Extra Credit
The next day
by FamousMisra
Comments welcome :)
Jane awoke with a stiff neck. Sunlight came through her half-closed blinds as she rubbed her eyes. Did I fall asleep studying? The last thing she remembered was... She blinked. What did I do yesterday? The memories came slowly, like molasses. The quiz. The office hours. Mr. Lewis.
She felt a warmth in herself as she thought of him. He was handsome, in his own way. She giggled to herself, thinking of the adorable way he’d scrunch his face as he worked through a problem. She frowned. Why did I just think that? He’s such a creep, right? Jane rubbed her eyes and yawned. Well, whatever we talked about seemed to help. I feel good. I feel great! She rolled out of bed, feeling strangely calm about the quiz grade.
Her phone buzzed as she got out of the shower, toweling herself dry. It was her friend Andrea.
Want to grab coffee before Macro?
Jane smiled.
You know it! Give me 20.
Jane reached for the old school sweater she typically wore to class, but as her fingers touched it, she hesitated. It just didn’t feel…right.
I mean, it’s kind of hot out today, I should wear something thinner.
Her eyes flitted to a tanktop she’d purchased but never worn. It was thinner and lower cut. She’d be showing more cleavage than she typically felt comfortable doing, but it didn’t bother her today. She’d slept too well to get hung up on how all the boys and Mr. Lewis (throb) would be staring at her.
“You look different Jane!” Jane sat down at the run-down coffee shop on the edge of campus and laughed. “What do you mean?” “I don’t know! Just more put together, maybe? It’s a good thing! Promise.” Jane grinned, feeling confident. Normally she’d brush off a compliment like that, but today it felt like she needed to hear it. In fact, she wanted to hear it a lot more.
“So, how was talking to Mike yesterday? Convince him to go easy on us?” Jane frowned as she stared into her coffee. “It went fine, I think? It’s weird, I don’t remember much of it, I think he just droned on and on about exam preparation tips.” Jane’s frown turned upwards. “Honestly, it was kind of nice. He really cares about us.” Andrea’s eyebrows raised as she stared. “A crush, Jane? On Mike? Come on, I know you want this grant but we need to improve your taste in men.”
Jane’s eyes went distant for a second. “Yeah, the grant. Honestly, I’m not worried about it. It’ll be fine, I bet.” Andrea put her coffee down as she stared at Jane. “Um, hello? Jane? The Holloway grant. You know, the one you’ve been planning for years? Now it’s just ‘we’ll see’?” Jane blinked. “Y-yeah! Maybe I went a little overboard. You know, things work out for girls like me so I shouldn’t worry.” The thought came so naturally to her. Maybe Mike was right.
“So, the interesting thing about the elasticity of supply is….” Mike started his lesson the way he usually did, with little segue or lead up. He looked up from his lesson plan for just a second and his eyes met hers. She smiled, her finger raising to twirl in her hair. It took her a second to realize she’d done that. Weird. Yesterday she was totally convinced Mike was a creep. But today, it just felt…different. Like him noticing her was nice. She opened up her notebook. Across the inside cover, in thick black marker she had written
HOLLOWAY OR BUST
But that felt so embarrassing. It wasn’t that important. Had she really been so intense? She rolled her eyes. She glanced down at her planner. She had blocked off an hour every day in pink cursive. MACRO OFFICE HOURS. She frowned. When did I write that? She glanced back at Mike, who had moved onto how to take a derivative of a production function.
Not until halfway through class did Jane realize she hadn’t even uncapped her pen to start taking notes. It just felt so…unimportant.