Hennessy the Shepherdess Chapter 3

                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.