Her Love

Although it was only the beginning of the school year, dozens of students had already camped out in the main study area of the library. The long dark mahogany tables were covered in papers, laptops, and books, while the aisles were crammed with librarians and graduate assistants scouring the shelves for the right requests. The only permissible sounds were the flipping of pages and the typing on computers. The scholarly atmosphere could be cut with a knife…

Andrew hated it.

As he weaved through the various shelves, he muttered a few curse words. Darien always wanted to meet in the library at the beginning of the year. And by always, this had been their tradition for the past few years. Darien was in his last year of undergraduate study, and Andrew was starting law school.

"Why do I always have to come meet you? Why can't you ever come find me," Andrew grumbled as he found Darien sitting in the corner next to the Anthropology catalogues.

"Okay, first of all. Hello. How are you? And second, I try to avoid strip clubs before dark," Darien smugly responded without looking up from his book.

"That was one time, and you know very well that was a terrible break-up."

Darien rolled his eyes. Andrew was a great guy, stand-up really. But he sure knew some sleazy spots to go to when the right time just… presented itself. Darien couldn't believe he had gathered such a great best friend.

"Anyways, all the first-years are arriving today. It's better to be in here than be out there. 'Mom, where am I going to put my complete collection of Plato's works?' 'Let's go visit the hall named after grandfather!' 'Where can I join all the secret societies?'"

Andrew smirked at his friend's impression of first-years… and how accurate it truly was. Yale University was a whole other league of crazy, especially when it came to the incoming class. They, of course, were a mixture of those who were being forced to attend by some grandparent alumnus and those who had received the golden ticket admission for being an incredibly well-rounded student. Then, of course, there was the small group who was both, intelligently gifted through nature and nurture.

"Don't forget, you were once a first-year as well," Andrew said solemnly as he took a seat across from Darien.

Darien darted his eyes to Andrew momentarily, before turning his gaze to the glass window that looked over the courtyard, "I haven't forgotten."

At this, Andrew raised an eyebrow at the nonchalant look on Darien's face. "Really now? I must have been mistaken when I thought I caught a hint of disgust in your voice when the word first-year slipped out of your mouth. "

Darien ignored this comment and continued to stare out through the window onto the courtyard. Flocks of students were out and about, and Darien studied them carefully (or at least pretended to do so). Andrew at times couldn't figure Darien out. He had known him since they were children back in prep school. Even then, his best friend was a genius who never let emotion flood into his expression casually. And as indifferent as Darien could seem about the world, Andrew knew better than to think that Darien was indifferent to the world.

"Care to explain why you're studying me so intently?"

"Well, I thought I saw the most brilliant person I know," he paused to contemplate his next words carefully, "But, once again I am mistaken."

Darien smirked at the comment and looked back down at his book, idly flipping through the pages, "No, no. I am the most brilliant person you know."

"I think we'll need to move to a bigger table; one that will fit your ego," Andrew replied in amusement. "Read it again?"

Darien flipped over the small tattered book in his hands to look at the worn cover: A Tale of Two Cities. "What can I say? It's a good book."

"Very." Andrew leaned over and grabbed the book out of Darien's, "You know, you can stop reading this."

"No. No, I don't know that I can," Darien sighed. "I better go. I have class in a half-hour."

"Is this that philosophy class you were using to try to convince me not to graduate a semester early for law school?"

"Yeah. The professor is brilliant and it is extremely hard to get enrolled in the course. It's only for philosophy majors and graduate students, which I am neither."

"I am amazed," Andrew threw his arms into the air as Darien began packing his briefcase, "You know, you're going to get sick of overachieving at some point in time."

Darien grabbed the book from Andrew's hand as he walked past him on his way out of the library and coolly joked, "Only when I'm not the best in the class."

Andrew sighed, "Well, I've never seen that happen, so I guess you're enjoying every damn minute of it.

Later that evening, Darien, Andrew and a group of friends gathered at a local coffee shop to catch up. To be honest, it was the first summer that the group of friends had spent mostly apart, with the exception of Andrew and Darien who had shared an apartment in New York City. While in the Big Apple, Andrew had gone to work for his grandfather's law office handling corporate affairs and Darien had an internship with a highly-regarded investment firm. However, due to the nature of their jobs, they rarely saw each other outside of the occasional weekend run-in or drinks.

Andrew had yet to make the switch back to college mode, and Darien… well Darien was always in go mode which pretty much encompassed everything. Andrew's thoughts were broken by the shrill voice of the only girl in the group, Meryl.

"You should have seen the look on his face when I said, 'You do know that there is a difference between being conservative and being Republican, right?'" As if this was the funniest thing in the world, she flipped her hair and gave a garish laugh.

"What did you do then," someone asked from the group.

"Well, after he fumbled for the pathetic answer for a few seconds, I told him that it was okay and I wouldn't tell anyone his mistake," Meryl drawled out. "Then, of course, I told everyone."

"Where did you meet this fellow," Andrew asked before he took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh, God. Somewhere in California. He was the friend of one of my co-workers from Stanford," Meryl whispered, almost disgusted by the university's name.

"Gross. The west coast is only good for two things: keeping the liberals in one physical location and international flights to Asia."

Everyone had a laugh before someone chimed, "You know. They're saying California might break off from the United States and float off into the ocean before it sinks."

Someone yelled save the children before they all broke out into an uproar of laughter again. Well, save Darien. He was quietly sitting in the corner closely watching his colleagues. After studying their humor for a moment, he went back to reading the newspaper and lowly cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, Darien? Is there something you wish to share with the group?"

"No, I think you've said enough for all of us for the night. Besides, I think I'm about to head out anyways," Darien said as he stood up to leave.

"Oh, is it getting a little too warm for you in here," Meryl slyly insinuated, moving to stand up. The group of friendly quietly watched as Meryl slinked over to Darien.

"It is probably due to all the hot air you are blowing out," Darien smugly replied while carefully putting on his jacket.

Everyone winced at the obvious shoot down to the sexual tension that Meryl was attempting to hint. Last year, Darien had slept with Meryl on the regular, for what reason nobody really knew. It was an awkward period that they would have rather forgotten, because while Meryl was obviously infatuated with Darien, his attraction to her was rather short-term. Right before summer, he had broken off the "relationship" (if you can call it that), leaving Meryl mourning the loss of all that power and money she would have gained through a more solid relationship with him.

Her pride obviously wounded, Meryl changed her direction from Darien to the newspaper now lying on the coffee table and snatched it up as if that was her intention all along. Seeing Darien turn to leave, Meryl called out in a sarcastic tone, "Darien, you're so sensitive these days. New York City made you its bitch, I see."

Darien stopped and glanced back over his shoulder, "Jealous, Meryl?"

Everyone in the group looked at each other before calling to Darien to stay for a bit longer. On one hand, he had the best stories to tell and with Meryl doing all the talking they had yet to hear any tonight. On the other hand, they wanted to see Meryl have it handed to her… again.

The next day, Darien sluggishly dragged himself into the lecture hall and took a seat in the third row. For a few minutes, he just sat there rubbing his temples. For some reason, when he returned to his apartment he couldn't get to sleep. Something was bothering him, and it kept him up all night. Part of it he blamed on Meryl's shrill voice and the fact that it was still echoing around in his head. The other part he blamed on her words.

While what she said hadn't bothered him, he wondered how he could have had any sort of physical relationship with that woman. Sure she was a great lay, but god was she obnoxious. Brilliant, but obnoxious. Gorgeous, but obnoxious. Amusing (at times), but obnoxious. And he should have realized that when he (and a bottle of whiskey) encouraged the relationship, that he would most likely be the one to end it. And now he was stuck with this.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice as the other students began filling the room. When he looked for the first time, he noticed a few familiar faces: Sally Hurston, Greg McKenzie, and Charlie Duslworth, all philosophy majors. Each of them was brilliant in their own ways, but still human and subject to err. As more students filed into the room, he relaxed a little every time he recognized someone he considered his competition. With a few minutes until the start of the class, he counted twenty-four students in all.

Wait, twenty-four?

He quickly counted again, noting that one student was missing from the class. When he last checked, there were twenty-five on the roster. Who was missing?

As if on cue, she entered the room. More like stumbled. Darien stared in disbelief as he saw a teenager step through the doorway. Clearly accident-prone, she straightened out the light lavender dress she was wearing. While clearly stunned by her age, Darien couldn't help but admire her beauty. She had long blonde hair that cascaded down over her shoulders to her waist, bright blue eyes, and delicate features. Her lacy floral dress was a stark contrast to the dark, fall colors of the other girls who sat in the room.

Clearly, she must be lost. He watched with amusement as she less-than-gracefully walked up to the professor and asked him a question. Expecting the professor to point her away from the classroom, he was shocked when the professor looked over her enrollment sheet she carried in her hand and then nodded in agreement.

Darien watched as the walking Anthropologie cover girl made her way up to his row and took a seat a few away from his. He felt like throwing his head back and having a good laugh. She didn't honestly believe she belonged in Science, System, and the Absolute in German Idealism, much less Yale?

As she was settling in her seat, she happened to glance up and look over at him. She was surprised to notice he was also look at her. Darien was still stuck in his thoughts when he heard her melodic voice.

"Hi there."

He blinked and shook his head, attempting to play it off rather lightly. He took a moment to rub his temples again, thinking maybe he had imagined it all. When he looked back up, he was stunned to see she was now sitting directly next to him. If he could have tipped back out of his chair into the aisle, he would have.

"Hi. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"You… didn't."

"Oh, well, I was wondering if you knew where Green Hall is?"

"The art school?"

"Yes! I mean, I've seen it on a map. But I was hoping there were some shortcuts?"

"Are you an art major," Darien asked, failing to hide the surprise in his voice.

She bit her lip. "I guess so. Art history to be exact, but I have studio class there."

Darien nearly keeled over in his chair. He mumbled something about never visiting the art school before the professor began the lecture. She quietly thanked him and scooted back over to her chair. There were a lot of things Darien couldn't stand in this world, but an artist?

As the professor began his lecture, Darien watched the girl out of the corner of his eye with curiosity. She alternated between typing on her Apple laptop and writing in her notebook. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to her methods. And as Darien glanced around every once in a while, other students seemed to be just as interested in her as he was: very, but not in a good way.

At the end of the lecture, the professor hauled a large file folder onto his desk while informing the class, "Now, I know the assignment was to write a simple twenty-page report on a German philosopher of your choice. However, you were not re-inventing the wheel if you wrote about Albert Einstein, Friedrich Engels, or Karl Marx. Those of you who did, that was a deduction. I expect creativity in my class."

Darien watched as Sally Hurston, Greg McKenzie, and Charlie Duslworth all sunk lower in their seats. He looked over at his row companion, but she didn't flinch a bit from writing in her planner.

"For the remaining ten percent of you who did not write about one of those three, I was delighted at the variety. All of you wrote passable essays, but I am saddened to report that very few of you superb ones. In total, the paper was worth three-hundred ninety points, and the highest grade in the class was a three-hundred eighty-seven," the professor continued passing the gigantic accordion folder through the rows. "The papers are organized by the first letter of your last name. Please be mindful of others privacy."

Darien smirked as he thumbed through the folder to the 'S' section. Quickly, he spotted his report, pulled it out, and passed the folder over to what's-her-face, as he so aptly nicknamed her. He confidently flipped through the exactly twenty pages of his report and fifteen pages of appendices to the end where the professors grade and comments were written.

Well written, near perfection: organized, thoughtful and direct.
However, more emotion needs to be inserted into the text, but otherwise a fine report.
Points deducted for lofty assertions made by the author, despite having the research to support them. See comments throughout paper for breakdown.
Please stick to the facts, Mr. Shields.

386

Darien couldn't believe his eyes. Three-hundred eighty-six? But the professor said the best score was a three eighty-seven. He must have been mistaken, or perhaps written Darien's score down incorrectly. Immediately, Darien began to haphazardly flip through the pages which were sparsely scattered with red ink.

He didn't bother to even look back at Sally, Greg or Chuck, but began to frantically glance around the room. Maybe a graduate student had received the marks? Or a philosophy major?

But as he searched, he couldn't spot anyone with that spark in their eye. The one that says, "I'm the best you fools!"

Then it donned on him, and slowly he turned around in his chair to stare at the girl a few seats down from him. The lone smiley face on the cover of the report said it all. She had received the highest score in the class.

Throughout the remainder of the class, he sat in a daze. She had outscored him: a teenage girl who looked like she worked at Calvin Klein. Pathetic. The second the professor dismissed class Darien bolted out of the room. He was too disgusted with himself to stay any longer.

Back at his apartment, Darien slammed the door closed after he walked in. Andrew jumped up from the leather couch, attempting to hide the fact that he was eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. Darien didn't even bother to look at him as he stormed into the kitchen.

"How was class today," Andrew called out.

"Let's not even go there."

"Didn't you get your papers back? How'd you do," Andrew sang teasingly to Darien.

Darien's silence was more harsh than usual. Slightly curious, Andrew walked into the kitchen where Darien was drinking a beer and staring at a folder on the counter.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Just drop it."

"You look like you just got a B+ on a paper," Andrew joked, but when Darien didn't respond, he grew worried.

"You didn't-"

"No Andrew, I did not," Darien replied in a less-than-enthusiastic tone and threw his paper over to Andrew.

As Andrew flipped through the papers he gave small sounds indicating he was impressed.

Darien simply huffed at Andrew's appreciation. "It wasn't the best grade in the class."

"Right, I got that. Who was?"

Darien remained silent and threw Andrew a folder. Andrew began flipping through it, and when he realized what it was he asked, "Where did you get this?"

"I slept with a girl who works in admissions," Darien replied, but when he saw the look on Andrew's face, he quickly added, "A long time ago. Not to get this, you idiot."

The folder in Andrew's hands had dozens of print-outs of a girl's Yale application. Andrew flipped through essays, letters of recommendation, and transcript after transcript. Finally, at the end was a picture she submitted for her student identification card.

"Wait, this is the girl who got a higher score than you?"

Darien was pulling another beer out of the refrigerator, when turned and gave Andrew a blank stare.

"She received good grades, a nearly perfectly ACT and SAT score, captain of the tennis team- Hey, which reminds me we're still on to play today right?"

"Forget tennis. You don't get it. She smart, not brilliant. I don't care if she deserves it. Hell, if that were the case then Mother Theresa would have received her Doctorate from Yale without even opening a book."

"Let us not forget you didn't open a book that one semester and you did just fine."

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

"This class is based on ranking. The professor will only give out so many grades based on how well you do in the class. He's also the last professor I need to get a perfect set of recommendation letters for graduate school. He only gives one recommendation per class per semester to his top student."

"So that's why you wanted so desperately to take this course."

"Yes, that's why. But this… girl will screw everything up. I have planned this out. I meticulously picked this schedule. Do you think I just happened to save one of the most difficult classes to take at this university for my senior year?"

Andrew just sat there dumbfounded.

"The answer is a big fat hell no."

"Darien, I know you. You want this more than you need it. I get it, but maybe she deserves the grade, and maybe you should work harder." But the moment those words left his mouth, he immediately wished he could swallow them back again.

Darien stared at Andrew with more malice than Andrew knew was possible. "She just got lucky."

"I thought you didn't believe in luck," Andrew barely managed to respond.

"I don't."

A week later, Andrew caught Darien as he was walking out of the main arts and humanities building. One look at Darien's face showed that he wasn't too happy. After quickly taking a look around, Andrew decided that there were too many witness if things went wrong with Darien.

"Hey! How did your test go?"

"You really want to know," Darien asked sarcastically. He was walking so quickly Andrew had to practically run to keep up.

"Well, yeah."

"I received a ninety-eight percent."

"On a comprehensive overview of German philosophy essay exam? There's no way she could have-"

Darien's pace quickened, and Andrew stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh my God. She received a perfect score…"

{Starry} | {May 2012}

Hello there! So this is the first revise chapter I have done in… two years! Huzzah! It's so exciting to be able to re-write this. I was thankful that I was able to re-do some of the awful dialogue. Sorry there was not too much Serena in this chapter, but look for her in the next one or the following. Also, can I say how difficult it is to edit? I mean, for however long it took me to write this chapter, it probably took more than twice that amount to go back and change things. Yeesh. Anyways! So glad to have this written. Maybe I will get some new fans or maybe the old ones will be surprised to see a notification regarding this story in their inbox. Who knows!