24

We had a guest speaker the following Tuesday in World History, but I couldn't keep my eyes open.

I'd been up all night the night before studying for a Chemistry test and didn't have time to run to The Roasted Bean before class. After twenty minutes of unrelenting droning, the speaker turned the lights off and started a Powerpoint presentation.

I tried my hardest to stay awake, but my eyes kept drifting closed.

I woke up with a start. My head was on Tyler's shoulder, and the lights were on. Everyone was shuffling and putting things into bags.

"Sorry," I mumbled to Tyler, sitting up and desperately hoping that I didn't drool on his shoulder.

He smiled and winked at me.

He winked at me?

What was that supposed to mean?

He placed his notebook on my desk, open to his notes from the class.

"I'll give them back to you later." I put the open notebook in my folder and slid it into my backpack. "Lunch?"

He thought about it for a minute and half-shrugged.

I leveled him with a look. "I need more than that."

He nodded, and we walked to the dining hall together.

After lunch, we walked back to the dorm and headed inside. I went into my room and sat at my desk, but I couldn't focus. After ten unproductive minutes, I went back outside to sit at a picnic table and work.

I took out Tyler's notes from History to start copying them. This professor was usually good about supplying lecture notes/slides, but the guest speaker hadn't provided any. Tyler took good notes though. Very good notes. I flipped through a few older pages and was impressed by how well organized they all were.

No wonder he was so good at finding the sources for our Cleopatra paper.

When I finished copying his notes, I closed the notebook and put it back in my backpack. It was a nice day, so I decided to take a walk around campus. It had been a long time since I'd done that.

On a whim, I called my mom. After pleasantries, she asked again about joining ADB.

"Can we please have one conversation without bringing that up? I'm happy with where I am and what I'm doing right now. I'm enjoying the college experience that I'm living in. I don't need to be part of a sorority to be happy."

She sighed. She was clearly growing tired of this fight, too.

"I know you don't need Alpha. This is the last time I'll ask you about it."

We caught up on the rest of things that were going on, but I didn't mention anything about Tyler. I was still trying to wrap my head around it. I hadn't told anyone, except Sierra – and by extension Tyeshia.

I just wanted to keep it to myself for a while.