Lou stood in the hallway frozen. She could hear the sound of Professor Cooksman's boots clicking around the corner. He would spot her any minute. She knew he was the most lenient of all the professors at her boarding school, but even he wouldn't overlook the fact that she was in the boy's dormitory well after midnight. Her days on the Student Leadership Council would be over. How could she have been stupid enough to fall for Hazel's trick and get locked in the bathroom for hours? Lou looked from the left to the right in hopes of finding a closet to hide in. Unfortunately, the doors were covered in names and posters indicating that they were actual rooms.
"Room Checks!" Professor Cooksman bellowed followed by the sound of him knocking loudly on a door.
Lou jumped slightly at the sound. Her heart stopped until she realized that he was still on the other side of the corner, checking the rooms on the hall perpendicular to the one she was currently on.
"Oh, cow patties," she said below a whisper. She eyed the vending machine at the end of the hall and wondered what were the chances of her successfully shoving herself behind it.
"Pssst!"
Lou quickly turned in the direction of the noise. Near the end of the hall, she saw Xander McCormick waving her forward. Lou glanced over her shoulder to make sure Professor Cooksman hadn't reached the hall yet. Still empty. Without a second thought, she raced toward Xander's room. She didn't take a breath until Xander quietly shut the door behind her.
"Thanks, Xander," Lou said with a grateful smile.
"No problem," Xander replied with a friendly shrug.
"Um, yes, problem!"
At first, Lou hadn't noticed anyone else in the room. She had been so focused on making sure she got behind the door before Professor Cooksman rounded the corner. Now she saw Ravi Ross glaring at her with his arms crossed over his space-themed pajamas.
"Hey, Ravi," Lou mumbled. She had forgotten that Xander and Ravi were roommates. She would have thought someone so chill and someone so uptight would hate living together.
"Dude, we can't just leave her out there to get in trouble," Xander yawned. "You're the one that told me she was out there."
Lou looked at Ravi, who pointed to a bag of pretzels on his desk. He said, "I went to the vending machine. Late night snack."
Lou almost made a light-hearted joke about the salty snack being appropriate for Ravi's attitude at the moment, but she decided against it. She didn't want to tick him off when his room was currently her safe haven.
"He didn't even bring me a granola bar," Xander yawned again.
Xander stretched and his muscles were clearly visible in his too-tight pajama shirt. Lou knew her best friend, Emma, would have traded anything to be the one trapped in Xander McCormick's room right now.
"We can't kick her out," he said as he scratched his side.
"Sure, we can," Ravi said flatly. "She's the one breaking the rules."
Lou scrunched her nose and made a face at Ravi. He returned the look with an eyeroll. Lou refocused her attention on Xander, looking at him with pleading eyes. She said, "I'll get kicked off the council if I'm caught."
"Serves you right," Ravi sniffed. "Though it will be difficult to find someone as passionate about the schedule as you in the meetings."
"Don't worry, Lou." Xander ignored his roommate and put a comforting hand on Lou's shoulder. He said, "We've got this. Why don't you go hide in Ravi's bed."
"What!" Ravi exclaimed.
"Uh, what?" Lou asked at the same time.
They all heard the sound of Professor Cooksman shouting and knocking on someone else's door. Xander glanced at the door and then took a few steps over to his own bed. He sat on the edge of the mattress and pointed beneath Ravi's bed, which was across from his.
"It's kind of a tight squeeze to get under there, so I think of the three of us, only Ravi's gonna fit. It's also way cleaner under his bed than mine, trust me," Xander explained. He pulled back his blanket and kicked his feet up. "While you hide under your bed, Ravi, Lou can hide in your bed. Just put the blanket over you, Lou. And then when Murphy comes in and flicks on the light, he'll just see 'us' sleeping."
"Or she could hide in the closet," Ravi said, pointing at the wardrobe in the corner. "Or leave so the rest of us don't get in trouble."
Lou frowned at Ravi. She knew he was big on rules, even before he joined the Student Leadership Council, because Emma was his sister and she complained about him enough for everyone to know. But Lou hadn't imagined that he was this bad. Most of the time he seemed okay, even helpful and occasionally funny on the council.
"No way," Xander said as he fluffed his pillow. "The closet is how Barbara got kicked out last semester."
"Kicked out?" Lou whispered in fear. She looked over at the door as if there were a monster looming behind it.
"You guys didn't hear about that?" Xander said nonchalantly. "Well, I know you heard about Roger. That's how he was caught and kicked out, too."
Lou had heard about Roger. He was captain of the lacrosse team and at the boarding school on a scholarship. Everyone had been shocked when Director Swearingen expelled him for being caught in the girls' dormitory after curfew. But the Director had always been unpredictable. One moment she couldn't care less about how the students behaved and the next she was kicking students out for rule violations as minimal as missing an exam. It wasn't lost on Lou that Director Swearingen tended to be harsher to scholarship students whose parents couldn't afford to send big checks for her varicose vein surgeries or luxury vehicles.
"I can't believe I'm gonna get kicked out," Lou wheezed. She used her hand to fan her face as she panicked.
"Shh!" Xander warned as his eyes bounced from Lou to the door.
Lou didn't hear or see Xander. She was too busy imagining the look of disappointment on her mother's face. The first Hockhauser to attend such a fancy secondary school was also about to be the first Hockhauser kicked out of one.
"Lou," Ravi whispered gently. He lightly touched her elbow, but it was enough to get her out of her own head. "You can stay."
Her heart had been racing, but the kind look in Ravi's eyes was enough to calm it slightly.
"Here," Ravi said as he pulled back the blanket on his bed. He glanced down at her feet. "But please remove your shoes."
"Hurry," Xander whispered as he eyed the door.
Lou nodded quickly. She wiggled her feet out of her Mary Jane flats and then moved over to the bed. She paused as she looked down at the light blue sheets. She looked over at Ravi beside her, who was motioning for her to hurry up.
"What?" he whisper-shouted with his eyebrows raised.
"It's weird getting in someone else's bed," she whispered back.
They both jumped slightly as a door slammed nearby. Lou didn't need any more of a warning. She hopped into the bed and threw the blanket over her head. There was a click like a lamp being turned off. She heard Ravi mutter something and then crawl under the bed. Lou peeked from beneath the blanket to see where her shoes had gone, but they were no longer in the middle of the floor.
"Room check!"
Lou's heart sank to her toes when she heard the knock on Xander and Ravi's door. She covered her face entirely and shut her eyes. She heard Professor Cooksman wiggle the doorknob. Her blood ran cold when she heard his footsteps in the room.
"Professor?" Xander said in a sleepy tone. He let out a big yawn and sat up slightly in the bed. In an innocent tone he asked, "What's going on?"
Professor Cooksman flicked on the main light. His eyes scanned the room as he said, "Gladys got a tip from her niece. Now she wants me to sniff out who's here after curfew?"
Xander's eyelids were low as he snorted. "A tip from Hazel?"
"I know!" Professor Cooksman sighed, throwing up his hands. "Kid's as nutty as her aunt. I should be watching my favorite cooking competition right now. Not on a wild goose chase."
"Well, I know pretty much everyone on this hall. You don't have to worry about us sneaking in girls."
Professor Cooksman let out a gruff chuckle as he leaned against Xander's wardrobe in the corner. "I have heard the kids call this 'Geek Row' on occasion."
Xander nodded casually. He shrugged, "What can I say? Our reputation precedes us."
The professor shook his head. He raised his eyebrow at Xander and said, "But you… you're no geek." Quickly, the man turned and flung open the doors of the wardrobe. A few empty hangers between blazers moved.
"Murphy! How could you think I'd break the rules!" Xander yelped in feigned surprise. He focused on not glancing at Ravi's bed, afraid to give any signs of something being amiss.
"You know you're not supposed to call me Murphy," the professor said as he walked over to the other wardrobe.
"Sorry, Professor," Xander said. He wanted Murphy out of the room as quickly as possible. He knew he had to say something to get him to leave. "Are you really checking Ravi's wardrobe?"
Professor Cooksman paused. He folded his mouth and looked around the room again. "You're right," the man sighed. "That kid's the biggest narc there is."
"Yep," Xander said, forcing a laugh. "Ravi has a… healthy respect for the rules."
"Kid's a mess. I heard he ratted at his own brother once. Sisters, too. But you know those rich kids don't get Gladys' wrath half as bad as everyone else. That Morgan Ross guy threw a few grand her way and it was like nothing happened," Professor Cooksman said as he leaned his back casually against Ravi's wardrobe.
"Yep," Xander replied. He wished the professor would leave. Or at least not trash talk his roommate while that roommate was under the bed listening to everything they were saying.
"And you didn't hear it from me, but the Director has a thing for Ross. They went to school together back in the day and she still has the hots for him," the professor gossiped.
Xander nodded. He blinked rapidly and let out another big yawn. "I'm so beat. I better get back to sleep," he said, hoping Murphy took the hint.
"And I better get back to work." The professor turned to face the wardrobe, but his hand hovered over the handle. He chuckled and said over his shoulder to Xander, "What am I doing? Like that kid would have a girl in his room! Now him I believe lives on Geek Row."
Xander folded his lips and concentrated on not giving Murphy an annoyed look.
The professor laughed again as he made his way to the exit. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at Ravi's bed. He furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "Hey, isn't the Ross kid kinda scrawny?"
Xander looked over at the bed and his stomach sank. Lou's shape looked a lot different under the blanket than Ravi's did. For starters, she wasn't in the fetal position, which was the way he had seen Ravi sleep.
"Um, uh, yeah. But he mentioned something about being cold? I think he's loaded up with blankets tonight. Yeah, that's why it looks so different," Xander answered. He hoped the nerves weren't evident in his voice.
"Huh," Professor Cooksman said as his expression brightened. "I'll have maintenance checkout the cooling and heating system tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Night," Xander replied. He held his breath until the professor flicked off the light and shut the door.
Lou thought the professor would never leave. She had nearly freaked out several times while listening to him chit chat with Xander. If it weren't for the calming jasmine scent of Ravi's pillow, she may not have survived. His blanket was also warm and soft like a hug. It was the perfect cocoon for not flipping out over the threat of expulsion.
"I think we're clear, guys," Xander announced after a full minute had gone by. He clicked on his lamp and watched Ravi crawl from under the bed and Lou lift the blanket.
"Can you believe the audacity of that man?" Ravi huffed as he paced the room. "If I'm such a 'narc' then why have I not called for an investigation of his teaching credentials," he said using finger quotes. "Surely he cannot actually be qualified to be a professor."
Lou's heart felt lighter now that she had successfully been hidden. She smirked and said, "Looks like someone hit a nerve."
"I wouldn't have had to endure such verbal abuse if it weren't for you," he said with his eyes narrowed at her.
"Who cares? You're not a narc. You helped me," Lou said with a grateful smile.
"Um, uh," Ravi stammered as he gazed at her. He narrowed his eyes and turned to dramatically throw up his arms. "How unprofessional was that?"
"I'm sure Murphy meant nothing by it," Xander said unconvincingly.
"He called me a geek," Ravi mumbled as he walked over to his wardrobe. He opened it to reveal his neatly arranged uniforms. "He didn't even check my closet."
"Good. He couldn't leave soon enough," Lou sighed in relief as she rested her feet on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed.
"And if it helps, I live on Geek Row, too," Xander said as he leaned against his pillows.
Ravi gave him a look and said flatly, "He checked your closet."
"True," Lou nodded absentmindedly. "You are no geek."
"Don't you wish to leave now?" Ravi said to Lou. He looked to Xander for confirmation, but his roommate was shaking his head no.
"If she leaves now then she will for sure get caught." Xander let out a genuinely sleepy yawn. He shut off his lamp and the room darkened except for the nightlight near one of the desks. With tired eyes, he looked over at Lou and said, "You better sleepover. I'll make sure you get out of here without being seen in the morning."
"Then where am I supposed to sleep?" Ravi whined.
Lou didn't want to sleep over, but she knew Xander was right about being caught. She had already gotten lucky once. She couldn't risk it. She glanced at the floor. It wasn't like she hadn't slept on the floor before. And one uncomfortable night on the rug was worth not being kicked out of school in her senior year.
"You sleep in your bed," Lou said as she stood up. "This rug looks much cozier than a bus sending me back to my hometown."
The annoyed expression quickly faded from Ravi's face. He looked a bit guilty, and that kind look from earlier returned to his eyes. Lou thought to herself that he had nice eyes. He took a small step towards her.
"I didn't mean…" Ravi started but was interrupted by his roommate.
"Don't be silly," Xander said in a sleepy tone. He shuffled over and lifted his blanket. "We can't let a guest sleep on the floor. There's room with me… sorta."
Lou's face heated up. Xander was easily considered the hottest guy at her school. She knew for a fact that if Hazel Swearingen ever knew Lou had the opportunity to snooze beside Xander, she would cut Lou's heart out of her chest and wear it like a necklace. Emma wouldn't be as extreme, but she probably wouldn't be too happy about it either.
"I didn't mean to suggest that she sleep on the floor," Ravi said under his breath.
"Um, thanks… but I don't think your girlfriend would be cool with that," Lou said to Xander as she shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. "Not that we'd be cuddling or anything…" She looked to Ravi for input but he was already getting comfortable in his own bed.
"I don't have a girlfriend," Xander mumbled, half-asleep already. He lowered the blanket and kicked his legs slightly.
"I heard Hazel spreading that rumor again," Ravi said with his back resting against his pillow. He sounded fully awake.
"She's the worst," Xander groaned. He sniffled and snuggled into his blanket. "You're my friend. I don't mind. Don't sleep on the floor, Lou…" And with that he began to lightly snore.
Lou tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed. Honestly, the floor wasn't that appealing. She took the few steps toward Xander's bed and lightly picked up the corner of his blanket.
"I can't," Lou sighed as she released the blanket and leaned away from the bed. She looked over her shoulder at Ravi and said, "Emma would be devastated."
"Right," Ravi drawled. "She has a huge crush on Xander. Not that she's talked about it with me recently. She's still peeved that I told our parents that she was the one that maxed out the Amex."
"Yeah, I don't know what that means. But how much would she hate me?"
Ravi rolled his eyes. "She loves you. I've actually heard her say it. And yet she forgets my birthday."
"That doesn't answer my question, Ravi." She bit her lip in thought. "It's not like I have a crush on him or anything."
"I thought everyone had a crush on him," Ravi said, sounding a little jealous.
"Not me."
Ravi blinked. He looked as if he were about to say something, but then he folded his hands over his chest and said, "If you choose to stand there hunched over in indecision, please do so quietly. I have a test in the morning."
"Thanks for the help, Ravi," Lou murmured as she faced Xander's bed. She picked up the edge of the blanket again. "I can't do it!" She declared as she skipped away from Xander's bed and stood beside Ravi's. She said in a sad tone, "I would feel like the worst bestie ever."
"Ugh, you are so much trouble, Lou Hockhauser," Ravi grumbled as he scooted towards the wall to make room in his bed. He removed his legs from under the blanket so that he rested on top of it. "Hurry, some of us need our rest."
Lou leaned away from Ravi's bed and raised her eyebrow at him. "What are you doing?"
Ravi rolled his eyes. "Xander will be peeved if I make you sleep on the floor. And because I have a sensitive back there is no way that I'm sleeping on the floor. I already had to crawl under this dreadful bed."
"How can you have a sensitive back when you're sixteen?"
"Sleep on the floor."
"Alright, alright," Lou said in a rush. She got into the bed and under the blanket with none of the hesitation that she had experienced with Xander's side of the room. "You're one cranky fella, you know."
"Maybe I'm cranky because it's nearly 1 a.m. and someone is interrupting my sleep," Ravi snarked.
Lou rolled her eyes. She didn't feel like arguing. It had already been a long night. She turned her face toward him and inhaled deeply the scent of his pillow. The calming effect worked immediately.
"Um, why are you sniffing my pillow?" Ravi asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Sorry," Lou replied with an embarrassed look.
He smiled at her and it made something in her heart flutter. She turned over again, so that she was staring up at the ceiling. A moment passed with silence filling the room. Lou closed her eyes and then opened them again. She whispered, "I can't sleep."
She waited for a response. Silence. She spoke again, "I said I…"
"I heard you," Ravi sighed. He opened his eyes so that he was also looking up at the ceiling. "I was ignoring you...because it's 1 a.m."
Lou frowned. "Well, it's easy for you to go to sleep. It's your bed. I can't just fall asleep in someone else's bed." She snuggled into the blanket. "No matter how comfy it is. Where did you get this thing? Heaven!"
"I ordered it from a luxury bedding site, now will you please be quiet. You're worse than my siblings."
"What does that mean?" Lou asked as she traced the shadows that the nightlight made on the ceiling.
Ravi let out a frustrated sigh. "When my brother was younger, he had this stuffed animal that he couldn't sleep without. Something happened and it was missing for almost a week. And guess who had to take the Koala's place? Worst sleep of my life. Luke farts in his sleep."
Lou scrunched her nose and chuckled. It made him chuckle too.
"Then when Zuri stayed up too late watching scary movies and couldn't sleep, whose bed did she decide to sneak into? Kicking me and jabbing me with those bony elbows." He held his arm in memory of the pain.
"Ouch." Lou could remember a few times when her younger cousins slept with her and they jabbed her with their bony elbows.
"The worst of all was Emma! I made the mistake of sharing a tent with her when my parents spontaneously decided that roughing it would be better than staying in a resort. I should have taken my chances sleeping over with a Grizzly bear."
Lou snorted with laughter. Her bestie was always so dainty, but Lou knew what sharing a bed with Emma was like. Almost everyone on campus had a roommate except for the lucky few that were able to get a single room. Emma was one of those few. She had invited Lou over for a sleepover junior year and after suffering through that sleep, Lou vowed never to sleep over again.
"Okay, I've dealt with Emma before. How am I worse than that?" Lou asked. She could feel herself getting sleepy, but she wasn't ready to drift off yet.
"For starters, she actually went to sleep," Ravi answered in a tired tone.
Lou sighed and closed her eyes. She was taking over his space, so she could at least try and go to sleep. She thought maybe counting sheep would help. But whenever she tried, she'd just end up thinking about how adorable sheep were.
"She also wasn't so...warm," Ravi said, breaking the few minutes of silence.
Lou blinked. "Me? The blanket's warm."
"I'm not under the blanket." He tried to scoot away from her. "It's your shoulder. It's warm." He was already where the edge of the bed met the wall, but their shoulders were still pressed together.
"There's only so much room, Ravi. I don't mind sleeping on the..."
"No!" He shifted slightly. "I mean it's fine. It's just… She also didn't… smell."
Lou frowned. She sniffed her armpit but only smelled the deodorant that she had put on so many hours ago. "No, I don't." She sniffed the air. "Oh, you mean your pillow. Smells like jasmine."
"It's not my pillow. It's you. You smell like… I don't know. Good."
Lou tilted her head to the side slightly to look at him. He was staring up at the ceiling with his arms crossed. She had never been this close to Ravi before. She hardly ever spent time with him even though she hung out with Emma, Zuri and Luke all the time. He always seemed too busy or too annoyed to do anything with them.
"How come you don't hang out with them more? Your brother and sisters?" she quietly asked.
"I do," he answered with a shrug. "I mean, whenever we visit home I do."
"I meant here."
Ravi quietly thought for a moment. "I suppose… their friends aren't really my friends… Not all popular people are like Xander."
Lou knew what he meant. Xander was friends with everyone. He wasn't the type of popular guy that would ever designate a place "Geek Row." But there were plenty of people that were that type. And she supposed the Ross siblings, with the exception of Ravi, hung out with a lot of those types of people. Even she hung out with those types of people. And even though no one said anything to her face, she knew they made fun of her and anyone else who wasn't perfect. Because she needed a scholarship at a school for rich kids and because she played on the football team, made her an easy target. But she was a friendly person and she was friends with Emma, so that made her pretty popular. She knew, however, that Ravi was the smartest and snarkiest person at the school and somehow people decided that made him an easier target.
"You shouldn't care what people think," Lou said as she studied the profile of his face. She had always thought he was cute, but he looked better this close.
"I don't care what people think," he said, looking over at her.
They made eye contact and Lou felt her heart rate quicken. Her face felt hot, so she turned away to look at the ceiling. Ravi turned away just as quickly.
"Um, which is why I don't bother to hang out with my siblings when they're around those types of people," he said in a shaky voice. He cleared his throat. "We should go to sleep now."
"Do you think I'm one of those types of people?" Lou asked, unable to stop herself. "Whenever I'm around… you seem to be… I don't know. Extra annoyed or something?"
He turned his head and gazed at her. As if he didn't want her to hear him, he said below a whisper, "You're the sweetest person at this school."
But she did hear him. Lou felt like her breath was caught in her chest. She hadn't expected him to say that. Especially with his voice so low and quiet. She tilted her head so she could look into his eyes again. "Then why were you gonna kick me out earlier?" she whispered back.
"I was bluffing," he answered honestly. "I can't have Xander thinking I'm open to just breaking the rules all loosey goosey. He's already too lax anyway."
"I say loosey goosey," Lou said, getting lost in his eyes.
"I know. You're the only person I've ever heard say it," he said with a small smile. "And I remember everything that you say. And there's no way that I'd ever kick you out."
Lou wasn't sure if it was the blanket keeping her warm or the pillow's scent intoxicating her anymore. She thought maybe she should have considered how easy it was for her to share space with him before she had gotten to the point where she was speechless.
He continued, "I know I seem… annoyed with you sometimes. But it's only because… I…"
"Yeah?"
For a moment, Ravi's eyes flickered to Lou's lips. But he inhaled deeply and turned away to stare up at the ceiling. Lou felt disappointment rush over her, but she was finally able to catch her breath.
"We better go to sleep," Ravi said in a distant tone.
"Yeah. Goodnight," Lou quietly agreed.
"Goodnight."
Lou snuggled into the blanket and pressed her face into the pillow, hoping to cool down her face. Ravi scooted closer to the wall to create as much space between them as possible.
The next morning, as Lou groggily followed Xander to sneak her out of the boys' dormitory, she wished she had slept on the floor or stayed trapped in that bathroom or anything else. Because at least she would have been able to sleep. But instead, she lay awake all night unable to stop thinking about the person so near to her and what he had been about to say.