Page 11

Eliana

I had resorted to sneaking in through the back entrance of the psychology building to avoid seeing Jake.

It wasn’t a perfect plan, seeing as he beat me inside the building a few times and I ran into him camped outside my lab door.

He had spent the past few days “working” outside my lab for the better part of the morning.

The first day he had tried to play it off casually, like he was surprised to see me at his new study spot, then he’d shifted the conversation back to whether I would reconsider being his tutor. I slammed the door in his face.

When I entered the lab, I saw April, fellow research assistant, happily sipping on her own drink from the cafe.

She confessed that Jake had offered to buy her a drink if she told him what my order was.

I called her a traitor and spent the next three hours silently coding participant data while trying to ignore the small voice in my head that begged for caffeine.

Aside from being the recipient of his determination, I knew nothing about my new stalker. I’m not entirely sure what possesses me, probably my drive to understand the human psyche, but I walk over to the bench and sit down next to him. “Hey.”

He startles slightly at the sound of my voice, opening his eyes to look at me. “Hi.”

“How’s it going?”

“Oh. Super. It’s really starting to click, and I might even consider changing majors. Me and psychology are like this now.” Jake crosses his fingers.

“That’s…great. Glad your little stalker study sessions in the hall are paying off.”

“Eliana?” My name is barely a whisper from his lips.

“Yeah? ”

“What if things aren’t going well? What if things are really, really bad? Even though I’m trying really hard to fix them.”

It sounds more like a confession than another attempt at bribery. “I’m sorry to hear that. I really hate seeing people struggle with school. That’s why I became a tutor in the first place. I’m sorry I can’t offer the help you need.”

He drags a hand over his face, “No I’m sorry.

I put all my eggs in your basket and then shit all over it.

Or whatever the saying is. My headspace is a mess right now and feel like I’m in a hole I can’t dig out of.

I also can’t talk to anyone about how hopeless I feel because my teammates are all relying on me and I don’t want to freak them out. ”

Jake’s uncharacteristic vulnerability intrigues me more.

There appears to be a lot more to the hockey captain than I’ve gotten to see, “Well, if you ever need a friend, just someone to talk to or be around to help the weight of life not feel so heavy, you can call me. Just because our tutoring relationship didn’t work out doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. ”

“Thanks. My friend hours are before practice from the hours of 6 am to 8am. Beyond that you’re officially invited to all the keggers at hockey house.”

I snort “Not sure if I have the upper body strength to do a keg stand but, if you bring the mocha fraps, you can always come by at 6am. It’s my quiet time in the morning to prep for the day.

I’m not committing to looking over your homework but if you happen to have a psych question, I might happen to have an answer. ”

His eyes fill with hope, “Holy shit. Yeah. I’m down. Should we plan to meet at the library?”

“It’s not open that early. We could meet at my place?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Cool. I’ll email you my address. I guess I should probably get going.” I nod my head towards the lab .

“I appreciate this. More than you know. Friend.” He winks, sliding off the bench and bringing me in for a small hug and the scent of mint and soap consumes me. “See you Thursday, bright and early.”

“Looking forward to it.” I pull back and finally enter the lab.

The first person I see is April. “So you finally caved huh?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m a pushover who can be bribed with sweet treats. What’s new?”

“I can’t say I blame you. Who wouldn’t want to spend time with Jake Keeley? He’s sooo hot.”

“We’re just friends.” Or at least we would be soon.

“Sure, sure Ellie. You say that now.” She giggles to herself and I let it be. Jake and I had only started our friendship all of a few second ago, we were a very long way from being anything more than that.