“This study session today is going to suck,” I’d told my roommate this morning.
“Then don’t go,” he’d said without even looking away from his game. I couldn’t see the screen but knew from the way he was hunching his shoulders and clicking furiously on the mouse that he must be deep in some battle.
“Yeah, yeah, ‘don’t go.’ That’s easy for you to say – you’re already failing all your classes. I actually got a chance in this one if I do well on the exam.”
He just grunted and kept clicking, so I grabbed my chem. notebook and left. For April, the day was really hot, and I started sweating as soon as I stepped out of my dorm. I worried a bit on the walk across campus if the shirt I’d grabbed a shirt was too dirty and kept sniffing my shoulders in a way that I hoped wasn’t too obvious.
What am I doing? I asked myself finally. This is a study session, not a date. If I stink, I stink. All these guys care about are grades anyway.
Still, though, I stood for a few minutes in the thankfully air-conditioned lobby of Duggan Hall before I signed in. No harm in airing out a bit, I thought, as I waited for one of the eggheads to come down and get me. The girls’ dorms always required an escort for male visitors and had even given me a lanyard with the word blazoned across it. A safety precaution that made sense to me, but it kind of rankled that the guys’ dorms followed an open door policy. Maybe admin figured us guys might be happy if some crazy woman barged into our room. Hmmm. Maybe they were right.
I was smiling at my own thought when Alicia stepped out of the elevator. She sat in the row ahead of my in chem. class, but I’d only gotten to know her in the past week. For an egghead, she was actually kind of cute. She had her blonde hair up in a ponytail and wore white sweats cut off just at the calves and a gray thin-strapped tank with a faded maroon football across the chest. Her figure was nice, and she had a way of bouncing when she walked that was distracting, but I knew she was all business. All I’d ever heard her talk about was class work, grades, and the library. Not my type at all, but my type would more likely be at a frat party than a study group.
After clearing me with the stern-faced RA behind the front desk, she waved me into the elevator. “We’ve already started. But you really haven’t missed much.” She hit the 4th floor button and crossed her arms. I noticed that she smelled really good – kind of like oranges or something citrusy. Mentally, I cussed myself for not at least putting on some cologne.
“Cool. I mean, um, sorry. For being late. I didn’t mean to be. It’s really hot outside.”
Like that was a reason. God, I’m an idiot around girls, even dumb ones. And Alicia wasn’t. She’d done well on all the chem tests – I knew because I’d heard her squeal with delight when we’d gotten each one back. Last week, I’d finally stopped rolling my eyes behind her back and instead leaned forward and asked her how she did it.
“A great study group!” she’d gushed. That’s when I literally begged for the invite. I had to pass chem or I couldn’t get into the Early Entry program. Pre-Vet was a tough major, and I’d been too lazy this semester. What can I say? I’m a typical college freshman, at least typical for my circle of friends – most had already broken the bad news to their parents about grades and scholarships. One had even signed up for the Marines already.
Not me though. There was some light at the end of my tunnel. I had some hope, but I needed to ace this last chem. test.
That’s where the eggheads came in.
“We’re in Tally’s room. She’s in our class, but she says you don’t know her. I know you’ve seen her though. Dark hair, pretty, tall? Sits up front?”
“Sure,” I nodded, watching the lights on the panel tick slowly from number to number. Great. Probably that skinny girl with big eyes. Or the fat goth chick. They both sat up front and looked like they’d be in a study group. Always answering the professor questions or worse asking him stuff. They just made class last even longer than it had to. I wouldn’t say that either of them was pretty though, but in nerd circles, who knows?
“Anyway, Tally’s leading the group today, since my roommate’s got her boyfriend over. We usually meet in my room over in Hamlin, even though Tally’s room is bigger. I’ve got better snacks.”
“Cool,” I said brightly just as the elevator light dinged on the number 4 and the doors slid open.
Alicia laughed and waved me through first. I stepped out and immediately stopped worrying about my shirt stinking.
There was such a cloud of incense, perfume, and something that could only mean someone was cooking Chinese food that a dog could have taken a dump right on my foot and I couldn’t have smelled it. I followed Alicia down the spotless, carpeted hall -- another difference between girls’ and guys’ dorms that I’d noticed. Each door was heavily decorated with ribbons, flowers, and all kinds of cutesy signs , and from behind I could hear the mixed sounds of music, tvs, and muffled laughter. Of course, we stopped outside the one door that was the least feminine. It had only a whiteboard with “Tally” neatly written on it in cursive and a little tray holding markers and an eraser. An RA placard hung just above that. The reason for the private room, I noted. Alicia kept talking rather than knocking at the door, which I thought was strange, but chalked it up to her being an egghead.
“Anyway, Tally’s leading the group. She’s aced every test. Every class actually. 4.0 average.”
I hid a grimace behind what I hoped was an eager smile. You’ve got to pass this class, I told myself, and if it means spending time with Big-eyes or Gothzilla, then that’s what you’re going to do.
“And you already know Roger of course.” I nodded. The gay guy who sat next to her in class and listened to her go on about her grades. “And you’ll meet Jess and Susie – they’re in a different section but same prof. They all know you’re coming. Just remember that we move fast, so you’re going to have to ask questions if you’re serious about doing well on this last test. We’ll help, but we aren’t going to feed it to you.”
She looked me dead in the eyes, hesitated noticeably, and then added, “Don’t let yourself get distracted.”
“Okay. Ask questions. Don’t get distracted.” I parroted back, wondering why she tagged that last bit on. She nodded approvingly, not knowing that I mentally added, ‘Stay awake,’ as she turned to knock on the naked-looking door.
This is like going to the doctor, I told myself. It’s not going to be fun, but I have to do it if I wanted to pass… I kept preaching these things to myself as the door opened and Alicia bounced in, announcing that she’d found me and that I’d even brought my books, which must have been a surprise.
I didn’t have time to feel insulted because I knew that I was screwed the second I walked into the room. I knew now why Alicia had added the ‘Don’t get distracted’ warning to her little pep talk.
“I’m so going to flunk this class,” I murmured to myself as Alicia introduced them to me one by one, even Roger whom I’d already met. I barely even noticed the two girls from the other section – I wouldn’t recognize them again if my life depended on it. And Roger and Alicia pretty much fell off the face of the earth. My earth anyway. And so did chemistry and the big final and even the basic things, like sitting down and opening a book.
That is, until she said my name and patted a spot on the bed next to her. Her bed. Her. The girl I’d been fantasizing about all semester instead of listening to the chem. lectures. The tanned, dark-haired goddess in the sundresses that breezed into class late and was always texting in her lap where the prof couldn’t see. She was an egghead? The gorgeous babe that was surrounded by all the jocks as soon as every class ended? She aced every test? Every class? My world flipped not only upside down but inside out and sideways. I eased down onto her bed and looked everywhere but at her. I think I even held my breath, but somehow I inhaled some of her perfume. Vanilla.
She pulled her legs up onto the bed, grazing my leg with one bare foot. I thought I was going to faint.
They started talking chemistry right away – elements and catalysts and moles. Tally knew her stuff, but all I could think about was how sexy her voice sounded. And about how I could still feel the heat on my leg where her foot had touched me. I couldn’t look at her, the rest of the group didn’t exist. I looked at the Monet posters over her bed and the mostly naked guy tacked on the back of her door. I looked at the desk covered with tidy stacks of binders and notebooks and the dresser littered with lip gloss and lotion bottles. I looked at her bookshelf full of fashion magazines and textbooks. I looked at her laptop with the volleyball background. I looked at the chain of high-heel sandals and boots cleverly strung up from the ceiling. I looked at the closet overflowing with string tops, jeans, and – God help me – sundresses. I even looked at my chem. book.
I was staring at it, when an orange highlighter plopped down onto the open page. Startled, I picked it up and looked up into her blue eyes for the first time.
“Don’t just sit there. Start highlighting!” Tally scolded and smacked me on the shoulder playfully. It stung just enough to make me jump. I suddenly noticed the rest of the group staring at me like I was the weirdo, and I opened my mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say.
The goddess laughed and suddenly leaned over to snatch my book out of my lap. I sat open-mouthed, as she flipped through the near-mint condition book with a scowl on her perfect face. She shook her head sadly at me and then waved my book in front of the others. “Look, guys! Can you believe it? Almost finals, and his book’s still a virgin! Not a mark in it!”
The rest of the study group laughed, as she sadly patted my book like it was some kind of pathetic reject. I started to say something that I hoped would be witty just as she chucked the book back down in my lap. She tossed it hard, and I wasn’t ready. Somehow, I managed to keep from curling up in the fetal position.
“See what happens when you don’t pay attention!” She warned with a friendly laugh echoed by the rest of the group. To take away the sting in her words, she poked my thigh with her foot again. Gently though, and she held it there a second longer before she pulled it away.
“Yes, m’am,” I gasped between clenched teeth and uncapped the highlighter. I shifted a little, trying to get more comfortable and felt my thigh touch her foot again. She didn’t pull away, and even through my khakis, I could feel the heat radiating from her skin.
“Um, what page are we on again?” I mumbled.
Her toes wiggled a bit against my leg as she laughed and told me the chapter. Then, the study group began in earnest. They talked, and I highlighted like a crazy person. When I stopped them to ask a question, Alicia tossed me a pen and Tally wiggled her toes again. I made sure to ask a lot of questions after that, being sure to scribble down the answers because that earned me an extra long wiggle.
When one of my questions started a heated debate in the group, Tally leaned over to pat me on the shoulder and cheered, “You got ‘em stirred up! Way to go, Egghead!” She wiggled her toes slowly against my leg for a long time after that.
You know, this study group thing just might work after all.
“Then don’t go,” he’d said without even looking away from his game. I couldn’t see the screen but knew from the way he was hunching his shoulders and clicking furiously on the mouse that he must be deep in some battle.
“Yeah, yeah, ‘don’t go.’ That’s easy for you to say – you’re already failing all your classes. I actually got a chance in this one if I do well on the exam.”
He just grunted and kept clicking, so I grabbed my chem. notebook and left. For April, the day was really hot, and I started sweating as soon as I stepped out of my dorm. I worried a bit on the walk across campus if the shirt I’d grabbed a shirt was too dirty and kept sniffing my shoulders in a way that I hoped wasn’t too obvious.
What am I doing? I asked myself finally. This is a study session, not a date. If I stink, I stink. All these guys care about are grades anyway.
Still, though, I stood for a few minutes in the thankfully air-conditioned lobby of Duggan Hall before I signed in. No harm in airing out a bit, I thought, as I waited for one of the eggheads to come down and get me. The girls’ dorms always required an escort for male visitors and had even given me a lanyard with the word blazoned across it. A safety precaution that made sense to me, but it kind of rankled that the guys’ dorms followed an open door policy. Maybe admin figured us guys might be happy if some crazy woman barged into our room. Hmmm. Maybe they were right.
I was smiling at my own thought when Alicia stepped out of the elevator. She sat in the row ahead of my in chem. class, but I’d only gotten to know her in the past week. For an egghead, she was actually kind of cute. She had her blonde hair up in a ponytail and wore white sweats cut off just at the calves and a gray thin-strapped tank with a faded maroon football across the chest. Her figure was nice, and she had a way of bouncing when she walked that was distracting, but I knew she was all business. All I’d ever heard her talk about was class work, grades, and the library. Not my type at all, but my type would more likely be at a frat party than a study group.
After clearing me with the stern-faced RA behind the front desk, she waved me into the elevator. “We’ve already started. But you really haven’t missed much.” She hit the 4th floor button and crossed her arms. I noticed that she smelled really good – kind of like oranges or something citrusy. Mentally, I cussed myself for not at least putting on some cologne.
“Cool. I mean, um, sorry. For being late. I didn’t mean to be. It’s really hot outside.”
Like that was a reason. God, I’m an idiot around girls, even dumb ones. And Alicia wasn’t. She’d done well on all the chem tests – I knew because I’d heard her squeal with delight when we’d gotten each one back. Last week, I’d finally stopped rolling my eyes behind her back and instead leaned forward and asked her how she did it.
“A great study group!” she’d gushed. That’s when I literally begged for the invite. I had to pass chem or I couldn’t get into the Early Entry program. Pre-Vet was a tough major, and I’d been too lazy this semester. What can I say? I’m a typical college freshman, at least typical for my circle of friends – most had already broken the bad news to their parents about grades and scholarships. One had even signed up for the Marines already.
Not me though. There was some light at the end of my tunnel. I had some hope, but I needed to ace this last chem. test.
That’s where the eggheads came in.
“We’re in Tally’s room. She’s in our class, but she says you don’t know her. I know you’ve seen her though. Dark hair, pretty, tall? Sits up front?”
“Sure,” I nodded, watching the lights on the panel tick slowly from number to number. Great. Probably that skinny girl with big eyes. Or the fat goth chick. They both sat up front and looked like they’d be in a study group. Always answering the professor questions or worse asking him stuff. They just made class last even longer than it had to. I wouldn’t say that either of them was pretty though, but in nerd circles, who knows?
“Anyway, Tally’s leading the group today, since my roommate’s got her boyfriend over. We usually meet in my room over in Hamlin, even though Tally’s room is bigger. I’ve got better snacks.”
“Cool,” I said brightly just as the elevator light dinged on the number 4 and the doors slid open.
Alicia laughed and waved me through first. I stepped out and immediately stopped worrying about my shirt stinking.
There was such a cloud of incense, perfume, and something that could only mean someone was cooking Chinese food that a dog could have taken a dump right on my foot and I couldn’t have smelled it. I followed Alicia down the spotless, carpeted hall -- another difference between girls’ and guys’ dorms that I’d noticed. Each door was heavily decorated with ribbons, flowers, and all kinds of cutesy signs , and from behind I could hear the mixed sounds of music, tvs, and muffled laughter. Of course, we stopped outside the one door that was the least feminine. It had only a whiteboard with “Tally” neatly written on it in cursive and a little tray holding markers and an eraser. An RA placard hung just above that. The reason for the private room, I noted. Alicia kept talking rather than knocking at the door, which I thought was strange, but chalked it up to her being an egghead.
“Anyway, Tally’s leading the group. She’s aced every test. Every class actually. 4.0 average.”
I hid a grimace behind what I hoped was an eager smile. You’ve got to pass this class, I told myself, and if it means spending time with Big-eyes or Gothzilla, then that’s what you’re going to do.
“And you already know Roger of course.” I nodded. The gay guy who sat next to her in class and listened to her go on about her grades. “And you’ll meet Jess and Susie – they’re in a different section but same prof. They all know you’re coming. Just remember that we move fast, so you’re going to have to ask questions if you’re serious about doing well on this last test. We’ll help, but we aren’t going to feed it to you.”
She looked me dead in the eyes, hesitated noticeably, and then added, “Don’t let yourself get distracted.”
“Okay. Ask questions. Don’t get distracted.” I parroted back, wondering why she tagged that last bit on. She nodded approvingly, not knowing that I mentally added, ‘Stay awake,’ as she turned to knock on the naked-looking door.
This is like going to the doctor, I told myself. It’s not going to be fun, but I have to do it if I wanted to pass… I kept preaching these things to myself as the door opened and Alicia bounced in, announcing that she’d found me and that I’d even brought my books, which must have been a surprise.
I didn’t have time to feel insulted because I knew that I was screwed the second I walked into the room. I knew now why Alicia had added the ‘Don’t get distracted’ warning to her little pep talk.
“I’m so going to flunk this class,” I murmured to myself as Alicia introduced them to me one by one, even Roger whom I’d already met. I barely even noticed the two girls from the other section – I wouldn’t recognize them again if my life depended on it. And Roger and Alicia pretty much fell off the face of the earth. My earth anyway. And so did chemistry and the big final and even the basic things, like sitting down and opening a book.
That is, until she said my name and patted a spot on the bed next to her. Her bed. Her. The girl I’d been fantasizing about all semester instead of listening to the chem. lectures. The tanned, dark-haired goddess in the sundresses that breezed into class late and was always texting in her lap where the prof couldn’t see. She was an egghead? The gorgeous babe that was surrounded by all the jocks as soon as every class ended? She aced every test? Every class? My world flipped not only upside down but inside out and sideways. I eased down onto her bed and looked everywhere but at her. I think I even held my breath, but somehow I inhaled some of her perfume. Vanilla.
She pulled her legs up onto the bed, grazing my leg with one bare foot. I thought I was going to faint.
They started talking chemistry right away – elements and catalysts and moles. Tally knew her stuff, but all I could think about was how sexy her voice sounded. And about how I could still feel the heat on my leg where her foot had touched me. I couldn’t look at her, the rest of the group didn’t exist. I looked at the Monet posters over her bed and the mostly naked guy tacked on the back of her door. I looked at the desk covered with tidy stacks of binders and notebooks and the dresser littered with lip gloss and lotion bottles. I looked at her bookshelf full of fashion magazines and textbooks. I looked at her laptop with the volleyball background. I looked at the chain of high-heel sandals and boots cleverly strung up from the ceiling. I looked at the closet overflowing with string tops, jeans, and – God help me – sundresses. I even looked at my chem. book.
I was staring at it, when an orange highlighter plopped down onto the open page. Startled, I picked it up and looked up into her blue eyes for the first time.
“Don’t just sit there. Start highlighting!” Tally scolded and smacked me on the shoulder playfully. It stung just enough to make me jump. I suddenly noticed the rest of the group staring at me like I was the weirdo, and I opened my mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say.
The goddess laughed and suddenly leaned over to snatch my book out of my lap. I sat open-mouthed, as she flipped through the near-mint condition book with a scowl on her perfect face. She shook her head sadly at me and then waved my book in front of the others. “Look, guys! Can you believe it? Almost finals, and his book’s still a virgin! Not a mark in it!”
The rest of the study group laughed, as she sadly patted my book like it was some kind of pathetic reject. I started to say something that I hoped would be witty just as she chucked the book back down in my lap. She tossed it hard, and I wasn’t ready. Somehow, I managed to keep from curling up in the fetal position.
“See what happens when you don’t pay attention!” She warned with a friendly laugh echoed by the rest of the group. To take away the sting in her words, she poked my thigh with her foot again. Gently though, and she held it there a second longer before she pulled it away.
“Yes, m’am,” I gasped between clenched teeth and uncapped the highlighter. I shifted a little, trying to get more comfortable and felt my thigh touch her foot again. She didn’t pull away, and even through my khakis, I could feel the heat radiating from her skin.
“Um, what page are we on again?” I mumbled.
Her toes wiggled a bit against my leg as she laughed and told me the chapter. Then, the study group began in earnest. They talked, and I highlighted like a crazy person. When I stopped them to ask a question, Alicia tossed me a pen and Tally wiggled her toes again. I made sure to ask a lot of questions after that, being sure to scribble down the answers because that earned me an extra long wiggle.
When one of my questions started a heated debate in the group, Tally leaned over to pat me on the shoulder and cheered, “You got ‘em stirred up! Way to go, Egghead!” She wiggled her toes slowly against my leg for a long time after that.
You know, this study group thing just might work after all.
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