Because of the fire.

chapter nine

"sorry guys I'm late," Earl said taking a seat.

"it's cool dude," Kyle said.

You should've been here later..
I couldn't be mad at him for long though. His hair was slicked back and his features looked even more striking. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"so.. Northanger Abbey has 31 chapters I was thinking that we could distribute the chapters," I said.

"I think we could do that. It's better than reading the whole book," Kyle said as he held flipped through his classic.

"about that... You can read the whole book on your own.. This distribution thing is just to be quicker and if each one of us focuses on a smaller part it improves the quality of understanding," I dipped my last fry in chilli sauce before eating it.

"has anyone ever told you how much of a genius you are?" Earl asked.

I pretended to be in deep thought before I answered. "I'm not sure I recall."

"well, you're a genius."

"I'll second that," Kyle said as he sipped his coke.

"muchó gracias," I said with a smile.

"excuse me, not all of us take Spanish," Earl complained.

Kyle and I both laughed and I noticed that he hadn't touched a single of his fries.
"mind if I get a fry?" I said pleadingly.

"you don't have to give me puppy eyes, you can have all of them."

Earl burst into laughter and I felt my cheeks burning. I didn't care, I loved fries.

"so you don't like fries?" I asked Kyle.

"something like that," came the cool reply.

"or something like he was saving them for a show of puppy eyes," Earl joked and we all burst into laughter.

I was very aware of the murderous stares I got from other girls particularly Gretchen's. They all wished they could be me.

"okay, back to business. I got the first ten chapters."

"I will take whichever," Kyle said.

"in that case you can take the middle part and I'll finish. Should give me ample time to read."

I looked at him, "you don't strike me as a slow reader."

He laughed, "I hate reading, I wouldn't have worked alone not for a thousand bucks. Thank you for having me in your group."

Kyle smiled, "don't mention it."

"I have to get to chemistry earlier, bye guys," Earl stood up.

Kyle stopped him, "we haven't discussed when and where we'll meet again."

"Tracy has my number."

"I'll create a group chat for that," I said.

"perfect."

As soon as Earl had gone, I turned to Kyle. "I really hope you don't mind me  letting Earl in our group before consulting you."

"no, not at all.."

"it's just that he's new and I was the only person he knew so I felt... "

"Tracy," he smiled and I stopped blabbering. He continued, "it's really okay."

For some reason, my cheeks colored. It was everything about him..his voice, his looks, his personality...

"Tracy..."