How To Woo Sky Walker

8

Sky finds Tobin in the kitchen. She walks up to her and says, "Hey. I'm giving you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is your chance to get back at me for all the times I left the dishes in the sink and for all the times I left my shoes on the doorway and made you trip."

Tobin raises an eyebrow. "What'd you do this time?"

"I kissed Harvey."

She slaps her.

"Jesus—" Sky holds her cheek with wide eyes. "A warning would've been fucking nice—"

"You do know you could get fired, right?" Tobin asks, placing a hand on her hip. "And this is your last semester?"

"I know," Sky breathes, bowing her head and covering her face with her hands. Her cheek still stings, but her chest feels so uncomfortably tight and she doesn't know how to deal with this. "I know, but fuck, he's so annoying and he's cute and he watched Star Wars for me and he finished the book I wrote with Bennett and he's unbelievably sweet and every time he opens his mouth to answer a question I want to kiss him."

Tobin pauses. Then, quietly, she says, "You do know that this is the first time you acknowledge any feelings for him, right?"

The word makes Sky laugh. High-pitched and nervous. "What feelings? Who's feelings? I don't know them."

Sky leaves the kitchen and heads straight to her room, plopping down on the bed.

She kicks the air and buries her head in her pillow. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she scolds herself angrily, punching the mattress.

Sky doesn't know how long she battles with it, but she thinks it's winning and it's pissing her off even more, but she can't say for sure and she's lost count of how many punches she can give it before her phone is buzzing with a text.

Sky dives for it.

"Oh, God," she mutters, hugging the phone to her chest when she sees it's from Harvey. "Don't be a coward, Sky Walker. Face the consequences of what you did, you stupid bitch."

On the count of three, she reads the text.

From the moment I met you, all those months ago, not a day has gone by when I haven't thought of you, and now that i'm with you again, I'm in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets, the thought of not being with you...I can't breathe. I'm haunted by the kiss you should never have given me. You are my very soul, tormenting me. What can I do? If you are suffering just as I am, please tell me.

Sky recognizes the monologue. Of course she does. Anakin Skywalker and his damn words.

Her fingers are shaking as she types her reply. can we not...do this...

Harvey doesn't waste a second. Why did you kiss me

Shit, shit, shit. Sky hangs her head and punches the mattress again before typing her reply. because i wanted to

Sky.

Sky doesn't want to do this. She doesn't want to do this but she's not a coward and she needs to face this head-on, she can't run away from him every time and she's going to have to see him in class and what happens, then? What happens when—

Do you like me?

Sky doesn't answer that.

Have you liked me all this time but you're just pretending you don't because of your job?

Sky doesn't answer that, either.

Sky...R4 is red, R2 is blue, I wish you were the force, because I wanna be with you :D Come on, I just want to know what's between us, I think I deserve that. If you don't reply, I'm going to call you until you answer

Sky sets her jaw. She takes a deep breath. lose my number

What?

Sky doesn't want to do this. She should have never kissed him. It was supposed to be harmless flirting and nothing else. this is...this is unprofessional. you're my student, i'm your ta, nothing is between us and nothing is going to happen

As always, Harvey's reply doesn't take long. Well, we can just let the semester pass. We're in midterms already, anyway.

He sends another message after that. And it's not illegal, you're not my professor, you're my TA. It's different.

Sky types her response. there's still a power imbalance there and it's unethical

So why did you kiss me?

Sky doesn't answer him. She doesn't know what to answer him. She turns off her phone and heads to the kitchen. Tobin prepared a lot of food, and Sky knows this is both an apology and her way of comforting her. Sky eats until she can't anymore and she goes to bed feeling unsettled.

The weekend passes by and Sky's phone is still turned off. She checks her email in her laptop to make sure she doesn't miss anything from Bennett and her other classes, but she doesn't dare check her messages.

Come Monday morning, Sky hides in the radio booth with Tobin, stuffing her face with two large cinnamon rolls. It doesn't calm her down, but it makes her feel somewhat better.

"Okay, this is insane," her friend starts, slamming her palm down on the table. "He's right, you both can wait until the end of the semester, no harm done! Why can't you just like him and be with him, Jesus, you're making things so complicated!"

"Maybe he just enjoys the thrill," Sky reasons quietly as she licks off her fork. "He'll get bored once he realizes how shit I am in a relationship—I can't even remember to comb my hair when I'm at home, how does he expect me to reply to his messages? And you know how blunt I can be, I can never lie to him, I'll probably hurt him over something insensitive I say, and you know how much of a stuck-up I am—"

Tobin sighs loudly. Exasperatedly. "Okay. Can we—not. Figure this shit out with him, I'm no relationship expert." She goes back to the microphone just as the song's ending and says, "This one's for Agatha Li. You're cute as hell even though I think you're straight, but let me know if I'm wrong. Also, give me back my eraser. This is I'm Happy You Exist by Angus Maude."

"I'm going to Bennett's office," Sky announces, pushing herself off the chair. "I'm going to beg him not to fire me."

"He's not going to fire you if he doesn't know, stupid," Tobin tells her, raising an eyebrow. "Let the fucking semester pass—don't do anything with Harvey again—and then be with him. Harvey, not Bennett. In case you needed the clarification. Anyway, do you get it? Or do I need to draw a diagram for you?"

Sky finishes her cinnamon rolls, sulking.

Tobin is right.

She turns on her phone as soon as she's done eating. Food first, always.