Chapter 5

Someone beside me mentioned Nathan. Apparently, he’d been busy organizing the campus variety show…

When I woke up, class was over. There was a message from Nathan.

[Where are you, Emily?]

Me: [Classroom.]

[Free right now?]

Me: [Yeah. Class just ended.]

[I’ll come find you.]

Me: [Don’t bother. Meet me in the dining hall. We can eat.]

Ten minutes later, I spotted Nathan in the dining hall. His head was down as he scrolled through his phone, and he hadn’t noticed me. Two meals sat in front of him. Both had cilantro, which I hated.

I tapped the table. The moment he looked up, he smiled brightly. There was none of last night’s gloom. He was the sunny golden boy again.

I smiled in greeting. “Is one of those for me?”

He nodded and gestured for me to sit.

I sat down and began picking out the cilantro. Nathan didn’t rush to say anything. He just watched. By the time I’d removed every last piece and was ready to eat, I’d almost forgotten he was there.

I looked at him awkwardly. Whenever I focused on something, I tuned out the people around me. People often called me rude for it.

I set down my fork. I couldn’t accept a free lunch without at least hearing him out. “Nathan, you said you needed my help…”

Still smiling, he looked at me calmly. “I do. Chloe mentioned you play piano. Would you be interested in performing at the campus show?”

I was glad I hadn’t started eating. It would’ve made saying no harder.

“Sorry. Not interested.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows, apparently surprised by how quickly I’d refused. He rubbed one brow awkwardly.

“You didn’t even think about it.”

“No. I don’t like doing things like that.”

Silence settled between us again. Instinctively, I wanted to leave. Running away might not solve anything, but it worked.

Nathan seemed to notice my discomfort.

“Maybe I was being full of myself, but I thought you were interested in me.”

“And now you don’t?”

He smiled and nodded.

I smiled back. “You were right the first time. I am interested.” Then I thought for a moment and added,

“Just not enough to give up my principles.”

Nathan fell silent again. I was starting to think I really shouldn’t be allowed to talk to people. I could kill a conversation in seconds.

“Have you ever? Given up your principles for someone?”

“Yes.” But I couldn’t find him anymore. I kept that part to myself.

“I should go. I have class this afternoon.”

“Eat first. Whether you say yes has nothing to do with me wanting to buy you lunch.”

My stomach betrayed me with a growl. I’d forgotten breakfast.

I didn’t agonize over it. I sat back down and started eating.

Nathan had elegant table manners. Genuinely elegant—not like me, who simply ate slowly.

“Well, this lunch wasn’t a total loss.”

I waited for him to explain.

“Next time we eat together, I’ll know you don’t like cilantro.”

The thread about Nathan and me shot back to the top of the campus forum. Someone had posted a photo of us having lunch.

BunnyNoBites: [WE GOT AN UPDATE!]

YourMajestyHasArrived: [AHHHHH!! He’s so sweet. He keeps looking at her!]

NoChildLeftBehindExceptMe: [Whatever. I don’t like some late arrival swooping in. Paige and Nathan are the real thing!!]

PleaseGoAway: [She left him behind. Apparently, she even got a boyfriend over there. I follow her on Instagram. Give it up.]

OP: [Guys, I’m shipping it now. Nathan and Emily are REAL!! Mostly because of the way he looks at her. Are we sure they didn’t know each other before????]

ChloeComingHome: [If you’re not shipping this, you have no soul!]

PleaseGoAway: [Agreed.]

ToughGuySoftHeart: [Agreed.]

The replies were intense. As one of the people involved, I found it baffling. Nathan and I had met three times. How had everyone gotten this invested?