Chapter 71: Rejection
We were about to sneak off to the cafe, when the library doors slid open. It was Ruby, and she wasn’t smiling anymore. Her whole posture was off. she looked completely uncomfortable.
’Crap.’
She saw us standing by the vending machines and her face just crumpled with relief, which was definitely not the reaction I was expecting. She hurried over, clutching her textbook like a shield.
"Hey," she started, her voice a little shaky. "Sorry, I had to get out of there."
"What happened?" Nina asked immediately, her friendly-pillar mode activating. "Did Jake say something weird? I swear, if he started—"
"No, nothing like that," Ruby cut her off, shaking her head. "He was nice. Really nice, actually. It’s just..." She looked down at her shoes. "It felt like an interrogation."
My stomach dropped. ’An interrogation. Yeah, I guess it would come off like that.’
"He just kept asking me all these questions," she continued, looking back up, a confused frown on her face. "About ancient history, and documentaries, and what kind of books I liked. It was like he had a checklist. It didn’t feel like he was talking to me, it felt like he was trying to pass a test."
’Because he was. And I was the one who wrote it.’ This was a disaster. I had taken a guy with a crush and turned him into a creepy, question-asking robot.
"He’s just... a little awkward," I said, trying to do some damage control. "He’s not usually like that."
"I know," she said with a sigh. "He’s in our class after all. I just felt like I was being interviewed for a job I didn’t apply for." She managed a small, tired smile. "I think I’m just gonna head home. My brain is fried."