"You want coffee too, brother?"
"No, thanks. You two…" He looked at us like he was picking his words. "How long have you been together?"
Creating maximum tension with minimum words had to be a God-given talent reserved exclusively for Rüzgar.
"One month."
"One week."
I instantly regretted opening my mouth, but it was too late. Since our answers didn't match, Rüzgar started studying us with even more suspicion. Everything had happened so fast, it hadn't even occurred to us to prepare a shared answer for questions like this.
"We've been seeing each other for a month, but officially we've been dating for a week," Kerem said, saving it smartly. Still, Rüzgar didn't look convinced. He turned his doubtful gaze on me.
"Then why were you hiding in the closet the last time we came?"
So this was how we were learning who the smartest one in the group was. This boy was ruthless. People didn't get grilled with questions this hard even during finals.
"Last time? Last time, it was… it happened because…" My confidence was crumbling by the second, and I looked at Kerem helplessly.
"She stayed here because something came up that day," Kerem said smoothly. "Back then, our relationship was still unclear. And she knew the rule, so she thought you'd misunderstand if you saw her here."
What rule was he even talking about? I stared at my so-called boyfriend, baffled.
"So I… thought that?"
Kerem's brows pulled together, and I instantly fixed my face, turned to Rüzgar with a wide smile, and nodded hard. "Yes, of course. Exactly. That's why."
With his expressionless face, it was impossible to tell if he believed a word of it.
"What are you talking so seriously about?"
All eyes turned to the voice entering the kitchen.
Right after Demir, our "romantic couple" walked in too. I glanced at Kerem, tense. Barely surviving Rüzgar's interrogation was hard enough, if the others joined in, we were done.
While I silently prayed for the topic to die, Rüzgar gave us a brief look and answered Demir.
"Nothing important. We were talking about exams."
I finally relaxed and was about to take a sip of coffee, when, out of nowhere, unease settled in my stomach. I put the cup back down, frowning. It felt like I'd forgotten something important.
Then it hit me. I slapped my forehead.
"Oh my God! My hardest exam is tomorrow and I haven't studied at all!"
"So Adonis already stole your brain, huh, Sugarflake?"
"We have an exam too, you know that, right, babe?" Bora jumped up in a panic.
"No, oh my God, my car!"
"What car, are you crazy? She said exam."
"If he fails a class again this term, his dad's taking his car," Nil explained, grinning. Demir turned to Bora with delight.
"Seriously? So you're stuck on land on weekends now, huh? Whatever. If you need help shortening your surfboard to fit the bathtub, let me know, Frizzy."
Everyone laughed while Bora shot Demir an irritated look.
"You just wait, Teddy! I'm not dead yet, okay?" He grabbed Nil's hand, hauled her up, and immediately started making plans. "If we start in an hour and study nonstop until morning, there's no reason we shouldn't pass."
"I already studied, Bora. I'm hungry. Let's eat first." Nil sounded genuinely desperate.
"Let's fast today and eat after the exam tomorrow, my daisy. Plus, our grades will go up with the good deed. Isn't that a brilliant idea?"
"Are you taking an afterlife exam, idiot? What is wrong with you? The girl weighs, like, forty-five kilos. Let her eat."
"Don't butt in, Teddy! Nothing's happening to her while I'm here."
As Bora practically dragged Nil toward the exit, she looked back at us hopelessly, and all of us watched her with pity. Right before they left the kitchen, Bora called, "Oh, and don't forget! You should do this plan too, Sugarflake. Good luck already." I laughed and waved.
"Thanks. Good luck to you too, Bora."
"I swear this kid is an idiot. Does whatever he eats go straight to his hair or what? I don't get it," Demir muttered, staring after Bora, defeated. I giggled at his comment.
"Before you start coming up with solutions that stupid too, I should take you home. Wait a bit, I'm going to change and I'll be right back." I grinned at Kerem.
"No need to rush. I always study at the last minute."
"So your life never runs out of excitement, huh. In that case, I'll take a shower first."
When Kerem left the kitchen, I turned my attention to the other two.
"Don't you guys have exams?"
Demir answered while pouring juice from the fridge into a big glass. "We're free until Wednesday."
"By the way, why didn't Ece come on Friday night?" he muttered, taking a sip, annoyed.
"Don't even ask. We fought that day over some stupid reason. She got stubborn and didn't come. And her attitude still isn't over."
I wanted to tell him to just dump that annoying girl now that I finally had an opening, but we weren't close enough for that. So I settled for a polite smile. "I hope you make up."
Then, both to change the subject and to get to know them better, I asked, "By the way, I was wondering… are you all from İzmir?"
"Everyone's from İzmir except me," Demir said. "I was in elementary school when we moved. You're not from here either, I guess?"
"It's complicated for me. My dad's a teacher, so I grew up in different places."
While Demir answered all my questions, Rüzgar watched me with full focus. Trying to chat calmly while someone that smart is observing you isn't easy. Especially when you're hiding something important.
I kept feeling like I'd mess up and expose our lie at any second. It made me tense and uneasy. I was regretting not telling Kerem to hurry up, when Demir saved me, again.
"Since we have time, wanna do a rematch of last time's match?"
"I'm in. Just don't throw a tantrum when you lose."
"You stole the words right out of my mouth, bro."
As they stood up and left the kitchen, Demir called back to me, "Come on too. Kerem takes forever to get ready." I nodded and followed them to the living room.
"You probably find it boring, but we can play too if you want, Red."
I was replying to a message on my phone, but I glanced up at Demir for a second. "I'm not great at soccer, but if you pick car racing, I can join."
From the look on his face, he hadn't expected that answer. While Rüzgar set the game up, Demir went to the TV unit and started rummaging through the drawers.
"Open our racing one, bro."
I sent my message, sat on the three-seater across from the TV, and Rüzgar launched the game. Demir sat beside me and handed me one of the two controllers. While I focused on the screen to pick settings as the first player, I mumbled absentmindedly, "What are we playing for?"
"So you're that confident, huh? Then you pick."
I hadn't asked because I was confident, it was just an old habit, but he didn't need to know that. I thought for a moment, couldn't come up with anything I wanted, and shrugged.
"Can I save my right for later?"
"Doesn't matter. You're going to lose anyway."