Luke reached his dorm and stormed in, slamming the door behind him. His roommate Dustin and his girlfriend Leslie were making out on his bed, which was nothing new. Luke fell onto his bed and hardly even noticed them. He closed his eyes and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, but his mind was too worked up to allow his body to do that. He lost track of time, but eventually heard Leslie say that she had to go and walk out of the room.

"So who is she?" Dustin asked. Luke sprang up from his bed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You storm in here, don't say a word about me and Leslie, and you lay there for two hours and can't fall asleep. It doesn't take a genius to know something's up. I'm guessing girl trouble. But that's just me."

"Well, you're wrong."

"You see, the thing is Luke, you've never really been a good liar."

"That's good, considering I'm not lying," he countered.

"Always the stubborn one. Fine." Dustin crawled under his sheets and turned out light. A few minutes later, Luke finally spoke.

"Her name is Grace. We went to high school together. I thought everything was going so well. I mean, we weren't a typical couple. Nothing about Grace was ever typical. She was sister's best friend, for one. And she hated the mere idea of me doing sweet, romantic things for her. And I'm almost positive she could kick my ass if she wanted to. Yours too. She told me she was never gonna fall in love. And then a year later, she told me that she loved me. She was always so unexpected, so unconventional. And I loved everything about her, man.

"It was perfect. Or so I thought. She was a year older than me, and she got accepted into Boston University. We decided that since it was just for a year, and I'd probably be joining her in Boston 'cause I wanted to go to MIT, that we'd make it work and stay together. But then, one night, we were in the park, and totally out of the blue, she broke up with. Told me that she didn't want to do it, that it wouldn't work. She left for college the next day and I hadn't seen her since, until about a week ago.

"I walked into a Starbuck's, and I had just ordered my coffee when I was looking around, and I saw her. At first I thought I was seeing things, but then she turned around, and I knew it was her instantly. She looked so gorgeous, just like I remembered her. I wanted to go up to her, to say something, ask her why she broke my heart. I wanted to so badly, but my legs just wouldn't move. It was like they were frozen. So I got my coffee and I walked out." He paused for a second, as if mustering his courage to finish. Dustin still hadn't said a word, but for some reason Luke could tell he was listening to his every word.

"I was at a bar last night, and I saw her across the street. It was the same thing. I wanted to see her so badly. I know I still love her. I can't help it. It's why I've never been happy with any of my girlfriends since then. No matter how great they are, they never measure up to her. It's like my brain keeps telling to move on and forget about her, 'cause it'll never work. She broke my heart once, what's to stop her from doing it again, you know? But I just can't forget about her. I love her."

They laid there in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Dustin spoke.

"You gotta go after her, man."

"I know. I just, can't. I freeze every time I see her."

"Look, man. I always thought you were just weird and miserable and trapped in your own world or something. It's like you're never happy. It's kinda creepy sometimes, actually. But clearly this chick is gonna make you happy. So I say, go for it. But what do I know?"

"First of all, Grace is not a chick. And she never will be. Ever. Second of all, did you not hear everything I said? I can't talk to her."

"Luke, you are like, the dumbest genius I've ever met."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does."

"How did you get into MIT again?"

"You know, I get asked that question a lot. I dunno why…"