The Psychology of Falling in Love

XXI. December 11th

Raine and I shuffled like zombies, eyes blurry with sleep deprivation, the bags under our eyes evidence of our weekend-long moving adventure. Over the past 2 days we were auctioneers, movers, managers, diplomats-all by day. By night, we were cram-studying students with little regard for self-care.

Exam slots that start at 8 AM should be considered evil-especially on a Monday. Lorraine tripped on a divot in the sidewalk and yelled her best attempt at curse words and insults before flipping the ground off. I snorted.

"This is so stupid," she whined. "How the fuck does a class that start at 10 AM have an exam at 8?"

I shrugged, gnawing at the inside of my cheek as we approached the Behavioral & Social Sciences building. Claire was emailed to come in an hour before classes to speak with Provost Singh and Dr. Hughes. She kissed my cheek and comforted me, but the pit in my stomach was eating any sense of positivity I had.

"Aria," Raine jostled against me. "It's going to be okay."

I smiled at her reassurance but kept my silence. We stopped right inside the door to the building and she grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers. Fellow zombies, cursed by the plague of scholastic achievements, moved with us to our classrooms.

We found our way to our usual seats. Classmates trickled in, either talking amongst themselves or engrossed in their phones. I kept checking my phone every 3 seconds to see if Claire had said anything.

The clock kept ticking. The minutes kept dwindling. General unrest blanketed the classroom, and with that, people began to talk:

Where do you think she is?

She's never late.

I think I saw her go into the President's office a few minutes ago...

Really?! I wonder what for...

My knees jumped up and down and I chewed on my lower lip. I powered down my phone and placed it in my bag, swallowing back the bile that threatened my esophagus. My heart was pounding, relentless pumping.

The door to the lecture hall opened. Lorraine gasped. I refused to look, my knees quickening their pace. My fingers drummed the desk pulled out in front of me.

"Good morning, class! Sorry I'm late," Claire's voice was music to my goddamn ears. "I had a little meeting. I'll start passing out your tests now. If you need a pencil, just come up to the front."

Air whooshed out of my lungs, my eyes opening. Claire's golden irises stared right at me, a small smile toying with the edges of her lips. I was giddy, head-over-heels, and genuinely relieved at that subtle change of expression.

Time to pass this exam.

♦

Working at a local, mom-and-pop cafe is a wonderful experience. The warm atmosphere, the sound of the milk frother hissing, warm baked goods nestling their scent into every nook and cranny. People conversing amongst themselves or burying themselves into books or their devices-creative ingenuity in the air.

Ding.

"Auntie Ari!" Eli shouted, hoisting himself higher on the counter with his arms.

"Hey, buddy! I'm gonna need you to put your feet to the floor, okay? Where are your parents?"

With a sigh the boy complied. "Amma, mama, and Auntie Claire are coming in soon."

Ding.

"Eli, inke va paiyan*!" Imani motioned for him with her middle and ring finger.