Sky blows her nose into another tissue. The trash can in the radio station is full of tissue-covered snot.

She's been feeling terrible ever since she woke up this morning, but she has class today and she can't miss it just because she feels like shit.

"You're so gross," Tobin complains from her place on the microphone, scrunching her nose at the sight. "Can't you go to the lounge?"

"Can't," she mutters, focusing on the task at hand. "I'm grading exam papers. I need these graded before class and this place is nearer."

Harvey Ryerson gets another 100. Fuck him and fuck his stupid brains.

"Why is he so smart, I don't get it!" Sky whines, putting her head in her hands. "Why is he not stupid? Why couldn't he have been stupid? And why is this doing things to me?" She kicks the air with her legs aimlessly.

Tobin isn't even listening. "This song's for Agnes Abernathy," she says in the mic. "You're pretty, I'm pretty, what's the hold up? This is Falling by Harry Styles."

Then she saunters up to Sky and says, "You're sick, get out."

"Shhhhh!" Sky furrows her eyebrows at her, putting her index finger to her lips. Tobin stares at her, unimpressed. "Don't acknowledge them. The germs will hear you and feel validated. Then I'll really be that."

"Why does Harvey Ryerson even like you?"

"He said what I did to Billy was hot," Sky answers, bundling herself up in the blankets draped over her.

It's a reasonable answer. Harvey said so himself.

But she also doesn't know why. Does he actually like her? Or does he just enjoy the thrill of it?

"Bet. And are you annoyed that he's smart because you find it attractive and sexy as hell and you don't want to?"

"Yes," Sky says truthfully. She shoves his paper to her friend's face. "Look at this shit. This essay is—what the fuck, I want to suck him—"

"You literally can't because you're sick." Tobin grins. "But I'm sure he'll take you up on that when you're all better. I'm going to the bathroom."

Sky grumbles, "I'll alert the media, then."

"When I'm back make sure you're gone. I'm not the only person manning this booth, you know."

Sky rolls her eyes and Tobin leaves, but she makes sure she's gone from her territory in two minutes—even with her sluggish movements, Sky manages to make it past the hallway, cradling the exam papers, and she wants to crumple Harvey's sheet and shove it in his face and maybe go down on her knees and—

"Sky!" Bennett says, waving. He steps closer to her and pushes his glasses up his nose. "Wow, you look terrible."

She knows she does. She sniffles. "I know, sir, I'm sorry."

"Your voice is also terrible."

Sky's shoulders drop. She sighs. "I think I'm sick, but it's fine. I can still go to class."

"Don't worry about it," Bennett tells her, shaking his head. "I'll fill you in via email later, you should go get some rest. I don't want you passing this—" he waves his hand around her whole body—"on to the students."

Sky already has a protest at the tip of her tongue before her professor finishes his sentence. "But sir—"

"If you don't turn around right now, I'm going to fire you," he warns her, raising an eyebrow.

And Sky knows he's not fucking around. Pouting, she turns around and grumbles, "Bye, sir."

"Get some rest!" he calls after her. "Check your email tonight!"

Sky heads to the student lounge and drops her head on her desk. While she's annoyed she won't be able to go to class today, she's also partly grateful Bennett let her off. Her head is throbbing, her throat feels sore, and she wants to go home and curl up in a ball under eleven blankets—

Her phone buzzes with an email notification. Without raising her head, she opens the application with a weak finger and reads it through.

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: ?????

Body: Sky, are you neglecting your duties as a TA? :)

Attachment: 1 picture

The picture is a selfie of him with one eyebrow raised and one arm tucked behind his head. He's in a black shirt and his hair looks all messed up and Sky takes an embarrassing amount of time staring at it before she remembers she needs to reply.

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: go away

Body: no

Harvey doesn't take a minute to respond.

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: :(

Body: Don't tell me you're fett up with me already :( get it *slaps knee

Sky can admit that the pun made her smile. Just a tiny bit.

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: (blank)

Body: i'm sick, you mold. stop emailing me and listen in class bc bennett's already there. and don't you dare sleep i dont care if you have perfect scores today's lecture is amazing

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: :D

Body: I can't

Sky furrows her eyebrows.

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: ???

Body: wdym you can't you're literally sitting in class

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: :DDDD

Body: Not anymore :D I started packing my shit when you said you were sick, I'm otw to the student lounge :DDD

Sky sits up too fast. Through her blurry vision, she struggles to type her frantic response.

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: NO

Body: GO BACK TO CLASS

But the door's already opening and Harvey walks in with that sickening, sweet smile. Sky groans and thumps her head on her desk three times.

He's in the black shirt he was wearing in the picture, and seeing it in person is...Sky hates it. She wants to burn that black shirt.

"I know you're happy to see me," he says lightly, grabbing the nearest chair. He drops something on the table. "Here, I brought you food."

Sky sits up and rummages through the paper bag.

Harvey chuckles and leans forward, propping his chin on his palm to watch her. "You're so cute."

He's lying. She is anything but cute right now. "Thanks for this," she manages to say, grabbing a cookie from the box. "Did you bake these?"

"Helped my sister out," he answers. "Good?"

She stuffs the whole thing in her mouth and nods. "Go back to class," she says once she can speak. She grabs another cookie.

Harvey stares at her, amused. "Nah, I like it here."

She glares at him. God, that...that stupid shirt. "Today's discussion is about women in the—"

"Neo-elamite and Persian periods, I know, I can afford to miss a lecture," he says cockily, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've already read the chapter."

What the fuck. Sky shoves another cookie in her mouth. "What are your classes this term?" she asks, wanting to deflect the topic already. She already knew he's smart and he works hard, but hearing him say he read a chapter on the book Sky worked on in advance—it's ridiculous, she knows.

"Math 3 and 4," Harvey says, "Electronic Circuits, Dynamics of Bio Fluids, Medical Instrumentation, Switch Theory and Local Design—"

"Stop." Sky holds a hand up. "You're making my headache worse."

Harvey grins. "You asked."

Sky finishes the cookies. She looks at Harvey. "Are you really going to stay here?"

"My next class is at six," he says, smiling at her. "So I have until then to entertain you and keep you company."

"I don't need entertainment and company."

"You're getting them anyway. Here." He shoves his hand in his bag and searches around. "My mom makes me carry these around in case." Harvey hands her a tablet. "Take it, you'll feel better."

"How do I know you're not drugging me?"

Harvey laughs. Loudly. It makes the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she looks away, clearing her throat. "Then take it when you're home and safe," he says, still chuckling to himself. "I'm not gonna drug you, Sky. I like you but I'm not an asshole."

Sky knows that. It's annoying how she knows that. She clears her throat again and points at the shelf behind him. "I need to get some work done before I go home. Could you give me a hand and—"

"Sure." He grabs her hand and holds it, mouth turning up at the corners.

Sky stares at their hands. It's warm, and his fingers are long, and his palm is a bit calloused but it's warm—"You're cute but that's not what I meant. Get me my laptop."

Harvey blinks at her. He still doesn't let go. "Did you just call me cute?"

Sky doesn't answer him and pulls her arm back. "If you don't get my laptop I'm going to kick you out."

Harvey scrambles for her laptop and carefully sets in front of her.

They don't talk while Sky works. Harvey watches her with his chin on his palm, head tilted to the side. It's unnerving, and Sky squirms under the attention. She tells him this and Harvey just laughs and pulls out his notebook for class. It's filled with science and math terms she doesn't know and doesn't care about, but Sky steals glances at him.

His jaw ticks and his lips move in silent mumbles as he works on a problem. His jawline is so sharp that Sky wants to run a finger over it, just to feel the hard line on her skin. His hair—his hair had always looked so brown and soft and messed up, and it's shorter than last semester but Sky wants to try and see how soft it is with her fingers—

"Why are you staring at me?" Harvey murmurs, not looking up.

Sky quickly returns her attention to her laptop. "I wasn't."

It's useless to lie. It's embarrassing.

But Harvey doesn't tease. He just chuckles quietly to himself and works silently beside her.

Sky checks her emails, and the recent one is from the annoyingly handsome and smart jerk beside her. She clears her throat. "Don't email me again if it's not about class."

"Give me your number, then," Harvey says immediately, pulling out his phone with his free hand. He keeps working on his problem.

"No." The word is out of Sky's lips before she thinks about it.

Harvey finally meets her gaze. He raises an eyebrow. "I'll ask Tobin."

Words spoken to Tobin earlier this afternoon flashes in Sky's mind. She told her Harvey's smart, and it's annoying because she finds it attractive, and she wants to suck him—

Knowing her, she wouldn't hesitate throwing Sky to the wolves.

Sky grabs the phone. "Don't text me unless it's important."

Harvey just smiles in response.

She returns the phone to him, and he takes it, tapping on the screen. His smile grows wider.

"What?"

Harvey shows the phone to her. He saved her as crushie with a bunch of pink hearts beside it.

Sky lunges for the phone, but Harvey's faster. He stretches his arm out to keep it beyond her reach. "Why? You don't like it?"

"Give it back, Harvey," Sky warns, glaring at him.

"Sorry, no can do." He stands up and collects his things. "My phone, my rules. I'll see you later, okay?"

Sky looks at the wall clock. It's already nearing six.

"Take the medicine," he reminds her, inching towards the door. "And get some rest. Bye!"

She watches him leave.

At home, Sky takes the tablet and feels immensely better—like a giant weight has been taken off her shoulders. Her breathing comes easier, and her headache is gone.

And a text from an unknown number comes just as she's going to bed. Just a little something to make you laugh: what kind of computer OS does Mace have?

Sky saves the number as Harvey Ryerson.

His next message appears. A Windus XP!

Sky snickers under her covers. Lame. He's so fucking lame.

Another message comes. What's his part-time job? A windu washer! Goodnight, Sky. Feel better so I can see your face in class again :D

Sky doesn't reply, but she goes to sleep smiling.