The next day as I’m walking from class, headphones on and completely in my own world, Spencer somehow spots me and starts walking beside me

            “Hey,” I barely hear her say over my music.

            “Oh, hey Spencer,”I reply. “I almost didn’t see ya there.” Which is true, but I wish I had because I would have run in the opposite direction. I don’t exactly dress up for class. More or less, I wake up, brush my teeth, throw some sweatpants on and head off to sleep for another couple of hours in whatever classes I have that day.

            “Are you headed to lunch?” she asks.

            “Yeah,” I reply, even though I wasn’t. I rarely eat in the cafeteria unless Aiden drags me there. But I couldn’t help but hope she would want to sit and eat with me.

            “Great, I had no one to sit with,” she shares, confirming what I had been hoping.

            We walk into the cafeteria and she picked a table in corner where almost no one else is. Convenient, I thought. Now maybe I could get to know this girl I’m suddenly fascinated by. After we get our food, me a burger and her a salad, we take our seats and start a light conversation.

            “So,” I start after a long pause. “You have a boyfriend here at USC?”

            “No, actually,” she responds. “I broke up with my high school sweetheart in the first few months of freshman year and haven’t really found anyone special since.”

            “Typical high school relationship. Doomed before Thanksgiving break,” I say matter of factly and she chuckles. “What?” I ask.

            “No, it’s funny. That’s when Mike and I broke up actually. Thanksgiving break.” We both share in a laugh at the coincidence here. But then she asks the question I was afraid of, because I honestly didn’t know how to answer. “So, do you have a boyfriend?”

            Even though I was expecting it, I just about choke on my food. “Boyfriend?” I didn’t know what to say. Boyfriend? No. Lots of different girlfriends on the weekends? Yes. Normally I would just tell someone, but I didn’t want to scare her off. “Ummm…no. No boyfriend.” I didn’t lie. I just omitted why I don’t have a boyfriend.