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I stare down at the textbook in my hand, resisting the urge to slam my head on it when I read the title: The Fundamentals of Chemistry.
“Shit,” I mutter, dropping it on the table and digging through my bag. It has to be in here somewhere.
I pull my phone out, and dial Cooper’s number. He’s off school today, some student-free day, and he’s probably at my apartment. I only have one more class today, and then I’ll be home too. He likes to wait for me, rather than sitting at home, and now that he has a key, he does it all the time.
“Hey baby,” he answers, a smile in his voice. “What’s up?”
“Are you at home?” I ask him, still digging through my bag like the book and notes are just going to magically appear. I don’t clarify that I mean my place, but he understands immediately.
“Yeah, everything okay?”
I groan in frustration, tipping my bag upside down and sending the remaining items scattering across the table. “No, I have a test today and I can’t find my textbook or my notes. I think I left them there.”
“Oh.” I can hear him shift on the other side of the phone, getting up. “Okay, what am I looking for?”
“Um, Introduction to Microbiology and the notes in the red binder,” I tell him, collecting the stray stationery now trying to roll off the table.
“Big heavy textbook, way too many pages of notes, got it.”
“You’re hilarious,” I say flatly and he laughs.
“So, what is with you?” he asks, and I pause from where I’m examining the low inkwell on my pen.
“What do you mean?” I say, throwing it back into my bag.
“Well,” he says nonchalantly. “It’s just not exactly like you to be taking the wrong books to class, that’s all. Everything okay?”
“Ugh,” I groan. “You know me too well.”
“You are one of my many areas of expertise.”
I pause, smiling. “And what are your others?”
“Throwing a ball,” he begins and I laugh. “Beating Luis in races, and ah ha! Apparently finding textbooks, too.”
“You found it? Oh, you are the best. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome,” he says. “I’ll bring it to you now. Where are you?”
“I’m in the library, the main one.”
“Ah,” he says knowingly. “The super funky shaped building?”
I can’t help my snort. “Yes, I suppose that would be the one.”
“I’ll see you in fifteen minutes,” he says.
“Wait,” I tell him. “Have I mentioned recently how much I adore you?”
“Potentially once or twice,” he teases. “I’ll be there in a sec, try not to freak out until I get there.”
I roll my eyes even though he won’t see it. “I will do my best.”
I do not keep my promise. My leg is shaking so much under the table that I have to press my palm firmly into my knee to stop the motion. I hate this jittery, nervous feeling, and I so rarely get it that I’m not sure what to do with myself.
I feel a pair of warm lips brush against my neck and before I can even process it, much less react, Cooper’s quiet voice comes into my ear.
“Hey handsome,” he says, lacing our fingers together over my shaking leg. He puts the textbook and binder on the table in front of us, and I sag with relief when I see it’s the right one. He squeezes my hand and I let my head tilt down on his. “You gonna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”
I laugh, a little worn, but real nonetheless. “I’m sorry. This class is just, harder than I thought it would be, I’m not smart enough for it, and I didn’t do very well on the last assessment and I guess I’m just a little tense.”
He smiles softly at me, running his thumb over the back of my hand. “You put too much pressure on yourself,” he reminds me gently. “If you don’t do well, it’s not because you’re not smart or you’re not trying. It’s because it’s hard. You can take it again and do better.” He smiles at me, wrapping his free hand across my thigh. “But let’s be honest, you won’t need to.”
I huff out a little laugh, and he leans in and kisses me soundly.
“You’ll be fine,” he promises. “I have to go, I promised Luis we would get some extra practice in today.”
“You promised Luis?” I question, and he grins ruefully.
“Luis promised me,” he admits. He kisses me again, and I grip onto him tightly. “Bye, baby,” he says and we break apart.
“Bye,” I tell him, and he laughs at how sorrowful my voice is. “Thank you for the book. I’ll see you at home.”
“You’re welcome.” He brushes my shoulder, and when I look up his face is serious. “Hey, don’t freak, okay? You’re gonna do great.”
I smile at him. “I love you.”
“Love ya.” He drops a kiss on my head and then he’s gone.
I break my notes open, and start pouring over them. As the anxiety begins to sap from my body, I realise how much I actually understand. I update a few of the notes from my textbook until my alarm goes off on my phone, informing me that I should head to class.
I shove my books in my bag, certain to actually include them this time. I don’t get very far before I find Louise, one of the girls I take bio with.
She grins at me as I approach, hoisting her bag up higher on her shoulder. “Heading to class?” she asks.
“Yes. Are you ready for the test?” I ask her and she shrugs.
“Ready enough. I know you are though.”
I slide my eyes over to her. “You do?”
“I saw you in the library,” she says, casual enough, but her voice is definitely lifting with the intent of asking something.
“Yes?”
“Yeah.” Her eyes scan across my face as if she’s waiting for me to say more. When I do nothing but raise my eyebrows, she sighs, and continues. “So, the hot blonde?”
“Cooper?” I ask her.
“Your boyfriend,” she clarifies, smiling when I nod. “God damn, Kris. I would take a bite outta him.”
“Ew, Louise.” I scrunch up my nose at her.
“What? He’s cute . I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that your boyfriend goes here.”
“That’s because he doesn’t go here,” I tell her. “He’s a senior.”
She frowns at me for a second, then connects the dots. “He’s seventeen?”
“Eighteen,” I correct, a little defensively.
“Whew, who knew high schoolers could look like that?”
“Okay,” I say, shaking my head. “You can lay off my boyfriend now.”
“I want to lay on—“
“Ugh,” I push the door open, trying to disguise my laughter. “Don’t need that image, thank you very much.”
She opens her mouth to say something else, but the entire class is deadly silent in preparation for the test, and she thinks better of it. She sticks her tongue out at me instead, and I roll my eyes back before taking my seat.
“Hey genius,” Cooper calls out to me as I step into my apartment.
“Strong word choice for someone who left behind his textbooks,” I point out, crossing the apartment to be by his side. I wrap my arms around his waist and perch my chin on his shoulder. “What are you cooking?”
“Pasta,” he says, twisting in my arms so he can look at me. “Is that okay?”
It’s definitely better than his typical boiled chicken.
“Of course,” I tell him, as he drops his forehead against mine to give me a soft kiss. “What inspired the cooking?”
“Luis gave me a recipe,” he says, turning back to the stove. “Then almost followed me home to make sure I made it correctly.”
I laugh. “He does take his food very seriously.”
“I’m under strict instruction,” Cooper says.
I press a kiss to his ear. “I’m going to have a shower. Try not to burn anything?”
“I’ve got it!” he complains, a little offended.
I grab my bag from the door, heading toward the shower.
“Oops,” Cooper says from over in the kitchen.
I whip around. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” he says immediately, turning to me.
“Cooper.”
“Nothing,” he insists. “Just go have your shower.”
I glance behind him to see water beginning to overflow from the pot. “Oh my god!”
He whips around frantically, almost grabbing the pot by the base until I shout out a warning, and he pauses.
“The handle, Cooper,” I say, trying not to laugh. “You’ll burn yourself!”
He takes the handle and shoves the presumably ruined meal in the sink. “Just go shower,” he says. “I got this!”
“I don’t think you do,” I say honestly.
He presses himself up against the bench, so I can’t see the contents of the sink as I approach. He takes me by my shoulders and steers me out of the kitchen as I laugh loudly. His face is bright red. “Everything is fine!”
I glance toward the oven. The light is on, but I don’t know what would be in there. “Uh, Coop?” I ask, as the smell of burnt bread begins to fill the apartment.
He looks to the oven and sighs so heavily his shoulders sink around the movement. “Ah,” he says. “The bread.”
His words are punctuated by the smoke alarm, and I lose it, almost falling to the floor in my laughter. “I’m sorry,” I choke out. “It was so nice of you to cook dinner.”
He pulls the blackened bread out of the oven, staring over it in despair. “Luis said it was a beginners recipe.”
“Maybe his instinct to follow you home wasn’t far off,” I say gently and he gives me a sour look.
“Go shower, I’ll order dinner.”
I nod, biting my lip to stop the laughter as I turn toward the shower.
“Kris,” he calls, and I turn back to his beet red face. “Don’t tell Luis, okay?”
“I promise, baby.”
“Beginners recipe,” he grumbles as he throws the bread in the bin. “Fucking liar.”
My laughter follows me all the way to the bathroom.