Silent Heart (The Vlasov Bratva #5)

Chapter 29 – Harley

I was by far the oldest student in my classes. The prereqs I took over the last two years helped immensely. I was well on my way to cutting down the time it would take to graduate. Dissection and anatomy, however, were not classes that I could do at the community college online.

Settling into the stadium seating, I took out my notebook, my number two pencil, and grabbed my coffee to sip. Around me, the seats began to fill.

Hot liquid spread over my tongue, and I nearly choked as the brown-haired singer from the cafeteria came into the lecture hall. I watched her make her way to the back of the room, look around, shake her head, and then come down the aisle.

She must have felt me looking, because she lifted her gaze to mine. Holy cow! How young was she? We exchanged friendly smiles and she sat in my row, two seats down from me. No one sat between us.

And my first lecture began!

This was it. The moment that launched me to becoming an animal doctor.

Not only was there an age gap with all of these want-to-be medical professionals, but there was a technology gap as well. They used tablets and laptops to take notes. From my vantage point, I saw several shopping or scrolling their socials.

I tapped my pencil against the notebook, wondering if I wasn’t being too old-fashioned.

“Turn to the person next to you, that will be your partner for the lab portion of this class. If they plan to drop out, now would be a good time to leave,” the teaching assistant boomed.

I looked down the row, seeing the boys on my right already bumping fists. A light floral scent washed over me, and papers whooshed as the seat next to mine was occupied.

“I’m Cami Joe, and I guess we’re going to be lab partners.” The girl held out a hand, very direct and businesslike.

I cleared my throat and shook hands with her. “I’m Harley.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, pulling up the syllabus which she’d printed. Printed! I was so occupied feeling self-conscious about my learning style that I hadn’t looked over at the girl.

Cami was also using a notebook to take notes.

But a quick glance at the designer bag at her feet showed she did possess a very expensive Macintosh laptop.

“Forgive me for asking, but…how?” I gestured to her. “This is a graduate level class. Aren’t you in the wrong place?”

Those deep brown eyes studied me. “Really? You’re asking me how I’m here, when I could ask the same of you?”

“I’m second career,” I protested. “You have to be, what? Just out of high school?”

Cami sighed. “I took Advanced Placements and finished my bachelor’s degree a few weeks ago. I’m pre-med—so if you have any resignations about me pulling my weight in this class, don’t.”

I held up my hands. “I just wanted to make sure we had everything in the open.”

“Not everything,” she muttered.

I frowned, but she smiled the comment off.

***

“I swear I’m not stalking you,” Cami Joe said.

I snapped my head up from my dorm room door, key suspended from my hand. Cami walked down the hall, keychain swinging around her finger. She stopped before the door across from me.

“This dorm is for upperclassmen and graduate students,” I blurted out, but quickly added, “Not that I mind! You’re just full of surprises.”

“Oh, you have nnooo idea, Harley.” She laughed.

But…it was the way she said my name. As if I was in on the secrets, and that was the funniest part to her.

It couldn’t be that we were in three science classes together. The only places our schedules differed were the human versus animal components.

“Hey.” She paused at her door. “I’m going to grab a bite to eat at the cafeteria before hitting the library to start on the reading list. You can say no, and we can sit awkwardly across from each other, or you can join me?”

The best part about her offer was that it didn’t feel weird. Not in the slightest. Maybe because she was so young and determined to prove herself, and I was on the other side of the spectrum? Or maybe it was the kindred spirit. Either way, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I liked this girl.

I smiled. “Give me ten minutes.”

I kicked off my shoes at the door, dropped my bag on the chair, and stopped in front of the mirror. The fine lines around my eyes only crinkled when I smiled. But unlike earlier, I had something to smile about. As odd as it was, I had a friend. Cami Joe might be over a decade younger than me, but like me, she knew what she wanted and was willing to put in the work to obtain it.

“It still doesn’t answer how you have access to this dorm,” I said, checking that my door was locked.

Cami slid her phone into her pocket and hefted the book bag over her arm. “My family has connections.”

She didn’t need to say it to know the obvious. She came from money. But she didn’t put on airs, even though her outfit cost as much as my car payment.

“Let’s go,” I said with a wave of my hand.

A little while later, while we compared notes on the anatomy class, Cami looked up from her bowl of fruit. “Are you single?”

Taken off guard by the abruptness of her question, I gulped. “Yeah, not that it’s any of your business, but I am.”

“It is my business. I have to ace these classes if I want to shave off a year of undergrad and hurry into my residency.”

And here I thought I was an overachiever. “What’s the rush? You’re young, shouldn’t you want the college experience?”

“Shouldn’t you want a husband, home, and kids?” she countered sharply.

I winced. “That’s not in the cards for me.”

Studying me for a minute, Cami looked out the window. On the lawn, students were milling about, laughing and talking. “They’re so oblivious in their safety nets. People are dying just down the block, and here they sit, on their phones, complaining about first world problems.”

Who the hell is this kid? And what shit had she seen in her very, very young life?

Looking back, Cami gave me a nod. “That’s not me. I know how lucky I am to be here. I can tell you feel the same way, which is why we’re going to get along great, Harley.”

What else could I say except agree? “Yes, I think we are.”