Anya shook her head, looking amused, her smile becoming even more radiant.
"Here on business?"
Another shake of her head.
"Then what? Just in the neighborhood? Visiting a professor?"
"Wrong again. I'll give you a hint: I'm sticking around for a few years."
No way. She was more impatient than he was, and the look of fond exasperation she gave him was utterly adorable.
"Oh! You're here for a job, aren't you?"
Marcus said it with confidence, sure he'd finally figured it out.
"What is going on in that head of his? It's so obvious, yet he can't see it. I really want to know what's rattling around in there."
Marcus felt a wave of dizziness. 'Give me a break. It was just a guess. Since when is being wrong a crime?' But Chloe didn't see it that way; she had to take another shot at him. The timing was so forced, so completely unreasonable.
He decided to let it go. He was the bigger person. Arguing with a girl was a lose-lose situation. Even if she was dead wrong and he was a hundred percent right, contradicting her; especially one who looked like Chloe, was a recipe for disaster. Besides, from what he remembered, Chloe never really talked to guys, except for him. So, he felt a prick of annoyance, mixed with a weird, grudging sense of privilege.
"Seriously, Marcus, are you always this slow?"
That was a surprise. Usually when Chloe came at him, Anya would jump in to defend him, reeling Chloe in and saving him some face. But today, she was acting different, just standing there and siding with her.
"Marcus, Chloe and I are back at Crestwood for the semester."
Anya, seeing his blank look, got more flustered than he was and just blurted it out.
"The semester? At Crestwood? You're in grad school?"
"Yeah. What, you sound like you didn't think I could get into Crestwood's grad program."
"No, no, that's not it at all. I just hadn't heard you were applying. You showing up out of the blue like this, the thought never even crossed my mind."
He'd never doubted Anya's brains for a second. When they graduated, she could have waltzed right into the grad program here without even taking the exams, but for some reason she'd passed on it and moved back home. Even if she had to compete for a spot, Crestwood was a top-three school, brutally competitive, but Anya could absolutely handle it.
"Still, Anya, we're friends, aren't we? Why wouldn't you tell me about something this big? You didn't even let me celebrate with you. If I hadn't run into you today, I'd still be in the dark."
He tried to put on an annoyed face, but underneath, he just felt a little hollow. A little lost.
Maybe Anya only saw him as a friend, and a pretty casual one at that. She hadn't even mentioned she was applying. It wasn't like he could've helped with her application or anything, but his apartment was right next to campus. They were bound to run into each other eventually.
"Why would he need to know? It's not like you two are anything special."
Chloe, seeing that Marcus had been tuning her out, got even more pissed. She seized the opening to take another swipe at him.
Feeling down, Marcus didn't even bother reacting to Chloe's jab this time, but his mood sank another notch.
"Chloe." Anya, seeing Chloe gearing up for more, quickly cut her off, not wanting to make Marcus feel worse.
"Marcus, don't mind Chloe, she's just like that. Actually, I…" Anya looked nervous, watching the expression on his face.
"Hey, it's fine, Anya. Seriously, congratulations."
Seeing Anya look so worried, Marcus cut her off. Whatever else was going on, Anya was back at school. That meant he'd be seeing her again. And that, to him, was a good thought.
"Anya, congrats on grad school, and welcome back to Crestwood. This is huge, we should celebrate. Let me take you out to dinner?" Lucas, standing off to the side, suddenly chimed in.
Of course. The second this Marcus guy shows up, Lucas might as well be furniture. He was so mad he could barely speak, just standing there like a stump. But he couldn't let their conversation progress too far. He'd been planning to ask Anya out himself, so he jumped in, desperate to remind her he was still there.
Marcus almost winced. 'This guy has guts, I'll give him that. But he's clearly asking for a world of pain.'
Anya was one of Crestwood's campus queens. If she was that easy to ask out, the line would stretch around the block. As far as Marcus knew, no guy had ever successfully gotten a date with her.
"No, we've got stuff to do."
Anya didn't say anything, but Chloe shot Lucas down flat.
"Maybe another time?"
Lucas wasn't giving up.
"We'll see. We've got to go."
With that, Chloe started pulling Anya away.
"Alright then. Lucas, Marcus, see you."
"Okay, another time, Anya. If you need anything on campus, just look me up at the Student Union. Anyone can point you my way." Lucas could only surrender.
"Sounds good, thanks. I'm sure I'll be bothering you eventually. Bye. Marcus, see you."
After Anya spoke, she and Chloe walked past Marcus, heading toward the campus gates.
"Hmph, player."
Marcus was baffled. He honestly had no clue when or how he'd managed to piss Chloe off so much. As she brushed past him, she muttered it under her breath. She didn't use his name or say it to his face, but any idiot could tell it was meant for him.
She was clearly gunning for him. But 'player'? A 'Casanova'? He had nothing in common with those guys. He was a one-woman kind of guy, even if he occasionally wished he had the nerve not to be.
He bit his tongue. What was the point? Chloe was a knockout, and more importantly, she was Anya's best friend and personal companion. Pissing her off was a bad move. She'd whisper something in Anya's ear and tank whatever was left of his reputation.
Even if nothing was ever going to happen between him and Anya, he still cared what she thought of him.
"Marcus."
"Huh?"
Anya had gotten about ten feet away when she suddenly turned back and called his name, making him instantly tense up.