After refusing to talk to Monica on Sunday, she refused to speak to me, permanently.

“You know what, I should be having the time of my life this year and you are taking that away from me!” Her last text read.

It was Saturday, now. Almost a week had past and all I hadn’t heard anything.

Dale avoided me, after the incident at church. He probably that I had lost my mind, and if I were to tell him that it felt as if I had, he would probably never speak to me again. I figured it was better to let it go for the time being.

Still, it was lonely. The few friends I had made in classes were beginning to become so busy, they only had time to meet up and study.

Financial aid had began to call me, everyday. Apparently, a government scholarships had fallen threw. It was just one more thing to deal with, but it just happened to be the one thing that was the bane of all college student’s existence.

When financial aid came beating at your door, you knew you were screwed. There was little more you could do than concede and write the check or take out another loan.

That’s how colleges always got you. They made it impossible for you to forget that there was something you owed them, and on the verge of insanity, students payed their bills whatever means necessary.

I had been spending a lot of time on the swings around campus. Homework always seemed better when done outside, in the sunshine. Spending less time in room 502, had done me good. I think it was the only way of coping with all that was happening.

Today, I decided to sit on the lawn to write a reading response for my English class.

Grass had begun to shrivel to brown stubs. Trees leaves were no longer green, but a gold, or red, or brown. In short sleeves, the weather was almost too cold. A new season was beginning, and in recognizing this, I smiled.

I knew I probably looked goofy, just in the middle of the campus lawn, smiling. But it had been the first time I smiled in a long time, so I took the moment to take off any actual thought that worried about anyone else. I soaked it up, like a flower does the sun’s rays.

“Um, excuse me… but aren’t you from my Sociology class?” I heard a voice ask.

My face turned a thousand shades of red, on the spot. I was sitting with my eyes shut, so I hadn’t seen anyone approach.

“Um, yeah!” I laughed genuinely, trying to make out a girl’s face in the sun’s glare.

“I’m Jinn. I sit in the back, so you probably haven’t noticed me. I just had a question about something.” She sat down in front of me before I could tell her I was far too busy to talk.

Then I saw her face. She was tan with darker hair and had vibrant green eyes. Her hair fell passed her petite shoulders. She immediately pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Listen, I was wondering if you could tutor me before our next test. You always have the answers, and I am seriously afraid of failing this class. I get math or science, but I don’t get this!” She laughed.

“Well, if you are good at science, you should be good at Sociology. It isn’t much different.” I tried to say.

Yet she immediately took my hand into her own and clicked a ball-point pen she removed from behind her ears and wrote a few numbers.

“Just think about it.” She said. “I’d be willing to help you if you ever had any math classes, so its not like you are doing this for free or something.”

` She got up to leave, her open checkered flannel flapping as she rose.

“Hope to hear from you soon. Seriously, it would be a big help.” She walked away.

Jinn, I thought. She came out of nowhere. I hadn’t noticed her in my Soc class, but it wasn’t unusual for me to be mulling something in my head and just not notice.

I was enamored with her, on the spot. Her hair, her eyes, her… her everything. I sighed, realizing what had just happened. In a second, I was crushing on another girl, but I was still in love with Monica.

I finished my reading response, half sad, half elated, and I walked back to my room.

I immediately unlocked the screen on my phone and dialed Monica’s number.

It went straight to voicemail.

I laid in my bed, frustrated. Obviously, Monica had been ignoring me. I knew that. But I thought it was just her way of dealing with anger and not her real feelings. If she wasn’t going to respond, there was no way we could have a relationship.

I looked at the top of my hand, seeing Jinn’s already phone number.

I typed the number on a message screen before canceling the message. I did this several times until I finally said screw it.

“Hi, this is Joe!” I typed.