CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Nora
Monday evening arrived with a hint of déjà vu in the air now that we’d bumbled our way through impersonating each other for almost an entire week.
We climbed out of Corey’s car in the parking lot with a confusing mix of excitement and exhaustion.
Spending most of the day pretending to be someone I wasn’t was like having a hole in my body that continually leaked energy.
‘I can’t wait to sit in the seat I wanted all year.’ Positive thoughts like these were the only thing pulling me through.
Corey’s jaw tensed. ‘I feel kinda bad, you know?’
My chest ached. ‘It’s fine, Corey. Really. It’s just a seat.’
A seat I no longer cared about. Not now that I cared more about the person who occupied it. I’d been wrong, which wasn’t easy to admit, but there was more to Corey than that small glimpse I’d received before shoving him into a box and taping the lid shut.
I stopped outside the door to tie my laces while Corey took his seat, then gave our teacher, Brad, one of Corey’s nods when I entered.
Seeing my body in my seat sent a shiver up my spine.
I was a ghost hovering above, watching my life play out.
I placed Corey’s expensive laptop onto my desk and sat in the seat I’d admired all year.
The excitement fizzled within ten seconds when I realised this seat had uneven legs.
I wobbled back and forth then turned to Corey.
‘This seat is wonky,’ I said.
He stared into my eyes and smiled. ‘I know.’
I wobbled the chair again. ‘This is going to drive me mad. Why haven’t you switched chairs before?’
He shrugged and tapped his pen against the desk. ‘Someone’s gotta have it.’
A few other students’ side-eyed us, waiting for a typical argument to break out. Corey glanced around, then back to me.
‘Should we give them a show?’ he asked.
‘It would be rude not to.’
He cleared his throat with a feminine cough. ‘I love your shirt. It makes your biceps bulge.’
My eyes widened as Corey fluttered the long lashes he’d been gifted with when he took my body.
‘What are you—?’
‘And that hair! Have you switched to a new shampoo?’ Corey spoke over me.
He stood and walked next to me, then raked his hand through my blond curls. I gulped when I realised he was putting on a different kind of show to our typical bickering.
‘Nora, you sweet little thing. How kind of you to notice.’ I smiled, choking back my laughter.
The other students in the room glanced between us, mouths parted in confusion. Latham, the young kid obsessed with Corey, lifted his lips and scowled.
‘Shall we get started?’ Brad asked, his forehead scrunched as he stared at us.
‘Learning is growing,’ Corey just about sung the words.
‘I do not sound like that,’ I whispered through a laugh.
When class ended, Brad had a permanent new brow crease from observing me and Corey for the last hour. Latham lingered by the bin pretending to empty rubbish from his bag, glancing at me every three seconds.
‘Are you ready to go?’ Corey packed away his laptop while I waited by the door.
‘Did you arrive with her?’ Latham stared at me, not realising he’d just insulted the rich man he’d been trying to befriend all year.
‘Is that a problem?’ I cocked an eyebrow which I’d secretly been practicing in the bathroom mirror ’til I could raise it as perfectly as Corey.
Latham shuffled closer, deeming the few steps between us too far for him to be able to continue trying to worm his way in.
‘Ah, I, um, ah.’ Latham’s eyes widened in frantic panic. ‘I didn’t realise you were friends.’
‘Yeah, well. We’ve made amends. Get used to it,’ I snapped.
‘I’ll meet you at the car. I’m starving, we should order Italian for dinner.’ Corey brushed his little fingers along my broad shoulder before walking out the door.
He’d delighted when we’d arrived and realised Latham would be bothering me throughout class instead of him.
‘Wait, are you sleeping with her?’ Latham’s youthful eyes widened.
‘Excuse me.’ My voice echoed through the room, chairs squeaking as people tried to get a better look.
Corey mustn’t have made it far down the hall, because his head popped back into the room a moment later.
‘Who the hell do you think you are, you brown-nosing little shit. It’s none of your business what anyone in this class does. Especially me.’ I turned and stormed out the door, every eye in the class darting between me, Latham, and Corey.
Corey passed me, chin high, arm drawn back. I swung myself around and grabbed hold of his raised arm.
‘He’s not worth it,’ I said.
Dropping his arm, he laced his fingers with mine and marched his legs away from the rude bastard.
Nervous laughter bubbled from my mouth once we started driving. ‘Can you imagine that?’
‘Imagine what?’ Corey’s forehead creased.
‘Us. Together.’
He forced out an awkward laugh that made my eyebrows raise. ‘Yeah, just imagine.’
An uncomfortable silence followed.
‘You’d have to have my babies. How do you feel about childbirth?’ I tried to break the tension.
I was treated to one of his rare sheepish half-grins as he squeezed his legs. ‘I’m not even going to imagine that.’
‘Well, that’s okay. It’s not like we’re together, anyway.’
My gaze darted from his to the window, neither of us speaking again until we’d made it to the carpark. He almost looked… wishful.
Corey grabbed the last slice of pizza and I took the box to the kitchen.
I tossed the receipt into the garbage and noticed the logo of a prestigious art school on a scrunched piece of paper.
Corey leaned closer to the TV and yelled at a man running with a football, so I plucked the paper out for a better look.
My gaze darted between Corey and the letter, desperate to shake it in his face.
He’d been accepted into the most exclusive art school in the state, yet the crumpled letter sat amongst banana peels and bread crusts.
Just as I thought I had him all figured out, a new discovery like this wrapped around my mind and prodded the confused grooves.
‘Go, go, go!’ Corey jumped from the couch.
I wouldn’t bother him with it tonight. Not when the game was distracting him from our catastrophic life.
But tomorrow? I wouldn’t let Corey throw his life away. Not when it’s obvious he’s got his own dreams to live.