The Favor (A TKB AU)

16. Very Good Odds

"Wait—is this mine?" Noah asks, holding a well-worn Dodgers cap. "I thought I'd lost this. How did it end up here?"

"I, uh, I may have forgotten to return it." I admit with a laugh. I'm sitting on my bed, watching as Noah wanders my room. I'm not sure why, because that definitely wasn't why I suggested we hang out at my house.

"After stealing it from me?"

"No. After you lent it to me. That day your dad took us out on the boat and my hat fell overboard."

"But then you kept it. You stole my hat, Shelly. My most treasured, favorite hat. I can't believe you'd betray me like that."

He's not doing a great job of pretending to be outraged.

"I didn't steal it, I forgot to return it."

"I'm really not seeing the difference."

I leap off the bed so I can snatch the cap from his hands, then immediately hold it back out to him, mustering my most exasperated expression. "Hey, Noah, here's that hat back."

"Nah, you keep it. It looks better on you." Noah takes the cap from me and drops it on my head, and I can feel myself blushing even as I roll my eyes at him.

"Would you quit poking around my room? What are you looking for, anyway?"

I'm pretty sure anything I wouldn't want Noah to stumble upon is safely hidden away, but Noah wandering my room means Noah not sitting on the bed with me, and that means a waste of valuable privacy before my dad gets home.

"I hear you pacing around this place every time I call. Just trying to get a mental image for the next time."

His inspection of my bookshelves complete, Noah's attention turns to my desk. Which—damn it. Apparently not all the stuff I don't want him seeing is hidden away, because there, right at the top of a stack of papers, is a print out of an application I submitted not long ago. Submitted to Harvard, if we're being specific. There's no point hoping Noah won't notice, because he's already picked it up.

"I thought you promised to delete this. Something about how you didn't want another three years of me saving you from yourself." He's smirking, but there's also something cautiously hopeful about his expression.

"I believe it was you meddling I said I'd had enough of."

"Once again... not seeing the difference."

"Are you trying to make me change my mind?" I threaten.

Noah just shakes his head, his smug expression turning sincere. "So, you did apply?"

Guess I hadn't quite mentioned that to him yet.

"Me and fifty thousand others," I shrug, picking at a loose thread on my quilt rather than meeting his eyes. "That doesn't mean I'll get in."

"I've met the kind of idiots Harvard admitted last year. I like your odds."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." My odds are terrible, and I know he knows it, but I appreciate the sentiment.

"Want me to break into the admissions office and make sure your file ends up in the right pile?"

"That'd be helpful. Kind of a shame I won't get to see you after you're expelled, though."

"Guess that would defeat the purpose, huh?"

Noah's grinning, but something about his joke bothers me.

"It's not... I didn't apply because of you." I finally say. "Harvard's always been on my list."

"I know that, Elle. I was talking about my purpose—for sneaking into the admissions office. Not that you need my help to get in, either. I'm just saying... I'm glad you applied. Even though it had nothing to do with me."