Chapter 66: Rare Find

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Rare Find

True to Professor Richardson’s reputation, the MA 216 paper was easy. Actually, scratch that. It was ridiculously easy, at least for me and anyone else who’d actually taken the time to study. Judging by the expressions on some of their faces, though, a few people had apparently been hoping the questions would solve themselves.

I’d finished checking my answers and submitted my paper without much trouble. As I was about to leave the hall, Professor Richardson glanced at my script, then looked up at me with a grin.

"I’ll be upset if you score anything below full marks."

I stopped and looked at him. "In that case, I’d better get that paper back."

I reached toward the stack on his desk, but he chuckled and gave me a playful shove on the shoulder. "Get out of here."

I laughed and stepped away, still grinning as I headed for the door. I wasn’t in any particular hurry to leave, though. I’d seen Jackson getting up just before I walked out, so I figured I’d wait for him.

A minute later, he emerged from the hall and came over to me.

I looked at him. "I have no idea why I’m suddenly in the mood to play a game."

Jackson stared at me with his usual deadpan expression. "Of course you want to play games. Some of us were studying for today’s paper, while you were out there reading for Friday’s like today was just warm-up."

I shrugged. "What can I say? I’m a man of many talents."

The words immediately reminded me of Nicole and the way she’d said the exact same thing after humiliating Devon. I couldn’t help smiling at the memory, which apparently didn’t go unnoticed.

Jackson made a face. "What are you smiling about?"

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the smile. "Nothing."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Creepy."

I ignored him. "Anyways, COD?"

"Sorry, bud." Jackson adjusted his bag on his shoulder. "I’ve gotta wait for Evelyn to finish her paper; we’ve got somewhere to be. I’m actually heading to her department right now to see if she’s done."

I stared at him flatly. "Traitor."

He smirked. "You’d do thi e same."

Before I could come up with a suitable response to that, he turned and walked away, waving over his shoulder. "Ciao!"

I watched him disappear into the crowd, then let out a sigh. I was bored, which was something I rarely had to deal with. The downside of being a top student who liked to read ahead was that test weeks could get pretty uneventful once I’d finished the paper everyone else was busy preparing for.

I could probably find a few guys willing to play COD. The ones who hadn’t prepared for tomorrow’s paper would gladly take me up on it, then turn around and complain the next day that I’d distracted them and cost them marks. The ones who’d actually prepared would... Actually, it’d pretty much be the same thing. Either way, I’d end up regretting the decision.

I couldn’t even go to work. Mr. Tanaka had a strict no-shifts-during-test-or-exam-weeks policy, which meant I had the entire week off whether I needed it or not. I appreciated the consideration. It just wasn’t doing me any favors right now.

I pulled my phone out, intending to find something to occupy myself with, but another thought came to mind.

What was Nicole doing right now?

I opened our chat and typed a quick message: Hey. You busy?

The message showed two ticks almost immediately, but no reply followed.

Busy.

I slipped my phone into my pocket and started walking toward the parking lot. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do, and standing around waiting for a reply wasn’t going to make the day any less boring.

I reached the parking lot before I finally remembered something rather important.

Right. I didn’t drive. Nicole dropped me off.

I looked toward the spot where my car would normally have been, then sighed.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, hoping for a solution to at least one of my problems, and found a message from Nicole.

Nicole: I was. Need something?

I stared at it for a moment. I’d only texted because I was bored and wanted to talk to her. If she’d been busy, though, I didn’t want to bother her just because I had nothing else to do.

I started typing: Nah. I’m good, just checking up on y—

My phone started ringing before I could finish.

Nicole.

I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips as I answered.

"What’s up?" Nicole asked.

"Nothing. Just checking up on you."

"O...kay?" She paused, then suddenly sounded as though she’d remembered something. "Oh, I’m so sorry! I completely forgot I drove you to campus this morning."

I smirked. At least she’d figured it out before I had to ask her how I was supposed to get home.

"See you tomorrow, Nathan!"

I glanced up as a guy walking past called out to me. I raised a hand in response, then brought the phone back to my ear.

"Actually, I texted because I was kinda bored and wanted to see if you wanted to hang out," I said.

"Of course I want to hang out. Is that even a question?"

I smiled, already glad I’d called. There was a brief pause on her end, followed by the sound of papers rustling.

"Can you give me, say... twenty minutes? I’m almost done here."

I nodded, then remembered she couldn’t see me. "Twenty minutes. All right. I’ll be at our usual café."

"Got it. I’ll see you soon."

"See you."

I ended the call with a smile and slipped my phone back into my pocket. Then I started walking toward the exit, keeping an eye out for a taxi.

Thirty-six minutes later, I was still waiting for Nicole. The only thing on my table was a bottle of water, and I’d been scrolling through my chats to pass the time.

A new message caught my eye.

Chloe: Can I spend this weekend at Big Sis’s place?

I stared at the message. Knowing Chloe, I found it a little suspicious that she’d asked so nicely without trying to sweet-talk me or pull any of her usual tricks. I was still wondering what she was up to when my phone chimed again.

Chloe: I’ll be good. I promise. ????

Ah, there it was. The good old guilt trip. Funny how it reminded me of someone else I knew.

Speaking of the devil, the chime above the café door caught my attention. I looked up and spotted Nicole walking toward me with a cheeky smile.

She reached the table, pulled out the chair opposite me, and sat down.

"Sorry I’m late."

"No big deal," I said, setting my phone aside. "I’ve survived worse."

She smiled and leaned forward a little. "So, you wanna hang out?"

I nodded, mostly occupied with her eyes. I never seemed to get enough of looking at them, and I wasn’t about to waste the chance when she was sitting right in front of me.

"But you also need to study for tomorrow’s papers," she said, giving me a look that suggested she wanted me to say I could spare the time.

"Already did. I’ll just do a little more tonight."

Her eyes brightened immediately. "What do you wanna do, then?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Honestly, I was in the mood to play a game, but Jackson’s busy with Evelyn."

"What kind of game?" Nicole asked, tilting her head.

"COD." I paused, then clarified, "Call of—"

"Of Duty," she finished. "Battle Royale or Multiplayer?"

I stared at her, genuinely stunned. Nicole knew what Call of Duty was? I couldn’t have imagined that in a million years.

"Besides," she continued, leaning back in her chair, "it’s online. You don’t really need Jackson to—"

"Hold up." I leaned forward, staring at her. "You play COD?"

She tilted her head slightly. "Not really. I know what it is, but I don’t play it much. I’m more into FC."

I went quiet for a moment, still staring at her. Then I shook my head. "Who even are you?"

She let out a giggle, clearly amused by my reaction.

"No, seriously. I need to know," I insisted.

Nicole shrugged, still smiling. "I can take apart an engine and put it back together with my own hands, Nate. Is playing a little FC really that surprising?"

I leaned back in my chair and stared at her for another moment before letting out a long exhale. That only made her laugh again.

"How are you even real?" I muttered.

"I’m extremely rare, I know." She looked entirely too pleased with herself.

I could only stare at her. Nicole had an almost unfair combination of qualities. She was gorgeous, brilliant, funny, and so easy to fall for that I was starting to wonder how anyone who knew her managed to stay immune. And judging by the way she was still smiling at me, she had no idea how much worse she was making it.

"So," she said eventually. "Are we gaming or not?"

I pointed at her. "You just challenged me. That was a challenge."

She shrugged, already looking like she was about to laugh again.

I pushed my chair back and stood up. "Let’s go. I need to find out if you’re as good at gaming as you are at making me question everything I know about you."

Her eyes lit up, and she was on her feet almost immediately. She fell into step beside me, still looking genuinely excited about the idea as we left the café.