Easy

entryway. Once he was outside the pool of light surrounding the building, I couldn’t see him. I turned and walked to my room in a daze.

    ***
    Jacqueline,
    Your paper is good. Solid research. I think Dr. H will be pleased with it. I noted a couple of small inconsistencies, and one place you may have left out a citation. Other than that, I think it’s a valid, well-supported argument.
    I’ve attached the worksheet for tomorrow’s session. You’re caught up now, and you seem to have a good grasp on the new material, but I’ll continue to send you the worksheets for the last two weeks of class, if you’d like.
    I assume you’re going home over the break? I’ll be heading home Wednesday morning. No wifi there, so I’ll be out of pocket until Sunday.
    LM

    Landon,
    Looks like I may get this paper turned in early—what a relief. Thank you for your help. Yes, please continue to send the worksheets.
    My parents are going skiing over break, but I’d rather go home for a few days and hang out with old friends than stay here on campus. They’ll be boarding Coco, Mom’s evil-tempered little dog, so it should be peaceful and quiet.
    Are you flying home? I remember you saying you were carless.
    JW

    Jacqueline,
    Your parents are going skiing and not taking you? You’ll be at home for Thanksgiving alone?
    I’m hitching a ride from someone with a car. Home isn’t far, though it seems like another world at times.
    LM

    Landon,
    My parents thought I’d be at my ex’s. We’ve traded off the last couple of years rather than trying to join both family meals; this was his year. My BFF’s family will be at her grandparents’ cabin outside Boulder, and I’m not in the mood to burden anyone else.
    I’d rather be alone. That’s weird, huh?
    JW

    Jacqueline,
    Not weird to me. But maybe I’m just weird, too, and I wouldn’t know.
    I’ll miss your emails.
    LM

    Landon,
    Ditto. Have a good break.
    JW

    ***
    I couldn’t look back at Lucas during class Monday without thinking about Saturday night. His hooded stares made me think he was having the same issue. After I caught him staring holes into the back of Kennedy’s head, I didn’t turn back around. When class ended, Kennedy turned and smiled at me. I forced my lips into a line and turned my back to him to pack up. This class, this semester could not end too soon, for too many reasons to count.
    “Can I just say—your ex is gorgeous, but he seems like a conceited asshat .” Benji crammed his spiral into a backpack that looked as though it could erupt with loose papers any moment.
    I zipped my backpack. “Yeah, he totally is.” We waited for Kennedy to pass before moving into the aisle, and I studiously avoided making eye contact. I was more than a little worried about his assertion that we would talk while we were both home; I couldn’t imagine what he could have to say that I’d want to hear.
    Following our classmates up the steps, everyone animated with anticipation of the coming long weekend, Benji told me he’d be flying home to Georgia and coming out to his father—the only member of his family he hadn’t told. “Mom’s known I was gay since I was thirteen.”
    I was worried on his behalf. “Will your dad be… upset?”
    He smiled. “I think he knows. He’s just not sure if that means I’m going to show up in a dress or something.” The thought of Benji in a dress wasn’t a pretty picture, and I couldn’t hold back my laugh. He laughed too, adding, “I know, right?”
    Lucas was gone, or so I thought, until Benji and I emerged into the busy hallway and I spotted him leaning on the far wall, near the side door I usually took to escape the building. He watched us approach, but he seemed acutely aware of everyone else as well. I imagined him watching for Dr. Heller.
    “You haven’t told him you know yet, have you?” Benji asked, speaking from the side of his mouth.
    I shook my head.
    “Don’t make him suffer too much. He looks sorta vulnerable.”
    I chuckled. “Right. A tough, muscular guy like that—who’s trained to beat people up, and lies about who he is to girls—is so vulnerable.”
    He squeezed my arm just above the elbow and smiled. “He’s either an asshat to rival all asshats before him, or there’s a reason for those lies.”
    I sighed. “I wish I was a mind reader.”
    “You might not, once you know what’s in there.”
    “If I ever do.”
    Benji shrugged in agreement and veered off toward the long hallway leading