Chapter 9: Dependency Issues

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My hand ached as I struggled to keep up with Professor Hannigan's lecture over the seven ecological principles

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My hand ached as I struggled to keep up with Professor Hannigan's lecture over the seven ecological principles. Ecology was my main area of study, so keeping up in that class was crucial. But it meant more to me than a grade. Becoming an ecologist and conservationist was everything to me. I had always had a fascination with the world around me. I had become driven to understand the relationships and interdependence between living organisms and their environment.

I found that it was the relationships and interdependence between humans that I still needed help understanding.

It had been two weeks since that night at the bar when Liam punched Waldo wannabe for me. I hadn't been expecting that reaction from him, especially the anger in his eyes when he had looked at me afterwards; anger that hadn't been directed at me for once.

He had stood up for me, yet he continued to act like he hated me. We had hardly spoken since that night, only running into each other randomly on campus, but when we did, he either glared at me or flat out ignored me. I wasn't sure which was worse, or why I felt the need to seek him out despite his coldness toward me.

Like I said, I still needed help understanding that whole interdependence thing.

"You press any harder, and you're liable to go straight through the desk."

I turned to the caramel-eyed guy sitting next to me. I had seen him in the class before, but that was the first time he had sat beside me. I racked my brain trying to think of his name.

Nathan, I think!

I pulled my eyebrows forward, staring at him in confusion all the while he was peering at me in amusement. His eyebrow had darted up and his thin lips were pulled to the side. He nodded to the paper on the desk, and I looked down to see my hand clenched tightly around my pen which was digging into the paper, bleeding ink. I quickly let up off it and glanced back up at Nathan.

"Oops." I smiled sheepishly. I hadn't realized I had been pressing that hard and not paying attention. But that was what usually seemed to happen when my thoughts drifted to Liam.

"So, which principle is getting you so worked up?"

"I'm sorry?"

He chuckled, nodding toward the board where Professor Hannigan was still lecturing.

"If I had to guess, it would be the connectivity of species and their interdependence." He whispered with amusement. "That's when you went all stabby." His fist balled up as he brought it down in a stabbing motion.

I snickered, shaking my head. "I'm not usually so violent."

"Well, I suppose Ecology can do that to a person."

"Really? The study of how to co-exist with nature and its' living creatures can make a person violent?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled, running his hand across his neck. "Well, this would actually be the first time I've seen it, but I have a feeling you're usually the exception."

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