Page 32 of June

“Once,” Enid said and chuckled.

“And you were in all the clubs, I’m sure.”

“A few.”

“Valedictorian?”

“No,” Enid said. “Fourth in my class, though.”

“I was, like, fiftieth out of two hundred, so top twenty-five percent.”

“That’s good. I was fourth out of one hundred. Small school.”

“And I suspect you make the dean’s list here all the time, given that GPA you told me about before?”

Enid nodded, looking a little embarrassed, which was cute.

When Caroline’s phone buzzed, she looked down and noticed a message from Jodie checking in on where she was. She and Viv wanted to join the line but were waiting for her.

“I should go. My friends are waiting for me,” she said reluctantly.

“And I might as well get to class early and finish reading this,” Enid said as she looked down at the closed book in front of her.

“I’ll see you around?” she asked, unsure if she should commit to a call or a text or something.

“Oh, okay. Yeah,” Enid replied, sounding like she expected something else.

Caroline didn’t know what to do now, so she said, “Tim and Frank asked about you.”

Then, she internally cringed at what she’d just said.

“They did, huh?” Enid chuckled as she tucked her book into her bag.

“Yeah. They were just wondering if you were going to stop by anytime soon.”

“Just Tim and Frank, though?” Enid stood up. “That diva Miranda couldn’t care less, could she?”

“I warned you about her… You didn’t listen.”

Caroline grabbed her bag from the chair and stood as well.

“I think she’s just misunderstood,” Enid replied and nodded toward the left. “I’m that way.”

“I’m this way.” Caroline pointed straight ahead toward the union.

Just behind it was the dining hall, where her friends were waiting for her.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Enid said.

“Yeah,” Caroline replied, hopeful, and waited for Enid to walk off before she did the same.

Arriving in the hall a few minutes later, she found Jodie and Viv standing off to the side of the line, looking down at Jodie’s phone in its usual green case.

“Hey, sorry,” she said when she approached.

“Oh, thank God. I’m starving,” Jodie replied. “What took so long?”

“She was talking to Enid,” Viv said.

---