I think this might classify as a slow burn? After this the chapters will get a bit longer. Let me know what y'all think, what y'all want more of, what y'all want less of, if you want me to say y'all more or less, etc.
"Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan
It felt like Sage had only closed her eyes for a second, when she opened them to a sunny, empty living room. She blinked and groaned, adjusting to the sunlight and stretching out the kinks from sleeping curled up in a chair. She had fallen asleep in the middle of her first meeting Sharon's friends. Sage yawned and made her way back to her own bed, where she fell back asleep for the rest of the morning.
Over the next few days, Sage finished settling into the apartment with Sharon, started her job at the rec center, and had her first day of classes. She had a very full schedule, with eighteen credit hours and her part time job.
The job seemed easy enough, though, even possibly enjoyable. The campus gym was nice and large, only a few years old, and had just about anything you could deem athletic. At two stories, the center had cardio machines, free weights, an indoor track, multiple classrooms, five basketball courts, an outdoor sand volleyball court, a large indoor pool, a slightly smaller outdoor pool, a smoothie bar, locker rooms, and two rock climbing walls that would be the focus of Sage's job. Sage had been climbing since being introduced to it one summer at camp in middle school. She's since had summer jobs at similar camps or climbing gyms, making her a natural fit. Her boss was a nice, sarcastic, scruffy guy named Clint. He was easy-going and had a wry sense of humor.
The evening after her first day of classes, Sage stood behind the guest help counter sorting through a mess of hardware, attempting to sort it into two separate boxes for t-nuts and bolts. From her spot near the entrance, Sage could see everyone coming and going. It was a good people watching spot. She recognized a few people from her classes earlier in the day, and the same guy she saw from across the library mall with a very large, very blue Mohawk. She even saw the object of Sharon's obsession, Steve, and his friend Sam, walk into the rec center. They were talking and laughing as they walked past the counter towards the weights. Sage's shift was over before they were finished with their workout, so she didn't see them again.
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were the busiest days of Sage's week, with three classes each, plus a two-hour lab on Wednesday evenings. Tuesdays and Thursdays were the light days, with one class at 9 AM and another at 2 PM. Both classes were also uninteresting core classes, required for graduation or else Sage wouldn't be taking a European Theater in World War II class or Aesthetics.
For an art history major, Sage should have been more interested in the history class, but she viewed it as more tests and essays that would keep her from her major. She also had zero interest in the philosophy class.
Urging herself out of bed to get dressed and to class on time was a challenge. Only the second day of the semester and she was already considering skipping. Sage pulled on a pair of old, hole-riddled and frayed jeans, an old tee shirt, and a crumpled denim shirt. She slipped on a pair of sandals and grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge on the way out.
The apartment was only a few blocks from campus, an easy ten-minute walk. By the time she reached the history building, she had worked up a bit of a sweat and had to pull her hair up into a messy bun to get it off her neck. It was still technically summer.
Sage found the right lecture hall for her history class, entered from the front of the room, and climbed the steps to about halfway up the rows, and sat in the aisle seat so she'd have a left-handed seat. She pulled up the writing surface from the arm rest and laid out her phone, a pen, and her juice to wait for the class to start.
The professor walked into the hall, letting the door slam closed behind him. He handed a box full of papers to a guy sitting in the front row, who then stood and started passing stacks of what seemed to be syllabi down each row as the professor set up the computer and projector.
Sage silenced her phone and pulled off her sunglasses, hanging them on the breast pocket of her denim over shirt. She looked down the aisle and realized the TA was Sharon's friend Bucky. He looked up, spotted Sage, and smiled as he continued passing out packets.
When Bucky finally reached Sage's row, he took his time counting out the right amount of syllabi.
"That shit looks nasty," he commented on Sage's green juice while still looking down at the stack of papers in his hand.
"Drinking this makes me feel less guilty about all of my unhealthy habits," Sage laughed. "So you're the TA, huh?"
"Nothing gets past you," he smirked. He handed her the stack of syllabi with a wink, and moved onto the next row. Sage rolled her eyes, but smiled in spite of herself. She now had a bit more incentive to attend the class.
The professor for the class was an older man with a sour expression named Phillips. He blew through the syllabus and immediately started lecturing. An hour and forty five minutes later, Professor Phillips dismissed the class and was the first person out of the room. Sage shoved all of her things into her open and waiting backpack and dashed out of her seat, hoping to catch Bucky before he disappeared in the crowd of students. She caught up with him in the atrium of the building.
"Hey!" she called as she caught up to him, grabbing his attention.
"Hey," he turned and smiled when he realized who was falling into step beside him.
"If you're the TA, any chance I can bribe you for a passing grade?" Sage joked.
"I adhere to a strict code of ethics," he joked back, faking a stern expression.
"Guess I'll have to keep showing up then," Sage replied.
"Yeah, but you'll have to stay awake, too," Bucky jabbed, looking down at the girl walking alongside him as they passed through the double glass doors of the building, They both pulled on their sunglasses as they stepped outside.
"Fair enough. In my defense, you caught me at the end of a very long day of moving," Sage defended herself as she unscrewed the cap of her juice bottle and finished it off.
"Seriously, that looks disgusting. Like ground up caterpillars," Bucky stuck out his tongue in disgust as he watched Sage finish the juice.
"You encounter those often?" She giggled at the thought. "It tastes like mint and pineapple."
"You're not helping your case. Those two things should not go together."
"Yeah, well, you drink Guinness, so you don't exactly have the high ground here," Sage recalled the brand of beer Bucky had brought over from the bar the night he and the others had come over.
"Don't hate!" He defended himself with a laugh. "I'm going this way. See ya Thursday," he waved as they reached an intersection in the pathway. Sage waved back and went the opposite direction, tossing her empty bottle into a nearby recycling bin. She couldn't wait to tell Sharon that her crush's best friend was her TA. She pulled her phone out and texted Sharon.
Captain Jawline's bestie is my history TA. Small world. Sage typed out and sent the text as she walked towards the union. She had a feeling that if she went home before her next class at 2, she probably wouldn't come back.
Now that can work to our advantage! Sharon replied as Sage sat down at a table in the student union.
I don't see how, but I'm not an evil mastermind like you are. Sage responded. She pulled her backpack onto the chair next to her, rummage around through it, and pulled out a David Hockney biography to read until her class.
The philosophy class was dull, and there wasn't an attractive TA to add interest either. After class, Sage ran home for a quick meal, changed clothes, then set off for work.
That evening, Sage was on belay duty. The wall was located just beyond the guest help desk near the entrance. Usually there were sign up sheets for time slots on the wall, but not too many people had signed up that evening.
Sage was waiting for the 6 PM appointment to show up when she spotted Steve entering the gym. She smirked to herself as she made a mental note. She'd have to tell Sharon to start hanging out at the rec center in the early evenings to casually "run into" Steve.
Sage played with a carabiner as she locked eyes with Steve across the room. He smiled and headed towards her.
"I didn't know you worked here," he greeted warmly, stepping up to the railing separating the climbing area from the rest of the gym.
"Oh, yeah, four days a week," Sage answered, matching his warm smile. Sharon definitely had good taste. Steve was classically handsome, but also very clean-cut, like a J. Crew model. He wasn't Sage's taste, but handsome was handsome.
"You work with Clint?" Steve asked as he looked up the climbing wall.
"Yeah, he's my boss," Sage replied.
"He's a friend. A good guy," Steve commented.
"He's a cool dude," Sage agreed.
"I've never climbed one of these before. Now that I know two people that work on the wall, maybe I should sign up," said Steve as he eyed the harness Sage wore.
"Totally. Though maybe Clint should belay for you. If you fell, I'd probably shoot through the roof," Sage commented on Steve's formidable size. He was without a doubt ripped. He chuckled lightly at the image Sage created.
"Safety first. I'm supposed to meet my friend here, but I think he's running late. Again," Steve explained, hoping Sage didn't think he was bothering her for no reason. "You remember my friend Bucky?"
"Do I. He's my history TA now," Sage told him with a smile.
"Wow, good luck with that," he laughed.
"Steve!" someone shouted from across the way. Sage and Steve turned towards the entrance to see Bucky quickly approaching.
"Speak of the devil," Steve started.
"Sorry I'm late, man," Bucky apologized as he reached Steve standing at the railing.
"Hey. Nice helmet," Bucky greeted Sage with a smirk as he reached over the railing and knocked on Sage's bright orange helmet. She swatted his hand away.
"Sage just told me that she's in your class," Steve said, trying not to roll his eyes at the way Bucky teased Sage.
"Yeah, between me and Phillips, it'll be a miracle if she passes," Bucky answered, eyeing Sage in her getup. Underneath the orange helmet, matching harness, and bundle of ropes clipped to her hip, she wore long black yoga pants, which Bucky was a huge fan of, and a white tee shirt with the rec center logo on it. He could just make out the outline of her black sports bra through the white cotton of the shirt.
"I'm not above bribery," Sage joked, bringing a smile to Bucky's mouth. He considered making a comment about sexual favors, but decided against it.
"We should get started," Steve said, turning to Bucky who nodded in agreement. "A bunch of us are going out on Friday night. You should come, too. Sharon knows the details," Steve invited as he and Bucky stepped away form the railing.
"Cool," Sage answered as the two guys walked off towards the weights. A few moments later, her six o'clock showed up and she got to work.
"Tell me all about your history class!" Sharon demanded the second Sage stepped into the apartment after her shift. She was sitting on the sofa, balancing a plate of pasta on one knee, and a textbook on the other. Sage walked into the living area, dropped her backpack on the ground, and sank into her plaid chair.
"The professor is a total hard ass," Sage complained, knowing that Sharon didn't care about the professor and only wanted to hear about the TA. Sharon rolled her eyes.
"You know what I meant," she chastised.
"It was fine. He handed me a syllabus, we talked a little bit after class. Then I saw him and Steve at the rec earlier," Sage explained as she kicked off her shoes and propped her feet up on the coffee table. "You need to go in the early evenings, by the way. I've seen Steve there twice now."
"Noted. What did you guys talk about?" Sharon pressed.
"Nothing," Sage shrugged. Sharon sighed exasperatedly.
"I need you to step it up so we can all go on double dates," Sharon said, then took a bite of pasta.
"Me and Bucky?" Sage questioned.
"Why not? He's cute. I've always thought he was your type," Sharon explained with a casual shrug.
"He's a little bit of a jerk," Sage mused.
"Yeah but you're into that. You've always been into guys that can dish it out."
"They have to be able to take it, too, though," Sage amended.
"He can. He's got a good sense of humor. He's got that devil-may-care, bad boy thing going for him," Sharon tried to summarize Bucky's personality type.
"No kidding. I didn't think the hair met country club dress codes," Sage joked sarcastically, noting Bucky's longer than average hair and scruffy facial hair. If Steve was J. Crew, Bucky was REI.
"What the hell kind of name is Bucky anyway?" Sage asked as she toed off her socks.
"It's short for something," Sharon answered, then took another bite of pasta. "We're all going out on Friday, by the way. You need to come this time."
"Steve mentioned that. I'm down."
"Wait, is it ethically frowned upon for a TA to date a student in his class?" Sharon asked as she thought through her dream scenario a little more. Sage got up to make her own plate of pasta in the kitchen.
"It's probably fine. It's not like I'm underage, and he's not the professor," Sage answered. It probably wasn't an encouraged scenario, but she couldn't see anything truly wrong with it, so long as he didn't give her undeserved grades. Plus they weren't even involved.
"I'm going to take a shower and read for a while," Sage announced as she picked her backpack up off the floor and headed towards her room with her dinner. Sharon muttered a 'later' and smiled as she daydreamed about double dates.