“Did you learn everything for the test tomorrow?” Selena asks the moment she closes the door behind me. She always wants to know how prepared I am. I usually don’t need much revision, since I go over everything the same day it’s taught, but I don’t want her to get too anxious.

  “Not really,” I say, opening my backpack and pulling out my books. “I thought we could go through it together.”

  Her face beams. ‘Let’s get into it,’ she says, grabbing a towel from the bed and tossing it onto a chair. The room is filled with the scent of the lavender cream she’d applied after her bath. She looks as fresh as she smells, and like everything else, she puts a lot of effort into taking care of herself. Her eyebrows are perfectly arched with the right amount of hair, her nose is long and straight, and her cheeks have a natural glow that she really doesn’t need to smear all those vegetables from the fridge on her face.

  We settle onto the bed and open the book, starting with algebra.

  Then there’s a knock at the door.

  “What now?” Selena asks, already irritated. She knows it’s Oliver. Her parents aren’t home from work yet.

  She opens the door, and Oliver stands there, casually spinning a pen in his hand. “ Tom cancelled today. I’m free,” he says. “I was hoping for some math tips, if you don’t mind.”

  “We do mind,” Selena says right away, shutting the door in his face. He blocks it with one hand, the pen still spinning in the other, like it’s no effort at all.

  Typical brother and sister! I watch them with a smile, feeling a little jealous. I don’t have siblings to play with or fight with, or someone who’s always there when you need them. I miss that kind of support more than I like to admit.

  “I wasn’t asking you,” he replies, looking straight at me. In fact, he hasn’t taken his eyes off me since the door opened.

  That jolt of electricity hits me again, but I force myself to stay calm. “Not at all. Feel free to join,” I say, giving a slight nod. Then I glance at Selena, half-expecting her to blurt something out. She’s angry, her face clouded and jaw tight, but she says nothing.

  Selena shifts a few things around to make space for him beside her, but he sits down next to me instead. That’s when I notice his scent. A light scent of cedar, sweet and pleasant. I’m sure he didn’t smell like this when I sat next to him on the sofa before. It felt like he’d already planned to sit beside me, even down to making sure he smelled good for that. Suddenly, I realize I’m probably a mess. No shower after class, fries in my stomach, and here I am. Definitely not smelling like anything nice.

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  He sets a small bag of chips in front of me, and as he pulls his hand back, his arm brushes mine. It feels almost intentional. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I freeze, suddenly unsure how to move.

  “You’ve got lots of space there,” Selena says, hinting that I should slide over.

  I shift, leaving plenty of space between us, but he shifts too, keeping us uncomfortably close. Selena notices, of course, but says nothing. She rolls her eyes and looks down at her book. Maybe she knows there’s no point in saying anything. It feels like he knows exactly what he’s doing and intends to, no matter what anyone thinks.

  I start walking her through the problems, step by step. She asks question after question, like she always does. When it comes to math, Selena is all questions, and I’m all answers. Oliver stays quiet, watching me. He seems more interested in me than the math, and by now I’m sure of one thing: math isn’t why he’s here. At school, he barely notices I exist. He hasn’t looked my way since that chocolate thing, or at least that’s what I thought. Now, his eyes don’t leave me.

  I don’t dare look back at him, so I keep my focus on the book and on Selena. My nerves are stretched so tight I’m not even sure I’m explaining things the way I usually do. Oliver doesn’t miss a chance to stick close to me, and it only makes me even more nervous. The whole situation is upsetting Selena, and reasonably so; I can tell when she asks me to wrap up not long after we started. As I pack my backpack, Oliver stands up.

  “That was good. Better than Ms. Dave,” he says with a grin. “Thanks. I hope I pass tomorrow’s test.”

  Ms. Dave is our math teacher, and she’s ridiculously good at her job. I’m not even comparable, and saying I’m better than her would be more teasing than a compliment. I look at him, hoping to catch the sarcasm on his face, but he gives me a fist bump, winks at Selena, and walks out of the room.

  I stay a little longer, chatting with Selena, before heading out. As I step into the hallway and head downstairs, Oliver is nowhere in sight, and the disappointment hits me hard. I walk out of the house, still hoping I’ll see him around, but that hope fades quickly when I glance at the empty driveway. His bike lies there, half fallen over on the grass, something I didn’t even notice when I came in.

  Outside, the sky’s faded into a soft grey. It’s quiet, except for a bunch of birds flying overhead, chirping. A cold breeze brushes against my hair, making it stick to my face, so I tuck it behind my ear and tug at my backpack strap. There’s this weird feeling I can’t quite place. It’s good, but kind of overwhelming and restless at the same time. Maybe it’s because of everything that happened today, because it was so unexpected. I take a deep breath as I walk, but the feeling doesn’t go away. On instinct, I glance back at Selena’s house.

  Oliver is standing at his bedroom window upstairs, watching me.

  He sees me looking, but he doesn’t move.

  Something tightens in my chest. I look away and pick up my pace.