It's finally Thursday, February 14th... Valentine's Day. I hope my gifts for April made it to her on time, and I'm sure Quilene hoped the same for the gifts she got for Jonah. Valentine's Day is such a special day for everyone. For all the people who feel romantic and sexual attraction towards others, it's a great day to buy gifts for people they're interested in and might want to spend the rest of their lives with. It's especially a great day if those people are in healthy relationships like Quilene and I are. That's what I like to think anyway.

It's unfortunate that Quilene and I can't spend the day with our significant others this year. For one, we can't leave for Beach City until spring break. Also, we've got classes today. While there are definitely some perks to long-distance relationships, there are also some caveats as well. Sometimes, it can be pretty lonely not having your significant other nearby, especially when you could really use their physical company. Sometimes, all you can do is dream that you're with them and hope there comes a day when you can physically be together, regardless of whether you've done it before. In the end, either it will have all been worth it or it will have all been for nothing.

So anyway, today's Thursday, which means I have to go to my Elementary Algebra and Gender and Human Rights classes. I certainly hope Professor Waters is in a good mood today. He got into a car accident earlier this week, and as far as I can tell, he's still dealing with the aftermath of it all. I have to head straight for Demarest Hall now and bolt towards my classroom. I have to have faith that I'm not late. Thank goodness, I'm only of the only two people here. Just like that, I've made it to my seat, and soon other people arrive to take theirs. It doesn't look like Professor Waters hasn't shown up yet, probably because he has to take a different vehicle than his prized turquoise blue 1995 Chevrolet Silverado. Okay, I guess I have some time to kill. What can I do in the meantime? Guess I can text Quilene real quick and ask how Jonah likes his gifts. I send her a quick text to inquire about how Jonah's liking his Valentine's Day presents. In no time, she lets me know he loves them. That's all the time I'm allowed for this before Professor Waters shows up proper.

"Happy Valentine's Day, class," Professor Waters begins to speak. "I hope you all have been enjoying the semester so far. I feel like we've managed to cover all the basics for now. Now we must move on to more... advanced topics, so to speak." He starts pacing down to the whiteboard. "Now who here is familiar with complex polynomial systems?"

I quickly raise my hand to get his attention.

"Ooh, ooh!" I exclaim. "I know this one!"

"Okay, Miss Harvey-Dahl." Professor Waters raises his eyebrows at me. "Do you know what complex polynomial systems are?"

"Sure." Without missing a beat, I give Professor Waters my answer. "A complex polynomial system is an expression constructed with polynomial equations and inequations or combined using logical connectives and quantifiers."

"Well done, Miss Harvey-Dahl. Can you come up to the whiteboard and show me how a complex polynomial system works?"

I do so. When all is said and done, Professor Waters just smiles and praises me before asking me to go back to my seat. Once I've gone back to my seat, I decide to kill some time and go over my textbook again while the other students get a chance to show what they've learned. Today's class is rather boring to say the least. Professor Waters talks some more about the advanced topics we will be learning for the rest of the semester like real polynomial systems, Diophantine polynomial systems, algebraic number fields, and Frobenius equations and numbers. Jeez, those are the most difficult concepts to learn in algebra, especially basic algebra. Is Professor Waters even supposed to be covering them in this class? This is supposed to be introductory-level stuff. Oh well, I'm sure there might be some situations where this is useful, but I haven't encountered any yet. In any case, it's getting to be time to leave for Gender and Human Rights. I quickly pack up my things, ask him about the assignment I'm supposed to work on over the weekend, and then head off for my last class of the day.

What a day this has been. Elementary Algebra dropped plenty of bombshells when it came to finding out what's on the learning horizon for me and the other students. Gender and Human Rights has been easier by comparison, but it can be cumbersome to read through and do assignments for, nonetheless. Speaking of assignments, not only do I have to do some algebra over the weekend but also a paper on how people of different genders tend to be treated and whether people of certain genders deserve human rights. The answer to the question the latter poses seems like a no-brainer, but Professor Austin needs more from me than my personal opinions. I'm more than happy to oblige to that, but it's still somewhat annoying and mildly inconvenient.

I shut the apartment door behind me. Right from the start, I notice two packages laying there on the coffee table and Quilene standing there by them.

"Oh, what's up, Quilene?" I ask. "What's with the packages?"

"Oh, I guess April and Jonah sent these to us," Quilene simply replies.

Holy shit. April sent one of these? I wonder what I got?

"What do you think they sent us?" I ask again.

Quilene just shrugs. "Only one way to find out."

Without missing a beat, Quilene and I open our packages, and we are immediately surprised and grateful for what we got. As it turns out, April sent me some stuffed animals and jewelry. There also appear to be some old DVDs in there for movies like "But I'm a Cheerleader" and "Ice Age." Quilene and I could definitely watch some of these if we want to give Netflix a break. I make a quick glance at all the things Jonah sent Quilene for Valentine's Day, and man does he have some good taste. He sent some throw blankets he got off of Hot Topic and some throw pillows. He also sent her some Destiny's Child and Jay-Z and System of a Down CDs. I notice he's also gotten her some coloring books for when she needs to de-stress and take a break from homework. My brother has got to be, without a doubt, the best boyfriend Quilene has ever had.

"Oh my gosh!" Quilene exclaims. "These are the best Valentine's Day gifts ever! I can't wait to tell Jonah later."

I nod. "I'll be sure to thank April for that package she sent. She seems to have put a lot of thought into it."

"Aren't we lucky to have such great partners?"

I nod again. "Yeah."

I can't wait until spring break so we can see them again.