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I start to feel light-headed. I steady myself with a hand on the floor. “Katy, there’s no way I can afford to pay half of rent!”
    She laughs. “No, you don’t get it. It’s not our fault, so our rate stays the same.”
    My eyes widen. “What?”
    Katy beams. “Yeah, sister! So it’s just me and you here all semester. It’s going to be great.”
     
    ***
     
    “Rise and shine!” a too-cheery voice announces above me the next morning.
    I open my eyes. Katy is beaming down at me. Sunlight streams in through the window.
    “Ugh,” I groan, holding my head. “How is it that you’re up before me?”
    “Dunno. But I do know if you stay in bed any longer, you’ll miss orientation.”
    I sit up and set my feet on the floor. “Orientation?” I mumble.
    “Yeah. All the freshmen get divided into groups by our dorms. Each group is assigned a peer leader. One of the upperclassmen. They show us around campus today, and then act as a liaison between us and the RAs all term.” She scratches her wrist and shrugs. “Part of the student council’s attempt to get us ‘integrated’ on campus.”
    “How is it that you know so much about all this?” I ask.
    “Haven’t I told you yet?”
    I shake my head.
    “I’m not really a freshman. Well, I am, but not like you. I was here last year. But I left halfway through first semester to, um, sort out some personal things.”
    “So you’re a year older?” I ask.
    “Yeah.”
    “How come they put you back in the freshman dorms, then?”
    “I never got any credits, so I came back with a clean slate. It’s like I was never here!” She winks. “But I know tons of things about campus life. So, you and I are on the inside track.”
    “Heh. I’m glad I’ve got someone by my side who’s done all this before.”
    “That you do,” Katy agrees. She takes my arm, pulls me up, and shoves me down the hall to the bathroom. “Now, hurry up! We don’t want to be late. Word is, our peer leader is a total hottie.”
     
    ***
     
    Katy and I rush into a packed classroom ten minutes past eleven. Despite her familiarity with campus, we had a little bit of trouble finding it.
    There’s an excited energy in the room. A ring of blue plastic chairs rims the outside. Most are taken. I spot two empty ones and point them out to Katy. We go and sit down.
    “Hi,” an over-eager guy says beside me. “I’m Johnny.”
    “Paige,” I reply, shaking his hand. “This is my roommate, Katy.”
    “Nice to meet you,” he says to both of us. “I take it you’re both freshmen, too?”
    “Well, technically…” I begin.
    “WELCOME!”
    Everyone’s attention snaps to the center of the room. A hush falls over the students. They start moving to their seats to carve out a space in the middle, where a tall man with light brown hair is holding up his arms.
    “That’s him,” Katy hisses beside me. “He’s hot, just like I said, isn’t he?”
    “How can you tell?” I whisper back. “All we can see is the back of his head!”
    “Ahem. Once I make sure everyone’s here,” our peer leader says, “we can get started.”
    “I can tell,” Katy assures me. “The way he has his shoulders pulled back is proof enough.”
    “We’ll see,” I mutter.
    The guy in the middle starts counting heads. His hand dips down slightly every time to acknowledge the count. “…eleven, twelve, thirteen…”
    Something about his posture tickles the back of my mind. I don’t know what. I strain my head to the side, trying to get a look at his face. So far, I can’t see anything except his hair.
    He turns slowly as he continues his count. “…twenty-four, twenty-five…”
    Then I see the side of his face, and my breath catches.
    It’s Andrew .
    “Wow, what’d I tell you?” Katy chortles beside me. “Total dreamboat, right?”
    “Yeah,” I say weakly. Andrew is here?
    Katy looks at me sideways. “What’s wrong with you?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Well, look sharp!” she alerts me, sitting up