Hennessy
chewed on her pencil eraser as she stared at her statistics homework.
Statistics was definitely a subject best approached with a pencil. There was
enough math involved that Hennessy found that she had to really concentrate to
figure out the solutions to the problems. She glanced up as she heard the door
to her room open. Her roommate, Veronica, walked in with a towel wrapped around
her wet hair.
“Hey
V,” she greeted. “I didn’t realize you still here. I thought you had left to
meet Toby already?”
“Nope,”
Veronica responded, popping the p. “He needed to study for a Calculus exam, so
I decided to sleep in a little bit. Although apparently not as much as you did.
You were out like a log when I left for the showers. Late night, eh?”
Hennessy smiled at the teasing lilt
of Veronica’s voice. “Yeah, it was kind of late. I went to a movie with Adam
and some of his friends, then we went for some frozen yogurt.”
“So you
finally went on a date?”
“I
don’t know if you can call it going on a date when you are the only girl with a
bunch of guys.”
“So
polyandry, then?”
Hennessy
rolled her eyes. “No, I think they just see me as one of the guys. They are
just fun to hang out with. I’ve always enjoyed hanging out with guys more than
girls. Usually, but not always, there is a lot less drama.”
“True
that,” Veronica responded emphatically. “I like having my girlfriends, but
there is something to be said about the company of guys, especially when there
is no romance involved, but if you think that Adam sees you as one of the guys,
you are more hopeless than I thought. I’ve seen how he looks at you and you
look at him. You guys like each other more than just friends. Someday you guys
will accept it. In the meantime, watching the two of you dance around each
other is highly entertaining.”
Veronica
bent over and flipped her curly black hair over her face as she dried the
unruly curls with the towel, effectively not allowing Hennessy the opportunity
to respond to her assessment of the situation. Hennessy had a feeling that it
was intentional. She heaved a sigh as she assessed her situation with Adam. It
was true. She was starting to fall for Adam, even as she tried to fight it. She
kept telling herself that she didn’t need romance in her life right now. She
was a college freshman with an undecided major. She didn’t have the time needed
to invest herself in a relationship. But she did have to admit that she enjoyed
the time that she spent with Adam. He just made life fun, but not just that, he
encouraged her to be the best version of herself.
If
Hennessy was honest with herself, she was a little bit afraid of starting a
relationship with someone. She had never been in a relationship before. She had
gone on a few dates to school dances during high school, but that was just
expected when you grew up in a small town. Most of the time, she had done the
asking, and the one time she was asked to a dance, the junior prom, she still
was trying to determine whether it was a pity date or if the guy actually liked
her. She was leaning towards pity date. So the idea of someone actually liking
her enough to commit to a relationship was scary. Her teenage years had been a
series of unrequited crushes, so she was unsure how to determine if her
feelings for Adam were reciprocated, or is she was right when she said he
thought of her as one of the guys.
She grimaced as she realized that
she had bit off the eraser tip. She hurriedly spit it out and threw it in her
garbage can under her desk. She was starting to think she would need to make a
Walmart run to buy some of those eraser tips that elementary students used. Not
having an eraser was kind of defeating the point of using a pencil. Maybe Adam
would consent to driving her to the nearest Walmart. Her parents had
discouraged her buying a car for her first year of college since everything she
needed was pretty much within walking distance. They felt it was an added
expense and she needed to focus on her education rather than work so that she
could support a car payment or car maintenance. Hennessy smiled ruefully as she
realized that her thoughts had traveled to Adam again.
“Now what are you grinning about?”
Veronica was standing behind her,
scrunching her wet curls.
“Just how much I love statistics.
Fun stuff like that.”
“Liar,” Veronica retorted. “You’re
thinking about Adam aren’t you?”
“Fine, you caught me. I was
thinking about how it is nice that he can be my chauffeur, especially since I
seem to not be able to keep my pencil erasers intact.”
“You do realize they sell those at
the bookstore, right? I think you are just thinking up reasons to hang out with
him.”
“What are your plans for today? You
surely aren’t going to spend the whole day trying to unravel the mysteries of
Statistics are you?”
“No, I’m also going to attempt
finding the key to unlocking chemistry, world civilization, and human
development. Plus, I have a research paper that I need to find some references
to support my position.”
“You lead a sad life. It’s
Saturday. Get out. Don’t stay here all day. Your prince is waiting patiently to
take you to Walmart to help satiate your appetite for pencil erasers. Call
him.”
“He said he is busy today. I think
he has an intermural soccer game or something.”
“So why aren’t you there cheering
him on?”
“I have homework to do.”
“You’re hopeless. Well I think
these curls are the best they are going to be, so I am off to see if Toby is
done with Calculus. If not, I will still do my best to convince him that I am
so much more interesting than differentials. I will see you later tonight.”
Veronica
grabbed her jacket and purse and was off, leaving Hennessy alone in their room
to ponder the merits of homework versus having fun.
