**ATTENTION! This is a sequel to Not the Only One. Please please don't read any further until you read it! - SPOILERS ahead! All of the characters will be returning in some form for the sequel**
It's been two and a half years since Miles and Luke Sa...
"Great! My boyfriend is terrible at science too, so he is absolutely no help."
Boyfriend. Awesome.
I forced a smile. Luckily, just then, Professor Baldwin swept into the room and class began.
Rachel
I had already been to my two morning classes – Child Psychology and Human Memory and Learning – when I ran into Luke in the student union.
"Hey!" I called, waving him over.
He smiled in relief and made his way to me. "Hey Rach," he said, hugging me and giving me a swift kiss on the cheek.
I felt my face flush. Luke wasn't normally one to go in for a kiss, and I found myself thinking about what Miles had said the other night. He's still a man... a lonely, vulnerable man.
"How have your classes been?" I asked, sipping my iced coffee.
"Fine... I went to Food and Beverage Management and Microcomputer Applications. Professors seem cool, and I met a girl who is in both of my classes," he said.
I wiggled my eyebrows. "A girl?"
He shook his head. "Don't... she has a boyfriend anyway."
"Ah, bummer," I sighed. "What's your next class?"
"Theater I. I needed one more elective," he said, and my jaw dropped.
"That's my next class too!" I exclaimed.
"Seriously?" he asked, looking as shocked as I felt.
"Yeah, Professor Serafina Fairchild?" I asked, looking at my schedule. I laughed internally. That had to be the most dramatic name in the world.
"Yep," he answered, shaking his head incredulously.
"Wait – I thought you signed up for a writing class for your last elective," I said.
"I did, but then I decided I didn't really want to add a writing intensive class on top of my first semester at a new school, so I decided to give theater a try again," he explained.
I laughed. "Wow. This is a small world." I checked my watch. "Well, it starts in ten minutes. Shall we go?"
"Sure," he said, taking the last swig of his Coke and tossing it in the trash can.
***
"Good afternoon, young thespians!" Professor Fairchild sang in a melodramatic soprano, sweeping into the room with a flourish, her long, flowered silk jacket flowing behind her.
Luke and I glanced at each other, grinning. "Good afternoon, Professor Fairchild," most of the class answered unenthusiastically.
"Oh my," she said, her voice disappointed. "You all can do better than that, no?" she said, a hint of an Italian accent in her voice. "Let's try again, shall we? Good afternoon, young thespians!" she repeated.
"Good afternoon, Professor Fairchild!" we answered again, significantly louder this time.
"Very good," she praised. "Now let us begin."
The next fifty minutes were spent listening to Professor Fairchild give us the rundown of her acting history, which was actually quite impressive, and educating us on what she called the "rudiments of the theater." Listening to her was actually captivating; when class was over, it felt like it had just begun.
"She was something, huh?" Luke said as we walked back to the parking lot.
"Yeah, that class should be a trip. I'm glad you're in there with me!" I said, opening the door to the brand-new black Camaro I had traded the Land Rover for. I sat down inside the car and started the engine.
"Me too. It'll be fun," Luke said, closing the door as I rolled the window down. "I've got an appointment to see an apartment this afternoon, so I'll be home later."
"Okay, good luck," I said, smiling as he walked away, waving.
I leaned my head against the headrest and exhaled. Things hadn't been weird between us today; maybe the moment in the student union had just been my overactive imagination.
buzz buzz
I looked down at my phone.
Rachel, I need to talk to you.
Brooke, what is it?
I want to tell you what happened – how this got out of control.
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