One party turned into two, turned into three, turned into four. Jazz’s frustrations grew. She couldn’t understand why Nathan found partying so fun when every event was pretty much the same—dancing, drinking, stepping over someone’s vomit on the way out. She’d much rather spend quiet nights with just the two of them cuddled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn.

But she also wanted to support Nathan, which left her in a difficult spot.

The academic fair had been a bust. Jazz found the information she’d been hoping for, but now she wanted to pursue at least thirteen different fields of study and couldn’t narrow them down enough to declare a major. Talk about too many choices.

Conversely, nothing sparked Nathan’s interest at all. She’d tried to explain how his interests could be melded into careers, how interdisciplinary studies and majors were on the rise, but he didn’t care. His entire focus remained on his social life. Well, and on her.

Jazz should have been happy they were together, but their freshman year wasn’t quite turning out as she thought it would. She loved her classes and the academic environment at the university, but she was so worried about Nathan and his lack of direction. He didn’t even seem to be trying to, well, learn anything.

She also worried about and missed her best female friend, too. Bethany texted her often to share updates about what Jazz’s life could have been, had she chosen Burton College over Nathan Reed.

Pledge season arrived, which meant the university had turned into one endless party. At least Nathan had decided against rushing a frat himself, but he still dragged her to countless parties. God help her. She kept thinking about what Bethany had said, but still found herself going along with him.

“So this weekend, the Aarons invited us to a toga-themed party at Delta Tau. Doesn’t that sound fun?” Nathan said with a hopeful smile.

No, no, it didn’t. Jazz hesitated. She didn’t know what she wanted to do in the future, but going to another party wouldn’t help her figure it out.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to go with me?”

That was the opening she needed. She had to speak up. “I like being with you, but I’m bored with all the parties.”

“But Aaron and Erin—”

“Are your friends, not mine.” There, she’d said it.

“Oh, I get it,” Nathan said after a moment. She could practically see the cartoon bulb light over his head. “We’ve been doing lots of fun me things lately and not enough of uhh… serious you things. We need more you things.”

She was glad he didn’t say un-fun, even though it had been strongly implied. Still, this was a first step.

“Yes, more me things would be fantastic,” she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. She was grateful he understood.

“Okay, like what?” His tone thankfully remained upbeat.

“Something more academic, maybe? More toward helping us figure out what we want to do beyond just the weekend. Beyond college.”

Nathan’s face fell. His brows furrowed. “So less partying, more studying?”

“Maybe we could join a club together,” Jazz suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.” Nathan sighed, as if that would be enough to make her change her mind, but she refused to let this opportunity get away. They were nearing the end of their first year. They needed to figure out their majors, and the partying only served as a noisy distraction.

Jazz pulled up the web app on her tablet and handed it to him. “Look, there’s a list of extracurriculars on the school website. Pick one for us.”

He scanned the list quickly, his eyes darting from side to side before looking up at her again. “And this will make you happy?”

“Very.” She needed this to happen. “Remember when we did the homecoming committee together? That was fun.”

“Okay, so how about…” He looked at the list again, this time reading through the options more slowly. His lips moved as he spoke each option under his breath, a habit he’d had since grade school.

“How about the school paper?” he said with a triumphant smirk as he handed the tablet back to Jazz.

“So you want to write?”

“Me? No. But you’re great at it. I’ll just be along for the ride. Maybe I could take pictures for your articles or something.”

Writing. It always came back to writing.

Maybe she should stop all her soul-searching and declare English as her major. She wasn’t sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life this way, but working on the paper might help her decide.

“That sounds perfect, actually.” And it did, because they would also be doing this together. “Thank you, Nate the Great.”

“Anything for my girl.” He pulled her against him and nuzzled his face against her neck. “What say we skip this weekend’s party and have a movie marathon at my place?”

Warmth flowed through her. She wiggled her toes. “Now you’re talking.”

Back on track at last, Jazz thought with a smile.