Chapter 7

Maya's POV

Chapter 7

Maya

I had never been particularly good at making friends.

Not because I disliked people. I just never knew how to move past the awkward introduction stage.

Ethan had always made that part easy for me. He could walk into a room full of strangers and leave with three new friends before I had even decided whether I wanted to say hello.

So when someone dropped into the empty seat beside me before Professor Hayes's class, I wasn't expecting to actually enjoy talking to him.

“Please tell me you did the reading.”

I looked up.

The guy beside me wore black-rimmed glasses and had a notebook covered in colorful sticky notes.

“Yes.”

He sighed with relief.

“Thank God.”

“You didn't?”

“I did.”

He paused.

“Technically.”

I smiled. “What's technically?”

“I read the first three chapters, skimmed the fourth, read someone's summary of the fifth, and spent twenty minutes staring at the sixth while questioning every decision that led me to university.”

I laughed.

He grinned.

“Cole.”

“Maya.”

“Nice to meet you, Maya.”

He held out his hand.

I shook it.

“Nice to meet you too.”

He looked at my notebook.

“Are those your notes?”

“Yes.”

“They're very neat.”

“Thank you.”

He glanced down at his own notebook.

“Mine look like a crime scene.”

I laughed.

“They're not that bad.”

He turned the notebook toward me.

There were arrows going in every direction, random words circled three times, and a tiny drawing of what appeared to be a man being stabbed by a pen.

I stared at it.

“What is that?”

“My emotional state.”

I laughed again.

Professor Hayes walked into the room before we could continue.

“As you know, your assignment will make up eighty percent of your grade this semester.”

I immediately began taking notes.

Cole leaned closer.

“Eighty percent?”

I nodded.

“She hates us.”

I covered my mouth to hide my laugh.

Professor Hayes glanced in our direction.

Cole immediately straightened.

A few minutes later, he pushed a small piece of paper toward me.

If I fail, tell my family I died doing what I loved.

I wrote underneath it.

Studying?

He shook his head.

Complaining.

I bit back a laugh.

You're very committed to it.

He wrote:

It's my greatest talent.

I smiled.

By the end of the lecture, I had completely forgotten that we'd only known each other for an hour.

As everyone began leaving, Cole slung his backpack over his shoulder.

“So, Maya.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have another class after this?”

“Not for a few hours.”

“Perfect. I'm getting coffee.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“And?”

“And you're coming with me.”

“That wasn't a question.”

“No.”

I laughed.

“What if I say no?”

He considered it.

“I'll pretend I'm devastated.” He put his palm to his chest in a mocking gesture.

“You're ridiculous.”

“I'm charming.”

“You're definitely ridiculous.”

He grinned.

“But you're still coming.”

I shook my head, smiling.

“Fine. Coffee.”

“Excellent decision.”

We stepped outside together, and he immediately launched into a story about accidentally calling one of his professors Mom.

I stopped walking.

“You did not.”

“I absolutely did.”

“In front of the entire class?”

“Thirty-seven people.”

“You counted?”

“It was traumatic. I didn't show my face for days.”

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

Cole watched me with a small smile.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You're staring.”

“I like your laugh.”

The words were casual, but they caught me off guard.

“Thanks.”

He shrugged.

“Just stating a fact.”

We continued walking, and I found myself relaxing around him.

It was easy.

I didn't have to think about what to say or worry about awkward silences. Cole seemed perfectly capable of filling those himself.

I was beginning to understand why some people made friends so easily.

Then I saw Dean.

He was walking toward us from the other end of the corridor.

His eyes landed on me first.

Then Cole.

Then back to me.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Dean stopped in front of us.

His gaze settled on Cole.

“Who is this?”

I frowned slightly.

“This is Cole. He's in my class.”

Cole smiled and extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

Dean shook it.

“Yeah.”

The response was polite enough.

Barely.

“You're in her class?” he asked.

Cole nodded.

“Yeah. We sit together.”

Dean looked at me.

“You sit together?”

I couldn't help it.

I smiled.

“That's generally how sitting beside someone works.”

Cole snorted.

Dean's expression remained unreadable.

“I was just asking.”

“Sure.”

Cole looked between us.

“So, is this the part where I get interrogated?”

I laughed.

Dean didn't.

“Are you two going somewhere?”

I folded my arms.

“I'm getting coffee with Cole.”

“Right.”

Something about his tone made me look at him more closely.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You're being weird.”

“I'm not.”

Cole cleared his throat.

“I feel like I've walked into something.”

“You haven't,” I said quickly.

Dean's eyes flicked toward him.

“Good.”

Cole's eyebrows rose.

I almost laughed again.

There was something about the entire exchange that was ridiculous.

Dean had no reason to care who Cole was.

Yet he clearly did.

I turned toward Cole.

“Come on. Let's go before he scares you away.”

Cole grinned.

“Too late. I'm fascinated.”

We started walking.

After a few steps, he leaned closer to me.

“Your friend's brother is intense.”

I laughed.

“That's one way to describe him.”

“Does he always interrogate people who talk to you?”

“Apparently.”

Cole glanced back.

Dean was still standing where we'd left him.

Watching us.

Cole turned back to me with a knowing smile.

“You know he's watching us, right?”

I looked straight ahead.

“No.”

“You don't even have to look. I can feel it.”

I tried not to smile.

“You're imagining things.”

“Maybe.”

He paused.

“Still getting coffee?”

I looked at him.

“Definitely.”

“Good.”

He smiled.

“And for the record, I think I'm going to like being your friend.”

I smiled back.

“Me too.”

Behind us, Dean was still watching.

And for some reason, that made my coffee suddenly seem a lot more interesting.