“You sure? ’Cause I can do it if you want.”
“No, I’ll do it,” she insists with a reassuring smile. “I’ve got to start practicing sometime.”
I return her smile. “M’lady,” I state, carefully offering her the blade.
She grips the scalpel securely in her hand just as Tracy starts giving instructions. With immaculate focus and precision, Olivia cuts. She slices slow and steady, doing just as Tracy instructs. When she’s finished, she sits up straight, breathing out a sigh of relief and admiring her work.
“Great job, Finch,” I praise her. “Now the worst part is over.”
Tracy makes laps around the room, observing and helping groups when needed. She spends the most time at Adrianna’s table. She and her friends are too repulsed to even touch the rat.
“Very good job,” she compliments us over Olivia’s shoulder as she stops by our table. “Good.” She tosses out a quick approval to Delilah, who did the cutting, and Rat Boy.
For the next hour we poke around inside the rats, identifying different organs and learning their functions. Not exactly how I’d like to spend my time with Olivia, but I have to admit, I can’t wait for our unofficial lunch date—even though my appetite isn’t what it normally is, after digging around in a rat for nearly an hour.
“Don’t forget, you’ll be quizzed about what we learned today next week! So remember to study, and if you need any help there’s open lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can stop by and ask me questions, as well as study,” Tracy yells before dismissing the class.
As we peel off our gloves and gather up our things, I begin to ask Olivia, “Ready for lun—”
“Hey,” Delilah says loudly, suddenly cutting me off. “We’ll catch you later, Liv.” She shrugs on her backpack, walking away slowly and looking expectantly at Rat Boy, seemingly waiting for him to follow. “Have fun at your lunch meeting with Professor Cooper,” she says, and shoots me a look I can’t quite decipher. “Let’s go, Quinton,” she says, guiding him out of the room.
“You have a meeting with Professor Cooper?” I ask when they walk out, suddenly feeling disappointed.
She lets out a nervous laugh, freeing her hair from her ponytail. “No, not exactly. I’m still game for having lunch together if you are. I do have to drop some papers off in Professor Cooper’s mailbox, though, first, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” I extend my arm to the door, gesturing for her to lead the way.
We walk down the hallway to the main office together, and Olivia ducks in to slip some papers into a mail slot, politely sharing friendly greetings with the secretary.
“Ready?” I ask once she exits.
“Ready.”
We walk across campus to one of the many dining halls. I decide not to take her to the one I usually go to with my teammates, afraid they’ll give me too much shit about having lunch with a girl and scare her off.
“So,” I start, unable to hold back my curiosity, hooking my thumbs beneath the straps of my backpack as we walk. “What was that whole situation about?”
“What situation?” Olivia asks, doing that cute thing where she pinches her brows together and slightly tilts her head to the side in confusion.
“The one at the end of lab. Delilah was acting weird, and then she said you had a meeting with Professor Cooper. Why did she think that?” I ask, not in an accusatory way, but casually. I know Delilah knew about our lunch plans, since she was right there when I made them with Olivia. It doesn’t make sense that she’d think Olivia had other plans, or that Olivia would tell her otherwise.
Olivia flushes and cringes in embarrassment. “She didn’t . . . it was her idea to say that I had a lunch meeting with Professor Cooper instead, actually.”
“All right, I’m going to need you to explain.”
“Well,” Olivia drawls, looking pensive. She exhales, her lips vibrating together. “I guess you could say Delilah and I sort of made up a plan to act like I had a meeting with Professor Cooper.”
Now it’s my turn to pinch my brows together in confusion. “I’m still not following.”
She sighs, her shoulders slumping as she looks guilt-ridden. “We both kind of lied so I could have lunch with you. Alone.”
“Oh.” It’s starting to make sense.
Olivia groans, hiding her face behind her hands in a mix of embarrassment and frustration. “I’m sorry. I was just afraid if Quinton knew he’d want to tag along, and I don’t know. I just had a feeling it wouldn’t be as nice if it wasn’t just the two of us, because I know he can be a bit unpleasant sometimes.”
I huff out a laugh. “I’ve caught on.”
She shoots me an apologetic look, and I hold open the door to the cafeteria for her, the cool air-conditioning welcoming us as we step inside.
