“Hand me one of those slips, would you, Jude? Jude the Dude?” asks Ezra.

Jude looks up from his sketchbook, but Ari has already beat him to it. She hands Ezra a karaoke slip with a look of resignation, before taking the songbook for herself. “I have an idea for you and me, Pru,” she says, flipping through the pages. “Here. What do you think?” She holds the book up. “Of Monsters and Men duet?”

I shrug. “I don’t know who that is.”

“Prudence!” She throws her head back. “I don’t know how much longer I can be friends with you if you don’t start expanding your musical knowledge.”

Jude nods. “Even I know Of Monsters and Men.”

I look at Quint. He shrugs. “Yep. They’re pretty good.”

Morgan and Ezra nod at me, too.

I turn back to Ari. “Sorry?”

She sighs and starts flipping through the book again. “I’m going to find something you can’t say no to. And not John Lennon and Yoko Ono. There has to be something else in here.”

“Hey,” I say, turning my attention back to Quint, “did you get your class schedule yet?”

“Not yet. Why?”

“Just wondering whether we’re going to be in the same chemistry class. I thought maybe we could be lab partners, if they aren’t preassigned.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Only a masochist would volunteer to be your lab partner.”

“I’ll be your lab partner,” says Ezra.

I cringe, then look pleadingly at Quint. He hums to himself, as if this were a big decision and he really has to think it over.

I kiss him. He melts against me, his arm tightening, drawing me closer.

Beside me, Jude mutters, “I would literally rather be thrown into the fires of Mount Doom than be stuck in this booth right now.”

I pull away and kick my brother under the table, but he just starts to chuckle. I know he has to play the grossed-out-brother card, but I also know he likes Quint and he’s really happy for us.

Someday, I hope to see him this happy. And Ari, too, for that matter.

“So?” I ask, refocusing on Quint. “What do you say, partner?”

“Hey, did you not see my kickass presentation on shark fin soup? Evidently, that stuff is delicious.”

Morgan gasps audibly. “You are barbaric.”

I meet Quint’s eye again. “Please rescue me.”

He grins. “I guess someone has to be your partner, so I might as well take one for the team.”

“How very generous of you.”

“Just trying to build up my good karma points.”

“I’m sure the universe will reward you greatly.”

“You know what?” says Quint. “I think it already has.”

We kiss again, and I can’t help but smile against him—blissfully, cosmically happy.

I swear I can feel the universe smiling back.