This is the third part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I and Part II before continuing.
When Professor Klein told the class to partner up for their first project, Sarah looked over her shoulder at Blaine, hoping she wasn’t being too obvious. She didn’t think Professor Klein would let her choose the TA as her partner, but it never hurt to ask, right?
As she was getting ready to make her move, the girl next to her said, “Hey, want to be partners?”
Sarah was taken aback for a moment. It was so unexpected that she heard the word, “Sure” coming out of her mouth before she was even aware of having spoken. The girl smiled and repositioned her chair so she sat facing Sarah.
Sarah cast one, last, longing glance back at Blaine, but he was shuffling through some papers and took no notice of her.
So Sara turned back to her partner, a petite black girl with hair that was pulled back from her face, and then exploded in all directions at the back of her head. Sarah didn’t normally like to work with other girls, but this one was magnetic. There was just something about her that drew Sarah in and made her feel like she could let her guard down.
Remembering her manners, Sarah extended a hand, “I’m Sarah.”
“Britney.”
“Nice to meet you, Britney. So, what are we doing, again?”
“We’re playing Mirror.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”
Britney giggled. “I know. It’s like, do they think this is our first acting class?”
“Apparently. All right, which do you want to be?”
“Let’s flip for it,” Britney said, pulling a quarter out of her bag, which was weird. Who used physical money anymore? “Heads or tails?”
“Heads.”
The quarter landed tail-side up, so Britney led the way while Sarah copied her.
They started off slow, at first, as the game is meant to be played, but then Britney started moving faster. Sarah kept up, so Britney went even faster. Sarah still kept up, though she felt herself smiling as she recognized the challenge.
Eventually, their limbs were flailing faster than anyone could even see, much less mirror, and they were both consumed by giggles.
“Ladies, this is a serious practice of the craft, not a game,” said Professor Klein.
They both apologized between giggles.
After class had ended, Sarah was packing up, when Britney approached her. “Hey, where are you headed next?”
“I’m actually done for the day.”
“Me, too. Want to head over to the library together? I have some resources I need to check out for my poetry class, and I want first dibs before everyone else in the class gets to them.”
Sarah considered this for a moment. She had been planning on stalking Blaine, but she had also had a lot of fun with Britney over the past hour, and it was hard to say no. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to appear somewhat aloof when it came to snagging Blaine. She didn’t want to come off as desperate.
“Sure. I have some things I need to grab for my Intro to Psych class.”
To be continued…