Two
When she approaches the building, she spies a familiar figure perched on one of the stone benches lining the sidewalk leading to the front entrance.
“Here you are.” She hands her second to-go coffee cup to her roommate and best friend, Syeda Amir. “One Caramel Cappuccino with almond milk.”
Syeda grins, accepting the cup, her dark eyes sparkling in the sunlight. “Bless you. I don’t know why I let Bri convince me to go to yoga so early.”
“Because you love her,” Charlie remarks, sliding on to the bench beside her.
Sy hums thoughtfully, taking a sip. Her long, dark hair is pulled into a high ponytail, her black puffer jacket zipped up to her chin. “Speaking of early…someone got back late last night.”
Charlie avoids her friend’s eye. “I was studying.”
“With whom?”
She takes another sip of coffee, stalling.
Syeda Amir is the best thing Charlie never expected to find at Archwood.
They roomed blind freshman year, then continued living together in the dorms sophomore year before moving into their current off-campus apartment.
She was the first person Charlie told about being a virgin and how she didn’t care about waiting but she wanted it to be pleasurable at the very least.
“Then find someone who will do that for you,” Syeda said one night towards the end of their Fall semester freshman year. “Don’t settle for less.”
At the time, Charlie only wanted one person, but she didn’t mention this to Sy then.
Heavily involved in Archwood’s Greek life, Syeda is athletic and gregarious, double majoring in neuroscience and Spanish. She helped push Charlie out of her shell—and her heartbreak—after that horrible night with Wesley Quinn.
“Promise you won’t judge me,” Charlie says.
Sy arches a brow. “Not a great start.”
Charlie sighs. “It was Nash Hudson.”
“Charlie.”
“Nothing happened. He wasn’t…” She hesitates, trying to make it sound better than it was. “Receptive to my needs.”
Sy scoffs. “He’s a troll. My Little said he went to Spring Formal last year with someone from Pi Phi and then went home with a different girl.”
Charlie glances at the time on her phone. She still has ten minutes before class. “Yeah, well. I’m afraid to say it gets worse. After we stopped, he asked if I was a virgin.”
“Gross,” Sy says.
“I may have told him I slept with someone.”
“You didn’t.” Sy looks at her sharply. “Did you say who?”
Charlie grimaces. “I might have.”
Sy narrows her eyes. “Who did you say, Charlie?”
“Quinn.”
Sy groans, palming her face. “Charlotte Rogers.”
Syeda is the only person Charlie allows to call her by her full name. In this case, it feels warranted.
“I panicked! He was insistent, and his name just popped in my head!”
Sy gives her a dubious look. “First of all, I know you don’t need me to tell you that it’s none of his fucking business who you have or have not slept with. And second of all, Wesley Quinn’s name just happened to pop in your head when you were hooking up with someone else?”
Charlie shushes her, glancing around the entrance to the building where students trickle through the doors to their morning classes. The last thing she needs is Wes finding out what she said.
“Was it his hands?” Sy asks.
“It’s always his hands,” she admits with resignation.
Sy shakes her head, tugging on one of Charlie’s curls with affection. She wore it loose that morning, but she knows it will be back in its usual bun by the afternoon.
“Those goddamn lacrosse players and their hands.”
“But it’s fine.” Charlie waves her off. “It’s over, and I can move on to the next one.”
“You have to volunteer with him later today, right?”
Charlie shoots her a glare. “Must you twist the knife further?”
Sy grins before she stands from the bench. “Just remember we hate him.”
Charlie rises, following her through the doors.
Sy’s first class of the day—a neuroscience lab—is in the same building, a fact Charlie was thrilled to discover when they compared schedules at the beginning of the semester.
They’ve spent dozens of mornings walking to class together, debriefing over Charlie’s failed experiments or gossiping over the latest Greek Life drama. “Obviously.”
They pause outside Charlie’s class on the first floor. “Wine and Love Island tonight?”
“Yes, please. It will be desperately needed after today. I should be home from the clinic around seven.”
Sy grins. “Perfect. Good luck on your exam, babes.”
Charlie waves while Syeda heads to her lab on the second floor. She enters the classroom and settles into her desk, pulling out a pencil and her exam study guide, giving it one last review.
Someone raps their knuckles on her desk.
Startled, she looks up to find Nash grinning down at her.
“You ready for this? I know we didn’t get much studying done last night.”
When he throws her a knowing wink, Charlie pastes a polite smile on her face while her stomach clenches. “I think so.” She doesn’t need to mention that she never needed his help studying.
“Do you want to come over tonight?” he continues.
“Oh.” Charlie glances over his shoulder where their professor stands at the front of the room with their TA, a bundle of exams in each of their arms ready to be passed out. “I have—”
But she’s saved from having to answer by their professor requesting everyone to please find their seats. Relief shoots through her as she shoots him an apologetic smile before he walks away.
When she finishes the exam, she doesn’t wait for him, moving quickly through campus to her next class.