47

Piper

Waste Of Seven Thousand Dollars

I waited for Adam to return to the table and he did, walking slowly back like a cop in a hostage situation. Like he was expecting me to denote a bomb in front of him. Which he wasn't completely wrong about. I drummed my fingers on the wood while he eased out the chair and took his seat, watching me with narrowed eyes.

"Ice princess," he began. "I could get you in a whole lot of trouble for—"

"So, we're two weeks into spring and you've decided to embarrass me like this?" I asked.

Adam froze. His frown deepened. "Embarrass you?"

"Yes. Embarrass me. Because this is embarrassing."

"Hold on." He threw up his hands. "You were the one jumping around and shit!"

"We're not even a quarter into the semester, why are your grades this low?" I tapped the tablet and his eyes flickered down to it. "They made me sign a contract saying I would keep you out of trouble and you're this close to getting there with your grades? All those lunches I was getting my coding projects done and what were you doing?"

"I'm still above a two-point-three."

"A two-point-three?!"

Adam frowned, genuinely confused. "Yeah. I can still play football with that."

"Wow." I pushed the tablet off to him. "So, you're telling me that's the best you can do? That's it? "

"I'm becoming a professional football player," Adam reminded me, like I had my brain sucked out before lunch and couldn't remember the only thing I was informed of every single day. "I don't need this shit. I keep my grades above seventy-five in every class. I do enough to get by. None of this is going to apply to jack-shit that I do in the future."

I raised an eyebrow. " That's your reason?"

"Yeah. It's a great reason."

"So, ten years down the line, you're okay with all these managers and agents and investors and everything being the smartest in the room?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "You're fine with being led around all the time? You don't want better? Fifteen years in and you get caught up in a cryptocurrency scam and your big defense is—oh, man—I forgot how to read ."

"I aced my business classes last semester," Adam pushed in.

"You can make a PowerPoint? Amazing. But here you're barely passing in basic math."

Adam sat back in his chair and stared at me with every inch of disbelief he had in them. He started to laugh but it was the most hollow laugh I'd ever heard from him. I'd really ticked him off. I'd found another button that riled him up.

"I could do this shit if I wanted to," Adam said, irritably.

"But you can't," I retorted. "So you don't."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're trying to reverse-psychology me."

"How would you know? You're almost failing your psychology class too."

Adam scoffed for a moment and shifted back in his seat. "What the hell do you care for?"

That grated my nerves. Why would I care if he was missing a class? Because he was squandering a free education for nothing . My parents would've been furious.

"Because if you miss a class tomorrow, you're screwed," I snapped. "And that's on me, your babysitter."

"Well, I wouldn't do that." He shook his head. "I can't miss a class."

"You could get sick or in a car accident or oversleep or—"

"Look, I get you're a nerd and you want to hold these books tight and cuddle them or whatever the hell you do, but not everybody's like that." Adam snorted. "I focus better when I'm there, listening. This might surprise you, I don't do well with reading the text and going over the motions. I know myself. I'll just wander off."

I bit my lip, mind whirling. What would my parents say to one of their students?

"What about listening to your books?" I asked.

"Here?"

"With your headphones ."

"My hearing's too good." He shrugged. "I can't concentrate."

All these excuses .

I drew in a deep breath. "Let me see your headphones."

"My headphones?"

I didn't repeat myself, I just held out my hand. Adam muttered under his breath for a moment but he fished out a pair of wireless earbuds, stark white with a gold sliver down the side. I took a long look at them and I could feel his eyes, watching me.

"Seven thousand dollar headphones." Adam grinned. "There's a real gold leaf in it."

Tapping on my phone, I connected them in a couple of seconds. Listening intently, I swiped through my audiobooks while Adam told me about how they had been a limited edition deal, and how exclusive they were, and how seven grand isn't bad to drop on something you'll use for years. I finally slipped them out and tossed them to the table.

"These are garbage," I said and fished my pair from my backpack.

" What? " Adam laughed. "Ice princess, I spent a hell of a lot of money—"

"You wasted a lot of money. Yes. They aren't noise-canceling. If I can hear you through my audiobook, something's wrong. Try these."

"You've got to be kidding—"

He stopped speaking as soon as I stood up in front of him and held the headphones over his head. His eyes flickered up to mine and I slipped the headphones over his ears. They were huge and bulky, with a crack on the right side, and I'd bought them refurbished from one of my dad's research students. But they were also the best headphones I'd ever used in my life.

With a few clicks, I clicked open one of his textbooks. The athletics department paid for all of the upgrades. There it was, one of the expensive audiobook add-ons for the textbook. I waited while Adam was silent next to me.

The seconds counted down.

"You get ten bonus points if you write notes for the chapter," I told him, reading off the screen.

Adam walked slowly back like we were in the midst of a hostage situation. Like he was expecting me to detonate a bomb. Which he wasn't completely wrong about. I drummed my fingers on the table while he pulled out his chair and took his seat, watching me with narrowed eyes.

"Ice princess," he began. "I could get you in a lot of trouble for—"

"We're two weeks into spring and you decide to embarrass me like this?" I grilled him.

Adam froze. His frown deepened. "Embarrass you?"

"Yes. Embarrass me. Because this is embarrassing."

"Hold on." He threw up his hands. "You were the one jumping around and shit!"

"We're not even a quarter into the semester. Why are your grades this horrifying? " I woke up the tablet again, showing him everything he already knew. "Your team made me sign a contract saying I would keep you out of trouble and you're this close to getting there with your grades? All those lunches I was getting my coding projects done and what were you doing?"

"I'm still above a two point three."

"A two point three?!"

Adam frowned, genuinely confused. "Yeah, I can still play football with that."

"Wow." I pushed the tablet towards him. "So, you're telling me that's the best you can do? That's it? "

"I'm becoming a professional football player," Adam said, like I had my brain sucked out before lunch and couldn't remember the only thing that was reiterated to me every single day. "I don't need this shit. I keep my grades above seventy-five in every class. I do enough to get by. None of this is going to apply to jackshit I do in the future."

I raised an eyebrow. " That's your reason?"

"Yeah. It's a great reason."

"So, ten years down the line, you're okay with all these managers and agents and investors and everything being the smartest in the room?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "You're fine with being led around like a dog? You don't want better? Fifteen years in and you get caught up in a cryptocurrency scam and your big defense is—oh, man—I forgot how to read ."

"I aced my business classes last semester," Adam dug in.

"You can make a PowerPoint? Amazing. But here you are barely passing in basic math."

Adam sat back in his chair, staring at me with every inch of disbelief he had in him. He started to laugh, but it was the most hollow laugh I'd ever heard from him. I really ticked him off. Another button that riles him up.

"I could do this shit if I wanted to," Adam said.

"But you can't," I countered. "So you don't."

"You're trying to psychology me."

"How would you know? You're almost failing that class too."

Adam shifted back in his seat. "What the hell do you care for?"

That grated my nerves. Why would I care if he was missing a class? Because he was squandering a free education for nothing . My parents would've been furious.

"Because if you miss a class tomorrow, you're screwed," I snapped. "And that's on me, your babysitter."

"Well, I wouldn't do that." He shook his head. "I can't miss a class."

"You could get sick or end up in a car accident or oversleep or—"

"Look, I get you're a nerd and you want to hold these books tight and cuddle them or whatever the hell you do, but not everybody's like that." Adam snorted. "I focus better when I'm there, listening. I don't do well with reading the text and going over the motions. I know myself. I'll just wander off."

I bit my lip, mind whirling. What would my parents say to one of their students?

I hummed under my breath. "What about listening to your books?"

"Here?"

"With your headphones."

"My hearing's too good." He shrugged. "I can't concentrate."

All these excuses .

I drew in a deep breath. "Let me see your headphones."

"My headphones?"

I didn't repeat myself, I just held out my hand. Adam muttered under his breath for a moment but fished out a pair of wireless earbuds, stark white with a gold sliver down the side. I took a long look at them and could feel his eyes, watching me.

"Seven thousand dollar headphones." Adam grinned. "There's a real gold leaf in it."

I connected them to my phone. Listening intently, I swiped through my audiobooks while Adam told me about how they had been a limited edition deal, and how exclusive they were, and seven grand isn't bad to drop on something you'll use for years before I slipped them out and tossed them to the table.

"These are garbage," I said, fishing my pair from my backpack.

" What? " Adam laughed. "Ice princess, I spent a hell of a lot of money—"

"You wasted a lot of money. Yes. They aren't noise-canceling. If I can hear you through my audiobook, something's wrong. Try these."

"You've got to be kidding me."

I stood up and held the headphones over his head. His eyes flickered up to mine, and I slipped them over his ears, tired of the complaining. The headphones were huge on me but fine on him. I bought them refurbished from one of my dad's research students. They were the best headphones I'd ever used, even with the nicks on the right side that had chipped away at the paint.

With a few clicks, I rerouted them to the tablet and opened one of his textbooks. The athletics department paid for all the upgrades. I waited while Adam was silent next to me.

Seconds counted down.

"You get ten bonus points if you write notes for the chapter," I said, reading off the screen.

Adam didn't move. He didn't hear me.

I grinned and motioned in front of him until I realized exactly what he was staring at. I'd been so focused on getting Adam settled with his homework, I didn't hear the familiar ping of my phone going off. Another text message.

To Be Blocked: miserable cunt

I yanked my phone away and tried to stuff it in my bag but Adam was quicker than me. My phone disappeared from my grasp. He held it just out of range and gazed at the text. His breathing slowed. He pulled down the headphones, still staring at the screen.

The blush burned hot. "Don't worry about it."

He finally stopped looking at my phone long enough to turn his focus on me. "Piper."

"Don't worry about it," I repeated, embarrassed. "It's nothing."

"Who sent this?" he said, his tone so dark, the hairs on the back of my neck rose.

I shook my head. "Nobody important."

" Who sent this?" As soon as he asked the question, his face cleared. "Thomas."

I shifted uncomfortably.

" Why would he send this to you?"

"I don't know. I have no idea." I pulled my phone away from his grasp and powered it off, what I should've done in the beginning. "Maybe it makes him feel better? I don't know."

Adam took a deep breath. "How often does he send those?"

My eyes flickered up to his and I resumed coloring in my door decorations.

"Piper."

"Yeah?" I said, my voice quiet.

"This is why you turn your phone off all the time. This is why you leave it in your dorm." Both things were said as flat statements and Adam took a deeper breath. I had the weirdest feeling he was trying to remain calm. "Piper, this is….fucking insane."

It was past the point of me being mystified by the text messages. They were just a part of my day that ruined my day. Simple as that.

"It doesn't matter," I mumbled.

"I'm going to call him."

"No—" My marker skidded across the paper and drew a faint line over the table. "Don't. If you call him, he'll freak out. And I don't want to talk to him."

"Why don't you block him?" Adam asked incredulously.

"Some of my stuff is still at his place," I admitted, my voice small. "Postcards from my parents." My cheeks turned pink. "Some of my old stuffed animals. And—"

"I'll drive you to go get it." His jaw tightened. "No. I'll go myself."

I flinched. There was no way Adam was Thomas's favorite person after all the phone calls when Cleo tagged me on Adam's page. Even if they used to party together, I knew them meeting up now wouldn't be pleasant. "No. Just ignore it. It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter? "

I almost said something else but the sight of Kassie, walking along the tables, stopped me entirely. I breathed out in relief. She was clearly heading our way, the perfect distraction.