After his class, Ben rushed back to his dorm to avoid running into the girl. Slamming the door behind him, he collapsed onto his bed with a thud. How, he thought, could someone look so much like her and be in the same fucking class as me. Old memories of her came flooding in and tears formed in his eyes-if he had to deal with this torture every day, he didn't know if he could handle it. Luckily, HSU started on a Thursday, so he had several days to mentally prepare.

Just then, Hux barged in. Ben hurriedly wiped away the tears on his face and did his best to seem nonchalant.

"Hey bud, you sleep all day again?" Hux seemed oblivious to Ben's tearstained face. He started unloading his bag.

What's with all the 'bud' talk? "What? Oh, no I made it to my class today. W-where did you go?" Ben asked timidly.

"Oh, just to the dining hall with some friends for breakfast," Oh right, thought Ben, it's only 9.

"So how'd your class go?" asked Hux, pulling out his laptop.

Ben wondered why he was so interested, but then again, this was an improvement from yesterday. "Fine, it went fine. I mean, it was calculus, so how good can it get?"

Hux looked him directly in the eye. "Don't talk shit about calculus, bud."

Jeez, thought Ben, this dude's serious. "Alright," Ben said, cautiously.

"So anyway, I'm going to this party tonight, you in?"

Ben gave him a blank stare. "Am I 'In'?"

"Do you want to come to this party with me?"

He's inviting me? "Sure, I guess."

"Great," he said, grabbing a textbook and donning a coat. "I'll swing by later and give you the details. I gotta head to class, see ya."

"Bye," the door slammed shut behind him.

"Well, that was odd," He mumbled. At least he no longer felt the need to cry.

Now that he was here, staring at the door, Ben hesitated to enter the party. What if no one in there liked him? Of course they won't like me, he told himself, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun. He felt an unfamiliar feeling-was it confidence?-and opened the door. A sea of drunk college students, complete with half-empty beer bottles, greeted him as he entered. He wondered why he didn't expect this, but then again he had never really been to a party before. Shifting his way through the crowd, he searched for Hux-at least he would know someone in this mob of intoxicated sophomores.

Stumbling over limbs, he searched for the familiar mop of red hair, but Hux was nowhere to be found. Maybe he's in the kitchen. Ben scooted past dozens of unfamiliar faces, battling through the neverending stream of strangers. Once he got into the kitchen, however, he could see that Hux wasn't there. He stood there awkwardly for a while, internally debating whether or not he should try to find Hux somewhere else, when he recognized the girl from earlier leaning against the counter. Well, now you definitely should leave he said to himself, but he couldn't get his body to move. He felt compelled to stay despite his fears, as if an invisible force had rooted him to the spot.

He kept his distance from her, arguing with himself over trying to talk to her, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Hux!

"Let's go talk to those guys!" he shouted, gesturing with the butt of his beer can. He followed Hux to a circle of people sitting on a couch that Hux shared some classes with. Ben felt himself relax, chatting about the campus, weather, and classes. Maybe I'll make some friends! he thought.

Just then, he felt a weight settle next to him on the couch. His stomach did a flip when he realized that it was the girl from earlier. Perfect, he thought, just when I was starting to have fun, she just had to show up. He pretended not to notice, focusing on the contents of his cup.

"Hey," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"H-hi," he stuttered, ducking his head.

"What's your name?"

"Ben."

"Cool. My name's Rey. I think I saw you in my calculus class, is that right?"

Rey. What a beautiful name. "Y-yes. I sa- I think I sat right next to you."

"Cool! This your first year here?"

"Yeah, you?" Ben forgot about the others in the circle; the world seemed to fade out.

"Nah, this is my second year. What are you studying?"

I can't believe she's actually talking to me. "Well, I don't really know yet, but I think I want to be a writer."

"Cool, cool. I'm going into engineering myself." She stood up "I'm gonna go grab a drink, you want something?"

"Uh, no. I don't drink, sorry."

"Don't apologize," She smiled at him and left.

Ben leaned back onto the couch with a heavy sigh. His thoughts were screaming that was incredible! "Who's the girl?" Hux said from behind him.

"No one, just a girl from my calc class."

"Aah! See what I mean about calculus? It's a magical thing. Looks like she's coming back, I'll leave you to it then," he said, sounding somewhat disappointed. I wonder what's got him down? he thought, but before he could delve too deeply into it, Rey returned.

After that, Ben and Rey talked for hours on that little couch. He told her all about his hometown, his family, and all that reasons he wanted to be a writer. She talked about her time in HSU mostly; how she didn't have any friends, but it was okay because she had wonderful professors. She was always so positive, no matter what, and Ben really admired that.

By the time it all died down, it was nearly four o'clock. Rey had fallen asleep on his shoulder twenty minutes earlier, but he didn't have the heart to move her, so he sat there and watched her sleep, and Ben felt strangely at peace.. Eventually she did wake up, but when she left she hugged him and said "Let's hang out sometime".

Walking home, Ben realized that a weight had lifted from his shoulders. He watched the sunrise, birds chirping in the sky above him, and, for the first time in years, he felt happy.