Friday morning, I walk down the hall of the science building after my biology class. I pass the room Olivia teaches Mrs. Cooper's lab in and instinctively look inside, stopping in my tracks when I spot her.
The classroom is empty as she sits on top of the front lab bench cross-legged, consumed in the binder resting on her lap as she munches on a granola bar. She must have just got done teaching her class—even though I told her she should stay home another day to rest. But a part of me knew she wouldn't listen.
Thankfully, she followed doctor's orders yesterday and stayed home. Delilah and I made sure of it with Mission: Make Sure Olivia Doesn't Dare Step Foot On This Campus. We made a pact that if either of us saw her in any of her classes yesterday, we'd both send her ass right back home to rest.
Frowning, I walk into the classroom and she looks up at me from her binder, giving me a half smile, half grimace. She knows my stance on her coming to classes today.
"I thought you were skipping teaching today?" I say, coming to stand in front of her. I rest my hands on the counter on each side of her, bracketing her legs.
"I was going to, but the other TA said she couldn't fill in for me today. I couldn't just leave the class hanging this close to finals," she explains.
"So what I'm hearing are excuses," I say, a teasing lilt to my voice. "Did you talk to Mrs. Cooper about it?"
"No, I didn't want to bother her," she says lamely, shyly refusing to meet my gaze, because she knows it's a lame excuse that I'm not going to let her off for easily.
"Finch," I groan, exasperated.
I gently grab her chin, making her tilt her head up to look at me. I examine her face, her soft features livelier than they were the other day. The bags under her eyes have noticeably reduced and she has more color to her complexion, but I can tell she's still not one hundred percent. Looking at her, getting lost in her eyes, I almost forget what I'm mad at her for. Almost.
"You have to take care of yourself," I remind her. "I'm sure Mrs. Cooper could have scrounged up another TA to teach in your place."
"But—"
"No buts," I cut her off.
I hear a slight crinkling noise and look down to spot the granola bar in her hand. I pluck it from her grasp, finding the generic honey and oats bar only half eaten.
"What's this?" I ask, flashing her the wrapper.
"Uh, breakfast?" she says, confused.
I lean to my left and spot the trashcan on the floor at the end of the lab bench and toss the granola bar inside.
"Hey," Olivia whines, a cute little pout forming on her face.
"Come on, Finch," I say, leaning over to grab her backpack. "You need real breakfast, not that junk."
I grab the binder in her lap and pack it away inside her powder blue bag, zipping it up. Despite her protests, I pick her up off the counter, setting her on her feet, before grabbing her hand and leading her to the truck.
"Thank you, Bronx," I tease, melodramatically mimicking a high pitched female voice before stuffing my mouth with a bite of pancakes.
Olivia purses her lips together, trying her best not to laugh. She picks up a grape from her fruit bowl, throwing it at me from across the table.
I manage to catch the tiny fruit deftly, popping it into my mouth as soon as I catch it.
Olivia's jaw drops in amused astonishment. "You're unbelievable," she mutters under her breath, shaking her head.
YOU ARE READING
The Scars of Anatomy
RomanceCollege football star Bronx Miller and pre-med major Olivia McCausland are paired as anatomy lab partners, and throughout the rocky semester the two become closer than they ever could have imagined. *** Bronx Miller is the hotshot college quarterbac...