by Amy Field
“I’m happy that I have your attention” Moriarty continued. He turned to the chalkboard and started to scribble down some formulas. “And why wouldn’t I have it,” Moriarty laughed, “our topic is as fancy as it ever gets.” Moriarty spoke confidently. His words did not lack credibility. Still, the classroom answered him with a wave of suspicious giggling. Even Janie had to wonder whether he was serious or only joking.
Moriarty was talking to the chalkboard.
“Is there anyone who could tell me what cations are?”
The class immediately went silent. Janie felt like raising a hand and giving an answer but a quick look-around convinced her otherwise. Her classmates stared ahead of themselves with glassy eyes and occasional squints. It was obvious not only that neither of them had never heard of cations but also that they were ready to roast anyone giving an answer. Janie had already become the bookworm of the dorm and she did not dare risking the same thing to happen in this class, too. She bit into her lower lip, her arm remained resting on her thigh under the desk.
Moriarty turned around in front of the chalkboard and flashed a supportive, encouraging smile towards the class.
“What about an aqueous mixture then?” he demanded, sort of muttering. The silence in the class grew so intense by then that even the last rows could hear each and every word of the baffled Moriarty. Janie knew the answer but remained hiding behind an expressionless face. Her eyes met with Moriarty’s for a second but she made sure that the professor would not see any sparks of intelligence in them. She stared ahead of herself in the same fashion like everyone else – with glassy eyes and a slightly bored impression.
The door of the classroom was swung wide open. Janie could not imagine how this day would turn any worse until she recognized that Cal Bailey was standing on the threshold of her chemistry classroom. That just did the trick. His smile was as radiating as ever, his cool blue eyes full of confidence like always.
“Mr. Bailey,” Moriarty mocked the student, “how nice of you showing up so early.” Moriarty checked the clock that hung over the door. “We have started only ten minutes ago and you are already here.”
Cal did not stress himself about the professor. He looked around the class and recognized Janie among the rows. Janie wished she could have turned invisible or at least been swallowed by the floor.
“Got a little hold up, prof,” Cal explained and started ahead.
“Wait a second,” the professor stopped him. “Being late without any reasonable excuse is not tolerated.”
Bailey did not stop, only slowed down with his advancing. For Janie’s greatest embarrassment he seemed to advance straight towards her.
“On the other hand,” Moriarty continued, “I would not mind letting you in if you could help us out.”
“I would be glad,” Bailey answered and stopped in front of the podium.
Moriarty looked down at him.
“Could you please explain us what an aqueous mixture is?”
There was a moment of silence.
“An aqueous mixture is,” Bailey replied confidently, “when Aquaman loves a human female and they breed.”
The classroom exploded with roaring laughter. Even Moriarty had to smile.
“Well,” the prof said, “that’s an A for humor. Pick a lab partner and take a seat beside him!”
Bailey nodded and continued his stroll through the classroom. On his way, he collected a couple of high fives from other members of the football team. Moriarty turned back to the chalkboard and continued his scribbling. He explained what cations were in a low, monotonic voice.
Janie could not understand a word but it was not the professor’s fault. Cal was still advancing straight towards her. Suddenly she realized that Cal had no other choice. The last free seat in the classroom was the one beside her. She started to copy the professor’s scribbling on the chalkboard into her notebook. What she felt was sheer terror.
“Hey,” she heard Cal’s voice from up close, “you mind?”
Janie nodded but at the same time she did her best to appear extremely busy with the copying.
Cal took the seat.
“I do not think that you have to write that down,” Cal whispered to her.
Her embarrassment was washed away by a gulf of indignation.
“Why not?” she mocked Cal. “Because it is useless bookworm stuff and has got nothing to do with football?”
Janie looked up and her eyes met with Cal’s. Looking at him from such a close distance almost forced Janie to change her opinion about him being a mindless brute. His eyes were calm and reflected intelligence – they had a cool and collected mind hiding behind them.
“No,” Cal sniggered, “that is covered in the textbook, I think, from page six.”
Janie froze again. What the hell this guy was talking about, she thought. She opened her textbook and turned to page six. For her genuine surprise Cal was right. It was all there.
“I did not expect you to have looked in any of your textbooks,” Janie replied with scorn. “In any book ever, to be honest,” she added mockingly.
“Why?” Cal asked, “is that because I’m here with a football scholarship?”
Janie run out of words. She was trapped again – she lost herself in the reflection of that pair of infamous, blue eyes. Moriarty saved her this time.
“Mr. Bailey would you mind paying attention to the class instead of trying to mesmerize Mrs. Williams?”
The classroom reacted with another burst of laughter. Janie felt like she had been the target of cruel jokes more times today than what she could patiently handle. But at least Cal turned his head towards Moriarty and she was free, again.
“I’m paying attention,” Cal protested.
“In that case,” Moriarty replied, “could you tell us what a qualitative analyses is?”
“Sure,” Cal nodded confidently.
“You just have to get some quality for yourself and then analyze it.”
The roaring laughter arrived according to schedule.
“Well,” Moriarty said calmly, “you might not have expected it but actually that is about as right as it gets.”
The class went on in similar fashion. Janie was furious. When it finally ended, she jammed her stuff back into her bag and left immediately. Cal caught up with her on the corridor.
“Listen, Janie,” he murmured, “do not be such a hater. I promise that this is going to be just fine. You might not think I’m much, but I will not screw things up, okay?”
Janie did not even care any longer. The day had only started but she could not handle any more annoyance. Instead of answering, she nailed her gaze onto the floor and walked away with hurried, stern steps.
Chapter 3
In the upcoming weeks, for Janie’s greatest delight, Cal kept his promise. He was not the best lab partner of all times but also far from being the worst ever.
Janie had to carry most of the weight off-class.
The evening was sort of warm for early October. Janie sat at the open windows in her dorm room with all sorts of books scattered all around her desk. She was trying hard to solve a molar equation but her solution did not match the one given by the textbook. She sighed and took a sip of water from the bottle she had on her desk standing.
What was wrong with her formulas, she kept wondering.
Then a cheeky little grin appeared in the corner of her mouth.
The formulas might have been just right, after all. It might have been her focus that betrayed her. It was faltering, wandering. Janie could not deny that for the first time in her life she found something a lot more interesting to marvel over than science. Instead of the details of the experiment and Moriarty’s lecture, Cal’s reactions and quiet, personal remarks kept her thoughts busy.
For a crazy moment she felt like she missed Cal. Then she sighed again and shook her head. He was a nonsensical brute, a womanizing bastard. Besides the fact that he could not possibly have any real interest in her, Janie would n
ot be interested in him even if he was the last guy on the face of the Earth.
The fatality of that last thought scared her. A cool breeze sailed inside the room through the open windows and Janie trembled. Maybe she should not have been so quick to judge Cal. Maybe he was trying hard and honest to win her sympathy. Maybe in some way he was even genuinely interested about her. He might have not been here to help solving the equation, but he did his part. At least, he kept Linda busy and that way Janie had their room all for herself.
Suddenly Janie felt like missing Cal, again – and her trembling was not due to that cool breeze from the outside any more, but to some warm ripples, shaking her body from the inside.
Then the door of the room opened.
“Hey, Linda,” Janie greeted her roommate reluctantly.
“Hey, Janie,” a familiar voice replied. But it did not belong to Linda.
“What are you doing?” Linda shrilled from behind Janie’s back. “Look at all those books. It is only the beginning of October.” She followed up her remark with some stupid giggles.
The way she said those things, the way she laughed, suggested that Linda must have thought that she had uttered something extremely witty. That other person who entered the room did not share her enthusiasm since he kept himself from laughing. Linda’s giggles sort of flattened out. Janie felt extremely glad for the other person refusing to be part of an attempt of her humiliation.
Janie turned around.
“It is called studying” she snapped at Linda. “Some professors expect you to do some work throughout the semester on a continuous basis.” Her words were not only aimed at Linda. Cal was the guy who entered the room with Linda – and Janie’s little rant carried more reproach towards him than towards her.
Cal did not seem to take it personally. He just smiled at Janie his usual, disarming way.
“All right, bookworm,” Linda muttered in a clueless fashion. She did not like how Cal was still paying attention to her roommate, that little grey moth of a girl. She grabbed her boyfriend’s wrist and pulled him down onto her bed.
“Do not let us bother you while you are doing your precious studying,” she murmured and kissed Cal. Janie could not watch this any longer and turned back to her books. She tried hard to pretend she was deaf but the noises got only louder and her anger fiercer. After a certain point, she could not even decide any longer whether she hated Linda or Cal more. She heard how they exchanged wet kisses, how they rolled over and back on the top of that bed with their bodies stuck together. She could not focus on the formulas any longer.
Janie packed her stuff and got onto her feet. She turned around and tried hard to block the part of her vision that fell upon Cal and Linda. She crossed the room without a word and was about to leave.
“Hey Janie” she heard Cal’s voice sort of shouting after her.
“What?” Janie exclaimed.
She could not avoid looking at them any longer. Cal was laying on top of Linda’s body, his strong arms pinned Linda’s wrists down to the sheets. His hip weighed down against Linda’s, and his chest touched her pointy breasts. Linda did not look at her, she was busy with applying kisses all over Cal’s smooth neck.
“Do you not want to come to one of our fraternity parties?” Cal asked without as much as a trace of shame in his voice, facial expression, or glistering eyes.
Janie shook her head.
“No,” she said, “I do not.”
And she turned around, again.
“Where are you going?” Cal insisted on continuing the conversation.
“To the library,” Janie muttered.
“To where?” Cal exclaimed.
Janie stepped out onto the corridor.
“The big building in the middle of the campus. With all the books in it…” Janie explained mockingly and let the door swing shut behind her.
She felt a little triumphant – she was happy that she found the strength and courage to talk back to Cal in such a witty fashion. And for once he had nothing to answer, for once she kept the upper hand.
While she was strolling down the corridor towards the exit of the dorm, she heard mumbled fractions of a conversation coming from her room. It might have been only her imagination but Linda might have said something rude about a certain bookworm.
Cal reacted quite simply. He told her girlfriend to shut her mouth.
Chapter 4
Sorority rush night. The biggest event of the whole fall semester – the topic every freshmen is so eager to discuss but never mentions because looking too excited about it might just wreck their chances getting into the house of their desire.
Janie was glad that the big night finally arrived, just like everyone else. But she had her own grossly different reason. Linda, and most of the other girls from the dorm, left. Felt like having the whole building all for herself, Janie sat in front of her desk, studying and enjoying the silence. Those molar equation still did not add up to anything what the textbook suggested.
Someone knocked on her door. It was a ghastly noise, something totally unexpected and unwelcome. Janie sighed but did not answer the knocking. She hoped that the visitor would just give up and leave.
The knocking was repeated.
Janie sighed. Only good thing about it, she thought, that it could not be Linda. She would not knock.
“Yes?” she snapped. Her tone of voice left no doubt of her intentions – whoever the intruder was, she did not want her coming in. Nevertheless, the door slowly opened up. Janie turned around to face the entrance of the room. Cal Bailey stood on the corridor and, for Janie’s greatest surprise, he looked confused.
“Hey, Janie,” Cal said carefully.
Janie was not sure how she should react. Cal’s intrusion was unexpected but his presence was not completely unwelcome. Especially that Linda was not around.
“Can I help you?” Janie asked trying hard to sound indifferent. She must have convinced Cal since his confusion did not evaporate – that trademark disarming smile of his did not flash up on that handsome face.
“Actually,” Cal mumbled, “I was looking for Linda.”
Janie shrugged her shoulders.
“Sorority rush,” she explained.
Cal nodded.
“Yeah,” he said, “I know that. We were supposed to meet but she did not come. She does not answer my calls and messages. Thought she might have got drunk and came back to her room.”
Janie lost her patience. She could not care less about Linda.
“Well,” she snapped at Cal, “she is definitely not here.”
Without further explaining, she turned back to her studying. A part of her wanted Cal out of the room. Another part, a strange, unfamiliar part of herself, silently begged that he would stay. Janie gave another try to the molar equation.
“You mind if I stay for a little while?” she heard Cal asking. Her heart jumped, she could not give an answer immediately because she had lost her voice. Janie had pinch her own thigh in order to find her way back to reality. Worst thing was that she had no idea what affected her so savagely.
“Sure,” she sighed.
She could hear Cal making his way through the room. For a split second Janie believed that he was going to sit down on Linda’s empty bed. But Cal passed by it and took a seat on the empty chair in front of the other desk. Needless to say that the other desk was located right next to Janie’s. In other words: far too close.
“What are you doing?” Cal asked her politely.
Janie dropped her pen and gave a cold shower of a look to Cal.
“I’m studying,” she mocked him.
“I can see that,” Cal replied calmly, “but what are you studying?”
Janie sort of eased up. She felt on home ground, she felt like they were approaching a field where she had the advantage over Cal.
“Chemistry,” she said slowly, “ah, wait! You should know about this. You have chemistry, right?”
Cal answered with a suppressed smile.
“Oh, yes, that is right. I do not even know why I sometimes feel like I’m the only one in the class who has to work on her own.”
Cal laughed.
“Come on, take it easy. I thought you did not want me to be screwing around. You said it yourself that you would take care of everything.”
Janie shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, it seems I have reached my limit.”
Cal pulled his chair closer.
“Hey,” Janie warned him, “no fooling around.”
Cal laughed again.
“Just want to help you out,” he protested.
Janie pushed her notebook towards Cal, so he could see what bothered her.
“Good luck with that!”
Cal picked up the pen from the table and tore a piece of paper out of Janie’s notebook.
“That’s not very nice,” Janie mumbled. Cal copied a couple of lines from Janie’s scribbling.
“I just need to give this a thought,” he said and got up onto his feet. Janie did not have much hope regarding what Cal would be able to come up with. She pulled her notebook back and picked up a pen for herself.
Cal retreated onto Linda’s bed and looked as if he was really thinking hard. Janie sighed and started to solve the equation for the umpteenth time.
The night was getting colder. Flickering white stars entertained a full moon on a black velvet sky. There were humming noises rushing out of the darkness all over the campus – like harmless ghosts of sororities past, a faceless crowd seemed to play hide and seek among the shrubs and trees. Janie felt like she was onto something. After the last subtraction, though, the solution came up wrong, again. She tossed her pen onto the desk in disappointment.
Just then something hit the back of her head. She had almost completely forgotten about Cal being in the room. The hit was not hurtful – the object Cal threw against her was a little paper airplane. It fell down beside her feet and just sat there peacefully.
“What the hell?” Janie asked Cal.
“What the hell what?” Cal replied innocently. His confident, flirting smile was back on his face.