Love and Entropy: A Novella by Pryal Katie Rose Guest

Author:Pryal, Katie Rose Guest [Pryal, Katie Rose Guest]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Velvet Morning Press
Published: 2015-05-14T04:00:00+00:00

~~~~

On Monday, she’d come out of her apartment to find him leaning against his car.

“I was hoping to catch you before you got the bus,” he said without preamble.

“You timed it properly,” she said, nervous, wondering why he was at her home.

“Daphne told me where you lived.”

“I know. She told me you asked.” She scuffed a foot on the sidewalk. “Why didn’t you call first?”

“I wanted to surprise you. But I see I’ve creeped you out instead.”

Greta stayed silent, as there was no question that needed a response.

“OK, right,” South said, standing up, rubbing his hands on his jeans. “I came to see if you wanted a ride to chemistry. It’s really hot, and I thought you’d prefer a ride to waiting for the bus.”

“I see,” Greta said, but actually, she didn’t see everything she needed to. Why did South want to give her a ride? Surely coming to get her was less efficient than driving from his own apartment straight to class. And she and South weren’t friends. She couldn’t discern his motives at all.

“Do you? Want a ride?” he asked.

She considered her options. It was extremely hot. It was the hottest June she could ever recall, actually. The bus ran irregularly, so she would have to wait anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. Then, the walk from the stop to the chemistry building took another fifteen minutes. Because it was summer school, and the normal school-year parking restrictions were lifted, South would be able to park right next to the building. A ride with South meant she would arrive less sweaty and less sunburned to class.

“OK,” she said, and climbed into the car, taking in the light brown leather seats and the polished wood surfaces of the dashboard. Mostly, though, she appreciated the air conditioning.

During the week, while South drove her to and from lab, while they worked together on their experiments (and Greta tried harder to include him), Greta thought that maybe she and South had become friends. The thought made her happy. Her friendship with South was the only reason she’d agreed to come to this party, this fraternity party, at all. Even Daphne’s pleading wouldn’t have been enough to convince her if Greta didn’t trust South.

After they parked in South’s driveway, Greta counted three other equally expensive automobiles. The house itself was a spectacular mid-century style structure of glass, timber and steel, surrounded by pines and covered with multifarious decks overlooking the water.

As Greta opened her door, South came around the house to greet them. Since they’d been working together in lab the past week, Greta had realized he was smart, smarter than her other lab partners at least, and he made the lab time more pleasant rather than less. She also knew that, coming from her, these were serious compliments, even if they would make her sound weird if she spoke them aloud.

“Hey, Greta,” South said, after greeting Sutton and Daphne.

He seemed to have trouble meeting her eyes. She felt nervous, wondering if she’d done something wrong.

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