two doors down (e.d.)

chapter fourteen

ethan~

"wait you're sitting here today?" riley asks me as i set my stuff next to her.

"why wouldn't i?"

"because you're too cool to hang out with your friends little sister," she jokes and i laugh.

"you're more than just wyatt's little sister."

she blushes and looks down.

god i love having the power to do that.

"good morning fellow humans," david says from the front of the classroom, "i've graded your first practice assessment and i've chosen who can call me dave based on the scores."

the class laughs and he shuffles papers on his desk.

"i've studied your names with your id pictures very hard over the weekend and i'm pleased to tell you that i have learned half of the class's names."

everyone glances around at each other and riley looks like she's about to fall asleep.

"here," i push my drink toward her, "this'll help."

she takes a sip and scrunches her face up.

"what is this?" she whispers

"coffee and red bull."

"am i going to die?" her eyes widen which makes me giggle.

"no. it's a thing i used during testing week in high school. this class will be over in what feels like 10 seconds."

"thanks," she says and takes another large gulp.

"why are you so tired?"

"elanor had this guy over last night."

"no," i whisper in disbelief

"she thought i was asleep," she cringes

"ew," i shake my head, "that's something you never want to do in a dorm."

"and how do you know?" she narrows her eyes teasingly

"i speak from experience," i lean back in my chair, voice filled with arrogance.

"shut up," she laughs and nudges me.

i sit back up in my chair and listen to the professor again.

"i think the classroom environment is somewhere where we can encourage other people's accomplishments. today we will be doing so with ms. riley romano." david rolls the 'r' on romano and riley almost spits out her drink.

"what?" she says

"you got the highest score in the practice assessment. we'd only studied the material for a day and you got a 93%."

riley looks horrified as she realizes everyone's eyes are on her.

"yeah riley!" i say with enthusiasm and start to clap, saving her from extreme embarrassment.

the class follows behind me and she sheepishly grins.

when the clapping dies down, she takes another gulp out of my travel mug.

"slow down," i chuckle and take it from her hands, "you might get a heart attack."

"it makes the clock hands spin." she says and grabs it back.

we sit through a tangent david is going on about how his dog tried to eat his goat this morning.

"what does this have to do with accounting?" a kid from the back of the room calls