We had three classes together. I discovered this over the next week as I watched my schedule slowly fill with her presence. English Composition. Introduction to Psychology. World History.
Every time I walked into a classroom, there she was. Laughing with someone new. Sprawled across a desk like she owned the space. Drawing doodles in the margins of her notebook while the professor droned on about syllabus requirements.
She waved at me every time she saw me.
I never waved back.
I started taking different routes to class, lingering in bathrooms until I was sure she'd already arrived, sitting in corners where she couldn't easily approach. It wasn't that I disliked her—I didn't feel strongly enough about her to dislike her. I just didn't know what to do with her persistent friendliness. It felt like a trap I couldn't identify.
It worked for two weeks.
Then she cornered me after World History, stepping in front of me as I tried to slip out the side door.
