“Let's go!" Everly sings out as the door swings shut behind her. She's grinning at me as if we have exciting plans. She's just walked into my dorm room unannounced, coat on, black hair pulled into a low pony tail. She's ready to go.

I'm lying across my bed cuddling a textbook for my business ethics class. I'm ready to go nowhere.

"Where are we going?" I ask. I'm pretty sure I know, but I am the queen of denial.

Incidentally, my ex-boyfriend Scott is now very happily dating. A personal trainer, named James. I saw them once on 34th Street, holding hands and laughing about some shared joke. They'd looked happy and I'd felt a wave of jealousy. Not over Scott. I'd always known on some level that we were just coasting together—Scott until he came out of the closet and me until I felt willing to take the next step. Because that step? It's a risk.

My mom got pregnant at sixteen. I have no idea how careful she was or wasn't. From what I remember of her she wasn't careful about anything. All I know is that I never want to be her. I never want to repay my grandparents for taking me in and raising me by repeating that cycle. And I never want to put myself in a position where I'd have to choose between abortion, adoption or asking for help.

Sex was one big risk. Is that paranoid? To avoid sex on the small chance that the pill would fail and I'd end up pregnant? Maybe. But my early years left a big impact on me. I’m not going there, so Luke can shove his safe-sex speeches up his ass. I’m the last girl who needs to hear it.

So when I saw Scott and his boyfriend on the street that day I felt a little wistful over what they had together. Who doesn't want that?

Mike has been flirting with me since junior year. I ignored him, mostly. It wasn't that serious. He was always with one girl or another. When we started classes this fall we ended up in Business Ethics together and this time when he flirted, I encouraged it.

"You know where we're going, Sophie. Your pubes are not going to wax themselves,” Everly says, interrupting my thoughts.

"Please never say the word pubes again."

Everly grabs a hoodie off the back of my chair and tosses it at me. "Let's go. We have appointments."

"How'd you get in the building anyway?" I ask as I pull on my old Uggs and grab my bag.

"I bumped into Jeannie out front, she buzzed me in."

Exiting the front door of Jacobsen, we take the sidewalk towards the nearest university bus stop. It's a beautiful afternoon in Philadelphia. The air has that crisp fresh smell that only comes with fall.

I pull the sweatshirt over my head as we walk, stuffing my cell phone into the front pocket. "Anything I need to know before this appointment?" I ask, glancing at Everly as we walk.

"No. Stop being a pussy. You're gonna get naked with Leah. She's gonna apply wax to your lady bits and then rip the hair out by the root until you're as smooth as a baby's ass."

"Huh. It's strange how apprehensive I am about this based on your vivid description." I swerve to avoid a cyclist. "I mean, it sounds great. It must just be me."

"Clearly it's just you," Everly responds as we board the student bus. We can take this to the edge of campus and then walk down Sansom Street.

"What are you doing this weekend?" I ask Everly as she frowns at her cell phone.

"Going home," she replies, thumbs flying over the touch screen of her phone, tapping out a text. "My brother is getting married."

"Oh! That sounds fun." I think it would have been fun to grow up with siblings. Everly's brother is quite a bit older than her, but still, a big brother would have been nice. "Are you taking the train?" I know Everly grew up somewhere outside of New York City. The train between Philadelphia and New York is a common way to travel.

"I better not be taking the train," she replies with a final tap to her phone. She smiles.

I'm confused by her response. "Is someone driving down to pick you up?"

"No." She crosses her legs and rests the phone on her thigh. "Professor Camden is driving me home."

I'm never sure how seriously to take this crush she has on Professor Camden. Though lately it's bordering on an obsession. She's mentioned him on and off for years, but she's never lacked a boyfriend. Plus he's a professor.

"Really?" I ask. "Professor Camden is driving you to New York?" I know I sound dubious. Professor Camden is really good-looking and ten years older than us. At least. Not to mention a professor. So completely off limits.

I'm not judging. My crush on Luke turned out to be even more inappropriate than I'd imagined. I just don't want Everly to get hurt. Everly tends to get what she wants, but I'm afraid this time she wants something she just can't have.

Everly opens her mouth to respond when her phone rings. She glances at the screen and smirks before giving me a huge smile. "Yes, he is." She presses the green answer button and brings the phone to her ear. In a sweet voice I’m not familiar with she answers, "Yes, Professor Camden?"

She pauses, I assume listening.

"So now you want me to stop with the professor title, Finn?" Her voice is steady, but her foot bounces as she talks. "I'll be ready at eight." Her foot is still now, and she's picking at a loose thread in a hole in her jeans. "I live in Stroh, Finn. I'll be waiting out front at eight. Bye." She pushes the red end call button on her phone and sighs.

I glance at her, a thousand questions written on my face.

"Finn Camden is my brother's best friend. He's also the best man in his wedding this weekend. I'm a bridesmaid." She shoves the cell into her pocket. "He didn't want to drive me to New York, so I texted my brother and told him I was going to have to take the train alone late tonight." She shrugs and offers a little pout. "Because I knew he'd tell Finn to drive me and Finn can't tell my brother that he doesn't want to be stuck in a car alone with me. Due to my"—she pauses and does the air quote sign with her fingers—"inappropriate advances."

"Wow." There's so much to respond to in that statement I'm not sure where to begin.

"Right? He's being ridiculous. I don't have that much time left."

"Time?" I question.

"Yeah. We're graduating in seven months. I don't have any reason to stay in Philly after that. This is the optimal time window in which to make him fall in love with me."

"Um."

"He's finally single," she continues on. "I need him to accept us before he finds someone else and before I graduate."

"Accept you?"

"That last girlfriend, just no." She shakes her head. "He has no idea how much he's going to appreciate me in comparison. I guess I should thank her for that. But I won't."

I'm not sure how to respond to that, but the conversation ends as we've reached our stop. We step out onto Sansom with Everly leading the way.

"This place looks sketchy," I say as we climb the stairs of doom.

"Relax. I would not let you get a sketchy Brazilian wax." Everly pulls open the door. "Have a little faith, bitch."

Everly checks us in as I take a seat to wait. A minute later a pretty girl comes out from a back room and hugs Everly. She glances over at me and smiles. "Hi! I'm Leah." Wait. This is our waxer? She looks like she's only a few years older than we are. I was imagining a nice older woman I'd never bump into again.

"So which one of you wants to go first?" Leah looks between us. This girl has the most perfect eyebrows I've ever seen. I wonder if she waxes them herself.

"She'll go first," we both say at the same time.

"Oh, no, you're going first. Before you chicken out."

"Fine," I grumble in reply. I get off the couch and so does Everly.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"I'm coming with."

"Uh, no. That cannot be normal. I draw the line at having you watch."

"Yeah, that is not okay. You can't come with if Sophie doesn't want you to," Leah states firmly. I'm surprised. She's got a hippie-chick vibe and a nose ring. I thought she'd invite Everly back with open arms.

Yes! "Yeah, Everly, that is not okay." I smile smugly and wave on my way into the back room.