Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 1

"Welcome to UCONN, Emma!" A woman greets me with a big smile on her fact. She's wearing a navy blue sweatshirt that reads "UCONN HUSKIES" and carrying a lanyard, which she hands to me.  I guess it's my first piece of UCONN merch. "I'm Melissa, and I'm the professor you're going to be working with. We're so happy to have you here. We were really impressed with your resume. You've got quite the brains, girl!"

I smile and a wave of reassurance washes over me. I was a little worried about feeling out of place here, but this lady seems to be fixing that right away. "Thank you so much," I tell her, "I'm really excited to be here. Thank you again for having me."

Melissa smiles at me again and motions for me to follow her. "Of course. We're excited to have you join our team. Follow me, I'll show you the lab."

I follow her down a few hallways into a big room with a long table and multiple chairs surrounding it. There's a huge stack of files sitting on the table and loose papers sticking out of them. Melissa pulls out a chair for me and I sit down. "Well, this is it," She waves her hands around enthusiastically. She points to the files. "Those will be used for our research.  Don't be too intimidated, I promise the stack isn't THAT heavy,". I laugh. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to get through it within the next 8 months." She nods approvingly, liking that plan.  "Can I get you anything to drink? I'm going to grab a coffee,". I shake my head and thank her for asking. She leaves the room and I'm left by myself.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous to be here. It took a lot of thinking to accept the position. Basically, from what I understand, I'm going to be assisting Melissa on research surrounding psychology of students who drink different types of drinks before academic and athletic performance. I'm majoring in neuroscience at Yale, but I pulled 95s on all my psychology classes for my psych minor, so I thought I would build on my experience in the field. However, the position is at UCONN.

All I ever think about when I hear the words "University of Connecticut" is Paige Bueckers. Unfortunately, I hear the words a lot, seeing as Yale is also in Connecticut. Everyone is always talking about women's basketball and Paige. Paige is apparently the face of the sport here, and even over at Yale people are talking about her. It gets exhausting.

I haven't heard from her since graduation. I don't even know why it bothers me. We were never really friends. I mean I guess we didn't behave like friends.  We also never dated. But I still think about her every now and then.  I mean, she was a big part of my development as a person.  At least as a teenager.  Something about the adrenaline rush of my first kiss that she gave me.  And the way my heart beat when I was around her.  I'd always knew I was attracted to girls, and Paige was the reason that was confirmed. 

I haven't seen her in forever, though.  And I'm different now, I'm older and definitely wiser when it comes to relationships.  I'm sure she's different too, but I don't really care to find out.

FLASHBACK: 9TH GRADE

"Sorry sweetie, Dad's stuck in a meeting until 5. You're going to have to wait at school until he's done." My mom's voice echos over my cellphone. I sigh and continue pacing the halls. School ended at 3 and all my friends already got rides home. Plus I missed my bus. "But Mom, I thought you could get me, that's why I didn't ask anyone for a ride." My mom's voice starts to crackle on the other end of the phone. "I know Emma, I'm sorry. I have to drop your sister off at dance. It was a last minute schedule."