I know it's been a while, but I am attached to this story line, so it definitely will be updated more regularly. Hope you enjoy!

Ken's family and friends had high expectations for his future. The second-semester senior was a nod away from graduation and had already gotten a few early offers from some prestigious business schools, not to mention a more or less promised full ride to Wharton. It wasn't too surprising to the Sig Mu brothers, with Nevan promising to be Ken's "first customer" on Wall Street and Jed once sneaking Ken a whole Grey Goose bottle in the hopes that "I'll be repaid in the form of someone's overlooking tax fraud...that may or may not be mine. " Though he would have liked to tell these lost causes that Wall Street brokers didn't have "customers" nor were they in charge of Jed's taxes...he did have a weak spot for Grey Goose...

He was fully qualified for all of it, of course (the vodka included). Founder of two clubs, summer internships at companies like Goldman-Sachs -the guy had experience coming out of his ears. Which was why it was understandable that he was currently meeting Darien's eager smile with a dumbfounded expression.

"So...red Solo Cups or blue Solo cups?" Darien prompted again, figuring Ken hadn't heard him. He waved the two packets of cups for effect.

"Are you joking?"

The dark-haired co-ed made a face. "I wish. It's for the party Friday. Andrew is keeping me here against my will so I can make crucial decisions like "pink vs. purple tiny umbrellas" and "peppermint or peach schnapps."

"I like peach," Ken asserted unexpectedly.

Darien raised an eyebrow, then comically swiped a hand across his forehead. "Whew! What a relief that I have you here to help me make these tough decisions in my time of need."

"Uhum, excuse me but I'm not the one treating the red-blue solo cup debacle like a U.N. peace treaty."

"I dunno dude, relations with Beta Chi can be quite tricky sometimes."

"Psh, I fake issue with that!" a voice sounded from behind.

Even without turning around Ken knew exactly who'd dropped by for a visit.

"Hey Mina," Darien greeted. Ken nodded her way as she entered the kitchen, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"What can we do you for?" asked Darien as he sheepishly pushed the solo cups to the side.

"Gentlemen, I need life advice," sighed Mina. "So I decided to seek out some wise and powerful seniors for help."

"Hmm, sounds really deep...but I actually have to run," Darien apologized, his eyes bugging when he saw the time on his watch.

"Headed to the library eh?"

"Er well yeah..."

"Funny, I think Serena just headed over there." Mina said, as if in realization. "You're such a good influence Darien; it's already her second time there, wow," she said in mock-approval.

"This semester?" Ken supplied helpfully, upon catching the twinkle in Mina's eye.

"This lifetime, actually."

Blushing to the tips of his ears, Darien still had enough dignity to swat both friends in the heads and scurry out the door, blatantly ignoring Mina's urging that he "Have fun checking out a book with Serena! Just don't wear her out and check out TOO many."

Ken couldn't help a small smile in answer to Mina's mirthful one.

"Oh, young love," she sighed, clasping her hands together dramatically. "It just gets to you, huh?"

Ken shrugged. "Personally, it gives me a toothache. So, uh, what was this advice you needed?"

Nevan tossed his basketball to the side of the indoor court, clearly unable to tamp down a proud smile.

"Good game."

Lita found herself unable to reply-or even say anything intelligible. She was facing a struggle in expression herself, though one of a completely different and covert kind. The reason being-Nevan had just peeled off, as if in slow motion, his admittedly sweaty T-shirt.

"Um, yup!"

Her friend arched an eyebrow in her direction. That response had been oddly squeaky.

Recovering a little, Lita amended, "I mean, yeah, only because I let you win." She was seated in the lower stands and averted her eyes on the pretext of tying a rogue shoelace.

"What did you say?" Nevan was suddenly looming over her in all his half-naked glory and she thought she would die. She found herself trapped, as he'd clapped his hands on either side of her seat and looked her dead-straight in the face.

"Y-you heard me," she managed to get out. No big deal, Lita. The guy you're totally in love with is just hovering over you with his godly glistening body and flashing chestnut eyes and and...guh...

"So you let me win, eh?"

"Guh..." Okay, yes big deal. This was torture. Sweet, sweet torture.

"Well, Lita, I have a new game for you."

"..."

Nevan leaned even closer to Lita, not quite sure what he was doing himself; only knowing that he was taking some odd pleasure out of this. But Nevan never was one to overanalyze (or analyze, really), so he pushed that doubt aside. He just moved closer to whisper into her ear: "Want to know what that game is?"

"S-sure." A slight shiver went through her spine.

"TAG! You're it!"

"Wha-you are such a weirdo!"

"But so much faster than you!"

"Oh, you wish!" Lita countered, scrambling out of her seat to chase him down the court.

Mina had matriculated into Crown with little to no idea of what she wanted to do when she graduated. She'd modeled in high school and was quick to join Crown's musical theater group, but frivolous as she was, she'd been certain that there was something else out there for her. That there was something more she could with her life.

"Start a fashion line?" Ken repeated in disbelief. "Are you crazy?"

A stubborn pout rose to Mina's lips. "It's not so crazy. That's why I'm switching to a business major." She beamed.

"And how do I fit in here?" the other wanted to know. Though Ken himself was a business major, he still didn't see what help he could offer her.

Mina bent over the arm of the couch to fish her laptop from a vivid orange shoulder bag. "I need some help choosing new classes, since my Drama major classes are obviously not going to work for me. I was hoping you could recommend some?" Before Ken could even open his mouth in reply, Mina said, "Great!" and found the school website they used to add and drop their courses.

The two were now comfortably seated in the Sigma Mu house living room, a large open space with mint green and navy couches and a big TV so precious to the brothers that they'd named it "Andy," after the frat's president, Andrew Foreman. At that very moment, Andrew himself passed by.

"Hey! Mina!" he greeted with a sunny smile.

"Andrew!"

Andrew made his way to the couch to give the girl a friendly, one-armed hug. His emerald green eyes smiled as he took a seat next to her and they'd exchanged the pleasantries of "How was your break?" "Awesome, how was yours?". After glancing at the class change site she'd logged onto, he joked: "Changing your major again?"

Mina had to resist the desire to hit Ken, whom she'd felt stiffen with stifled laughter. "Um, yes actually."

"Oh..." Andrew paused taken aback, "Cool!"

Mina giggled, swatting Andrew's arm playfully. "Don't give me that. But you might be interested to know I'm switching to business." Andrew was a business major as well.

"That is cool!"

Ken saw this as his way out. "Super cool! Andrew can help choose fashion classes for you now." He rose halfway off the sofa only to be yanked back down, with surprising strength, by Mina.

"Oh, no you don't."

"Fashion classes?" Andrew asked in some alarm.

Once more, Mina explained her new and improved life plan (probably the fifteenth she'd come up with in the the last few weeks) whilst Ken leaned back against the couch, clearly bored. With a sigh, he took Mina's computer from her lap, and quickly began searching through the website for classes.

"You're going to have to take Stats and Econ as prerequisites," he told her when she demanded to know what he was doing. He clicked the checkboxes from time to time and added them to her electronic bookbag. "You should probably take Finance 53 and maybe 'Business and Public Policy', too." Mina watched, half-smiling at his business-like tone and look of concentration.

"I'd also take Marketing and Management with Professor Ingelheim," Andrew chipped in.

"Can you add Spanish?"

"Eh?" the two men said in unison.

"Oh, wait!" Mina said in realization. "I forgot to add that I want my fashion company to be a business in the Dominican Republic that offers a real living wage to female workers, didn't I?"

Ken blinked and Andrew, after a pause, laughed. "Expect the unexpected with Mina, I guess. That's awesome, Mina," he said, while Ken in the meantime was muttering, "All I can remember from her conversation was her going on about how white was the new black...over and over..."

Mina shrugged her elegant shoulders. "I told you I was finding my calling. By the way, Crown is buying from some companies that contract sweatshops, which is a big no-no, so you guys will be helping me demonstrate at some point." The boys both opened their mouths uncertainly. "Ooh, and we can have a kissing booth to raise money for United Students against Sweatshops!" Andrew promptly shut his mouth. Ken just blinked again.

Mina glanced at Ken in particular and fluttered her lashes. "Would you give to the cause in that case, Ken?" she posed, leaning against him a little provocatively. In spite of himself, the stolid senior cleared his throat

Andrew chuckled. "Better watch out, Mina, or you really will have Ken falling for you."

"Oh, he already has, he just doesn't know it." Mina patted Ken's bicep as if he were the pet and she the owner.

Ken rose. "Har-har. That's my cue to leave you girls to gossip about me." For that, Ken got two couch cushions thrown straight at the back of his head.

As Nevan and Lita trekked down the path from the basketball court, Nevan lazily mused that his companion was one of the few girls who could keep up with his walking pace. Must be those long legs, he thought, his eyes resting on her tanned legs, glistening now under the orange-rose light of the setting sun.

"Are you oglingmy legs?"

He started guiltily. "Wha—no! Just, um, appreciating what a good walker you are." Internally, he smacked his forehead. That sounded lame, even coming from him.

Lita cocked an eyebrow at that, but only giggled and said: "Never heard that one before."

She could have sworn she detected a slight flush coming over his cheeks, and she couldn't help the hope swelling inside her. Was it happening finally? Was he seeing her as someone besides his basketball partner, his arm-wrestling buddy, after all?

It's not that she was impatient for him to see her in a new light, exactly. Lita had always been a patient person. Her records in rebounds in high school hadn't come with luck, but determination, practice, a steadfast grit. She had a love for gardening, too, and she adored tending to the green buds that would eventually become roses and lilies of the valley for weeks or months if need be-because she lived for the end-result. The happy ending for her garden was always a dazzle of beautiful color and texture. And she'd waited a long time for Nevan to realize that his best friend was the one he'd been waiting for, standing right next to him, a la Watts in "Some Kind of Wonderful." She could handle the wait if need be, because she knew that spring, that dazzle of color, was waiting for her once the light went off in that somewhat dense brain of his.

But if he was finally seeing her,after all...her heart jumped at the thought.

The path to the dorms curved now, and they stopped at a bench to take swigs of water from their bottles and watch the sun slowly touch the red roofs of the buildings.

"Want to do come to the house and do homework together?" Nevan offered nonchalantly.

She raised her eyes to his profile in disbelief. "Homework—on the first day of school? Um, translation, please?"

"Hey, man, maybe I do really want to do homework; I take my studies seriously!" he said indignantly.

She continued to give him a pointed stare.

"Fine," Nevan muttered, "Do you want to come pretend to do homework but actually play Super Smash Brothers with me?"

"That's more like it," Lita said in an approving way. "Sure, I-"

"Nevan, hey!"

The two looked up to see a dainty girl with curly red-brown hair walk over from the direction of the Beta Chi house.

"Molly, hi!"

Lita couldn't help glancing the girl over; last semester, Nevan had mentioned his physics lab partner in passing, but he'd never mentioned that she was a cute sorority girl. The two settled into a conversation about classes and break and yada yada, but Lita feigned indifference and returned to drinking her water.

"You coming to our welcome-back party this weekend?" Nevan asked.

Molly grinned. "Didn't you have one last weekend?"

"Oh yeah, but uh, I wasn't there, really."

"I saw you there!"

"I think he means Mr. Tequila influenced his memory a little. A lot," Lita put in.

"Very funny." Nevan nudged Lita with her elbow as if to say "knock it off." "Yes, okay, I blacked out so I don't remember the party at all."

Molly gave a high-pitched giggle. "Oh, Molly this is Lita, Lita, Molly," he introduced.

After a few minutes, Molly tripped away, but paused for second. "Nevan, have you worked on the physics homework yet?"

He shook his head. "Nope; want to work on it together?" he offered. Lita's head snapped up.

She smiled: "Meet you in the library reading room?"

"See you there in a bit."

Nevan smiled after her retreating figure, eyes moving, as Lita observed with disgust, up her legs and to her backside. Lita herself stayed quiet as they rose from the bench in unison. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow, 'kay Lita?"

"Fine."

Eyes still on Molly, Nevan turned the wrong way, and accidentally stepped on Lita's foot.

"Oh sorry, Lita—didn't even see you there."

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