Chapter 88: 88 | Aggregate Demand and Three Competing Conversations

Jordan set his bag on the floor. Pulled out his notebook.

"Yeah."

"Wow." Kumiko’s voice was bright with something that wasn’t quite surprise. More like a kid at Christmas who had already peeked at the presents. "Congrats!"

"Thanks."

"You work fast."

"I live twelve feet from her."

"Mmhm." Kumiko picked up her pen and twirled it. The sparkling did not stop. "That’s totally why."

Jordan opened his notebook to a clean page.

On his left, Alexis was still looking at her coffee. Her jaw had a specific set to it. The one Jordan was starting to recognize as Alexis Van Der Berg experiencing feelings she had not approved in advance.

He pulled out his phone and opened the cashback app under the desk. Glanced at the notification still sitting there from last night’s proximity alert.

Still pending. Still waiting.

Jordan locked his phone. Put it away.

"My shirt," he said.

Alexis finally looked at him.

"Excuse me?"

"My shirt." Jordan nodded at the black henley collar peeking above her blazer. "You’re wearing it to class."

"I’m aware." Alexis turned back to face forward. "It’s comfortable."

"I need it back eventually."

"You’ll survive."

"You still owe me seventy-five dollars."

The muscle in Alexis’s jaw moved.

"Because of you," she said, keeping her voice low and level, "I had to call the family driver at eight in the morning to take me back to Koreatown to get my car. My driver, Jordan. Who I had to tip. Who now knows that I left my Mercedes on a dilapidated parking garage overnight."

Jordan blinked.

"Also," Alexis continued, "I couldn’t stop at Dutch Bros on the way there because we had a schedule to keep."

"You couldn’t."

"I could not." She lifted her iced coffee. "I had to get this from campus. Which tastes worse. That’s your fault too."

Jordan stared at her profile.

She was completely serious.

He turned back to his notebook before he did something regrettable, like laugh.

Kumiko made a small, strangled sound on his right. When Jordan looked, her hand was pressed flat over her mouth and her shoulders were shaking.

"Not a word," Alexis said, without looking at Kumiko.

Kumiko pressed her lips together harder. The shaking got worse.

Dr. Jones walked through the side door at exactly 9:00 AM, textbook under one arm, coffee in hand. He was fifty-five and moved like a man who had stopped caring about anything but getting through the material and getting home.

He dropped the textbook on the podium.

"GDP components. Chapter four." He clicked the projector on. The slide appeared. "Open your notes."

The room settled.

Jordan wrote the date at the top of his page.

Behind him, the whispers continued. He caught his name once more. Caught Alexis’s name right after it.

He wrote Aggregate Demand underneath the date and kept his pen moving.

Three seats down the row, a guy in a Pacific Crest lacrosse hoodie was staring at Jordan with the specific expression of someone doing math they didn’t like the answer to.

Jordan made direct eye contact.

The guy looked away first.

Good.

Jordan turned back to his notes.

Dr. Jones was already into the GDP formula, monotone and relentless, each word landing with the same weight as the one before it. Jordan copied the breakdown. Consumer spending. Investment. Government purchases. Net exports.

Kumiko was writing on a pink notepad. Her handwriting was tiny and looping. She used at least four different colors of pen, organized by concept.

Alexis had her laptop open. She was typing, though whether she was taking notes or texting Jordan couldn’t tell from the angle.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Jordan fished it out under the desk.

Chloe: okay the avocado toast was incredible

Chloe: where is this cafe

Jordan: three blocks from home

Chloe: I’ve walked that block like a hundred times

Chloe: how did I not find this

Jordan: you were busy

Chloe: I was

Chloe: thank you btw

Chloe: genuinely

Jordan held the phone under his notebook.

Jordan: it was nothing

Chloe: it was thoughtful

Chloe: let me have this

Jordan smiled. Pocketed the phone.

On his left, Alexis glanced over. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

She said nothing. Looked back at her laptop.

But her fingers stilled on the keys for exactly two seconds before resuming.

Jordan wrote down the next formula Dr. Jones put on the board. The numbers made more sense today than they had on Monday. Whether that was the Tune Up trait carrying over into cognitive function or just Jordan actually sleeping eight hours for once, he couldn’t say.

Probably the sleep.

Definitely the sleep.

Kumiko nudged his elbow. Passed him a folded piece of paper.

Jordan looked at it.

Opened it under his notebook.

It was a tiny drawing of a stick figure with a speech bubble that read "I also think you’re cute (don’t tell chloe I said that)." Below the stick figure, Kumiko had drawn a small sun wearing sunglasses and gave it Jordan’s hair.

Jordan stared at the drawing.

Looked at Kumiko.

Kumiko was already staring forward, pen moving on her notepad, expression completely serene.

He folded the paper back up.

On his other side, Alexis shifted in her seat. The blazer moved and the henley collar became more visible. She reached up without looking and adjusted the blazer’s lapel, covering the collar again.

Like she knew he had noticed.

Which she definitely did.

Jordan looked back at the projector screen.

Dr. Jones moved to the next slide. Multiplier effect. The math was simple if you paid attention.

Jordan paid attention.

His phone buzzed one more time.

Chloe: Kumiko is coming over

Chloe: she’s gonna help me set up the streaming thing

Jordan: good

Chloe: might be loud

Chloe: kumiko gets excited

Jordan: I was at karaoke

Chloe: LMAO

Chloe: fair

Chloe: will you be home for dinner?

Jordan paused.

That was a new one.

"Will you be home" implied somewhere to be. Somewhere shared. Implied routine and presence.

He liked it so much it almost embarrassed him.

Jordan: probably by 7

Chloe: okay

Chloe: I might cook

Chloe: don’t make it a thing

Jordan: not making it anything

Jordan: but I’m making it slightly a thing

Chloe: jordannnnn

Jordan: see you at 7, girlfriend

No response for thirty seconds.

Then:

Chloe: 🙄

And then, immediately after:

Chloe: 💙