The birds chirped, the air had grown warm, and I felt as if I was walking on a cloud as I went back to my dorm. My first day had been awesome. I was worried about not fitting in there, but I already felt like a part of the place. My afternoon class, Behavior Finance, was incredible. Behavior finance was a new field that analyzed why people could make irrational financial decisions by combining behavior and cognitive psychological theory with economics and finance.

Professor Yellen described Behavioral Finance in class as an examination of how people should behave in financial decisions and how people actually behave. It was that difference in behavior that befuddled economists.

Why did people defy rational choice axioms? For example, why did so many Americans fail to enrol in their employer’s corporate retirement plans even when the employer offered matched contributions?

I wondered about those kinds of thing myself. Why did people make decisions that would not benefit them? What was it about the human condition that made people continuously choose things that are not in their best interest?

I was excited about the class and diving deeper into those questions just for my own inherent curiosity.

Thinking about my conversation with Jett over lunch, I liked so much about talking to him. He seemed genuinely interested in our mutual major. He talked about the application of business principles in other parts of life, which was what I did all the time. It was exciting to meet someone I could relate to and to be able to geek out on theory and concepts without feeling awkward about it.

He did exactly what I did. He thought about what he had learned and expanded on it. It was almost a shame he was going to waste his brain on playing football.

I got he loved it, and it could lead to millions of dollars and fame. But I wondered about what kinds of contributions he could make to economic and business theory too.

I would have never expected the quarterback to be so insightful and well read. I guessed I might have some preconceived ideas about athletes. I had never questioned those assumptions before because I hadn’t met a jock who challenged my prejudices. I suppose it wasn’t fair to judge people based on their affinity for athleticism. People might have thought similar things about me just because of my accent. Thought I was an empty-headed southern bell.

I turned right onto frat row, promising myself to try to give jocks a chance. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had such a pleasant lunch with Jett. I wouldn’t have found what I hoped would be a kindred spirit.

I passed by the numerous fraternities and sororities that were gearing up for rush: Tri Delt, Sigma Kappa, and KA. There were just too many to name. Each house was decorated with colorful signs welcoming rush participants.

I thought about the piles of reading I already needed to get done even though it was only the first day of the semester. I wondered just how anyone could juggle a huge social commitment like a sorority and still stay on top of their studies?

AD Pi girls were out in front of their house practicing a dance routine and rush song. It looked like a lot of fun, but I would never risk being part of something like that.

What if my grades suffered?

I made it to Clark Kerr Campus with a light sheen of sweat on my forehead. Clark Kerr was further away from the other dorms on campus, like the Units that were centralized on campus, but I already loved it there.

The dorm buildings were Spanish mission-style and had so much more character than the Units that were just basically dorm high-rises. It was six blocks away from the main campus, but the extra walk was worth it.

When I walked into my room, my roommate, Marsha, was reading a thick textbook on her bed. She was a Pre-Med Biology Major from LA and nothing like I thought an LA person would be like. I guess I thought all people from LA would be like the Kardashians, dressed up and wearing a full face of makeup every minute of the day, but Marsha was naturally beautiful with big brown eyes and full Angelina Jolie lips. All I had ever seen her wear was chapstick. She rocked a laid back, outdoorsy look. She was not at all trying to keep up with the Kardashians.

Setting her gigantic book aside, she smiled at me. “How was your first day?”

I sat my backpack down on the floor. “It went well… I think. I’m super excited about all of my classes. It’s absolutely amazing here.” I flopped down on my bed and tried to say my next words very casually, “I met the quarterback today.”

Marsha groaned and rolled her eyes. “Jett Johnson?”

I hugged my pillow to my chest as I thought about him. “Yes. He seems like a nice guy. We had lunch today.”

Marsha sat up on her bed. Her tone was serious, “He may seem really nice, but Jett Johnson has a horrible reputation for being a player. He is a total bad boy.”

“Really?” I asked as I thought about our conversation over lunch. “I didn’t pick up on the sleazy player vibe from him at all.”

“That’s because he’s a pro. He’ll make you feel special and then drop you for someone else, just like that.” She snapped her fingers to emphasize her point.

I decided I’d see what she had to say about the other guy I’d met. “I met the captain of the wrestling team today too. His vibes were totally sleazy. He’s kind of pushy too.”

Her dark brows went up really high on her forehead as she seemed interested. “Pushy? In what way?”

My eyes rolled as I thought about Troy. “He kept asking me if I wanted to have lunch with him after I had already told him no.”

Her expression changed completely as she pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around her knees, resting her chin on top of them. “He’s just being persistent. He probably just likes you. There are bigger problems to have than a hot guy like Troy wanting to hang out with you.”

But Troy didn’t hit me the way Jett had. “I guess, but Jett was so much more… down to earth. Way easier to talk to and relate to.”

Her eyes roamed over me as she took me in. “All I’m saying, Laney, is that you should definitely be careful with Jett. I don’t want to see you get hurt. You're a stunning girl, even though you try like hell to downplay that. And Jett's all about the outer appearance and getting into pretty girl's panties.”

Marsha was nice for warning me, I should’ve been thankful for that. But I didn’t like Troy the way I did Jett. There was little I could do about that fact. “Thanks. I appreciate your advice.” I hesitated for a moment before asking, “What about Troy?”

A dreamy look came over her face before she said, “Troy? He’s not a bad boy like Jett. He’s a temperamental guy, but that’s probably from all the steroids he’s been taking.”

The unattractive thought of him doing drugs had me scrunching up my face. “Steroids?”

Marsha shrugged in response. “He is a wrestler.” She tapped her chin as if she was thinking. “If I had to choose, I’d pick Troy hands down. He’s totally hot. Just as hot as Jett, in my opinion. And Jett has so many girls falling all over themselves for him anyway.”

My intuition had told me as much. “I guessed that. He’s gorgeous.”

Marsha moved her long legs out and leaned back, resting on her palms. “True, he’s hot in every way there is. But I’ve never seen him with the same girl more than a few times. That makes him gross if you ask me.”

All I could do was nod as I thought over what she’d said. Maybe Jett hadn’t met anyone he could really connect with before I came along. Maybe he and I had something special. She wasn’t there, she hadn’t heard us talking. I didn’t say a word to Marsha about what I thought. I kept it to myself. She seemed adamant that Jett was bad news for me no matter what I had to say.

Still, I had to go to bat for the guy, “He seems to be a good student though.”

With a cluck of her tongue, she tried to push that fact about him to the side, “Maybe, but after every football game, he parties really hard. He takes partying to a whole new level.”

That information did throw me a bit. “Wow! Really? I’m not into partying at all. I’ve never even had a sip of alcohol before.”

Marsha’s big brown eyes widen even more. “Seriously?”

I nodded. “Seriously.”

Her expression was incredulous as she asked, “What did you do on your twenty-first birthday?”

I cringed, a little embarrassed. “I studied.”

Shaking her head, she seemed not to really be believing me. “How is that even possible? You didn’t party in Florida at all?”

But I was being truthful. “Nope. My mom is a professor there, and I studied really hard to get into this school. I was laser focused.”

Marsha jumped up out of bed. “We have to change this. I can’t stand by and let you miss out on your college experience. I’m pulling an intervention.”

I laughed at her over the top antics. “What? What are you talking about?”

Flinging open her closet, I saw tons of clothes I had no idea she even owned. “We are going out tonight.”

I shook my head, adamant that I couldn’t do such a thing. “We can’t go out tonight. It’s a Monday for the love of Pete.”

But the look she shot me told me she wasn’t about to take no for an answer. “People go out on Mondays. Get up. We’re going to have drinks at a club nearby.” Marsha pulled out a slinky purple dress and held it up. I had no idea she had sexy clothes like that. Maybe she was trying to keep up with those Kardashians after all. “You’re wearing this.”

All I could do was continue shaking my head. “There is no way I can pull that off.” Marsha was dead set on taking me out though. She pulled me off my bed and planted me in front of our full-length mirror. Then held the dress up against me.

She eyed me in the mirror. “Are you kidding me? Look at your figure. You’ll look amazing in this.”

I blushed as I looked at myself in the mirror. I had never worn anything like that before in my life. “I’ll feel like a girl in a music video if I wear this.”

My comment didn’t get the intended reaction I was striving for. “Fantastic! You’re wearing it.” She pulled my hair tie out.

My hair cascaded down my shoulders. “I don’t know.” I was still looking at my reflection. “Should we even be drinking on a Monday? I have a ton of reading to do.”

Marsha put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. “I do, too. Pre-med, remember? Let’s make a deal: we study for a couple of hours and then head out to the club for a drink.”

I looked at myself in the mirror. The dress’s purple color was really pretty, and it went well with my hair color. It was the same hue as a golden dewdrop or Duranta erecta, a flowering shrub in Florida. Golden dewdrop flowers were a dark rich purple. It was the yellow berries that hung from the stems that gave the shrub its name, golden dewdrop.

My mom, the biology professor, taught me so much about plants growing up. She had those shrubs out in her garden. I turned back and forth again in the mirror. “Ok,” I gave in quietly.

Marsha danced in celebration. “Yes!”

Raising one finger to rein her in, I added, “But after we study for two hours. One hundred and twenty minutes in total.”

Marsha jumped back onto her bed and returned to her textbook. “And not a minute shorter,” she said with a laugh.

So that was that. I was going out for my first drink. This college life was already vastly different from when I was in Florida. And I felt that tug from the future once more, telling me things would be changing in my life.

But was I really ready for all that?