Ayanna snorts. “Good luck. See you for lunch?”
“Yep.”
There’s only a few students in the class, but none of them sit up front with me, so when I take my seat directly in front of the professor, I shoot him a saccharine smile.
“Good morning, Professor.”
He barely looks up at me. “Morning.”
More and more students begin to file in, and within five minutes, class begins. Professor Kingston is going over the lesson plan when an attractive Latino guy rushes into the class.
“Sorry, teach. Had some trouble with my car.”
Teach looks anything but sympathetic. “Take a seat.”
The tardy student plops down next to me, noisily dropping his bag to the floor, and slamming a heavy binder onto the table. With a glance in my direction, he says, “Hey, Mami,” and offers me his hand. “Lorenzo. What’s your name?”
“Nova,” I reply with an automatic grin.
“Cool.” Then he slides a pencil over his ear and settles into his seat.
Professor Kingston clears his throat, looking right at him. “Are you done?”
“Oh yeah. Go ‘head.”
I choke on a laugh, but quickly pin my lips together when the professor’s eyes meet mine.
Ten minutes before class is over, we finally have some free time. Professor K already assigned homework, and gave us the last ten minutes to get to know our classmates. He made sure to let us know this won’t happen often, and that it’s only because it’s the first week of school.
“You from around here?” Lorenzo asks.
“Nah. I just moved here. You?”
“I’m new too. I used to live about an hour and a half away.”
“Well, at least it’ll be easy to visit family.”
“For sure.”
A girl comes up to us, stopping in front of our desks. “Hey. I’m Aiko. I overheard you saying you were new, so I figured I’d introduce myself as a fellow newbie.”
“Hey, Aiko,” Lorenzo greets. “Where you from, baby girl?”
Aiko blushes at the term of endearment. Lorenzo’s a charmer. “Well, I moved here from New Jersey, but I was born in Japan.”
“Dope,” Lorenzo says with a nod.
“I’m Nova, this is Lorenzo,” I tell her.
She smiles. “I hate being new. Everything’s so awkward and uncomfortable.”
“Here, let’s exchange numbers. I’ve met one friend so far, and she’s pretty cool. She told me about some parties this weekend. I can text you the details if you wanna come.”
She looks hesitant, but then Lorenzo shoots up from his desk, producing his phone and says, “Yeah, gimme your number. I’m down for a party.”
“Yeah, sure. Me too,” Aiko replies, wrenching her phone from her pocket.
The three of us exchange numbers, and once it’s time to leave, everyone starts rushing out the door, but I linger near my desk.
When it’s just us, I walk up to his desk. “Professor?”
“Yes?” he replies, sitting back in his chair and looking up at me.
“I have an interview at the campus library today. Can you tell me where it is?”
“Oh.” He almost looks disappointed that I have a legit question. “You’re going to exit this building at the south end, then cross the courtyard, and you can’t miss it. There will be a big sign.”
“Cool. Thanks.”
“No problem.” He grants me a crooked smile. “Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
“You got it?” my sister squeals.
I withdraw the phone from my ear briefly. “Yes! Right on the spot. They must’ve really needed help. I start tomorrow.”
“I’m so proud of you!”
“Thanks,” I reply with a cheesy grin.
It’s not my first job, but Gia likes to make a big deal out of everything.
“Any other news?”
“Uh. Not really. Met a couple people in my math class today. Lorenzo and Aiko. Lorenzo is also in my literature class. Ayanna invited me to a party this weekend. Oh, and did I mention my math professor is super hot?”
“Yes, you mentioned that,” Gia groans. “But new friends are cool. A party, though? Right away? I thought because it was a small town, there wouldn’t be the typical college party stuff.”
“You thought wrong, sis!” I say with a laugh. “Don’t worry. I know how you get, but I’m responsible.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Well, I have to take a shower and do some homework. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
After I hang up, I quickly take a shower, then I sit on my bed and begin my homework. Two hours later, I’m done and crawling under the covers to go to sleep.
I hear a noise outside my bedroom window that makes every muscle in my body tense up. I stay completely still and listen for more, but nothing ever comes.
This thing with Mario may have affected me more than I realized.
9
The first two weeks of school went by quickly, and now that it’s Friday again, I hear more talk about parties. Lorenzo and Nova are up front making plans for tomorrow, and it bothers me that I’m annoyed by it.
“All right, time’s up. Place your papers on my desk before you leave, and be safe this weekend.”
“What’re you doing this weekend, Professor?” Luke asks me.
“I’ll be with my brothers,” I state simply, not going into detail.
Luke snorts. “Fun.”
As people are tossing their work on my desk, I say, “In one pile would be nice.”
“How many brothers do you have?” Nova asks, her ass perched on her desk.
“Three,” I answer, straightening up the papers.
Lorenzo puts his paper down, lifting the strap of his backpack onto his shoulder. “You comin’?” he asks Nova.
“Yeah, one sec. I’ll meet up with you.”
Lorenzo winks at her before leaving, and I try not to roll my eyes.
“What are you and your brothers gonna do this weekend?” she asks me, coming up to my desk.
There’s something about the way she talks to me that drives me crazy. Not that she’s annoying—she’s sweet. She’s trying to get to know me by asking a couple of questions each time she’s in my class. She smiles, and flirts in
