Cindy and Mitch

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Start of fall semester, 2009, UGA, Athens, Georgia.

I was so late.

The sound of my sneakers hitting the sidewalk echoed in my ears, my backpack bouncing against my shoulders as I ran. It's a good thing I was in shape.

Why did this place have to be so freaking big? I mean sure, it sounded great. After growing up in a little town and going to a tiny high school, the University of Georgia had seemed like such a grand adventure.

Finally Miller Hall loomed in front of me, four intimidating stories of red brick. This one single building was at least three times the size of my high school, with two more floors.

I pushed open the doors. I needed to find room 207, and quickly. I took the stairs two at a time. It had to be on the second floor, right?

As I crested the stairs a couple of guys were standing next to a bulletin board. I turned on my smile and tossed my sandy blonde hair. It got the effect it usually did, and I instantly had their attention.

"Boys, do y'all know where 207 is?" I let a little Vivian Leigh slide into my normal Georgia drawl.

"Uh, sure. It's that way." The taller one pointed to my left.

One more brilliant flash of my pearly whites. "Y'all are so sweet." I took off down the hall, knowing their eyes were on me as I did. I giggled to myself as I reached the door. Apparently my charms weren't only good in small towns. They definitely had their uses.

My small triumph was wiped from my mind as I walked into the huge, amphitheatre style classroom. The thing could seat two hundred and fifty if it could hold a dozen, and it was at least half full. My graduating class had thirty-six kids. There were at least three times that many in this single room.

I took a deep breath and climbed up into the fourth row, locating three empty seats. I took the one in the middle. The differences from what I'd known before didn't end with the size of the room. On my left was a young man of East Asian descent, and on my right was a pretty Muslim girl wearing a head scarf. The sum total of our diversity back at Marin High School had been five African-American students. Before today I'd actually felt very cosmopolitan because one of them had been my good friend Tiwana, who'd played with me on our tennis team. I was quickly realizing I had no idea what true diversity looked like.

As I sat down I smiled at the girl, and she smiled back. I pulled out the little fold-away desk and opened my notebook as the professor entered the room. Tall and thin faced, he introduced himself in a nasal Eastern European brogue.

"Welcome to Econ 101; I'm Dr. Kovacevic. We will be starting with a basic review of the laws of supply and demand, which I assume you are familiar with."

He began to write on the board, and I felt my spirit start to rise to the challenge. I wasn't Cindy Spencer, valedictorian and tennis stand-out here. Here I was just student #410137012. For now, at least.

***

I knocked on Coach Holiday's door, my heart tripping along a little faster than normal.

"Come in!"

I opened the door and stepped inside the office. "Hi, Coach. You wanted to see me? Cindy Spencer?"

The dark haired woman on the other side of the desk laughed. God, I felt so country around her. "Cindy, I know who you are. I recruited you, didn't I?"

I blushed. "Sorry, I just, I didn't know."

"It's fine. Have a seat."

I obeyed, forcing myself to relax.