Hey, Noah

t w o | I'd Try

t w o | I'd Try

It was Friday night and I was at the campus barbeque—which was basically just another way for students to kick off the weekend. The hosting fraternities always threw them in the field when it was nearly dark outside so that they could light a fire near the bleachers and make a whole bonfire of it while mild drinks were passed around, and the whole event was a weekly thing now.

It would've been fun too, if I wasn't trying to study.

Mrs. James had pushed back the test date for some reason and of course, Ella was ecstatic. Me, though? Not so much. Especially when I'd spent all night studying for a test that was supposed to make up ten percent of our grade—a test that never happened. It wasn't that I didn't see I had more time to prep for it now, but the thing was, I would rather have had it done and over with. But now it was just looming ahead, even more daunting than before.

I didn't care, though. I was going to get this done by tonight and not stay up all night on the day before the test happened. Also, if I got it done by tonight, I'd have more time to focus on English class later in the week which was good because Mrs Samuels was getting pretty fickly these days.

But maybe trying to study at the campus bonfire wasn't one of my best ideas.

It was as I was thinking about all this and trying to get through the first sentence on top of the page when I heard a familiar voice.

"Are you a librarian, gorgeous? 'Cause I am checking you out."

Oh my God.

"Please tell me that isn't something you would actually use," I said to Josh, who was now currently strolling over to me towards the bleachers.

"It's cheesy as hell, but it's not that bad if you think about it." He argued, before he plucked the book right out of my hands. "Are you studying? Seriously, Riley? At the campus barbeque?"

I never liked Josh Taylor. He was a cocky asshole, and to top it off, he was Ella's ex. While they'd been dating, he'd been an angel the whole time. He'd also been with three other girls, but that we'd found out about much later.

Now, he'd taken up being an annoying presence in Ella's life and therefore unfortunately mine as well, because for some reason he actually wanted Ella to take him back.

I snatched the book back. "I'll have you know, I was only waiting for Ella. She went to get rid of her bag and grab a jacket from our room."

"So you wanted to read about Freud's general contributions to the field of psychology rather than, uh, I don't know, just finding me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I have a test." I said. "And why on earth would I ever find you, anyway?"

"Forget that," said Josh as he leaned towards me. "Is there an airport nearby or is that just my heart taking off?"

I wrinkled my nose. Having gotten used to him throwing around cheesy things back when he was with Ella was a whole lot different than something this nauseating directed at me. "That one was honestly the worst I've ever heard."

"One of these days, you'll like my pickup lines, Riley," he murmured. "Ella's already coming around."

"Ella hates them. Kind of like how she hates you."

"And so she tells herself."

Keep on dreaming.

"I have a really good one, though," he insisted. "Seriously."