Night Burn

Chapter 5

Professor Riddle stops his lecture and stands in front of his desk with a scowl.

"Given each of you is actively enrolled at this University, I'm going to assume that you all have the ability to read. As such, I'll remind you that signs all over the room indicate that I do not tolerate cell phones in my class. If you can't respect that, I kindly ask that you leave."

I bow my head in shame as he continues with his lecture. Lucas is smirking at me, and I stick my tongue out at him as I slip my phone out from beneath my leg. I must have accidentally turned the volume up in my haste to get to class. Silencing the device once more, I note that Noah has responded.

I feel the dregs of a familiar feeling begin to unfurl behind my ribcage. That tingling tightness signaling the start of something I hadn't felt since my junior year of high school. As I look at the sprawl of words running beneath our emojis, I permit myself a few more moments to enjoy the subtle rush of new infatuation.

Noah: Not to sound overly eager, but do you have time to grab coffee between classes today? I don't want to risk ruining another pair of shoes by waiting for another day...

I catch my reflexive snort of laughter as it races up my throat and threatens to reveal me as the class disruptor.

Alright, alright... the hot jock's got jokes.

My thrill at the prospect of talking with him more was quickly subdued as I mentally cataloged my packed schedule. The only possible option was the 50 minutes I had between the end of this lab and the start of my Psych class.

Larke: Of all the days... My only break is after my lab is over at 10:30. I have just under an hour if that works.

Noah: Perfect. What building are you in? I can meet you out front. We can walk over to the Student Union.

Larke: Sounds good. I'm in the Biosciences West building on South Campus.

Noah: I'll be the one in the coffee-stained shoes.

Larke:🧑‍🤝‍🧑

I release a satisfied breath and notice that Lucas is watching me curiously. He cranes his neck and tries to peek at my phone. I pull it to my abdomen and stick my tongue out at him again.

"Who are you texting?" he whispers, scooting his stool closer to me as I slip my phone into my bag again. The feet of his stool scrape loudly against the floor and several students cast quick glances over their shoulders to identify the source of the disruption. We are certainly on a roll this morning.

"None of your business," I whisper back, accepting that the universe does not want me to invest in my academic development today.

"Why are you being so evasive?" he asks, adding a quick scribble of words to his lab notes. Out of habit, my eyes lock onto his forearm as it flexes with the movement of his hand before forcing myself to look away.

Get a grip on yourself. You're about to go to coffee with another man. Don't be a slut.

"I'm not!" I whisper quickly, eyes tracking the pacing professor. "Why are you being so nosey?"

"Just curious, jeez. Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?"

"No one, unfortunately," I say with a smile and an overstated wink. He rolls his eyes. Lucas has never appreciated the more ribald tenor of my humor.

We both sit silently through the remainder of the lecture, intermittently taking notes and finding unique ways to irritate each other. When we have about half an hour remaining in the class, Professor Riddle tasks each group with answering the last of the questions in our homework packets. Lucas pulls his lab worksheets out of his backpack and turns to me as I continue to try to erase the jagged pencil mark he'd just made on my notebook. Exasperated, I drop my pencil and looked at him.