His phone vibrates again and this time, I can feel the resolve to ignore the outside world crumbling.

“Shit, I should check and make sure it’s not Heath or my mom,” he says as he leans back to try and get his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. “Heath had that NMU visit today.”

Reluctantly, I scoot off his lap. He turns the screen so I can see as he shakes his head. Gabby.

“You should go,” I tell him.

He groans and looks at me with longing. Enough so that I know he doesn’t want to leave me. It makes it easier to let him go. “I’ll text you as soon as I’m done.”

He kisses me swiftly and then stands as he answers. “Hey, Gabs.”

I walk him to the hallway, and he places another kiss on my lips while he keeps talking to Gabby. He mouths, “Later.” And then he hustles to meet his friends.

I spend an hour reading through my notes and looking up the answers to study questions before I decide to break for a caffeine fix. I head over to University Hall, grab a coffee and muffin, and then spend another hour studying there. By the time I get back to my room, I’m exhausted but starting to feel like I’m understanding the material.

I lie on my side and start to read through the chapter again for anything I might have missed.

“Hey roomie.” My eyes fly open at Sydney’s voice. “Sorry,” she says. “I didn’t know you were sleeping.”

I peel my face off the pages of the book and sit upright. “I must have fallen asleep while I was studying. What time is it?”

I reach for my phone at the same time she says, “Eleven-thirty.”

“Shit. I was supposed to meet up with Nathan.”

I have two texts from Gabby.

Gabby: Tick tock. What time are you going to be done studying?

Gabby: CHLOE!!!! I <3 you, come hang out!

I respond to Gabby to let her know I fell asleep and haven’t finished studying and then I text Nathan.

Me: I’m so sorry. I crashed reading my notes. I’m not going to make it out tonight. Make it up to you this weekend?

Nathan: Absofuckinglutely. Good luck on your test.

The next afternoon, I turn in my test and breathe a sigh of relief. My late-night study session paid off and I knew every answer. I vow to do a better job of keeping a balance between my classes and everything else as I head back to the dorm.

I take a power nap then get up and work on a paper that’s due next week before heading to practice. We have an away game this weekend, so practice is light and we focus on skills.