The fact that he misspelled pumpkin made Cath wince.
If she hadnt gone to the partyif she hadnt seen Levi in actionshe would have thought this text was him asking her out on a date.
She knew shed have to see him again. He was still Reagans best friend, the two of them still studied together.
Reagan would probably keep him away completely if Cath wanted that, but Cath didnt want Levi to ask questions. So Cath stayed away instead. She started going to the library after dinner and hanging out in Nicks stacks. Nick generally wasnt there; nobody was. Cath brought her laptop and tried to work on her final project, her ten-thousand-word short story, for Fiction-Writing. Shed started itshed started it half a dozen timesbut she still didnt have anything she wanted to finish.
Usually she ended up working on Carry On, Simon. Cath was on a streak, posting long chapters almost every night. Switching from her Fiction-Writing homework to Simon and Baz
was like realizing shed been driving in the wrong gear. She could actually feel the muscles in her forearms loosen. Her typing got faster; her breathing got easier. Shed catch herself nodding her head as she wrote, almost like she was keeping time with the words as they rushed out of her.
When the library closed, Cath would dial 911 on her phone, then run back to the dorm as fast as she could with her finger on Call.
It was more than a week before she saw Levi again. She came home from class late one afternoon, and he was sitting on Reagans bed while Reagan typed.
Cather, he said, grinning, pulling his earphones out of his head. He was listening to a lecture; she knew that now. Reagan said he listened to them all the time, and that he even saved the ones he really liked.
Hey, he said. I owe you a beverage. Your choice, hot or fermented. I rocked that Outsiders quiz. Did Reagan tell you? I got an A.
Thats great, Cath said, trying not to let her face show how much she wanted to kiss and kill him.
Shed thought Reagan had to work tonight. That was the only reason Cath had come home. But she didnt have to stay here. She was going to meet Nick at the library later anyway.
Cath pretended to get something she needed out of her desk. A pack of gum.
Okay, she said, Im taking off.
But you just got here, Levi said. Dont you want to stay and talk about the symbolism of Johnnys relationship with Ponyboy? And the struggle between Sodapop and Darry? Hey, do you think theres such a thing as Outsiders fanfiction?
Ive gotta go, Cath said, trying to say it to Reagan. Meeting somebody.
Who are you meeting? Levi asked.
Nick. My writing partner.
Oh. Right. Do you want me to walk you home later?
Nickll probably walk me home, she said.
Oh. Levi brought his eyebrows together, but still smiled. Cool. Later.
She couldnt get away from him fast enough. She got to the library and wrote a thousand words of Carry On before Nick showed up.
* * *
Shut that thing down, Nick said. Youre corrupting my creative centers with static.
Thats what she said, Cath said, closing her laptop.
Nick looked dubious.
It was sort of a metaphysical thats what she said.
Ah. He set down his backpack and pulled out their notebook. You working on your final project?
Indirectly, Cath said.
What does that mean?
Have you ever heard sculptors say that they dont actually sculpt an object; they sculpt away everything that isnt the object?
No. He sat down.
Well, Im writing everything that isnt my final project, so that when I actually sit down to write it, thats all that will be left in my mind.
Clever girl, he said, pushing the open notebook toward her. She flipped through it. Nick had filled five pages, front and back, since theyd last met.
What about you? she asked.
I dont know, he said. I might turn in a story I worked on this summer.
Isnt that cheating?
I dont think so. Its more like being really ahead of schedule. All I can think about right now is this story. He nudged the notebook toward Cath again. I want you to read what I did.
This story. Their story. Nick kept trying to call it an anti-love story. But its not anti-love, shed argued.
Its anti- everything you usually find in a love story. Gooey eyes and you complete me.
You complete me is a great line, Cath said. You wish you came up with you complete me.
Cath didnt tell him that shed been writing love storiesrewriting the same love storyevery day for the last five years. That shed written love stories with and without the goo, love-at-first-sight stories, love-before-first-sight stories, love-to-hate-you stories.
She didnt tell Nick that writing love stories was her thing. Her one true thing. And that his anti-love story read like somebodys very first fanficMary Sue to the tenth power. That the main character was obviously Nick and that the girl was obviously Winona Ryder plus Natalie Portman plus Selena Gomez.
Instead Cath fixed it. She rewrote his dialogue. She reined in the quirk.
Whyd you cross that out? Nick said tonight, leaning over her left shoulder. He smelled good. (Breaking news: Boys smell good.) I liked that part, he said.