Chapter 4:
It had been a month since Bo's celebration at the Dal. The athletic director had sent Lauren an email shortly after he received news of Bo's guaranteed eligibility letting her know that the fencing team was competing in several consecutive intercollegiate tournaments and would be spending the next month traveling. To help the team, the department had arranged for 3 traveling tutors to make sure all of the athletes, especially Bo, didn't fall too far behind. He informed Lauren that after the tournament ended, she would return to her tutoring schedule. Apparently Bo was concerned about her GPA and needed a better grade in BioChem and specifically requested Lauren because of the progress they had already made.
Feeling slightly disappointed that she wouldn't see Bo for a month, but secretly flattered that Bo had requested her for continued tutoring, Lauren threw herself headlong into her lab work. So far, the month of nonstop lab work had proved very beneficial to Lauren's research and future career. She was recently selected to work alongside the university's only female BioChem professor emeritus on her newest research project. Lauren was floored that Amelia, as she wished to be called, specially requested her. As the lab manager put it, Amelia "sees a bit of herself in you" and wanted Lauren onboard.
Working with Amelia was everything Lauren anticipated it would be. Challenging. Rigorous. Inspiring. Life-changing. Therapeutic. Once they sat down to discuss the research project Lauren would be assisting with, she was so distracted that she barely thought about her last evening with Bo.
Sadly, that blissful immersion ended as Lauren returned to her dorm room after a particularly long day at the lab. Midterms were quickly approaching and Lauren knew that she couldn't spend all her time in the lab and at some point would have to study for her other classes. Finding a nature stopping point in her data collection, she gathered her coat and bag, and headed out for the evening. As she reached the front doors, her stomach made a pretty loud declaration of war against the rest of her body if it didn't get something to eat soon.
Knowing that it was too late for the dining hall, she spun around and made a beeline for the vending machines. Her official "Amelia's assistant" status was both a gift and a curse. The curse coming in the form of a key to the lab. She loved having free reign of the lab wherever she wanted, which was basically every waking minute of the day. And since she spent all her free time in the lab, she didn't pay too much attention to time in general, especially meal time. This would be her third day in a row of having to unwrap her dinner and eat it on the way back to her dorm. Trying to find some semblance of nutrition, she scanned her options and settled on punching in the codes that would sate her angry stomach with beef jerky, two granola bars, a bag of dried apricots and Cheetos. With neon orange fingers and a quieted belly, she locked up the lab and trekked back to her room.
The walk back to her dorm was a bit longer than she remembered. And lacking a proper meal, it was a bit harder, too. If the walk alone had winded her, she couldn't even manage to think about the three flights of stairs she would have to climb before getting back. As she walked, she decided that studying would happen tomorrow, while sleep would be her main objective tonight.
Surprising even herself at one point, Lauren was able to, albeit barely, climb the three flights of stairs necessary to get to her room. As she trudged down the hallway, she could see someone passed out in middle of the floor. Getting closer to her room and this sleeping mass of inconsiderate jackass, Lauren came to an abrupt stop. As luck would have it, this loser had to be slumped against her door. This wasn't the first time that some stupid first year got drunk and passed out in front of her door. It was one of the inconveniences of being the end of the hallway, close to the shared bathroom. From what she could see, this husky imbecile had at least managed to keep the contents of his stomach where it belonged. The last loser couldn't hold his liquor and managed to make her room all but inhabitable until the smell of bile and tequila faded a week later.
Lauren didn't want to give this guy a chance to hang out any longer and potentially ruin her evening, or carpet. Steeling her face, Lauren walked briskly toward the sleeping stranger and literally kicked him in the ass. "Hey, rush week or not, you need to go. It has been a long day and I need some sleep."
Feeling the hard shell top of Lauren's high-top converse sneakers, the sleeping mass began to stir. It groaned and let out a barely audible or coherent apology. Surprised that this jerk wasn't acting like a complete jerk and had the decency to apologize, Lauren's voice slightly softened and she offered to help out. "Do you need me to call your roommate or someone to come get you and help you back to wherever you belong?"
"No need," replied a raspy voice. "She's the one who managed to find your room number for me, since I never actually got your phone number."
Clearly Lauren had been too quick to remove the label of jerk. In fact, given that response, Lauren was regretting not kicking this creep harder or in a more debilitating place. Having no clue where this freaking encounter could go, Lauren began running through a quick inventory of everything in her bag. Given its contents and a strong swing, it should be heavy enough to destabilize the intruder should he make any sudden movements. Knocking him off balance would give her time to run for the stairs and down to the main lobby where the security guard was stationed. As luck would have it, her long, lanky legs could take the stairs two or three at a time giving her a distinct advantage. The key to this plan was the element of surprise. She didn't want to alert this scofflaw to her intentions and give him time to avert her swing.
She began to slowly remove her backpack straps from her shoulders while she spoke cautiously to the now stirring mass of dark sweat clothes. "Listen, I don't know who you are or what reason you would have for wanting to find me, but I really don't want any trouble, so if you could just…"
Before Lauren could finish, the ominous stranger rolled over to expose half opened eyes with wisps of brown hair sticking out from beneath a black sweatshirt that read, "Foiled Again."
"Bo, what the hell? You scared me half to death!" Lauren exclaimed with a mixture of shock and relief. Her shoulders hunched over as she felt the tension begin seeping from her body. She dropped her backpack and leaned against the wall for added support. After a few deep breaths, she sent another kick square in Bo's ass with the side of her foot.
"What was that for?" Bo asked half smiling.
"Seriously, I thought you were a stalker or something. I was ready to kick your ass if you made any sudden movements," Lauren responded, still propped against the wall.
"Haha, you were going to kick my ass!?" Bo laughed. "You and what army?"
Slightly offended by the implication that she couldn't take Bo in a fight, Lauren pushed herself off the wall and put her hands firmly on her hips. "I will have you know that I was in JROTC in high school." That would show Bo.
"Like army training?" Bo asked with genuine interest.
"Navy," Lauren haughtily answered.
"Hoo-rawr. That is semper awesome, captain." There was an evident tone of flirtation in her voice that didn't go unnoticed by Lauren.
"Uh, no. None of those are right," Lauren could feel her cheeks flushing. She reached to grab her bag and began rifling through the front pocket for her dorm keys. As her fingers nimbly combed through the plethora of writing materials, paper clips, post its and other distractions, it was obvious that Bo's coy flirtation had an effect on Lauren. The slight hint of butterflies in in her chest made it hard for her to focus on what she was searching for in her bag in the first place.
Bo rolled over and propped herself up against Lauren's door. "You know, I didn't mean to scare you. I went by the lab and saw that it was locked, so I asked Kenzi if she could find your dorm room."
"So, what did you need from me?" Lauren asked trying to sound as natural as possible. This was no small feat for her. It had been at least a month since she last saw Bo, and while she was able to stay busy, seeing Bo now, so close to her bed...room stirred up all the feelings she had resolved to repress since their "celebration."
"I just got back from traveling and wanted to say hi. I also am not planning on leaving until I get your phone number," Bo said. "I figure it would be easier to schedule tutoring without the middle man," she hastily added after awkwardly realizing that showing up at midnight to her tutor's dorm room asking for her number was absurd on so many levels.
"So, you figured midnight was the best time to wonder over here?" Lauren asked with no real need for the answer.
"Whoa, I did not come over here at midnight!" Bo said, feigning offense. "Some people have poor time management and stay in their labs or wherever until midnight, but that doesn't mean I just got here."
Lauren crouched down next to Bo and asked, "So how long have you been waiting?"
Bo tucked both hands behind her head and closed her eyes. "Long enough."
"I know that you wouldn't have come here and waited for me just to say hi and ask about tutoring. Remember, my IQ registers somewhere between genius and 'not an idiot', so let's go. This hallway smells like a drunken locker room anyway." Lauren stood up and extended a hand to help pull Bo to her feet, too. As she made it to her feet, she held on to Lauren's hand for a split second longer than necessary. Immediately, the butterflies in Lauren's chest multiplied and spread to every corner of her body. Lauren unlocked her door and she hesitated for a moment, afraid that letting Bo in her room would make it impossible for her to maintain her professional decorum. She couldn't every well turn her away now, so she would just have to be careful inside.
Upon entering the room, Bo let out a loud chuckle. This dorm room was the perfect expression of everything Lauren. She had a periodic table of elements poster covering the far wall of her tiny little single room, just above her bed. Along the other wall she had two white boards with different notes and atomic structures. The other wall bordering the hallway housed a meticulously ordered closet with clothes arranged by color. And the wall directly across from that one had windows half the length of the wall, with a heating register making up the remaining distance to the floor.
As Bo took in all the Lauren-esque additions to the room, Lauren pulled out her desk chair and offered it to Bo. "Have a seat" she said. As Bo sat down, Lauren sat down on her bed. Remembering her resolution to maintain professionalism during their interactions, Lauren sat upright and gave Bo her undivided attention.
"Bo, I am all ears," she started.
"Lauren, I'm really sorry I creeped you out earlier. I honestly came by because I really wanted to be away from my teammates," Bo started.
"What happened?" Lauren asked.
"Well, the tournaments didn't go so well these past few weeks. The first week was actually pretty brilliant. I won individual honors and team honors. The problems started right after that. I got knocked out of individual competition in the second round of each competition. I cost the sabre team first place in the first two, and was pulled before team competition at the last one. It was horrible," Bo continued, starting to choke up as a few tears escaped her eyes and streamed down her face. "Needless to say, I let the team down, and they weren't all that shy in showing their disappointment in me."
Lauren felt her heart ache as Bo sat in front of her. Not sure what she could do to help, she tried to allay her sadness. "I'm so sorry to hear about the tournament. It sounds like an unbelievably stressful month, and to not have the support of your teammates would make it feel unbearable, I could imagine. Do you know what happened?"
"My coach says she saw 'nothing behind the eyes,'" Bo answered.
"What does that mean?" Lauren inquired.
"She said I wasn't present. I didn't have that fire in my eyes," Bo offered up, with a tone that implied more disappointment with herself than even the coach probably felt.
As Bo continued to sit with her eyes downcast, Lauren again felt that familiar urge to wrap Bo in her arms, but this time, it was to console her and remind her how amazing she truly was. Instead she offered words of encouragement, "I have no idea what happened this past month, but I know that everyone is allowed to be off their game sometimes. You are an incredible fencer and this loss doesn't detract from your skill with a sabre. If we discounted everyone who stumbled on the road to meeting unrealistic expectations, this world would be a pathetic place. There would be no theory of relativity because Einstein failed primary school. No one would have bothered to reconsider the Higgs boson because the theory was written off decades ago. And Machiavelli would never make a footnote in history because we wrote everything from exile, although maybe he doesn't resonate as much. Let's look at Shakespeare. Most of his wide spread acclaim came posthumously." As Lauren took a breath, scanning her mental catalogues for more commonplace examples of initial failures, her mind suddenly went completely blank. All Lauren could manage to think about was the fact that Bo had just rested her hand on Lauren's now very shaky knee.
"Thank you," Bo whispered as her hand gently caressed Lauren's leg. "I wonder, do you ever have off days because always seem to have everything together."
"Not one off day,ever," Lauren said with a straight face. "I always start studying for my midterms at midnight and reek of slim jims and cheetos."
Bo laughed as she rolled the chair closer to Lauren and placed both hands on the sides of her confidante's thighs. Lauren tried to laugh at her own joke, too, but it came out more awkward than amused. It didn't help that as Bo's hands rested on her thighs, her laugh crackled at the end like she was a fifteen year old boy whose voice was changing.
Trying to diffuse the sudden tension, not only in her body, but also growing between them, Lauren gave a quick nod of acknowledgement before standing up and walking toward her desk. She started nervously fumbling papers to make it seem like she had a reason for walking away from Bo. Well, to be fair, she did have a reason, but she couldn't very well tell Bo about the butterflies, so instead, she offered up, "Well, if you need obscure examples from history, you know where to find me now. I think I even have a short article on Einstein somewhere over here if you want it."
Lauren stood at her desk for a few more seconds before turning around to meet Bo's eyes. "You probably don't want the article do you?"
Bo gave a sweet smile at Lauren before looking back down at her hands. Lauren could tell that Bo had something she wanted to share and thought it best to be clear about where she felt they needed to stand with each other. Lauren couldn't ruin her job or lab time for a pretty face. Even if that pretty face was attached to a gorgeous body and a heart of gold.
"Listen," Lauren began again. "I feel like this might be a good time to talk about this," as she motioned back and forth between them.
"Tutoring you is awesome and I love the fact that I get to see a genuine side of you when we are studying. Honestly, I can't deny how happy I am that you sought me out to talk about things not going well with your team, but I need to be clear that this friendship has to still maintain asymptotic boundaries. In short, certain lines can't be crossed. I don't want you to think that because we are friends that you don't have to work hard and show up to our sessions." Lauren finished talking and stood looking at Bo. Reading Bo's face was always a challenge for her, and as they both sat quietly, she grew uneasy not knowing what was going in Bo's head.
Thankfully Lauren didn't have to wait long to find out what was going on under the dark hoodie and brunette layers. "Is that what's going on? And what happened at the Dal?" Bo's inflection was surprisingly monotone and Lauren couldn't decide if she had offended Bo or if it was just taking Bo some time to really process the newly articulated friendship dynamic.
Lauren rubbed the back of her neck before answering. "Yeah, more or less that's what was happening at the Dal. I didn't want you to think that because I was starting to," Lauren caught herself about to say something completely irrelevant and in stark contrast to what she had just told Bo moments ago. She started again, "I didn't want you to think that because we were friends that we didn't have work to do. And tonight I was trying to be clear that we can totally be acquaintances or friends or drinking buddies even, but not be at the expense of tutoring."
Bo gave a silent nod of understanding, as she slowly stood up from the desk chair. "I agree. We can be cool, so long as we are able to maintain tutoring and I stay eligible." After a slight pause, Bo continued, "So it is getting pretty late and I have a long walk ahead of me. I need to be going. "
"Where are you headed?" Lauren inquired.
"I actually live off campus, and since the buses stopped running, I have to walk a few miles."
"In the middle of the night? That sounds crazy," Lauren said with genuine concern. "I can't let you hike all over campus at whatever time it is in the morning. Something could happen."
Bo shrugged her shoulders and took a few steps toward the door, "It is really okay, I don't mind. I may speak softly, but I carry a big metal stick, and I figure I can hail a cab when I get closer to town."
Lauren, concerned with Bo's safety and the fact that her spirits still seemed pretty down, couldn't let her leave like this. "Well, since you don't have said metal stick with you, and you look half asleep right now, take your shoes off and get in the bed." Lauren stood up and motioned for Bo to get in her bed.
"Ok, so normally I don't sleepover on the first date," Bo winked at Lauren as she let out a big yawn. "But since I question my ability to get home, I may have to take you up on that offer, so long as you sleep in the bed. God knows I can fall asleep on the floor with no trouble," she laughed.
Lauren insisted. "Take the bed. I actually have a few things to finish up before I sleep. I have midterms to study for." She gave Bo a gentle push toward the bed and saw her resistance quickly melt away as she sank on top of the comforter.
Lauren turned back to the door, locked it and flicked the lights off so Bo could fall asleep easier. The light from the window was enough for her to feel her way towards her desk and turn on her personal lamp.
As she pulled the chair back to the desk and grabbed a seat, she heard Bo mumble something.
"What was that?" Lauren turned around and asked as Bo fought to keep her eyes open.
"Orion," Bo said groggily, "was my bedtime story. Trick told me about his sword. And so I got one, too."
"Huh," Lauren mused as she looked up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that adorned her ceiling. The first night she had arrived at school felt so foreign and unfamiliar. So to make her dorm feel like home, she bought a pack of stickers and mapped the entire night sky on the ceiling. Stargazing was the perfect way to fall asleep, even if they were just stickers.
Apparently Lauren wasn't the only one who fell asleep to stars. Bo had fallen asleep at the opposite end of the bed, right under Orion and found it even in her semiconscious state. Lauren smirked as Bo's breathing evened out and she drifted to sleep.
With heavy eyelids, Lauren reached across her desk to check the digital clock on the window ledge. She wasn't sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her or not, as her mind registered 3am. Realizing that any continued work tonight would do more harm than good, Lauren made her way from her desk to the shared bathroom two doors down.
As Lauren stood under the bright fluorescent lights on the bathroom, she figured it was late enough that she could forgo her nightly routine of brushing, flossing and rinsing with mouthwash. She grabbed her towel and slowly trudged back to her room. Then she relocked the door, peeled off her pants and sweater and unconsciously went to crawl into bed. As she lifted the covers, she felt the comforter shift and remembered her sleepover guest. Too tired to think about her options, she grabbed the comforter and pulled it with her onto the floor. She was asleep before the comforter hit the ground.
"Holy shit! What is that?" Bo shouted. What sounded like a fire alarm, mixed with a car alarm, had jarred her out of a rather pleasant dream involving a lab coat and Jacuzzi.
Bo knew it had to be a warning because there would be no other reason for such a horrible sound, but the fact that she had just woken up meant that her brain would take three times as long to catch up with her surroundings. She leaned over and tried to shake Lauren awake. Her brain would have to circle back around and explain how she ended up on the ground when she knew she was in the bed last night.
Freaking out, she gave Lauren a forceful shake after her first three attempts to lightly jostle her awake failed. The most recent attempt had managed to elicit an angry grunt as Lauren rolled away from her and placed the pillow over her head. Lauren mumbled something under the pillow and managed to point to the blinking clock on her desk.
Finally gathering her bearings, Bo crawled over the now comatose Lauren and managed to unplug the screaming alarm. That must be how Lauren managed to get a single; if she had a roommate who had to endure that every day, Lauren would probably have to use her Navy defense skills on a regular basis to fend off a sleep deprived roommate. Now wide awake, Bo made her way back to Lauren's bed and sat down. It was pretty obvious she wasn't going to go back to sleep right away, and just sat for a moment staring at Lauren's sleeping figure.
There was no question that Bo wanted to be with Lauren, and not just physically. She wanted much more than that; Lauren was one of the only people with whom Bo felt a genuine connection. She truly listened to Bo and respected when she wanted to talk and when she didn't. Bo couldn't remember a time before now when she felt more at home in her own skin. She never felt bad that she wasn't meeting Lauren's expectations because Lauren didn't have any for her. There was no pretense between them. Too bad every time Bo got close, Lauren would panic and run away. And as Bo thought about it more, she couldn't understand how Lauren was genuinely concerned that their closeness would affect her work study. After all, being more than friends would pretty much guarantee that Bo wouldn't miss a session. Bo smirked to her, "Maybe Lauren's right. Studying feels all but impossible when she's around as it is." Her mind drifted back to foggy images of the dream she didn't get to finish thanks to Lauren's alarm.
So what were they supposed to do? Just act like there was nothing there? Make stupid boundaries and ignore the fact that when they were around each other, their bodies were naturally drawn together? Bo couldn't even count how many times she had to take a step back or stop herself from reaching out to wrap Lauren in her arms.
Knowing that neither of them was in a place to make sense of what was really going on between them, Bo gave up trying and decided it was time to head back to her apartment. Even though it was clear that Lauren could sleep anywhere and through anything, she would probably be more comfortable in her own bed. So Bo crawled over to her and coaxed her sleeping figure close so she could put her in bed under the covers. Surprised that Lauren was only wearing underwear and a tank top, Bo had to stop herself from running her fingers along Lauren's slender, tone legs. Next, Bo turned and grabbed the comforter and placed it on top of her. She had remembered being cold last night, which was probably why she ended up on the ground wrapped up next to Lauren. As she smoothed out the material, she reached across a sleeping Lauren to tuck the edge in between the wall and bed frame.
As she leaned farther, she felt Lauren shift under the covers. Afraid she might have woken the sleeping beauty, Bo looked down. She was met with Lauren's half open eyes groggily trying to focus on her face.
"Hey, sorry. Go back to sleep. I was just tucking you in," Bo whispered, her mouth just a few inches from Lauren's face.
"Ok," Lauren responded half asleep. As she moved to roll over and back to sleep, she extended both arms and clumsily wrapped them around Bo's neck. She pulled Bo in closer and slid over to make room for her in the bed. Pretty sure Lauren was asleep as she did all of the, Bo eased herself down onto the bed and let Lauren pull her in tightly against her body. Bo was glad that sleeping Lauren wasn't so uptight about whom they were becoming to each other. It was nice to feel Lauren holding her so naturally. Content with this little bit of comfort, Bo drifted back to sleep.