“What was that?” Beth asked.
“I don’t know.”
Beth’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You passed up a date with him for study group? You’ve wanted to run into him for a week!”
“I can’t just break my plans anytime he asks me out. How would that look?” I insisted, frowning at the thought of him thinking I was that accessible.
Beth shrugged. “Who cares?”
I started my car. “Beth! Be serious. He won’t give me his number,” I shoved my gear shift into drive and pulled forward, “and he just shows up out of nowhere and asks me out.”
“You’re nuts! You like him. He asks you out. You tell him no? There is something wrong with you, Nina!”
Back at Andrews, I had to deal with it from both sides.
“What is wrong with you?” Kim shrieked.
“Ugh! Not you, too!”
The smugness on Beth’s face radiated throughout the entire room. “I told you.”
“I have to study. You two are studying tonight,” I reasoned, mostly to myself.
“I wouldn’t if I had a date,” Beth said, crossing her legs on her bed.
“I bet you would if said date asked you ninety minutes before study group,” I rebutted.
“Okay,” Kim said, spreading her arms between us. “Nigh’s right. Prose before bros.”
Beth rolled her eyes as she packed her various study items and I folded my notes and stuffed them into my coat pocket.
Kim snapped her fingers. “Let’s go, ladies. I don’t want to close The Rock down at 2 A.M. like last time.”
We headed to the John D. Rockefeller library, ducking our heads to hide from the bitter wind. Just as we crossed the street, the snow began to fall in large flakes. The dead grass crinkled under our feet as we cut across to save steps. Beth begged us to drive, but Kim insisted we walk so she could smoke.
Beth hooked her arm around mine. “Brown needs to generate some type of small transportation system to get us from here to there more easily. Like a trailer hitched to a four-wheeler.”
“Yes, Oklahoma, let’s hire a hay rack ride. Brown needs culture,” Kim deadpanned.
Beth narrowed her eyes at Kim. “It was just a suggestion. I’m freezing.”
“Don’t listen to Kim, she’s not even wearing a heavy coat,” I said, my teeth beginning to chatter.
“You two are babies, gah!” Kim groaned.
“It does sound like a hay ride,” Beth giggled.
When we arrived, our study group was already waiting on us. Carrie and Tracey—from the basketball team—sat on one couch. On the adjacent couch sat Kim’s friends Justin and Kristi. Lisa, a pre-med student, barely noticed our arrival, and beside her was someone I recognized right away.
Ryan had a head full of dark hair and he was barely taller than I. Because his t-shirt was a bit tight, I noticed his athletic build. His baseball cap was pulled low over his eyes, so I could see only his perfect, white smile, and a deep dimple on his left cheek. The other girls in the group seemed to appreciate his presence.
“Look at you, being all responsible!” Kim said.
“Josh was going to come, but he ended up going on a date,” Ryan explained, pulling up his cap to display his bright green eyes.
“Hmmm,” Kim hummed, angling her neck so I would get the full effect of her accusing expression.
Beth did the same.
Ryan was suddenly uncomfortable, his eyes darting back and forth between the three of us. “What did I say?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I grumbled, shouldering past Beth.
I sat in the chasm between Ryan and Lisa. While everyone discussed their notes and how confused they were, Ryan turned to me.
“Are you taking chemistry? Do you get any of this?” he complained.
“What are you having problems with?” I asked.
He smiled. “You’re not having any problems, are you?”
Feeling caught, I smiled and then erased a line toward the top of his paper. I explained his mistake and started writing it down in my own girlie script. “Do you see how I got there?”
Ryan nodded, still unsure. “I see how you got there, getting there on my own is the persistent problem.”
As the night wore one, I erased quite a bit on Ryan’s paper. We had hundreds of tiny shreds of decimated eraser all over us. His patience and humor made the night go much faster, although I worked on his chemistry and didn’t study the notes I had brought.
“I appreciate you helping me,” Ryan said, folding his paper into his book.
“I’m not sure how much I helped, but you’re welcome. We have study group here twice a week, come anytime.”
Ryan’s face lit up. “I will. Thanks. Uh…some of us guys are going out for drinks this weekend. It’d be cool if you’d come.”
“There are only a handful of places I can get in to.”
Ryan winked at me. “That won’t be a problem.”
It sounded harmless enough. “That sounds fun. I’ll see what the girls are doing.”
Kim looked at her watch and yawned. “Stick a fork in me. I’m done.”
“Nigh, are you ready?” Beth asked.