The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [38]
“But that isn’t fair,” I said, knowing I sounded like a five-year-old. “I would have backed you up.”
“Nothing personal, but I’m guessing Dean Winston doesn’t have your picture on the wall for Student of the Month.”
My mouth snapped shut. He was right. Winston wouldn’t believe me. Even if he thought I was telling the truth, he’d never admit it.
“You can go ahead and get out of here. I’ve got this covered,” Drew said, glancing at his watch. “You put in your time.”
I was tempted to take him up on his offer. I still had homework to finish. The smart thing to do would be to thank him and get the homework done. The image of my empty dorm room flashed in my mind. I didn’t feel like doing the smart thing.
“It’ll go faster with both of us,” I said. “Besides, I’ve started to get the hang of this polisher.”
“I noticed. I was just thinking how you were the Princess of the Polisher,” Drew said, smiling.
“Master of the Mop,” I said.
“Sultan of Shellac,” he fired back.
I laughed, and turned my back to fire up the machine. I heard Drew call my name, and I turned around to be smacked with a blob of slush smack in the center of my chest. I stared down at the wet splotch. I looked up, and Drew’s face was twitching as he tried to avoid laughing. I bent down and picked up a handful of slush.
Drew held up his hands as if he were surrendering. “I don’t know what came over me.”
I flung the slush ball at him and missed. “I meant to miss you. I’m showing you what a better person I am.”
“Of course.”
I waited until he bent over to pick up the mop handle, and then I hurled another slush ball at him, this time hitting him in the center of his butt. He turned around, wiping the rest of the slush off of his jeans. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question.
“I decided I’m not really a better person,” I said.
It didn’t take long to redo the floor. Turned out Drew was right, mud wipes right up. I helped put the cart back into the closet. Drew made sure everything was put back in just the right place, and he ticked off the tasks on the to-do list. He made sure the mop was clean before he hung it up to dry. He clearly took pride in his job. Once everything was properly stowed away, he grabbed his jacket off the hook.
“Here, don’t forget these.” I handed him the printouts of the training programs I’d found.
“Oh, right. Thanks.” He pulled a book out of his coat pocket and folded the papers inside.
“What are you reading?” I asked.
Drew flipped the book over so I could see the cover. Dante’s Inferno. I hadn’t expected that. I’d seen him as more of a Stephen King fan.
“Fan of the classics, huh?” I asked, trying to hide my surprise.
“It’s on the reading list. I’m trying to get a jump start.”
“Reading list?”
“I’m going to Yale next year. I’m working this job to earn some extra money.”
“Yale?”
“I got in last year but delayed my start. I wanted to travel a little, earn some extra cash.”
I could feel my face burning. “Oh.” I couldn’t believe I’d given him a bunch of information on vocational programs and had acted like he would be lucky to get in. “I didn’t mean to imply that the skilled trades were your only option.”
“Don’t worry about it. Your heart was in the right place. Besides, I thought it was kind of cool that you noticed I have good dexterity.” He waved his fingers in front of my face. “I like the idea of you thinking about what my hands can do.” He winked before turning to leave.
I flushed even redder. “I wasn’t thinking about your hands,” I called after him.
“Sure you weren’t.”
“I wasn’t. I was trying to be nice.”
Drew turned around to face me, leaning against the doorjamb. “Admit it. You’re thinking about it now.” He saluted and left.
I kicked the cart. Darn it. Now I was thinking about it.
17
The dining hall at Evesham is decorated to look like one of the halls at Oxford. The long wall has arched cathedral windows, and the ceiling is painted with vines and leaves. There are long wooden tables, and although seats