The Gloaming Girls

EPISODE THREE (Part 4/7)

I get an A on the essay. It's one of a series of small victories as midterm season approaches, since living with Emory makes it difficult to justify procrastination, and even though she can't actually see what I'm doing, I've taken to studying more frequently than I would have on my own.

Today, though, I'm with Nevin. We're not talking—we usually don't when we're together to study, though I have been trying to get him to relax a little—and he's curled over his textbook, nose close to the page.

From where I'm sitting at the end of his bed, I think that he looks a little demented. Or maybe it's exhaustion. It's hard to tell.

I get a text from Marlee.

Marlee:

Are you good to meet at the library in 10?

I just got back to the dorms and need to drop some stuff off

Ubt will be right there

But* haha

I glance up at Nevin. He's busy underlining something, the tip of his tongue trapped between his teeth, clearly in deep concentration.

"Hey."

He startles violently, nearly knocking over his coffee mug.

I laugh, and he shoots me a dirty look. "You good, dude?"

"I forgot I wasn't alone," he admits. "You scared me."

"Sorry," I say, then ask, "Do you mind if a friend of mine comes and joins us for a bit? I said we could go over flashcards."

"A friend of yours?" Nevin raises an eyebrow. "Who? Tell me it's not Callia."

"No." I roll my eyes. "It's Marlee."

Nevin blinks. "Oh. Yeah, sure."

He goes right back to underlining.

I text Marlee.

Me:

Still at dorms whoops

Come to room 207, that's where I am. We can do flashcards in here.

She texts me back a thumbs up right away, and ten minutes later, there's a knock on the door.

I get up to answer it, and Marlee beams at me, but when she peers into the room and sees who's here, she halts in the doorway, cheeks reddening. "Oh. Hello."

Nevin glances up from his books—barely, the dickhead—and back down. "Hey."

"Come in," I tell her, "you still good to do some review?"

She sees my knowing expression and glares at me, but comes to sit down anyway, still blushing furiously.

Nevin is, as usual, utterly oblivious, useless once he's been lost to research.

At first, Marlee is unusually quiet, except for furiously texting me—OHMYGOD I hate you I am never forgiving you for this—to which I respond with an angel emoji, because really, I just happened to be here, and I'm not trying to do anything, but then, as we slowly ease into flashcards, her usual enthusiastic demeanour peeks through the embarrassed exterior, and Nevin is entirely too absorbed to notice.

Until—

"Dammit," Nevin says, then rifles through his book.

I glance over my shoulder at him. "What?"