JUST LIKE HER (ANDY BARBER)

3. EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT

"I swear to God, Civ Pro is going to be the fucking death of me," you groaned, tossing your highlighter on the table.

Civil Procedure was providing a rare extra-credit opportunity. You'd just finished covering pleadings, and Professor Hunt had provided materials to draft a complaint by November. He allowed groups of no more than six students to work together to write a complaint based on a hypothetical he provided, using assigned cases to determine the elements of the cause of action. Since you and Andy already had a study group made up of six people, it was only natural that the six of you worked on the complaint together.

But, goddammit, it felt your brain was about to ooze out of your ear or something.

"You said that about Torts yesterday," Teddy teased.

"And Contracts the day before," Billy added.

"Pretty sure you've said the same thing about Research after every, single, class," Denny said.

"Hey, now, to be fair, Research is a snooze-fest," Andy jumped in. "But let us not forget the hour-long rant about Property."

"Hey, that class is a scam and you know it!" you said, pointing your finger at Andy. "All that woman does is read us the fucking cases we're assigned. I might as well not even read before class! And you hardly have room to talk. You've already used all your skips because you couldn't be bothered to show up!"

"Alright, alright," Andy said, holding his hands up while sending you a wink, "clearly it's time for a break."

"Finally," you said, leaning back in your seat and rubbing your face with your hands.

The others pushed their papers in front of them, signifying that they were momentarily giving up as well. They began to chat, but you couldn't be bothered to listen. Your head was beginning to ache from spending the last hour trying to figure out the best way to format the complaint. You were ready to throw in the towel for the night a half hour ago, decide to come back to this later with a fresh mind. After all, you have over two months to work on it. But noooo, everyone else wanted to get it done fast.

Plus, the sooner you were done for the night, the sooner you could get away from Andy. It ate you alive to know that you liked him so much, that you would throw yourself out at him if given the chance, all while his heart belonged to someone else. Someone else, that he was going to marry.

But...did his heart really belong to someone else? If he loved his fiancée so much, why was he so...flirty with you?

"So, what about you?" Teddy asked.

It took you a moment to realize she was talking to you. "Huh, what? Sorry, I zoned out. What did you say?"

"We were just talking about our epic romances," Teddy said. Billy laughed and Denny's face turned red. For a moment, you wondered what embarrassing story you missed out on. Denny was notorious for his epic failures with women, and you could honestly use the opportunity to laugh. "So, you seeing anyone?"

"Been too busy to date," you said. "By the time I'm done sobbing in my Torts casebook, I'm in no mood to be hit with cheesy one-liners by sleazy men in bars."

"Well, hey, why don't I set you up with one of my friends?" Teddy suggested. "His name's Frank. He'll still hit you up with cheesy one-liners, but he's super cute. And he just graduated, like, last May and is a professor of philosophy at Boston University."

"Philosophy, sounds like a great way to get talked down to," you laughed.

"Nah, Frank's not like that. He's a bit rough around the edges, sure, but that's mostly because his mom's super intense, but he's a real good guy. I just know you'll like him."