chapter 20
For the most part, I was having a pleasant morning following the dinner date with Zayn, Rebecca, Levi, and Liam. Things had faired out substantially better than I had been expecting. If he wasn't lying to me, and I doubt he was, Zayn was going to begin treating me better, whatever that meant. I was the one who had blackmailed him with the request, yet I had no idea how he was going to execute. Oh well, sometimes surprises could be pleasant.
It was a Saturday morning and I had zero commitments for the day, a happy change from the past few weeks. I trekked into the library, in pursuit of another book on Spherical Astronomy. I had finished Mysteries of the Mathematical Genius and was eagerly ready to read another piece of literature on the subject. However, I had seemed to forget how unaccommodating the Malik estate library was for mathematical discourse. The aisle from which I had found Mysteries of the Mathematical Genius was void of any other major books on Spherical Astronomy. After placing back my book where I had remembered finding it, I ran the rows, pulling out a few textbooks and skimming the table of contents for any clues of the subject matter I was interested in. It wasn't until I found a calculus theory book that my thirst was quenched. I laid myself onto the ground, my back leaning against the aisle from which I had just pulled the book and my legs sprawled before me. I flipped to the first page, figuring it was a decent idea to start from the front. I began diving into the material, disconnecting myself from the material world. The house was quiet; I was easily able to immerse myself within the book. I was almost on the third chapter when someone entered the aisle. I glanced over at the intruder, irritated by the distraction.
Zayn was walking over, seemingly unaware of my existence on the floor. He was wearing what he had at breakfast; a black and white stripped sweater, white jeans, and a gold Rolex watch. I waited until he would spot me, watching him approach the section directly to my left. Okay, now he was just being ridiculous and ignoring me on purpose; not a very good start to the "acting pleasant" truce we had made the previous night.
However, my affliction subsided once I noted the book selection he was attending to; higher mathematical calculus. My jaw dropped when I saw him pull out Mysteries of the Mathematical Genius and turn it over, beginning to read the information on the back.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He murmured, his eyes still running along the back of the book.
I didn't even realize how much I was gaping at him. Talk about ridiculouscoincidence; this was creepily peculiar. "I just finished reading that book."
Zayn looked away from Mysteries of the Mathematical Genius to meet my gaze. His eyebrows were raised in pure astonishment. "You read this?"
"You sound surprised." I raised an eyebrow of my own, unappreciative of his tone.
"I am surprised." He said, flipping the thick book over in his hands. "This is tough material."
I gasped. "I'm not an idiot, you know. I went to-"
"Princeton, right, right." He rolled his eyes. "You've mentioned that only a thousand times. You should tone that bragging down a bit; just a bit of advice from husband to wife."
"Oh, now you play the husband-wife card." I smirked. "Very clever."
Zayn ignored the comment. "I can't believe that you've read this. I've read it before and it's nearly impossible."
"Quiz me on the content, if you'd like." I retorted, confidently. "I've read it over twice."
His eyebrows rose again. "Twice? Dear lord."
"Go on," I urged, signaling for him to sit down across from me.
He obliged reluctantly, sliding onto his bottom and leaning against the aisle directly in front. He raised one knee up, resting his arm against it as he flipped through the pages of Mysteries of the Mathematical Genius, in search of decent quizzical material. He settled on a page, "what is the most distinctive similarity between spherical and elliptic geometry?"
