Chapter 3

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It felt awkward sitting there on the couch in his room with Gavin further away, staring out the window once more, and Georgia reading for herself. She glanced at him once in a while, but he did not move. She sighed deeply again and heard him groan.

"Stop that."

"What?" she asked.

"The sighing, it annoys me."

"Oh... sorry. I will stay quiet."

"Why can't you just go? Why is the money so important to you? Let me fix that."

"Actually, I normally don't do this for money, but your parents wanted me to spend the whole day with you or days, so I get paid extra."

"What do you usually do?"

"I'm a teacher. High School English teacher."

"And on the side?"

"Volunteer with disabled people," she explained.

"Now this all makes a lot of sense," he grumbled.

"It's not like I am here to remind you to take your medicine."

Gavin turned his head slightly, and she gave him a small smile before he shook it and turned away.

"I almost wish."

It turned a little quiet again, and Georgia was unsure how to get through to him. She thought almost sighing loudly again would help, but she might just get on his nerves too much. It was clear he already wanted her gone.

"Should I read out loud?" she suggested.

"I prefer silence."

"I could sing," she said.

"I would pound a nail into my skull."

"How... descriptive."

He remained silent, and Georgia smiled a little, a funny thought coming to mind. "You probably know how to do it without making such a mess."

Gavin turned his head a little again.

"I mean, given you were a detective, you have probably seen some things," she teased.

He remained quiet and gave her a look that said really? before he turned away from her again, shaking his head once more. Georgia sighed deeply, not sure how to make the situation less awkward, and Gavin groaned.

"Woman, you sigh like you're the president and need to decide if we are going to war or not!" he snapped.

"Well, I am an overthinker. We sigh when we are worried."

"I do not care."

"No... you don't say," she mumbled.

"If you're going to sigh like that, do it somewhere else."

"I'm supposed to be spending time with you."

"I would prefer it if you didn't," he told her.

"Why not? We are already getting along so well."

"What?" he turned to look at her.

She smiled teasingly.

"I don't like you," he admitted, and her smile faltered.

She quickly masked the hurt and instead forced a smile.

"Well, I don't think I'm paid to make you like me," she teased.

"Your humor is bad too."

"I think it is quite good. My students like it."

"They want higher grades," he retorted.

"That's not true!"

"As if you weren't being overly sweet to the teachers just to get a higher grade."

"I was actually failing most of my classes."

"What? I don't believe that."

"I was! I was spending all my time smoking... I mean, analyzing big problems," she quickly added, seeing Gavin raise an eyebrow. "I got smarter, though. Actually, it was a teacher getting me back on track. I realized I wanted to do the same."

"So, you became a teacher yourself?"

"You make it sound like a bad choice," she snapped.

"Never said it was."

"You didn't have to. You have perfected it," she remarked.

"What?"

"Your condescending tone. It's perfect."

"Thank you," he said, sounding sincere, before he looked away again.

"I wasn't being serious."

"Don't care."

Georgia sighed, sliding further down the couch and leaning her head back. It was going to be a nightmare. She already knew it.

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