Severing Ties (Book 2. Ties)

5. Double Not Date

We were back to Monday, and I had survived my first week of attending university. On Tuesday, I was fifteen minutes late to chemistry; I had forgotten what time the class started, so I had to hastily leave my house. Jeans, a hoodie, tennis shoes, and a messy bun became my attire for that day. My mom had glanced at me and pulled an unpleasant face before I made my way to school. It was like senioritis all over again, but I was a freshman in college. Fantastic. My mom was pretty all the time and there I was, an ugly girl with messed up hair and oversized clothes. My mom was a total goddess, and I was just a simple disheveled girl.

When I walked through the classroom door, I ignored all the people who stared at me as I went to my lab table with Stephanie and Lucas. I felt Professor Chang's piercing eyes on my back, but I pretended not to see her too.

"As I was saying, fill out the chart by listing the viscosity and the color after mixing the liquids and powders. You may begin," the professor announced.

Stephanie turned in her seat with wide eyes of accusation. "What gives, Zee?"

"Sorry, I thought class started at 9:30 not 9:00," I said sheepishly. Inside I was bouncing up and down. Stephanie had given me a nickname. Without even knowing, she called me the same thing Mike did. Nicknames were a good sign. Permanence.

She stared at me like I was stupid. "How?"

"I don't know. I was so tired and confused this morning."

She shook her head like my answer had never really mattered. "I'm just glad you're here."

I laughed. "You act like we didn't just have dinner together last night."

"Shh! Don't bring up the word: d-i-n-n-e-r."

"Why," I asked with confusion.

That was when Lucas spoke up. "Because I asked her to go to dinner with me, and she said no. Right, Steph," Lucas asked.

"Stop calling me Steph! Only people who are close to me call me that!"

"But we are close, baby!" Lucas smiled cockily.

Stephanie gasped and leaned across the table and punched him on his arm. Lucas only laughed at her. "How about Mackenzie goes too? I can invite my friend," he suggested.

I was about to protest, but he interrupted me. "Just as friends. He just got out of a relationship, so he's not ready to throw himself into the ball game. What do you say to a double not date?"

I glanced at Stephanie who looked ready to bang her head on the table. "Don't you ever give up, Lucas," she grumbled.

"Nope. If I would've given up, then I wouldn't be here at this school."

Stephanie looked at him sardonically. "What? Did you want to stop yourself from sliding your little gold card to pay for the tuition? Were you deprived of receiving your annual Ferrari because you paid for this semester?"

Lucas's face hardened. "No. I had to work hard to have enough money to simply apply at different universities. The scholarships I received were because of the grades I suffered to get while I was in high school, and those scholarships didn't pay for the application fees; the money for those fees came out of my pocket." He looked so angry I felt bad even though it had not been me who brought it up.

Stephanie appeared to be deeply sorry and like she wanted to dig a hole in the ground and let it swallow her up. "I—I'm sorry. I just assumed... Sorry."

"You shouldn't be so judgmental," he said sternly.

"I should've asked, sorry." Stephanie looked down at her paper on the table.