how to catch feelings

84

I hated to do it, but I dropped by Harding's office again.

He looked pissed off the moment he saw me, but he didn't say anything.

"Hi," I said. "I'm sure you remember our last meeting. I'm sorry we seem have gotten off on the wrong foot. It was incredibly rude of me to disregard your schedule and barge in here with insensitive questions."

Harding just glared at me.

I glanced down at his shoes and tried my darndest to look hella interested. "Wow! Are those the new Nikes?"

His eyes flicked down to his feet. "Yeah."

"Wow. They look way cooler in person. I was looking at them on the internet, trying to see how much they would cost to get for my brother." I shook my head. "His feet are so big, it's almost impossible to get shoes in his size unless they're custom."

A small fib, but I mean, Eric did have pretty massive feet. Compared to mine, anyway.

"He's like a size thirteen. It'd be so much easier if he wore... what size are those?"

I half expected Harding to tell me to get out, but instead he just sighed and said, "Eleven and a half."

"Oh well. Those shoes are a little beyond my price range anyway." I paused. "Ope. I'm sorry for rambling. I ramble when I'm nervous. Oh God, I'm doing it again. Okay. Anyway, I'm sorry for what happened the last time we spoke. I hope we can move past this and maintain a good working relationship."

When he gave no sign of wanting to respond, I offered him a small smile and exited his office.

Ugh. That was gag-worthy.

I boosted downstairs to the main gym. Being that I'd been paying Harding a visit, I was dressed in jeans and boots, but I did a quick pass of the weights room and track anyway. I was hoping to corner Jared.

No such luck.

***

"Paid Harding a visit," I said.

Cole's typing bubble popped up. "How'd that go?"

"Meh. He didn't say much."

"Doesn't surprise me."

"Yeah."

"Have you heard from Jared?"

"Nope. He read my text and never responded."

"Sounds about right."

"How so?"

"No one else has heard from him either. Seems like he's hunkering down."

"So you think the coke was definitely him."

"I mean, it makes sense. Him being in deep sh*t at the end of last semester, getting pulled aside, then him going AWOL after drugs are found in our locker room? It just all makes sense IMO."

"I guess so."

He didn't answer right away, and I figured he was probably feeling frustrated about the whole Jared thing again.

I decided to leave it alone.

I had a project due the next day anyway. So I closed Messenger and set my phone aside to get some work done.

***

"Okay, so twenty-nine got cut down to twelve," Jess said in the group chat Friday morning. "Do we still want the reporters in on this, or should we move forward just as the editorial staff?"