Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Seventy Eight

Thorne sank down on the bed, lacing his fingers together and resting his head in his hands.

Cress, still arranging her dresses and skirts in the closet, furrowed her brow.

"What are you thinking?" Thorne asked, narrowing his eyes.

Cress glanced over at him. "Hm?"

"You have that look on your face like you're thinking about something."

"Oh. Kinda." She shrugged. The smallest bit of color rose to her cheeks.

Thorne rolled onto his stomach, bunching one of the pillows beneath him. He waited for her to continue.

"I was just thinking..." A smile crept onto her face, "and I don't know if it's a good idea or not, but... well, see I never went to school, or had any kind of formal schooling. I mean, obviously I learned a lot on the satellite and stuff but the stuff I didn't understand I didn't really have a reason to understand it so I just kinda... didn't."

Thorne nodded. "You want to go to school?"

Cress flushed even more, averting her eyes and fumbling with the buttons on one of her dresses. "Yeah. Kind of."

Thorne pushed himself up. "Where's your port?"

"Dresser."

Picking it up and doing a quick search for a list of colleges in the area, he scanned through the options and checked tuition fees and prerequisite requirements. "Well good news is there's quiet a few options."

Cress stood up, her eyes widening ever so slightly. "You don't think it's... I don't know, silly?"

"No, of course not; why would it be?"

"Well cause, what's the point? I don't have a use for it and it costs money and time..."

Thorne waved a hand in the air. "As dumb as I thought school was growing up, I have since..."

"Grown up?"

"Exactly. And since you haven't had any school, you'll have a much different perspective than I did and probably actually learn stuff."

Cress dipped her head. "Yeah, that's true." She chewed her lip, trying to stifle a smile.

"Tell you what, finish with your stuff in the closet and we'll get dinner and look through the different options."

Cress broke out into a grin. "Really? You really don't think it's dumb or stupid that I'm, you know, 20 and going to school—"

"Of course not! Most people between 18 and 25 are in college anyway, so you'll fit right in." Thorne laughed, sensing her self-consciousness and wanting to put her at ease.

Cress excitedly hugged him. "Okay, okay. Cool. Um, I'll finish in the closet then..." She started back towards the opposite wall, pausing to give Thorne a hug. "Thank you!"

Thorne hugged her back, kissing the top of her head and smiling despite himself. He loved it when she was excited. "Can I do anything to help you? With your clothes, I mean."

"No, I don't think so. I'm just hanging everything up and then I'll be finished."

"No rush, take your time. What do you want for dinner?"

Cress shifted her lips to the side. "Um... cheeseburgers sounds good."

Thorne gave her a thumbs up, starting down into the kitchen and getting a couple cheeseburgers started. There was a bag of frozen tater tots he dumped on a sheet and tossed in the oven. He could hear Cress beginning to sing upstairs, making him smile.