really paying attention to me. They were about to go at each other, talking to me but glaring daggers at each other.

"Even a single strawberry counts as favoritism, Sean, you really think too much of yourself."

"Then why are you counting? You think I’m deaf?"

"You’re always like this. Whatever you snatch, you act like it’s the best."

"Stop pretending, I know exactly what you are."

They seemed to have some old grudge I didn’t understand, arguing in public. Luckily, everyone was focused on the game, so hardly anyone noticed us.

Maribel and I exchanged glances and decided to exit before getting caught in the crossfire.

Just as I quietly took a step away, both called out:

"Wait."

"Stop!"

I turned, facing my two would-be executioners, forcing a smile:

"Do you two need anything else?"

"Don’t lump me in with him!"

"What’s he got to do with me?"

...

Alright, this was unsolvable.

In the end, both added my number, but even argued over who added first, making my head spin.

On the way back, Maribel was practically bouncing, grabbing my arm: "Josie! You did it! Two guys fighting to get your number."

I let her drag me, feeling hopeless: "Why do I feel like it has nothing to do with me?"

But my predictions are always off. As soon as I got back to the dorm, I got texts from both of them, almost at the same time.

Sean: "I’ll give you a shot to redeem yourself. Come help me with my gear at the skating rink this weekend."

Pretty confident—and not exactly polite.

I ignored Sean and checked Carter’s text.

Carter: "If you have questions, just ask me directly next time. Don’t ask the wrong guy."

My eyes lit up. The valedictorian really was a nice guy.

"Mari, bring my homework up!"

I took a photo of my blank homework page and sent it.

"Thank you, valedictorian! I don’t get any of this. Sorry for the trouble!"

Two hours later, still no reply.

I lay on my bed, hopeless: "How can calculus and linear algebra exist? Even the valedictorian can’t handle them."

Maribel came over: "Carter replied! Look."

"Meet me at the library at 9 a.m. Sunday. I’ll explain."

...Are these two teaming up to mess with me?

I didn’t dare skip Sean’s invitation. If I didn’t go, I might end up as a missing person on the news.