Page 11 of Seeds of Love
“What are you doing here? I thought you were a sophomore.”
He pushes off the wall he was leaning against and comes to sit next to me. His cool facade slips for a second before he quickly regains it.
“Yeah, I’m taking some intro classes because I had a change of plans over the summer. Turns out general education wasn’t my calling after all. Decided to swap to Environmental Science.”
“Oh,” I manage, my brain short-circuiting. I haven’t thought of him much since the party last week.
Well, correction: I’d thought of hima lot—until I cyber-stalked him (because I’m a healthy, well-adjusted adult), found photos of that charming smile with approximately fifty different blonde women, and realized that not only was I the furthest thing from his type, but he was probably just pity-talking to me because I was a sad loner at his party.
So I ordered myself not to think about him. No point being unrealistic, right?
“That’s…unexpected.”
He shrugs, and for a moment, I swear I see something flicker in his eyes. But it’s gone before I can analyze it. “Yeah, well, life’s full of surprises, right?”
There it is again, that grin that I’m sure did him many favors in winning over all the girls I saw online.
As the lecture begins, I can’t help but sneak glances at him. He catches me looking once and winks—the jerk.
I quickly turn away, feeling my face heat up.
The talk is on the rock cycle, from lava to mountains, and it’s with my new favorite professor, Professor Bam. She teaches in a way that makes even the discussion of melting tectonic plates sound like an epic movie. I’ve already decided to ask about shadowing her in her lab over Thanksgiving break.
The faster I can learn everything, the better chance I have of getting onto the GSRI summer internship in my sophomore year. And once you’re in that, as long as you don’t royally mess up (like, say, flunk your next two years), you’re practically guaranteed a spot in the grad program.
So, no stress. Just gotta be perfect, learn everything, get into the hardest geoscience program in the country, then save the planet.Easy.
Throughout the lecture, I’m hyper-aware of Freddie sitting next to me. I notice a few girls glance over at us, shooting me jealousy daggers. I want to shout, “I don’t know what he’s doing here either! Go ahead, we’re not a thing!”
I glance at him again, and he’s on his phone under the desk. I roll my eyes, looking back at Professor Bam. Notes. I need to take more notes.
He’s not your problem. Rocks now, boys later. Or preferably, rocks always, boys never.Yeah, that sounds like a solid life plan.
Except for my number one college bucket list task: Lose my V-card.
I wasn’t lying when I told Freddie that I have a college bucket list. It was actually an idea that came from my mom. I’d overheard her advising one of her clients who was having a midlife crisis.
“Cindy, why don’t you write a bucket list? Your thirties have been taken from you by John, but there’s no reason why you can’t reclaim your power and do all the things thatyouwant to do.”
And even though I’m only nineteen, later that night, I got to writing:
Alex’s College Bucket List:
Lose V card
Make a best friend
Do a keg stand
Do something new that scares you (can’t be one of the things already listed)
Go to a frat party
I’ll be honest, numbers 2 through 5 are mostly padding around the one that I really care about. So yeah, boys never might not work.
So far, I am happier at UMS than I’ve been in years. I’ve fallen into a comfortable routine here, bonded with my roommate Piper over our shared love of obscure documentaries and a clean dorm room. (Turns out, youcanbond over shared OCD tendencies.)
Tara and I have become practically inseparable—like two peas in a very enthusiastic, slightly caffeinated pod. I’ve even developed a tiny (okay, pretty big) crush on Eric, the adorably nerdy guy from my Sedimentary Rocks class. He’s like a walking, talking Wikipedia page, and I’m embarrassingly into it. Yesterday, he asked me to double-check his grain size estimate, and I practically jumped at the chance.
