6:18 a.m.

Jack woke early and looked at the clock. He had slept horribly all night, waking every few hours. Thoughts of Elizabeth frustrated and confused him. And yet, he still had this insatiable desire to be near her.

Several class periods had passed. Jack had been so distracted by the initial knowledge that Elizabeth was a Thatcher that he hadn't completed any of the research that the group had agreed to initially. He had been forced to wing it and play off of the other girls' ideas in the class that followed. And she saw right through it. I can hardly form sentences when I'm around her, much less have intelligent conversation about my ideas for the project. She must think I'm an idiot.

6:30 a.m.

Rosemary's early alarm was growing more and more annoying to Elizabeth. So was her constant need to play dress-up every morning, ensuring that Elizabeth was "making the most out of every opportunity!"

Glass is half full, Elizabeth. Her Mother's voice was ever-present. Rosemary bought the nice memory foam mattress topper for my bed. She smiled a little and snuggled back under the covers. And, you look nice for class every day because of her. Or at least Paul thinks so. Her smile grew. He is obviously the safe horse in this race. He is kind, smart, faithful and is kind of cute. In a guy-next-door sort of way.

And yet. Her thoughts often drifted to Jack. The wildcard from English 111. He always seems distracted and coy. He is absolutely gorgeous, but he rarely speaks his mind. And he doesn't seem to be trying too hard on this project. Maybe he thinks his charm will convince the other girls to do his work, but not me!

8:54 a.m.

Jack settled into his chair in English 111. This morning was going to be a day for the groups to work on their projects. He pulled out the work that he'd done on his own, hoping to impress Elizabeth a little bit.

He hadn't seen her much in passing, and when he had, she had been with Paul. He had seen them studying a couple of times together and it rattled him a bit. The more and more he watched them, the more he was convinced that something was going on with them. So I have nothing to be nervous about. She's with him, so I can just start acting normal around her. Right?

9:20 a.m.

The group had made considerable progress on the project, even without much input from Jack so far. Elizabeth was glad that the other girls were bright and willing to contribute. He had at least done the work that they'd asked of him for today.

When he had given her his contribution, their gaze had lingered. Something about his eyes always made her lose her train of thought. She stumbled over her words and the group ended up just chatting about random things nearly the entire class period. Another group member had snapped them back to reality with just a few minutes left and they all had agreed on the steps to have prepared for the next class.

9:52 a.m.

Jack followed closely behind her as they left class. Summoning all the courage in his body, he finally spoke. "Hey Elizabeth?"

She turned to face him. He stood there awkwardly looking at her for a moment. "Yeah?" she finally spoke curiously.

"Oh. Uhm. Well, I was wondering if you had plans for lunch? I thought maybe we could talk about this project for a little bit?"

"I was planning to meet a friend in the cafeteria, but you're welcome to come along if you'd like. We're going to meet there at 12:15," she spoke evenly.

"Oh, I don't want to intrude. Maybe another day." I shouldn't have even asked.

"No, it's not a problem at all. We'd be happy to have you." The tiny smile on her face was encouraging.

"Uhm, okay," he brushed his hand through his hair nervously. "Well have a good morning then and I'll try to catch you at lunch."

9:59 a.m.

Elizabeth sat down in her Biology class, her mind swirling, replaying her interaction with Jack. She had tried to act cool and aloof, even though she was nearly bursting with glee that he had asked to have lunch with her. I'm glad it won't be just the two of us. Takes some of the pressure off. And he and Paul already know each other, so they'll be able to chat too. She suddenly realized how glad she was that neither of them know about the inner battle that's been raging in her head over the two of them.

Oh how Julie would eat this up! Julie had always been the wild child of the family, much more reckless than Elizabeth. She loved the attention from all the guys and handled it with smooth performances.

12:20 p.m.

After selecting the entrees that he wanted, Jack checked out and then scanned the room for Elizabeth. She looked up and waved towards him with a large smile on her face before returning to converse with someone at the table. Jack let his dimples emerge for a moment before containing his reaction better. He walked over to the table and Elizabeth patted the chair next to her while continuing her conversation.

"Hey Jack! I didn't realize you were joining us! How's your day going?" Paul inquired, his smile fading ever-so-slightly.

"I invited him. We're doing a project together in English and thought we might chat about it over lunch," Elizabeth turned to Jack, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. "Glad you could make it!"

"Hope you don't mind the company Paul. My day's going pretty well so far." Jack smiled to himself inwardly more than he let show. So Paul was the 'friend' she said she was meeting, eh? Maybe there's hope for me after all.

"Oh, not at all," Paul responded. "Faith's meeting us too and maybe Troy. Do you know them?"

"I think I may have met them briefly at the lake."

"Oh ya! Hey, we're all going again this weekend and I think we might camp overnight. Since it's nearly the end of September, this will probably be our last weekend out. You all up for it?"

Before they had a chance to answer, Troy and Faith arrived and sat down on either side of Paul. Faith and Elizabeth started talking about Elizabeth's Biology class and how she was going to get Elizabeth her old exams to study from since she had the same professor. "That's so kind of you, Faith! I'm sure that will be really helpful."

Elizabeth continued to chat with everyone. She and Faith seemed particularly happy to see each other. Jack loved watching her interact with everybody, completely at home with all of the new friends. She was smiling, cheerful… full of life. She's mesmerizing.

12:40 p.m.

Elizabeth had noticed Jack's quietness. He just seemed to be watching everyone. Taking it all in. He's very sure of himself. He's content to just sit back and let everyone entertain him. "So what did you have in mind about our project, Jack?"

She was soon surprised by the depth of thinking that he had done about the assignment. He had never spoken this much when the group had met. As everyone else continued to chat about the weekend, the two of them continued to discuss their English class.

Paul stood and announced that he had to leave for class, reminding everyone else that they also needed to get going.

Jack was more than a little disappointed that his time with Elizabeth's attention was growing to a close. "Maybe we can get together again and work on this outside of class?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure, I guess we could probably work that out. We live in the same building I think. I'm on the second floor of the Freshman dorm at the Quad."

Jack grinned. She has noticed me. "Yes, I'm up on the third floor. Maybe I'll catch you later then?" He was too shy to ask for her number. Definitely not in front of all of these people.

"Sounds good. I'm done for the day and I'll just be in the lounge this afternoon."

Elizabeth was surprised by his request, considering they were able to work together in class and he hadn't seemed the type to spend a lot of time on his classwork. Does he just need extra help? He does seem shy around a lot of people. Maybe he has a learning disability? Elizabeth's teaching experience was coming out and leading her to believe that he really did just need a little extra encouragement. And who am I to deny him that? Her lips snuck up at the corners when she thought about it.

Jack bid her a good afternoon and was soon off to meet Lee for their class. He was excited to tell him that he'd made a little more progress. His smile grew with every step.

5:51 p.m.

Elizabeth had dinner with Rosemary and her ducklings and then they all retreated back to their dorm. All six of them were squished into Rosemary and Elizabeth's room.

Rosemary decided that they all needed to paint their toenails, and Elizabeth would not be exempt. Elizabeth picked a lovely color of teal from Emily's collection. "Oh no! You are not putting that color on your toes," Rosemary admonished dramatically. "Teal is the color of gangrene! Yech!" She picked another color, a dark pink. "Here, this will look great with your pale skin tone!"

It took everything inside Elizabeth not to laugh at Rosemary's ridiculousness. She really has no idea how rude she is sometimes! And yet, she took the advice and began painting her toenails dark pink.

The six girls were thoroughly filling the room with noxious fumes, so Elizabeth rose to open the window.

"Oh Elizabeth! Lee's roommate is coming to our study group tonight! You're coming too, right?"

Elizabeth noticed that the other four girls perked up at the statement as she sat back down to finish her last two toenails. "Yes, I was planning to come and study for my Biology exam. I might work on my English project a little too."

"Oh, that's so wonderful! I'm so excited for you to meet Jack!"

Elizabeth looked up, surprised by the name. "Jack?"

Rosemary rolled her eyes, letting her exasperation show. "Yes, Jack. Lee's roommate! I told you about him. He's very handsome. Well, not as handsome as Lee, but he's a great-looking guy. And he likes to play volleyball too. Didn't you say you played a little bit in high school?"

Elizabeth looked at her and sighed. Does she listen to me at all? "Yes, I played. I've played since Junior High and our High School team won state two years in a row. Remember?"

"Oh yes. I do recall that now. Silly me!" Rosemary released a trail of giggles and the ducklings echoed her. "Well, I just thought you might be really excited to meet someone besides that dorky Paul guy. And this someone is hot!"

Rosemary was a little irritated that Elizabeth hadn't responded more enthusiastically to the wonderful news that she had convinced Lee to bring Jack tonight. They'd be so great together! She frowned when she saw that Elizabeth had already gone back to painting her nails.

Elizabeth looked up at Rosemary after finishing. "What's Jack's last name?"

"Hmm?" Rosemary was still deeply involved with painting little flowers on her toenails. "Oh, I'm not sure. He drives a black Jeep though. And I think he wants to be a cop or something like that."

Her last statement got Elizabeth's attention fast. Could it be?

6:58 p.m.

Elizabeth followed Rosemary and the other girls to the library for their study group. When they got to their assigned room, Elizabeth's suspicions were confirmed. It is Jack. My Jack. She immediately retracted the latter thought in her head, but it had made her smile a little first. I guess I'll get to help him with our English project sooner than I expected.

Lee greeted the group and introduced them to three other guys from their fraternity who were studying with them. Elizabeth groaned a little bit to learn that they'd joined a fraternity, not having heard the best opinion of them from Paul. All five men stood and immediately pulled out chairs for the ladies though, which pleasantly surprised Elizabeth.

Jack was at the end of the large, rectangular table. He grinned a little bit and offered Elizabeth a seat adjacent to his own, just around the corner of the table. He said nothing, but Elizabeth couldn't help but feel like he looked happy to see her.

7:03 p.m.

Jack looked up when the girls entered the study room, surprised to see Elizabeth walk in with Lee's girlfriend and her cronies. The smile on his face quickly faded. Oh my gosh. Elizabeth is Rosemary's roommate. The one she has been going on and on about! He suddenly felt a little bit bad for her. How in the world did THEY get matched up with each other? He chuckled to himself silently as Lee introduced everyone.

He stood up, looking into Elizabeth's blue eyes. He pulled out the chair closest to him, hoping that she'd take him up on the offer. To his astonishment, she did. And she smiled in appreciation at the gesture.

I'm not going to get much done tonight, I can already tell. Not that I mind. "Didn't expect to see you here tonight. I thought you'd be studying in the lounge with Paul." He spoke quietly so they didn't disturb everyone else.

Elizabeth looked at him, puzzled by his assumption. "No, I studied with Paul and Faith this afternoon for a little while. She was helping me study for my Biology exam. They're going to a movie tonight, but I needed to study more and Rosemary convinced me to come here." Is he jealous? Of Paul?

"Oh. Well, I'm glad you're here. It's a nice surprise. I didn't realize that you were Rosemary's roommate." He couldn't believe he'd actually voiced what he was thinking. And he was even happier to hear that Paul and Faith were hanging out together… which probably means that Elizabeth and Paul are just friends… right?

8:56 p.m.

The group had been studying hard for nearly two hours. Jack and Elizabeth had worked on their group project and Elizabeth had been stunned at how intelligent and concise Jack's ideas were. He certainly doesn't have a learning disability. I think he just works better without everyone staring at him. Elizabeth had actually found herself mesmerized by his mouth when he spoke. A slight accent remained in his voice, a remnant from growing up in the country. He articulated his ideas very clearly, and they were very good.

Rosie stood and stretched, announcing that she was finished. "I've had enough of this for one night. Who's with me?"

Everyone immediately closed their books except Jack and Elizabeth. "I actually need to study for my Biology test a little more, so I think I'll stay." She turned to Jack, "we've been working on this English project and I lost track of time."

Jack looked at her timidly. "I'll stay with you if that's okay. I don't want you walking back by yourself this late. And it's my fault for distracting you."

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I'll be okay. The pathway is lit well and I can always request a campus police escort if I think I need it."

"Isn't that what Jack practically is? He's going to be a cop. You should take him up on the offer Elizabeth!" Rosie exclaimed. "Why, it's good practice for him!" she giggled.

"Then it's settled," Lee added urgently. "We're all going to head back and you two can stay and… study."

Lee and Rosemary looked at each other slyly and quickly announced that that was fine with them. Rosie waved her ducklings towards the door, insisting that they were ready to leave too. Of course, with all of the girls leaving, Lee's fraternity friends were also inclined to follow.

Elizabeth couldn't believe what had just transpired. Her ears felt hot. She was fighting a grin hard before she finally pushed the words out. "You really don't have to stay."

"I want to."

9:30 p.m.

Elizabeth was having a really hard time staying focused. Something about Jack always left her flustered. She had never met someone who affected her that way before. Not even Paul. With Paul, conversation was easy. With Jack, she felt nervous and edgy. He is definitely the riskier one to fall for.

Every time she caught him looking at her, her cheeks felt aglow. It felt like he was inside her head, like he could read her very thoughts. It made her anxious, but excited at the same time.

"You've been staring at the same index card for the last 5 minutes. Is it a particularly hard one?" Jack looked over, smiling slightly.

Her cheeks burned. "Oh. Uhm. I think I'm just having a hard time concentrating. It's really quiet."

He reached for her hands and took the stack of notecards she'd prepped to study from. "How about I quiz you? Let's see how brilliant you are." He flashed his dimples and she was sure she would miss every question.

He went through nearly the entire stack and she knew every detail, only stumbling when she looked at his lips when he read to her. "I think you've got this in the bag. Here's the last one:

A hierarchical system called taxonomic classification is used for classifying organisms. List the levels from broadest to most specific."

Elizabeth ran her finger over her lips, trying to recall the mnemonic that helped her answer the question. She smiled as it came to her.

"Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Organism, Family, Genus, Species." She looked to him to see if she was correct with a proud grin.

He returned an ornery grin. "Wrong."

"What?" She gasped in surprise. "Nuh-uh. That's it! I'm sure of it! I have a mnemonic!" She reached across the table to take the card from his hands, but he pulled back, teasing her.

"Well, you need a new mnemonic then!" He grinned from the side of his mouth as she pushed up from her chair and grabbed his arm. He shifted the card to his left hand, fending off her advances.

"No I don't!" She continued to try to get the card so she could show him she was right. He stood to match her fierceness and they soon found themselves in tight quarters, her arms wrapped around him once again, this time of her own volition.

She stopped struggling when she realized how close their faces were. Her cheeks tingled, but her blue eyes were fiery and dark.

Without moving away, Jack asked quietly, "What is your mnemonic?"

Her gaze met his stormy hazel one and a slight smile came across her face. "Do Keep Pond Clean Or Froggies Get Sick."

"See? That's your problem. 'Or' made you think of Organism, when it should make you think 'Order'. My mnemonic is better."

Still in his space, she ran her fingers down his left arm, claiming the other side of the card, which they now both held tightly. She looked up at him. "Well? Are you going to share it, or are you going to let me fail?"

"ATTENTION STUDENTS: The library will be closing in 5 minutes. Please gather your belongings and prepare to exit. The time is now 10:25 p.m."

The announcement broke the tension slightly, but neither had stirred from their close viewpoint.

He rolled his eyes at her. "You're not going to fail, Miss Thatcher. I'd be surprised if you don't get every question correct, Einstein. But if you must know my secret, it's…"

He stepped back ever so slightly, so he could see her face… "Delicious kisses please! Come over for goodness sakes!"

His grin was shy now, but his dimples were deep in his rosy cheeks. She blushed and her gaze retreated to the floor. "I guess 'over' does make me think of 'order' more. I concede. Yours is better."

"Told ya," he smirked. Somehow in these moments alone, he had found the confidence to be at ease with this beautiful, smart woman.

She finally allowed herself to look into his eyes again and smiled shyly. "Thank you so much for your help. I feel a lot better going into this tomorrow morning."

"No problem. Happy to help." He replied with the calmest voice he could manage. "You ready to head back?"

"Sure, you've suffered enough." She began stuffing her books back into her bag, and took her cards from his hand.

"I'd hardly call this suffering."

10:35 p.m.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while. She noticed any time someone approached them, he stepped closer to her, shoulders nearly touching. He also silently switched to the side nearest to the road after they crossed to a new street. He takes this protection thing seriously. I kind of like it.

"Do you think you'll go to the lake this weekend with Paul?"

His question split the night air, jarring her thoughts back into reality. Yes, Paul. The safe bet. I wonder how many girls Jack's studied with alone? I wonder how many he's kissed? The thought made her queasy, considering she'd only even kissed three guys before. She tried to dismiss the thoughts. "I think so. This test will be over, and we made great progress on the project for English 111 tonight."

"I'd like to work on that together again if you're up for it. You help me focus." Focus on you, but still…

"I can probably spare some time. Maybe we can study as a group again like tonight. I like having people around when I study because it makes me feel like I'm not missing out!" she laughed.

"Do you think you'll spend the night too?"

"Studying?" She looked at him, thoroughly confused.

"No. At the lake. If you go, do you think you'll camp out? I'm having a hard time envisioning you as a camper."

"We used to camp out in the field at the farm all of the time actually. My Uncle Wynn would come and take my Sister and I when our Dad was away on business. He'd bring my cousin Devin and we'd all sleep out in the tent. As long as there are no snakes, I'm good-to-go!" She looked over at Jack, who was listening intently.

"The farm, eh?" his interest was piqued.

"Yes. I grew up in a tiny 1915 farmhouse about 45 minutes outside the city. My parents have renovated it and built onto it now, but that's where all of my memories are. Their primary residence is in the city now, but they spend most of their weekends out at the farm. It's 'home' to us."

The idea of having two homes was mind-blowing to Jack, but she said it with such an ordinary tone. She doesn't seem to value anything by monetary standards, but rather sentimental. "Do you all have animals out there? What do you mean by 'farm'?"

"We just have horses now, but when I was younger we had cattle and goats. Of course dogs and cats too, but those don't really count. I miss all the baby calves and goats. They were so cute," she sighed pleasantly. "But the foals are sweet too and you can't beat the fields full of wildflowers. We have farmhands who maintain everything during the week, but my Dad's out there any chance he gets. He still loves working with his hands. I think he misses it."

"Hmmm. You don't read about that stuff in the papers, do you?"

They looked at each other in the glow of the moonlight. He opened the door of their dorm for her and she entered, brushing her shoulder against his chest. "That stuff is too boring for the hounds. No one wants to hear about that."

"I do."