A few seconds passed before she licked her lips and looked back up at Jerome. “J, you’re in my office every other week talking about a second major. If you want to do it, bite the bullet and choose one.”

“I know,” he whined, “but which one?”

Deja took in a large gulp of air and then let it out because they’d had this conversation at least once a semester in the past year and a half. She liked him, she wanted to help him, but she wasn’t his mother, and she wouldn’t make this decision for him; she couldn’t. So instead, she gave him an annoyed look, and he smiled sheepishly at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Deja took a sip of her coffee and then checked her watch. She still had twenty minutes before the Senate meeting started. That was technically more than enough time to walk across the North Oval, but the competition for seats on the highest tier of the auditorium was fierce because it was the perfect location for bored faculty to open their laptops and grade student work or mess around on the internet without being observed, which was exactly why Deja liked to sit there. If she wanted to get a good seat, then she really only had fifteen minutes max before they were gone.

“I’ve got a meeting in five minutes in Founders. Walk with me and make a good case for Stats. Then come to office hours tomorrow to talk more about it.”

“Perfect. You’re the best, Doc,” Jerome nodded excitedly.

There was something about his glee that reminded Deja just how young her students were, which made her heart warm, but also made her feel old as hell.

“I know,” Deja said, lips pursed for a second before widening into a smile.

As she and Jerome left the coffee shop, she turned to look quickly over her shoulder one last time.

Alejandro’s eyebrows rose, and the right side of his mouth quirked up in farewell.

Two