chapter NINE
Reese
T he lecture hall for Introduction to Environmental Science is already half full when I arrive, students scattered across the tiered seating in that peculiar college pattern where nobody wants to sit too close to the front, but everyone's afraid the back rows will fill up with people they don't know.
I scan the room and spot familiar faces immediately.
Tyler sits in the third row, laptop open, already taking notes despite the fact that class doesn't start for another ten minutes.
He's hunched over his screen with the focused intensity he brings to everything, completely oblivious to the social dynamics playing out around him.
Two rows behind him, Zane sprawls across his seat like he's lounging at the beach, spinning a pen between his fingers while chatting up a blonde sorority girl.
The contrast between my teammates is almost comical.
I climb the steps, debating where to sit. Close enough to seem social but not so close that I look clingy. The delicate balance of being the only girl on an all-male team.
"Callahan!" Zane's voice carries across the lecture hall, drawing more attention than I'd like. He waves me over with his typical enthusiasm. "Saved you a seat."
I make my way over, noting how the blonde's smile turns slightly plastic as I approach. Great. Another person who sees me as competition for Alpha attention.
"Thanks," I tell Zane, sliding into the empty seat beside him. "Though I'm pretty sure you just wanted an excuse to stop studying."
"Studying?" He looks genuinely confused. "Class hasn't even started yet."
"Some of us like to read ahead," Tyler calls from his position two rows down, glancing back at us with a slight grin. "Wild concept, I know."
"Not all of us memorize textbooks for fun, Wu," Zane shoots back cheerfully. "Some of us prefer to learn through experience."
"Is that what you call flirting with every girl in your vicinity?" I ask.
Zane grins, unrepentant. "I prefer 'gathering social data through interpersonal interaction.' Sounds more academic, don't you think?"
Despite myself, I laugh. It's impossible to stay annoyed with Zane for long. His energy is infectious, like being around a golden retriever who's had too much caffeine.
Professor Davis enters, a middle-aged man in a wrinkled button-down who looks like he'd rather be outside collecting soil samples than teaching undergrads. He drops a stack of papers on the desk with zero ceremony.
"Pop quiz," he announces without preamble.
A collective groan ripples through the lecture hall.
"Kidding," Professor Davis deadpans. "Though your faces suggest most of you didn't read Chapter 4 on carbon cycling. Today we're talking about ecosystem disruption. Specifically, what happens when you introduce a foreign species into an established environment."
Tyler's hand shoots up before Professor Davis even finishes speaking.
"Yes, Mr. Wu. I'm sure you have thoughts."
"Invasive species can destabilize existing relationships between organisms," Tyler responds, leaning forward slightly. "The introduced species lacks natural predators, giving it a competitive advantage that disrupts the established balance."
"Correct. Though perhaps a bit textbook." Professor Davis pulls up a slide showing a lake choked with purple flowers. "Water hyacinth in Lake Victoria. Beautiful plant. Completely destroyed the ecosystem within decades. Anyone know why?"
More hands this time. Professor Davis points to a girl in the front row.
"It reproduces too fast for the environment to adapt?"
"Partially. But it's more complex than that." Another slide: clear water, then the same area covered in a thick mat of vegetation. "The real problem is that it changes everything else. Blocks sunlight, depletes oxygen, alters the entire food web."
Zane leans over to whisper, "Think he's trying to tell us something about dating?"
I snort with laughter, earning a sharp look from Professor Davis.
"Ms. Callahan, since you find this amusing, perhaps you can tell us what happens to native species when their environment changes this dramatically?"
Heat creeps up my neck. "They either adapt, migrate, or..." I trail off, not wanting to say the obvious.
"Or die out," Professor Davis finishes. "Exactly. Change the environment enough, and even species that thrived for millennia can disappear almost overnight."
The lecture continues with more examples: kudzu vines strangling forests in the South, zebra mussels clogging the Great Lakes, pythons taking over the Everglades. It's actually more interesting than I expected, though I suspect that has more to do with my company than the subject matter.
Tyler keeps glancing back at us throughout the lecture, clearly wanting to add commentary but holding back. When Professor Davis mentions the economic impact of invasive species, Tyler's hand twitches like he's fighting the urge to raise it.
"For next week's assignment," Professor Davis announces as class winds down, "I want you to work in groups of three. Pick an invasive species and analyze its impact. Not just ecological, but economic and social. Twenty pages, due Friday."
Zane immediately turns to me. "Partners?"
I nod, then glance down at Tyler, who's already started packing up his laptop. "Tyler? Want to join us? Make it a trio?"
He looks up, genuine surprise flickering across his features. "You'd want to work with me? I mean... I know I get a little intense about research stuff."
"Are you kidding? Your research skills plus Zane's creative thinking plus my ability to actually write coherent sentences? We'll ace this thing."
"I can write coherently," Zane protests. "I just prefer visual storytelling methods."
"You mean pictures and jokes," Tyler says, but there's warmth in his voice now instead of that stilted genius.
"Visual aids and humor are valid academic tools," Zane replies with mock dignity.
Tyler actually grins at that. "Okay, but I'm picking our species. No offense, but Zane would probably choose something like... I don't know, vampire bats or something equally dramatic."
"Hey, vampire bats would be fascinating," Zane argues.
"What were you thinking?" I ask Tyler as we gather our things.
"Cane toads in Australia. They brought them in back in the thirties to eat beetles, but now there are millions of them and they're basically poisoning everything that tries to eat them."
"Toxic murder toads," Zane muses. "Okay, I'm sold."
As we file out of the lecture hall, Tyler falls into step beside us, his usual careful distance from other people relaxed slightly. "I've actually been reading about this case for another class. There's some really interesting data on how they spread north..."
He catches himself mid-sentence, looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry. I know I ramble about this stuff."
"Don't apologize," I say firmly. "Your enthusiasm is why we're going to nail this project."
Tyler's smile is small but genuine. "Thanks. I don't usually... I mean, group projects aren't really my strong suit."
"Coffee?" Zane suggests as we hit the hallway. "I know a place with excellent study fuel. Also known as sugar and caffeine."
Tyler checks his phone, hesitating. "I've got stats homework..."
"Come on, Wu," Zane cajoles. "Live a little. Besides, we should start planning our toad takeover research."
"Callahan?" Tyler looks to me, like he needs permission to take a break from his schedule.
The prospect of spending more time with both of them away from the intensity of the team house is appealing. And Tyler looks like he could use some forced social interaction.
"Coffee sounds good," I decide. "But you're buying if you want me to do the actual writing for this project, Zane."
"Deal," Zane grins. "Though I'm insulted you assume I can't write. I'll have you know I got a B-plus on my last English paper."
"What was it about?" Tyler asks, curiosity overcoming his usual reserve.
"The homoerotic undertones in Top Gun."
Tyler stops walking entirely. "Please tell me you're joking."
"Dead serious. Maverick and Iceman had serious unresolved tension, and I have seventeen pages of analysis to prove it."
"You wrote seventeen pages about Top Gun?" I stare at him.
"Eighteen, actually. Couldn't fit everything in the page limit."
Tyler looks genuinely bewildered. "That's... actually kind of brilliant. I mean, from a psychological analysis standpoint. The competitive dynamic as a substitute for romantic tension..."
"See?" Zane beams. "Wu gets it. Come on, let's go caffeinate and plan our assault on Australian toad literature."
As we head toward the campus coffee shop, Tyler gradually opens up, adding dry commentary to Zane's observations about our classmates and even cracking a few jokes of his own. He's still careful, still measured in his responses, but the robotic competence is gone.
Maybe this is what normal college friendships feel like. Maybe, despite everything else going on, I can have this, too.