Taylor Townsend sat and sipped her coffee, enjoying the late summer weather. Today was her first day at Brown University and her nerves were playing games with her. Why am I nervous? The young woman asked herself; she had no reason really to be. She had one year of school behind her at the Sorbonne and she had a friend in Summer to introduce her to her environmentalist friends. What then was the problem? Taylor knew that she was smart enough to survive the rigors of Ivy League academics and knew she was a friendly enough person to navigate the social rigors of Providence.

Summer. Things had changed for her a lot since leaving for G.E.O.R.G.E. last summer. When she had left to go on her political touring, she had been with Seth and all the world had seem perfect and right. Now things were different for them; that confidence in their relationship had been replaced by a secure knowledge that Seth in fact was not the right man for her. All the fears that Seth had held before Summer had left had been proven right. On the road, Summer had met men with brilliant minds and similar interests; they had made Summer even more dedicated and radical to the cause and that new world did not include Seth.

Summer had broken Seth's heart that summer upon returning from the road; she had cried for a good two days after wards but assured Taylor it was for the best. "It's not like I'm the first girl to think she loved someone and made a fool of herself before realizing she made a mistake." That was that; they had spent the summer going up and down California going to lectures and protests and over those three months, Summer and Taylor had bounded and reconnected.

For herself, Taylor had reasons for wanting to escape Newport. Her mother was less than happy to hear that she was coming back from France; she had spent all that money getting the girl back into the university and so when she heard she was leaving the Sorbonne after a year to finish her college career at Brown, she thought it was silly and because of a boy. It wasn't but that didn't ease Veronica's mind. Taylor at the Sorbonne had proven Taylor's exceptionalism. Her going to school on the east coast, while impressive, was not as impressive to Veronica as studying in one of the most famous and oldest schools in the world. Also, she had counted on being able to brag to her friends for three years about Taylor's life and studies in Paris.

For Taylor, Paris and France had become lonely and depressing. The past year in California with Summer and Seth and Ryan had been wonderful to her and the City of Lights had lost its charm after Julie Cooper's almost wedding. Summer had convinced her to study in Brown, and the fact that Ryan was dating an ex-girlfriend made the University of California at Berkeley a less than attractive choice. In truth, it helped that Brown was a better school that Berkeley and it gave Taylor more freedom to create her own academic curriculum.

As she finished her coffee, Taylor thought about Ryan. It had started out well for them; they had talked often and Taylor still found herself in love with him when she had come back to California for winter break. Ryan himself still seemed interested in the girl and they had spent a happy two weeks with one another. It was a shock to her system then when he told her in the middle of February that he was dating an ex—a girl named Sadie that she vaguely remembered meeting—and that he wanted to be friends. Newport, therefore, was filled with sad reminders of the love they had once shared. That was gone now; Ryan was very happy with his Sadie and there seemed to be no reason to expect them to separate anytime soon. It was strange and slightly amusing to Taylor's sense of sardonic humor that the four of them were living lives that not one of them could have foreseen a year ago.

"You ready for some learning?" It was Summer, a bottle of water in her hands. Since her year on the road, the young woman had become a professed vegan. It actually amazed Taylor that they were friends because Taylor had not caught up to Summer yet in her fanaticism over the cause and in truth Taylor was waiting for the day when Summer would cut her loose, just as she had cut loose Seth. "What time is your first class?
"Middle Eastern history in half an hour."

"I know some people that took that my first semester." Technically Summer was still a freshman because had been first kicked out of school and then had taken a year off because of her work with G.E.O.R.G.E. Though she was a year behind Taylor in credits, she knew the campus like the back of her hand and was going to play the role of guide for Taylor at first.

"They like it?" Summer adjusted a strap on her peasant dress and told Taylor the things she had heard. "What do you have?"

"Introduction to environmental studies. The professor is my advisor so I'm pretty excited about it." Summer was in the Pre-Law program as well as the environmental studies program; her hopes were to become an EPA lawyer when she was done with law school. "Do you want to meet up later and get some lunch?"

"What time?"

"I don't know—around one?"

"Sure." They walked on in silence for a little while and as they walked, Taylor found herself fighting the urge to tell Summer about Seth. She had spent the evening with Seth and he still seemed miserable. It had been four months since Summer had returned and dropped the bomb on her former flame and he still did not seem happy. He had friends in Anna and Taylor, as well as people he knew from the Rhode Island School of Design, but it was a small comfort for the pain he still left. Taylor knew a little about pain herself in losing Ryan to another woman, and she expected that Summer too was not as well as she seemed; surely she hurt like Seth.

"Have you seen Seth lately?" Summer had a knack for anticipating Taylor's thoughts and Taylor's surprised reaction tipped the dark haired girl off. "Is he dating anyone?" It seemed a wild and unfeeling question for Summer to ask and Taylor did not hesitate to tell her so. "Sorry—I just want him to be happy."

"He's not happy—he loved you." Taylor had been shocked at the breakup and thought Summer to be acting completely wrong but Summer had her reasons and did not seem to want to listen to anyone else's logic.

"I loved him too" Summer almost sounded annoyed at her friend; she had loved Seth but he just wasn't the right one for her—he was too cynical and didn't believe in anything. She needed a man that shared her passion or at least believed deeply in a cause. They passed by a building and Summer stopped. "Let's not fight about this okay? You're my only friend from back home and I don't want to fight about this."

"Summer." Taylor stared deeply into her friend's dark eyes and saw how much she wanted not to fight about this, how much she cared about Taylor. "I don't want to fight about this either." She hugged Summer tightly and then said goodbye for this was the building Summer needed to be. "I'll call you later okay?"

"Sounds good." Summer was all smiles again and waved goodbye to her friend.