Read Stitch for Free Online Page B

direct interaction with her physics professor.  “I guess so…  He probably looked up my photo in the student directory or something.”
    “You must have really done well on that test.”
    Alessa thought she had done okay.  She must have gotten more right on those last few questions than she expected.  “I didn’t think I did that good.”  After a second, she added, “Guess we have to be more careful not to get caught talking from now on.”
    Janie chuckled.  “Guess you need to be more careful.  He still has no idea who I am.”
    Alessa laughed. “True.”
    After a short walk, they arrived at the cafeteria.  As it was almost 1:00, most of the lunch rush had died down and there were only a few stragglers remaining inside.  This was always the best time to come.  With 20,000 hungry students and only one main dining hall, the ESU cafeteria was not Alessa’s preferred dining venue between noon and one o’clock.  If she ate lunch, she usually grabbed something quick from one of the smaller vendors elsewhere on campus, like the Van Husen café.
    The dining hall was one of the few modern buildings on campus.  With that many mouths to feed every day, the original cafeteria – which was built back in the 40s to accommodate one tenth the number of students – just wasn’t going to cut it.  A few years ago the university had used a large grant to build the enormous structure, with a huge kitchen and serving area on the main floor and three floors of seating above.
    Alessa and Janie swiped their meal cards then diverged to opposite ends of the cafeteria.  Janie, as usual, went to the salad bar.  Alessa scanned the hot food entrees.  It was a chilly day and after her earlier incident with the ghost, she could use some comfort food.
    Bingo.  Macaroni and cheese, her favorite.  Alessa scooped herself a modestly sized portion, then added a spoonful of steamed broccoli to her plate as well.  She didn’t want to hear Janie’s nagging to eat her vegetables.
    Sure enough, the moment they sat down across from one another, Janie eyed Alessa’s plate.  “You really shouldn’t eat that junk.”  Janie’s plate was piled literally eight inches high with fresh raw vegetables and nuts.  For someone who was so health-conscious, she had a voracious appetite.
    “I got some broccoli,” Alessa offered.  She watched as Janie dug a fork into her mound of produce and shoveled it towards her mouth.  “I really don’t know where you put all of that.”
    Janie swallowed.  “It’s low calorie and healthy fats.”
    “No, I mean, physically.  How can you fit that much volume in your stomach?”
    Through a mouthful of food, Janie replied, “Practice.”
    Alessa smiled and started in on her own plate.  The mac and cheese was definitely hitting the spot.  It reminded her of her mom’s homemade recipe, creamy and buttery with a thick layer of crisp breadcrumbs across the top.  Heaven.  It felt like forever since she’d eaten something so rich.
    Janie looked up from her tray and took a deep chug from her glass of milk.  “So, how are you feeling?  You look better than when you walked into class.”
    Alessa definitely felt better.  “Yeah, I’m okay now.  Thanks for asking.”  She took a sip of water.  “I forgot how –” she searched for the right word, “– distressing it is to see the ghost.  I mean, beyond the expected scared-out-of-my-mind reaction, for some reason he stirs up all these other emotions in me.  I know I’ve told you that I can see that he’s distraught, but it’s more than just empathy.  I feel it.  It’s like a whole bucket of emotions are dumped on me in the span of a few seconds, and it just leaves me feeling like a wreck.”
    “Is that normal for ghosts?”
    “Is what normal?”
    “Making you feel things, like maybe what they’re feeling.”
    Alessa hadn’t thought of that.  She certainly couldn’t explain how she felt in his presence, and at least some of it