Chapter Nine
“It’s changed so much, and then not at all.”
I nodded as Caitlin and I stared down the mall cutting through the center of the University of Arizona campus.
Towering palm trees lined the north and south sides of the grassy expanse that stretched from the east end of the university to the west. White tents were staked side by side across the area, with effusive cardinal red and navy blue balloon arches and banners waving cheerily in the gentle fall breeze.
Although it was only eleven in the morning, the temperature was already a balmy seventy-two degrees and the forecast promised clear skies and a high of eighty. It was a perfect day to be a Wildcat.
Pretending to adjust the fit of my baseball cap, I chanced a glance at Alex, who stood on the other side of Caitlin.
Clad in khaki shorts, a blue U of A T-shirt, and a red U of A hat, he looked casual and comfortable…
and still ridiculously hot. But with his dark Ray-Bans hiding his eyes, I couldn’t see his gaze and wondered what he was thinking as he surveyed the campus festivities.
And if I felt a tad awkward around him after our discussion on the car ride yesterday, well, that felt appropriate.
After dropping him off at the hotel where he and Caitlin were staying, I drove directly to my parents’ house, where I had indulged in one too many glasses of wine with my mom before I fell asleep during the ten o’clock news.
Just thinking about how Alex and Caitlin may have spent their Friday night left me nauseated.
I yanked on the bill of my cap as if I could jostle free those uncomfortable thoughts.
“I have to check in at the humanities office and then meet the dean and a few faculty members.” Caitlin snatched her wide-brim hat from her head and took a moment to fluff her blond beach waves. “Want to meet in front of Old Main in an hour?”
“Sure.” I cleared my throat and leaned forward to see Alex. “We can wander through the tents and grab something to drink. Does that work for you?”
He slipped his hands into his pockets and raised his shoulders. “I’m fine with that. I’ve never visited this campus before, so I’d be happy to get a tour, if you’re up for it?”
“Sofia is a great tour guide,” Caitlin exclaimed, squeezing my arm. “She was involved in all kinds of clubs and knows all the cool campus trivia.”
“I don’t know if I remember it all,” I hedged, holding up my hands, “but I’ll try.”
After Alex and I left Caitlin at the humanities building, we paused in the shade of a mesquite tree and studied the milling crowd.
College students mixed with families with children in strollers, while alumni members of all ages laughed and talked among the various tents.
An eclectic mix of music filled the air, from rap, to country, to even the faint strains of violins and trumpets from the mariachi band on the opposite end of the mall.
The food vendors and beer garden were in a separate area farther east, but before I could point us in that direction, Alex spoke.
“There’s a tent for everything. Fraternities, sororities, honor societies, and every student club imaginable.” He whistled through his teeth. “And are those class reunions?”
“They are.” I followed Alex’s gaze to a group of older people, their white and gray hair standing out among their red and blue attire. A banner draped across the tent they were under read Class of ’66. A Class of ’76 tent was located nearby.
“Are you going to come back for your fifty-year reunion?” Alex asked, his teeth bright white against his tanned face as he smiled down at me.
I shrugged. “If I can. Even before I was a student, I enjoyed spending time on campus.”
“I can see why,” Alex murmured, turning his head to look down the mall. “It’s beautiful here.”
“It really is.” I rocked back on my heels as I glanced up at him. “Do you go to Villanova’s homecoming?”
“Nah. But I did go to homecoming with Camila. She went to USC, and they have a big celebration. It was fun.”
“I bet.” I chuckled. “USC strikes me as a school that doesn’t do anything by half measures.”
“You’re not wrong.” Alex pivoted to face me. “So where do you want to start our tour?”
Rolling my lips together, I glanced about. “Let’s start at the administration building and work our way around from there.”
Alex extended an arm. “Lead the way, fearless Wildcat.”
Over the course of the next forty-five minutes, I showed Alex sites that were a part of my undergraduate tenure at the university.
We wandered through the various Greek life tents and cheered for members of the Pan-Hellenic sororities and fraternities as they strolled, before stopping by the Hispanic alumni tent, where I greeted some old friends and introduced them to Alex.
His attention was later snared by the folklórico dancers on the main stage, so we watched their colorful dancing for several long minutes.
When I snuck a glance at his face, he was smiling and bobbing his head to the beat.
After a quick visit to the student union, where I showed Alex the mall memorial for the infamous USS Arizona, which was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor, we wandered to Old Main, an original building on the Arizona campus.
“When the university was first founded in 1885, Arizona was still a territory. This building”—I gestured to the wooden structure as we stepped from the sunshine into the shade of the wraparound porch—“once housed the School of Agriculture and was surrounded by grazing lands.”
As we walked a circuit around the building, I described how the lush university landscaping had once been dusty cattle acres filled with creosote bushes and shrubby grasses.
Over time, as the university grew, the unremarkable terrain had been filled with striking redbrick buildings, olive groves, cacti gardens, towering palm trees, and long expanses of vibrant green grass.
Eventually, Alex gestured with his thumb over his shoulder to a bench tucked away in the shade of a flowering vine.
“Want to sit while we wait for Caitlin?”
Nodding, I followed him, carefully situating myself on the bench beside him. Not too close, of course, but at a distance that I hoped felt natural.
“You mentioned your dad is a professor here on campus.” Alex stretched out his legs and crossed them at his ankles. He appeared relaxed while I was fighting not to vibrate out of my skin. “What department does he work in?”
“Environmental sciences.” I pointed a finger in the direction of his building. “He’s worked here since the nineties.”
Alex slipped off his sunglasses, hooking them in the neck of his T-shirt. “Was it hard to let loose and have fun in college knowing he was close by?”
“Not at all.” I huffed a shaky laugh. “The campus is big enough that I only saw Papí when I specifically hunted him down. And sometimes I would. I’d grab us lunch, and we’d eat in his office. Sometimes we’d meet my mom at one of the off-campus restaurants.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize your mom worked close by, too.”
I nodded. “The historical society is maybe a five-minute walk from here. They both ride their bikes to the office so they don’t have to worry about parking.”
His dark eyes traced over my face. “I envy how close you are to them. I haven’t spoken with my parents in…” A crease appeared between his brows as he considered. “Three weeks, maybe.”
“But you talk to your sisters more frequently, right?”
“Yeah.” The corners of his mouth tipped up. “I spoke with Camila briefly this morning, and Elena last night. Camila said she liked your video on Mary…” Alex frowned.
“Mary Kenner. The Black woman who invented a sanitary belt and toilet paper holder, among other things.” I couldn’t stop the heat that rushed to my face. “I’m flattered she enjoyed it.”
“She enjoys all your videos.” He scoffed suddenly. “And apparently she told Elena that we’re friends, because she asked about you last night.”
“She did?” I blinked, unsure of what to say. “I mean, I’m sure you just told her I was Caitlin’s friend.”
A frown marred his expression. “No. I sent her a link to one of your videos and we watched a few together. She and Jenny—that’s her wife—really liked them. Elena suggested doing more queer figures.”
I sat up straight, my eyes wide. “I have a few on my list, but I haven’t recorded their videos yet. I need to fix that.”
Slipping my phone from my crossbody bag, I opened the Notes app and started typing the changes I needed to make to my video schedule.
When I was planning out my content, I had saved the bulk of queer historical figures for June to commemorate Pride, but now I realized that I could celebrate queer figures all year round.
Alex’s soft chuckle was all amusement. “Did I put a bug in your ear?”
“You did.” I flashed him a quick grin. “But then you’ve always done that. From the very beginning.”
He was quiet for so long that I looked up from my phone. Alex was staring down at the ground with a divot between his brows.
“Everything okay over there?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Alex swiped a hand over his mouth and huffed a breath. “I was just thinking that we’ve known each other for five months now.”
“Have we really?” I frowned as I did the mental math. “Isn’t it funny how we met on TikTok before we met in person? And then to meet so randomly through Caitlin is pretty crazy.”
“Definitely crazy.” His dark eyes met mine, an inscrutable look in them. “I’m glad we’re friends, Sofia.”
My throat worked on a swallow. God, a string of words sat on my tongue. Words I knew damn well not to say. Words that would poison not just our friendship, but also my friendship with Caitlin. And hadn’t enough things been destroyed during the last few months?
“I’m glad we’re friends, too, Alex,” I said instead, hoping I sounded sincere.
Alex sat back on the bench and gazed at the action on the mall, and I stared at my phone again, pretending to review my notes. But my mind was registering nothing. All I could think about was Alex’s words. I’m glad we’re friends, Sofia.