Coincidences are great ways of masking thirst.

I feel a lot like Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, who had a clandestine encounter with handsome Prince Philip in the woods. Then, he was just gone. The chances of Jack being a hallucination are quite strong, especially given my extreme thirst levels for a man.

Jack’s room is on the first floor, nearest to the main entrance, so his window overlooks the exact concrete path I’m on right now.

Don’t stop. Don’t look in. Don’t be a creeper.

Slow down. Casually glance. Can’t see inside, crap!

Be cool. Be breezy. Keep it moving.

My heart races, a million different scenarios flashing through my mind: What if he notices me? What if he sees me but didn’t recognize me because I’m unmemorable? What if—

“Chase!” Jack’s voice booms from behind me as I round the corner to the side of his dorm. Footsteps slap against the pavement as he runs toward me.

Okay, play this cool.

I make it a point to overexaggerate my head movements in an “Oh my word! Who is calling my name?” kind of way.

His hand grabs onto my shoulder, and he squeezes.

Squeezes!

“Hey, uh, Jack, right?”

His face falls. Shoot. I might’ve been too breezy.

“JK, wanted to see how you’d react.” I’m thinking so quickly I impress myself. “It’s John, right?” Cue coy smirk.

Which he returns! Score!

“What’re you doing ’round these parts?” he asks, hoisting his backpack up.

“Got turned around. It’s such a beautiful morning, I wasn’t paying attention.” Sweat trickles down my back. I’m such a horrible liar that the words lodge themselves in my throat and sound like I’m forcing them out too quickly. So much for being smooth.

“Took me a few days to orient myself when I moved in,” he says. “You’ll find your way, as we all must.”

“Okay, Deepak Oprah.”

Jack smiles again, but it seems a bit different today, like he’s struggling to contain or suppress it.

I have to actively stop myself from saying, “I missed you yesterday,” because that’s weird, so instead, I go for the standard, “What class you got?”

“Introduction to the Essay, followed by Introduction to Creative Writing. You?”

There’s a level of excitement to his voice that I know well, because I share it.

“Intro to Digital Animation Production, then Life Drawing, but what I’m really looking forward to is this advanced seminar course where we pair up with more experienced upperclassmen to produce a full short. It’s with the Linda McPherson.”

“That sounds awesome. Wait, Life Drawing. As in naked people?” he asks.

I nod. “It’s tasteful. The models make a ton of money. I could never, though.”

Not that I can’t use the money, of course. It’s bad enough that Mom had to take out massive loans in her name to pay for my tuition not covered by the scholarship. But being naked in front of a room full of strangers, even if they are learning and not treating you like a Pornhub clip, is horrifying.