He gives us two minutes to pair up amongst ourselves. Molly, Eleanor, Danni, and I look awkwardly between us. This is the first time we’ve been directed to choose partners this school term. It seems as though the most logical arrangement would be Eleanor with me, and Molly with Danni. This would suit me well enough; however, I’ve been getting to know Danni lately. And the more time I spend with her, the more I want to.

And so, when nobody else speaks, I do. “Would you like to be partners?” I ask Danni directly. “I might have a biased take on history, but I do have access to an impressive array of primary sources, so it all tends to balance itself out in the end.”

Danni glows noticeably at the invitation. “You’ve gone from offering to tutor me to wanting to work with me?” she asks. “You know I don’t know any of this stuff.”

“Are you volunteering to be the face of the operation?” I ask. “How are you with public speaking?”

“Terrible.”

“We’ll figure something out,” I say, and with that, we’re sorted.

Molly stares at Danni with a look I can only describe as betrayal. I hadn’t thought she would especially mind, given she and Eleanor are on perfectly good terms. Although, now that I think of it, maybe it’s less that she minds being with Eleanor, and more that she minds Danni being with me.

“You and me, baby,” Eleanor says to Molly, either unaware of Molly’s displeasure or choosing sagely to ignore it. “The dream team. We’re going to ace this.”

Molly gives Eleanor a sharp side-eye. “You’d better pull your weight.”

“Since when do I ever not pull my weight?”

“So, you’ll start working on it with me tonight?”

Eleanor recoils. “Well … I’m busy tonight. Actually, I have a thing I need your help with. All of you. Can you come to my room after class?”

Molly starts to pack up her school bag. “I’ll come. I’ll start my portion of the presentation while I’m there.”

After home group and end-of-day prayers, the four of us meet in the hall and make our way to Dewitt. Eleanor’s room is all the way up on C-floor, where she gets sweeping views of the college courtyard from her window. As we ascend, we run into Harriet. She brightens as soon as she sees Danni. She always does.

“Hey,” she says to Danni, as though the rest of us aren’t here at all. “Where are you off to?”

“Eleanor’s,” Danni says. “We have a mystery activity.”

“Ooh, a mystery?” Harriet looks at the rest of us now, eyebrows wiggling. “That sounds intriguing.”