Page 57 of If the Stars Align

He has a girlfriend. I’m relieved. I haven’t made any friends here yet, and he seems like a nice guy. Now I don’t have toworry about him hitting on me.

When I get back to my apartment later that afternoon, there’s a bouquet of bright yellow sunflowers outside my door. My eyes well up with tears. I call Dex right away.

“Thank you so much,” I say when he picks up.

“Congrats on your first day of law school,” he says with a smile in his voice. “How did it go?”

I take a breath. “You know what? It wasn’t that bad. I actually kind of enjoyed it. But…I really miss you.”

He sighs. “I know. You won’t have to miss me much longer, though.”

I wipe my eyes with the backs of my fingers. “What do you mean? Are you coming to visit already? You just got back to LA a couple of days ago.”

He lets out a little laugh. “Yeah. I booked a flight to Indianapolis and rented a car.”

I’m grinning ear to ear. “Oh my god, Dex! When do you get in?”

“Uh—let me look at my flight info again. I get in…two hours ago.”

I shake my head. “What?”

“Come downstairs.”

I run over to the window and, sure enough, Dex is standing outside my building on his cell.

I fling my phone onto the couch, grab my keys, and run down two flights of stairs. When I make it outside, I jump into his arms and wrap my legs around him. I’m so happy, I’m shaking. And crying. He kisses my tears.

“I promised you I’d visit,” he says with his half-smile.

I squeeze him even tighter. “What about your auditions?” I say into his ear. “I hope you didn’t cancel anything.”

I feel him shake his head. “I had one yesterday, and my next one’s on Friday. I want to spend the days in between with you. We’re going to make this work, Sunny.”

I meet his gaze and kiss him. Then I let my feet fall back to the ground. I grab his hand and lead him upstairs to my apartment.

And I get none of tomorrow’s reading done.

After Dex leaves, I use the weekend to catch up on my assignments and, by Monday, I’m back on track. Which is a good thing, because as soon as our Civil Procedure professor walks into class, something in my gut tells me she’s about to call my name. And I’m right.

But once I get going, the Socratic method isn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated. I’m pretty pleased with myself, in fact. I’m prepared, and I give intelligent answers. I come across as confident, even though my palms are sweating. When it’s over, my entire body is buzzing from the thrill of it.

“Well played,” Jeremy whispers from his seat next to me. He’s looking straight ahead, his eyes on our professor, but I can tell by the hint of a smile on his face that he’s impressed. Over the past week, Jeremy has gotten called on three times, and I think it’s safe to say he’s the smartest person in our class. So, coming from him, it’s a true compliment.

“It’s a rush, isn’t it?” Jeremy says to me later, when we’repacking up our things.

I smile. “I thought I’d hate the Socratic method. I’m not used to being the center of attention”—that’s always been Dex—“but every time I came up with the right answer, I’d get this little endorphin boost, and by the end of it I felt…giddy.”

“You’re quick on your feet,” he says. “I bet you’d like litigation if you gave it a chance.”

I shake my head vehemently. “No way. It’s one thing to get called on in class, but actually going in front of a judge? I’d be a nervous wreck.”

Jeremy snorts. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ll be bored out of your mind writing contracts all day. Come to the dark side with me.”

“Not gonna happen,” I say with a laugh. “My boyfriend’s the performer. Not me.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jeremy asks as we head out of the classroom and into the hallway. “What does he do?”

“He’s an actor. A very talented one. He’s done a lot of theater. One commercial so far. He just auditioned for another.”