I look down at my cell and it’s 4:54pm. No sign of Ethan. No text to explain. What a douche. I mean, okay so I needed to be here anyway to collect books, but that’s not the point. He didn't know that. I can’t stand people that make plans and then break them without warning. It takes two seconds to send a text.
I’m packing up my things when Ethan Jamison barges through the library doors. He’s panting like he’s out of breath and his eyes are frantically scanning the almost empty room. Then they land on me. I stand completely frozen, mouth gaping like a total moron. Of freaking course it has to be that Ethan. He makes his way over, and the sound of his boots echoing through the otherwise silent room awakens me from my dumbstruck state. Emily’s letter flashes in my mind and I feel instantly embarrassed. Like, somehow he knows about it, which of course, he can’t, but I’m still panicking.
He stops a few feet short of my table and looks a little unsure. This isn't the cocky Ethan Jamison that struts around school thinking he’s god’s gift. It’s thrown me a little.
“Hey, um…I’m Ethan,” he says, looking down at me. He lays his guitar case down at his feet and then adjusts his backpack on his shoulders. “Are you the tutor, I mean, sorry…are you Blair?”
I never realized how tall he actually is up close and personal. I’ve seen him play at a gig for about two seconds once, but he was on a stage, so of course he’s gonna look taller than everyone else. Emily and I have only stalked him at a distance. His blue eyes are boring into mine and I'm just standing there. Staring. Like an idiot. He shifts his weight and I realize he’s asked me a question. I still haven't replied. Shit.
“Er…yeah, I’m Blair, nice to meet you. I was just about to go, I thought you weren't coming. You’re late.” The last part comes out all pissy like I'm mad at him.
An amused grin starts to form; his mouth pulling up slightly at one side and the boy has dimples—real life honest-to-god dimples.
I shake my head and practically bark out, “I’ve been waiting for you for almost a half hour. If you’re gonna be late when we meet, you could at least give me a heads up?” Oh my god, why the hell am I telling him off?
His smile widens and he’s not even trying to look sorry. He drops his backpack on the table and takes a seat.
“Yeah, I had practice and it ran over. Steve has a no phone rule, so it’s kinda hard to let you know when I don't have my cell.”
Steve is the music professor; he’s got the new age hippy vibe going on and makes all his students call him by his first name. I pull my chair back out and take a seat. “Okay. Well, um, let’s just get started then.”
I look up and his eyes are zeroed in on my chest. What a complete douche, he’s already ogling my boobs. I cough twice and raise my eyebrows in a ‘what the hell, my eyes are up here’ stare, and his cheeks immediately redden.
“Shit, no, I wasn't checking you out! I mean…um, I wasn't staring at your…fuck, well I kinda was but I mean, shit; I was just trying to read what your shirt says.”
Holy crap, this guy’s more awkward than I am. I laugh but it comes out more of a snort, not my most attractive feature.
“It says ‘come to the nerd side we have pi’. You know, pi as in the math term, that’s what the symbol represents.”
He’s just staring at me now and it’s my turn to feel all kinds of awkward. He breaks the silence by full-out laughing.
“I know I need a math tutor, Blair…but I know what the symbol for pi looks like. I’m actually not bad at math, I’ve just let it slip.”
I can’t help but laugh too. I'm pretty sure he’s laughing at me rather than with me, but it’s breaking the tension, so what the heck.
“Oh, well okay, so yeah, slogan tees are kind of my thing,” I say whilst trying to compose myself.
As first impressions go, I don't think this could have gone much worse. He probably thinks I am a giant geek and he wouldn't be far wrong. If Emily could witness this exchange, she would be in hysterics. I basically shout at the hottest guy in school for being late, accuse him of staring at my boobs, and then proceed to talk to him like a five-year-old and explain pi. Kill. Me. Now!
We've been in the library almost two hours and I'm absolutely starving. As if on cue, Ethan closes his textbook and leans back in his seat, stretching his arms above his head. I watch as the muscles in his chest and arms tense and suddenly, it’s not just food I'm hungry for. Ethan Jamison is HOT. I never really allowed myself to pay much attention to him. Emily crushed on him from the first day of school and called dibs, so I've never really given him a second thought. She used to make me take pictures of her while he was somewhere in the background and silly shit like that, but he was always her obsession, not mine. Sure, I knew he was good looking, I’m not blind or a lesbian, but hell, I should have paid more attention.