January 2007
A heavy hand clapped Owen on the back. "Hey, man, how was hicksville?"
Owen punched his roommate, Trevor. "I'm from Kentucky. It's hardly the deep south."
"Tell that to your accent."
Owen didn't even notice the supposed twang in his voice. He did notice the long o's of Trevor's Massachusetts accent, though. It always got stronger after break. After three semesters of living together, Owen knew to expect a dense New England accent for a few weeks at the beginning of each term. Apparently, the start of their last semester of senior year was no different.
"You're an asshole. You know that, right?"
"Whatever, man. I'm going to get some coffee."
For the sake of being the obviously better person, Owen didn't comment on the way Trevor said 'cawfee.'
"I'll come with. When did your flight get in?"
"Hour ago. Yours?"
"Two. Why did we decide to fly in the day classes started? I have my animal behavior lab at noon. I'll be dead."
Trevor shrugged. "You're the one who saved some of your worst shit for the last semester. Who takes two labs at the end of senior year? And an internship? You'll be in the library 24/7."
Owen pulled on his jacket and held open their apartment door. He and Trevor were both scholarship students, and to keep the money flowing they had to live on campus. Luckily, Indiana University offered apartment-style housing for upperclassmen. Even luckier, Owen and Trevor each had their own room in their two bedroom apartment. They shared a smaller, single-bedroom apartment junior year and nearly killed each other. Yet, they still decided to room together as seniors. Some friendships just worked.
It was a hike to get from their apartment in Bicknell to Wells, the library and the only place on campus to get decent coffee. Owen hated the taste of bean juice, but he quickly learned that if he was going to survive college, he'd have to tolerate it. Otherwise, he'd be stuck with energy drinks, and that shit screwed with his body too much. He hit the gym five days a week, but the only way to keep his muscle mass was to avoid all that sugar and other junk they hid in the cans of caffeine.
Campus was alive and well for a Monday morning. It was the first day of classes for the semester, which meant most students were on their best behavior. After a few weeks, people would realize their eight am lecture didn't actually matter that much, and campus would go back to being a Monday morning ghost town.
"Yo! Grady! Collins!"
Owen and Trevor turned to find their friend Jackson jogging toward them. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and a pencil behind his ear, the same uniform he would wear the entire semester, yet Jackson managed to kick ass in all his classes. Owen would suspect him of cheating, but they watched a few episodes of Jeopardy together, as they aired, and Jackson knew most of the answers. The dude was just crazy smart. He could probably teach every class.
"It's a beautiful day, boys." Jackson sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"
"Anxiety and cilantro?"
Jackson punched Owen's arm, though the cilantro thing was true. For some reason this one pathway on campus always smelled like the herb.
"Smells like freedom. And we're just a few months away from tasting it."
"You're mixing metaphors or some shit. Why not just say we're seniors."
"We're seniors!" Jackson screamed. He earned himself a few dirty looks from passersby. Jackson shrugged it off with his come-what-may attitude and through his arms over Owen and Trevor's shoulders. "This is it boys. We've been working up to this for four fucking years. Celebrate!"
Owen shrugged out of his friend's grip. "I'll celebrate when I have my diploma in hand."
"You know you don't get that til like a few weeks after graduation, right?"
He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. I need to get through this semester before I can get excited."
Trevor had been right earlier. Owen hadn't spaced his classes out right, so he wound up with two labs, an internship, and two other difficult classes to finish up his major. While all the other seniors he knew would be coasting through bullshit geneds, Owen would be sweating his ass off in the lab twice a week, then going to the dog training center for his internship. So much for a fun senior year.
They finally reached the coffee shop and found empty seats in the back. A few girls, and guys, watched as Jackson, Trevor, and Owen walked by. Owen could look, but he would never touch. He had Samantha, a pretty redheaded psych major, to think about. She only had classes on Tuesday and Thursday, so she wasn't expected back on campus until Monday night. Owen planned on welcoming her back all night long.
Jackson and Trevor were unattached, so they did more than look. Two girls at the next table made eyes at the guys, and they made eyes right back.
"Care to join us?" Jackson said, leaning towards the shy blond. "Plenty of room. I'll even buy you a coffee."
The girl giggled. "I wish, but I'll be late to class."
"Be late."
She looked genuinely appalled. "On the first day? No way."
Owen kicked Jackson under the table. When their eyes met, Owen mouthed, "Freshman." Jackson nodded solemnly. Only a freshman would freak over the thought of missing class on the first day. If it wasn't a mandatory lab, Owen would probably skip his first class without hesitation. That was the difference between freshman and seniors.
The two girls left just as Owen, Jackson, and Trevor were called by the barista. They gathered their drinks and breakfasts, having ordered egg sandwiches to tide them over until it was actually lunch time, and went back to their table. The library cafe was emptying out as the next class period approached. They only had an hour before they had to make their way to their classes. They'd been smart in creating their schedules, ensuring that none of them had classes before noon any day of the week. Especially not on Monday.
Owen chugged down his medium coffee in a few gulps. Fast was the only way to drink the thick, bitter liquid.
Jackson cringed. "Shit's hot, man. You probably have no tissue left in your throat."
Owen opened his mouth wide for his friend to check. "Is it just bones in there? That would be sick."
Trevor rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee. "You guys are stupid. Why do I hang out with you?"
"Because we're the only people who will hang out with you."
"Guess I'm stuck with you."
They talked about break for an hour, finishing their food and coffees well before the stories were done. Twelve drew closer, and the guys said their goodbyes.
"See you later?" Jackson asked. "Air hockey rematch?"
Owen grinned. "I'll be with Samantha. Tomorrow night?"
"Works for me."
Jackson and Trevor had classes in the psych building, but Owen's class was across campus. He walked alone, saying hi to the other people he knew, promising to catch up. When he got to the animal behavior lab, a few students had already taken their seats. Owen took one near the middle of the room, not wanting to block anyone by sitting his over-six-foot frame in the front, but not wanting to be so far away that he couldn't hear.
The professor showed up right on time and after a five minute intro to the lab, he assigned reading and went over their first lab assignment.
The semester was going to suck like hell if Owen had work on the first day, but it would all be worth it when he could officially call himself a behaviorist. Until then, he had to stay big man on campus, and avoid drowning in homework.
Seemed easy enough in theory.
Practice, though, was a different story.