Kelly leaned over to see his screen. Eli was smiling as though he’d just been awarded a Fellowship and she was sticking her tongue out like a petulant toddler. It was a cute photo. Stupid and pointless, but cute.
‘Delete that immediately,’ she said.
‘No chance. I’m sending it to the paper. It’ll be great for the follow-up piece on Dr Incredible.’
Kelly shook her head in mock despair. ‘Do you think we could get back to studying for this exam? You know, the one in two weeks’ time that will determine the trajectory of our lives.’
‘Way to kill a mood,’ Joyce said.
They settled back into their routine of asking and answering assigned questions. Kelly took it as seriously as ever, interrogating her study mates for more precise details and pushing them to ask her for more, but she could feel the slight, involuntary upturn of her lips as she spoke.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been unable to wipe the smile from her face.
***
Kelly and Eli walked along the footpath. ‘You round the corner?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, there was no parking out front.’
Eli carried his satchel and Kelly hugged her laptop and books to her chest.
‘That was fun tonight,’ Eli said.
‘Study group is always fun.’
‘Even you don’t believe that.’
‘No, but if you say something enough, eventually it’ll become true, right?’
Eli began muttering under his breath. The same sound over and over.
Kelly strained to understand his words. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Repeating something I want to come true.’ He had that goofy grin again.
Without breaking stride, Kelly shot him a look that said:I know where this going. ‘I’m not even going to ask,’ she said.
They rounded the corner and Kelly saw that Eli’s car was parked directly behind hers. ‘Coincidence?’ she said.
‘Not at all. I was waiting at the other end of the street since six o’clock this morning. As soon as you had parked and left your car, I pulled up behind you.’
Kelly laughed, opened the passenger door and put her books on the seat.
Eli hovered on the nature strip. ‘All jokes aside,’ he said. ‘That really was a great article. It captured just how incredible you are, Kelly.’
She felt her cheeks flush and looked down at her feet.
Eli placed a gentle hand under her chin and lifted her face so she could see his. He took a step forwards. She didn’t move.
He began to whisper: ‘Kelly will kiss me again. Kelly will kiss me again. Kelly will kiss me again.’ He kept repeating it right up until their lips touched and even then, once more.
His lips tickled hers as he spoke and she soaked in the sensation of warmth that ran all through her body. She opened her mouth a fraction and nudged her tongue gently against his own.
There was a thudding sound and they were suddenly disentangled as Eli yelled: ‘Owwww!’ He hopped on one foot, his satchel lying on the grass by his other foot. It had come loose from his shoulder and landed on his toes.
Kelly walked round to the driver’s side of her car. ‘You should get that looked at,’ she said.
He shook his head slowly. ‘You have no heart, you know that? I take back every nice thing I said about you.’
