Chapter 26: My Life is a Game Show and the Devil is the Host.

                                    

                                          


                          
~ [Evelyn] ~
                          


                          
I was making my way to class when I finally got my first text from Mason today. I had sent him a good morning text and I hadn't heard from him all day. Hungover or not, I was still a little ticked off that he didn't respond.
                          


                          
Mason: Sorry! Good morning... and evening, too now. 😰
                          
Me: Gee thanks. 
                          
Mason: I'll make it up to you tomorrow! Dinner at Carolina's? 🍝🍴
                          
Me: Sure. Hope I won't be getting my food 12 hours late, too. 😒
                          
Mason: Sorry! I slept in. 🙏
                          


                          
I took a deep breath as I stood and stared at the door to my Chem lab class. Today was our last class. It was my last chance to see Liam without having to make an excuse.
                          
Deep breaths, Evelyn. Deep breaths.
                          
I pushed past the door and found Liam standing there with his apron on. He wore his goggles dangling from his neck and his hands were glove-free, but he had a pair already sitting on his lab notebook.
                          
He looked goofy and normal. Well, as normal as a super hot, lean, muscular college guy can be. Seriously, half the class has a crush on him.
                          
But unfortunately for them, he only had eyes for me.
                          
And it made me incredibly happy whenever I saw the look in his eyes as he gazed down at me. It's that look of I love you-let's just run away together and it takes my breath away every time.
                          
"You're early," I noted cheerfully as I put my stuff down on the counter.
                          
"This is the longest lab of the quarter. And basically the final," he reminded me. I rolled my eyes at him, but I actually thought it's adorable how much of a nerd he had become.
                          
In a way, he always was the closet nerd who loved to read books and found homework fun. Of course, for appearances, that side of him never saw the light of day back in high school. Luckily for me, I had a chance to see him in his true nature.
                          
We used to have nights together where we would just sit side by side, reading books in silence. I reacted more with my books and it always amused him to see me laugh or cry about a story. He liked to call me weird for being too emotionally invested in the characters, but I knew from the faint gasps and held breaths that he was like that too.
                          
It only made me love him more.
                          
Lab was extremely stressful today. Everyone was frantically getting their procedures along and the class didn't have enough UV lamps to check their work. The waiting was agonizing, especially since the partners who weren't at the UV lamps had a shit ton of other things to tend to.
                          
At the end of the five hours, everyone was relieved to leave the class, and once again, I was last to go. I guess I was just the slowest to clean up, or I was a bit more meticulous with my calculations.
                          
Even Liam left, though I had a feeling he might be waiting down the hallway, near the elevators like he mostly did this quarter.
                          
So here I was, alone in a room with my creepy TA. I heard Thomas' footsteps as he made his way toward my section and I almost held my breath, hoping that if he couldn't hear me breathing, he might just walk past me. But this wasn't a Harry Potter movie, and Thomas wasn't a blinded Basilisk.