Hoax in One

| 24 |

I didn't know when I woke up that morning, that this Sunday was going to start off one of the best weeks I'd had in my life to date.

Partly because Clark sympathized with me. They had thought it would show a sweet side of Matt, humanize him somehow, but Clark forced them to use a different photo. A part of me felt like I'd defeated Matt at his own game.

And mostly because after we stopped at my house so I could change into clean clothes and get my history notes, Tate and I walked through campus holding hands.

I didn't think I'd ever seen Tate hold hands with a girl. Sure, I'd seen him with his hands on a girl's body—hips, legs, shoulders, lower back. His girls used to sit on his lap at parties or hang all over him.

But hold hands? No.

Tate grabbed mine so casually too. He asked me if I needed help making note cards and just slipped his fingers through mine like he'd been doing it all his life.

We walked into the library, and Tate guided me toward a round table in the corner on the first floor where three other people were sitting. All three looked up at the same time.

The cute Black guy with a buzz cut on the left smiled and tipped his head up at Tate in a hello as he pulled his hat off his head. The cute but shy guy in the middle who wouldn't look anyone in the eye looked at Tate for a fraction of a second before he focused on me in confusion. His eyes traveled down me as a small smirk slowly formed on his lips, and he glanced at the beautiful brunette sitting to his left, who was looking at me with a frown. Her long, silky brown curls framed her overly done face.

"Hey, y'all," Tate greeted them when we reached the two empty seats. He sat quickly, pulled my chair closer to his, and slid it out for me to sit down.

If that wasn't enough to give me all the feels, then my Sunday got even better.

"This is my girlfriend, Devin." Tate pointed from left to right. "Parker, Aaron, Savannah."

Who knows what emotion hit my face. I was smiling—I hope—but inside my heart stopped pumping. My stomach bungeed to my feet. My brain split in half.

"Hey. It's nice to meet you," I told them.

Aaron gave me a silent closed lip smile.

Parker gave me a, "Hey, Devin."

Savannah glossed over my blonde hair before she gave me a fake smile.

I stole a quick peek at Tate as I got my textbook out. He didn't even look like he noticed what he had said. He was straightening out the pages of his notebook and then bent down to get a pencil out of his backpack.

"Devin, you're not in our calculus class, right?" Savannah asked.

"No, I'm going to study for my history test. Y'all have fun with that though."

How was I supposed to study now—continue walking around on the planet—as Tate's girlfriend?

Savannah smiled curtly before she leaned into Aaron. "What did you get for problem two?"

I was pretty sure I saw Aaron smell Savannah's hair. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. This was an interesting dynamic.

Parker shot him a sympathetic look and saved him. "Ten and two thirds."

Tate reached his arm out and curled his fingers at Parker, asking for his paper. "How'd you do that one?"

Parker gave it to him, and Tate slipped his hand around my thigh as he compared it to his own work.

Tate erased something on his paper and whispered to himself, "Won't make that mistake again."

Or was he whispering that to me about his Freudian slip? I watched him correct a line.