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him.
    “What?”
    “The song. ‘Bust a Move.’ Most romantic song I know.”

11
    At dinner, I sat down next to Sierra and elbowed her. “How was your morning?”
    She twirled up a forkful of spaghetti. “Fucktacular. Why?”
    “I dropped by and you were, well, I don’t know if you were getting started or finishing. But it was loud.”
    “Are you expecting me to be ashamed? It’s me, Sierra, not my Mormon clone. I’m sure Trevor was balls-deep when you came by, but I’m also sure he wouldn’t have minded if you came in.”
    “Sierra, for the last time, I am not going to be part of a three-way with you.”
    “Good, because I’m not serious.” She chewed some spaghetti. “Although I’m not not serious. How’s Mr. All-Business?”
    I showed her the texts Zach and I had exchanged during class. “Fuck. Me. This guy wants you so bad. Are you sure you can’t unlock your chastity belt just once?”
    “I’m thinking about it.”
    “ What? Brooke Shepard is thinking about actually getting some? ”
    I looked up at the wall clock. “Shit, I need to get to study group.”
    “Zach’s going to be there, right? You bring a change of panties?”
    When I got to the study room at 6:55, Jillian and Brian were there, but no sign of Zach yet. I set my books on the table with a thud and flipped open my notebook. “How’s it going?” I asked.
    “Sucky,” said Brian. “Jillian keeps distracting me by being beautiful.”
    “Awww, you’re sweet,” said Jillian, and kissed Brian.
    “I see your relationship has jumped straight to disgusting,” I said. I pulled out my Geology handouts, and on top was the information about the camping trip. It would be an overnight trip to a remote research site in North Cascades National Park, and we’d be collecting samples of some of the minerals we’d discussed in class, looking at rock strata, and writing a five-page paper based on the trip. I was looking forward to it. It was too far to drive home to Seattle on the weekends, but the campus just seemed the same, day after day. Plus, I’d heard the park was beautiful, and I’d never been there.
    Zach showed up about fifteen minutes in. I gave him a hard stare. “Thanks for dropping by.”
    “I didn’t realize I was the kingpin of this operation.” He withdrew his books carefully from his briefcase. I sat as far as I could from Zach, scooting my chair over until I bumped Jillian’s foot with it.
    “Ow!” she said. “Brooke, what the fuck?”
    “Sorry. Just antsy about the test, I guess.”
    By the time we’d checked off every item on the two-page study guide, the paper was strewn with scribbled notes, pencils, flopped-open textbooks, and cans of Coke that Brian had smuggled, in violation of the rule against food and drink in the library. It was 9:45, and the quad was clear of snow. Now it was just fucking cold. Even with my parka, I was dreading the ten-minute walk from the library to my dorm. So after Jillian and Brian headed out, arms snuggled into each other’s jackets, I put my stuff away as slowly as possible.
    “You’re pissed at me,” said Zach. “I get that, but I have no idea why. Because I was a few minutes late to study group?”
    “Because,” I said, zipping my backpack so firmly that the zipper popped open and I had to painstakingly coax the zipper pull back down. Another point in favor of briefcases, I guess. I looked at Zach. He was wearing a pink dress shirt today, with a gray blazer. No tie. He’d trimmed his beard today, I thought, and shaved, and the lines along his beard were perfectly even and crisp.
    Zach closed his briefcase and latched it with a loud snap. “You’re really hard to get along with, you know that?”
    “You would say that.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means...” I put my hands on my hips. Why was I so angry with Zach all of a sudden? He knew I was into him, and he still showed up late, like he didn’t care about catching an extra twenty minutes with me. Oh,