“Game day today huh?”
Meredith spun around in her seat to meet eyes with her English professor. Meredith nodded as Georgia took a seat across from Meredith, placing her plate of French toast down before her.
“I actually plan on coming.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I use to play soccer myself. Ages ago.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I was a goalkeeper for Stanford. I was pretty good and loved it but my love for teaching was too much.”
“Well that’s good. You’re like, the best in the English department here.”
“Why thank you Meredith. So, you think you are going to win today?”
“Think? I know. The cardinals are eh, but we definitely are better.”
“You’re right. When I was there, we were unstoppable.”
“So if you went to Stanford, why come here to teach?”
“I wanted a change of scenery. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great experience for me as a student, but I don’t think I would’ve liked it as a professor.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get what you’re saying.”
“Are you gonna eat that last piece of bacon?”
Meredith grinned.
“All yours.”
Georgia happily reached for the bacon and put it in her mouth. Meredith and Georgia's friendship only grew after freshman year when they discovered they shared a lot of interest in the same authors and books. Meredith would stay after hours only to have heated discussions about whether Melville or Hawthorne had the darkest soul and why. It was very therapeutic for the two as it acted as their escape from their complicated lives. After several minutes of casual talking, Georgia looked down at her watch.
“Shoot, I have class. I’ll see you tonight. Good luck.”
Meredith raised her bottle of Gatorade to Georgia to say thanks; her mouth too full to speak as Georgia exited the cafeteria. Meredith later threw away her food and juggled back to her dormitory.
***
Keliah wore her yellow college t-shirt and a pair of navy sweats and flip-flops to class with her hair in an I-tried-to-look-casual-sexy-but-ended-up-looking-like-a-homless-hippy bun and a pair of reading glasses. It was her ritual on home games. She had to show her school spirit. She was proud to play for her college’s women’s soccer team. It was an honor. Of course she got a couple of stares from the non-regular faces in the coffee shop like maybe they wanted to give her a dollar or a nickel or something but she ignored them. She was feeling too good. It was fucking game day. She happily walked in her Professor’s class with two cups in her hand. One with a sugared down latte and the other one of chamomile tea. Keliah had ordered a sample cup of chamomile tea just to see why Georgia liked it so much but immediately spit it back into the plastic cup. Professor Kerouac may be perfect but her taste buds sure weren’t. That was disgusting.
“Good morning!”
It was so nice to see Georgia. Keliah thought she had gotten prettier since the last time she saw her. Maybe it was the white blouse that was hugging Georgia’s body in all the right places. Or the black pencil skirt that hugged her tight ass. Or the stilettos that Georgia was wearing that just added to her bitchiness. What in the hell—was today look like a fucking goddess day? Keliah sat the tea on her professor’s desk and smiled at Georgia who remained typing furiously on her computer. Maybe she didn’t hear her.
“I got you your favorite.”
“Yeah.”
Georgia mumbled. She never made eye contact with the younger girl. What was the matter?
“Well aren’t you gonna drink it? It’s getting cold.”
“Not now Keliah. I’ll—”
Georgia looked up at Keliah for the first time. Keliah had on reading glasses. It brought out the oh so many loveable freckles in her face and her high messy bun just made her look like an innocent teenager.
Teenager being the operative word.
“I’ll drink it when I’ll drink it.”
Georgia’s tone was so bitter; Keliah’s body erupted in goosebumps.
“Okay.”
Keliah whispered before turning her foot and walking to her seat. She was embarrassed. She didn’t know what she did wrong to put Professor Kerouac in such a somber mood but she was and Keliah felt bad again. Like the only thing she was capable of was annoying people. Keliah stared at Professor Kerouac the entire class period trying to detect what was wrong. She didn’t really get anything. Reading people wasn’t her forte. Well, reading Professor Kerouac wasn’t. When Georgia read to the class, she sounded happy. She wasn’t acting different to any of the other students, so why just her? Keliah thought they were on good terms now. What had happened? Keliah then remembered what had occurred last week with her meeting her father. Maybe Mr. Kerouac told Georgia that she had visited and Georgia was angry with her for that. Oh no. She didn’t want to upset Georgia. She just wanted to meet Georgia’s father because he was sick and she just thought that—she just wanted to see what it would be like to be a part of Georgia’s family. And yes that was stupid and naive of Keliah but she couldn’t help it. She felt this warm vibe when she met Professor Kerouac’s father. They instantly clicked and it warmed Keliah’s heart to know that apart of Georgia’s family liked her. It made her feel like…her and Georgia were meant to be because she had already gotten along with her family. Keliah shook her head.
