Free The Trouble With Flirting by Rachel Morgan

glad Adam isn’t here right now to see this. I press the ‘Start’ button and step back. A humming noise begins, which I think is supposed to happen. I leave quickly, hoping the machine doesn’t explode or leak or eat all my clothes.
    I make myself a cup of pomegranate flavoured rooibos tea before heading back to my room to begin the arduous task of pretending to study.

    ***

    Afternoon status: I’ve almost fallen asleep twice, sent three different cat videos to Adam, and been on Facebook at least once every twenty minutes. I found Jackson on Facebook and contemplated adding him as a friend, but I didn’t want to seem desperate. Allegra says I should be doing the hard-to-get thing.
    I also did some studying. The content itself isn’t all that difficult to understand or remember. It’s just tremendously boring.
    I hear laughter coming from Adam’s bedroom. He could be laughing at the cat videos, The Big Bang Theory , or something entirely different. Whatever the cause, I’d far rather be in the fun room than in the forcing-myself-to-study room.
    Time for a break.
    I jump up and cross the passage to his room. I tap on the door, then open it. “Have you watched the third one yet?” I ask. “Because that one is the—Oh, sorry.” Adam’s sitting at his desk in front of his computer, but it isn’t a cat video or a TV series on the screen. It’s his girlfriend.
    “Is that Livi?” she asks.
    “Yes.” Adam tilts the screen slightly so the webcam can see me.
    “Hey, Jenna.” I take a few steps forward and wave, kicking a pile of Xbox controllers at the same time. “Oh, crap, sorry,” I say to Adam, who’s giving me an odd look. I crouch down and slide the controllers to the side of the room. “Hey again!” I say with a cheery smile and another wave as I jump up. “How’s matric going?”
    “Oh, you know, it’s not too bad so far,” Jenna says. “I just can’t wait for this year to be over so I’ll finally be done with high school, you know?”
    “Yes, I know exactly what you mean.”
    She smiles—the kind of awkward smile that tells me she’s not sure what else to say.
    “You’re so lucky to have Adam as you boyfriend,” I tell her as I lean against his chair. “I think I can safely say he’s the only reason Sarah and I passed physics.”
    Jenna nods. “Yeah, I know, I’m very lucky to have him.”
    Adam’s ears turn pink.
    Jenna’s gaze moves back and forth between the two of us.
    Right. My cue to leave.
    “Anyway, you guys enjoy your chat. Nice to see you, Jenna.” I hurry out of the room, being careful not to walk into anything else.
    I plop myself back down at my desk and stare at my textbook.
    Focus.
    Read.
    Understand and remember.
    Somehow, I find myself getting into it for the first time all day. It’s not as though it’s become any more interesting, but I’m less distracted. It grows darker outside, rain patters down, and I keep reading, highlighting, and making notes from my textbook.
    “Hey.”
    I look up and see Adam in my doorway. “Oh, hey.” I replace the cap on my yellow highlighter.
    “You’re wearing my jersey,” he says.
    “What?” I look down at myself. “Oh, yeah. Mine are all dirty. I mean, I know it’s summer, but the aircon is always on in those lecture theatres, and it ends up freezing. So, yeah. All dirty.” I start to feel uncomfortable beneath his unblinking gaze.
    “You know that your clothes will continue to be dirty unless you wash them, right?”
    “Yes, I know. I actually did some laundry this—Oh, crud, I forgot. My clothes are still in the machine.” I push my chair away from the desk and stand up. “So much laundry, so little time,” I say with a laugh, trying to lighten the atmosphere that suddenly feels way more tense than it should.
    “Maybe if you spent some of your early mornings doing laundry instead of doing your hair, you wouldn’t have this problem.”
    “Well, yes, but then I’d have hair problems.” Another smile.