Brittany watched as Isabel punched numbers into her calculator as they did homework together in the library.
It made her wonder when the last time she held a calculator was. Senior year of high school, if she had to take a guess, as the math class she took for a general education credit was nothing that required calculations of the sorts.
"You just have gotten the math genes from your mom's side," she assumed.
Her cousin snickered, keeping her eyes on the calculator. "Yeah and clearly no science genes, considering I have biology tutoring in thirty minutes."
"Biology?" She questioned, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "Aren't you a finance major?"
"It's the only science gen-ed I could get into if I want to graduate on time," she explained. "Which explains why I'm borderline failing and I need serious help before I take the final next week. I'm a numbers person. I can't do science."
"Yeah, you're like... the opposite of a 'woman in STEM', Isabel—well, minus the M 'cus that stands for math. You're the opposite of a woman in STE."
"STE," Isabel repeated. "Exactly."
Brittany stood from her chair before zipping up her backpack. "Anyway, good luck with that. I'm off to PR writing."
"That sounds horrible," she commented as she simultaneously punched more numbers into her calculator.
"Well, like you said you're a numbers person and I have a way with words. I got that from my mom's side," she joked before swinging her backpack around her shoulders. "Have fun with your tutor."
"They're probably such a nerd," she groaned as she rolled her eyes. "I'll still be here when your class ends if you wanna come back."
"Okay, see ya in an hour. Bye-bye, Izzy."
Isabel had been so focused on her finance homework that she didn't even see someone approach her. "Hey."
Assuming she would meet eyes with her biology tutor, she met eyes with her hookup instead, Marco De León. He was wearing sweats and a fraternity t-shirt, an outfit Brittany would finally approve of. "Oh, hi," she greeted, watching as he took a seat across from her. "Actually, um... I'm waiting on my... my..." she paused, debating on the saying the one word that would make her feel stupid in front of him. "Tutor."
"I'm your tutor," was the last thing she expected him to say.
She couldn't help but laugh. Fraternity Pledge Master Marco was not a biology tutor. A tutor to the youngest pledge class on how to correctly shotgun a beer or the highest ideals of what it meant to be in a fraternity, sure... but he didn't know a single thing about biology. She figured he went to his 'sports management' classes once a month and was hooking up with girls who sent him homework answers.
"That's funny," she laughed, shaking her head. "If you wanna hang out with me or something, you can buy me Starbucks."
He chuckled. "Oh, I see... you think I'm joking?" He questioned as she nodded. "I'm a biochemistry major. I was a TA for general biology last year, both semesters. Now I tutor students who are bad at biology... like you, I guess."
"You're smart?" She blurted out. She felt bad for assuming Marco's studies but it was more so that she pictured him as a sports management major or something a frat/jock would study. He was the definition of a frat guy - and the majority of them didn't major in biochemistry.
"Why do you think me and Toby are in all the same classes?" He questioned except that was a question for Brittany. Isabel didn't know Toby's major either, beside the fact he wanted to go into dentistry. There were very few things she knew about Marco, anyway - and all of it included the party scene or the bedroom. "I guess I'm smart. I want to go to chiropractic school after graduation."
Isabel wanted to say her father would be obsessed with him - his looks, height, ethnicity, college, course of study - but she refrained from saying anything of the sorts. "Impressive for a frat pledge master. I don't even know what biochemistry is," she said before realizing how stupid she sounded - again. "But I am a microeconomic's TA."
"We're both smart then," he said she smiled, feeling better about herself. "I saw your name and I signed up to be your tutor on purpose."
She laughed. "At least I don't have a weird nerd. Unless, you're a weird nerd. Which, now that I know you're good at science, I think that," she said before shrugging. "But you'll always be my favorite frat guy."
"Really?" He questioned, suddenly interested what else she had to say as he leaned back in his chair. "What are you up to this weekend?"
"I usually don't answer to booty calls in the broad daylight," she retorted.
"Chill," he warned. "I don't have a date to my date function Saturday night... if you wanted to go with your favorite frat guy?"
She furrowed her eyebrows, thinking of the logistics before she could agree to anything. "How do you not have a date to that yet? It's in five days."
"I don't know," he shrugged. "So, do you wanna go?"
"Shouldn't you be enabling me to study this weekend? Not go out," she countered.
"We can still study this weekend. It doesn't have to be in the library," he said as he leaned over the table, letting her imagination roam free - and of course her dirty mind went to other places.
"I like the sound of that," she said, a smile forming on her face. "Talk biology to me."
Marco was in fact smart and he knew a lot about the subject. He told her what would be on the final and came up with a study plan for her. He even helped her with her homework and she (surprisingly, to him) was an easy person to tutor. At the end of their session, he offered to reward her with Starbucks, which she obviously couldn't turn down.
"See you Saturday," he said after handing her the Starbucks refresher and spending an extra five minutes to talk to her.
"Are you gonna text me?" She asked as a smile grew on her face. "Or send me a Snapchat that I won't open?"
"Text. Obviously," he chuckled. "I'm twenty-two years old. Cut me some slack, Rivera."
"Sounds good. See you Saturday," she said as he waved goodbye and walked out of the study room.
The smile stayed on her face as she turned back to her finance homework. The very last thing she needed to know about Marco was that he was smart and had ambitions outside of being a frat guy - because now she feared she was growing a crush on him, if she hadn't been already.
"You got Starbucks without me?" Brittany asked disappointedly as she sat across from her after her class concluded. "Why didn't you get me something?"
Isabel smiled. "My tutor got it for me."
"Oh," she said with widened eyes. "I'm guessing you really hit it off then."
"We totally did."
"You're smiling so hard. Your cheeks have to be sore," Brittany taunted at her. "Let me take a guess. Your tutor was hot. Now you wanna have sex with him."
She leaned back in her chair, looking her cousin in the eyes as she played with the pencil in her hands. "I already have."
"Ew, please do not tell me in this library," she gagged, looking around them. "Or in this room."
"Seriously?" She scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Marco's my tutor."
"Marco?" Brittany exclaimed. "Like... Marco De Léon?"
"Yes," she nodded. "Did you know he was smart?"
"I mean... sure," she said with a shrug. "That's how he and Toby became roommates freshman year 'cus they're in the honors college and the same major."
She perked up. "Honors college? Interesting."
"I think he wants to be a doctor."
"Chiropractor," she informed. "I'll keep him around so I can have him on speed dial to crack my knee. You know how I always have issues with it."
"Speed dial chiropractor? That's hot."
"He's hot."
"Isabel..." she said with an eyebrow raised. "You like him. Admit it." And there she went again with her usual pestering about Marco. "It's okay if you do. Having a crush is so much fun."
"Crush? That's so middle school," she retorted.
"No, it's not," Brittany continued to pester. "Come on. I won't tell anyone. I promise. Who would I tell?"
She gave her a look as she scoffed. "Oh, I don't know? Toby? Marco's best friend."
"Uh, no. Toby and I don't have that kind of relationship anymore. You're clearly behind," she said, stating the obvious. "Even if I were to tell him you like Marco, he'd say 'I know.'"
"I never said I liked him," she defended with a straight face but she was trying her hardest not to blush at the thought of him. "He asked me to his date function this weekend, though. And I said yes."
"Shut up! Wait, Izzy. That's huge!" Brittany chirped as she clapped her hands together. "He probably likes you."
"Stop. You know who would like him?" She asked with a smirk.
"Literally everyone 'cus everyone thinks he's hot."
She furrowed her eyebrows, not expecting that response. "Oh, I was gonna say my dad but that's accurate too."
"Oh, yeah. Classic Uncle Alonzo," she agreed with a laugh. "Isabel and Marco... soulmates..."
"No, okay. Stop," she warned. "Miss. I've Had Three Boyfriends... of course you'd jump to the soulmates thing," she said as she playfully rolled her eyes. "He's just a hookup. That's all he'll ever be."
✰ ✰ ✰ ✰
Winter break rolled around quickly. Maybe it was the stress of finals that made the days fly by, because as Cassie stood behind the bar at work, it felt like she was there just yesterday.
Orders at the restaurant were slow that day - but given that it was eleven in the morning on a Tuesday in the middle of December - it made sense. She rearranged the margarita mixes, cups, and spoons as Juliana sat not too far away from her, attempting to make sense of the telenovela playing on the T.V.
Things were quiet between the two of them. Understandable, though, considering they hadn't spoken much since the summer. Four months. Seventeen weeks. There was truly nothing to say - but Juliana felt uncomfortable by the silence and tried to stir up conversation.
"It's so hot out today," she said, breaking the silence as she turned to look outside. There was not a cloud in the sky. "I wish I was at the beach instead."
No answer. Juliana slowly spun back around as she watched Cassie begin to fold napkins and silverware. Silent treatment it was, she guessed.
She tried again. "Is Trevor working today?"
As expected, no answer. Juliana sighed defeatedly, standing up from the chair as she walked toward the schedule of the week, answering her own question. Trevor M—11:30 A.M. A part of her was relieved to see another person would be joining them shortly, as the obvious tension in the room would likely subside.
"Any online orders come through yet?" She tried once more, this time standing beside Cassie, who continued to fold napkins. But unsurprisingly, Juliana remained feeling invisible. It was as if she wasn't standing next to Cassie or directly speaking to her. She was being ignored - and there was nothing else to it. "Okay, Cassie... seriously? I'm trying to make an effort to talk to you here."
And for the first time that shift, Cassie spoke. "You said you weren't interested in being friends with me because we disagree about Jordan... so I don't have to talk to you," she stated, keeping her eyes on the napkins. Juliana saw her lack of eye contact as pure pettiness, as an attempt to continue to make her feel unseen. "And honestly, I'm not interested in making pointless conversation with you just because you can't handle the silence."
"Wow," Juliana scoffed, not expecting such a sassy response from her. She was starting to regret stirring up a conversation. They would have been better off in silence. "Fine, then... if you want to act like that."
Cassie's eyes were quick to travel from the napkins to Juliana taking a seat at the bar. She was speechless for a moment, trying to make sense of the situation at hand that was unexpectedly beginning to escalate. "Act like what? Insulted? Upset? Unfriendly? Because I am," she said, locking eyes with Juliana. "You were one of my closest friends and you chose not to take my side."
"Because there were no sides to be taken," she retorted as if it were an obvious statement. "I just don't agree with Jordan's actions and you forgiving him as if nothing ever happened."
"Every single one of our friends forgave him and yet the only person you judge for doing that is me because I had sex with him—well, again," Cassie argued, shaking her head. "When Jake forgave him... did you have a problem with that? No. What about Toby or Max? Or even Brittany? Because, if I recall correctly, you just left it alone."
"I had a problem with everyone for forgiving him... not just you," Juliana told her but Cassie had a feeling that was far from being the case.
"Really? Because it didn't feel that way," she disagreed. "You only voiced your issue with Jordan to me because that's my ex-boyfriend and I had sex with him because I forgave him."
Juliana nodded, recalling the situation fairly well. She didn't need it spelled out for her a second time. "Well, yeah... given the situation, I don't think sleeping with him was the best choice to make," she stated as Cassie's blood started to boil. "You didn't have to do that."
"The 'situation?'" She spat, becoming more and more angry at the conversation. After all these months, how was Juliana still completely one-sided? "You mean the one you had no involvement in? I understand resenting him for his past mistakes because trust me... he's made a lot of them. And I understand you're never gonna forgive him or see his side so you needed to see my side too. I forgave him. All of his friends did," she said - but at this point it felt like she had to keep repeating herself. She was tired. "It makes me uncomfortable that you continue to hold this personal grudge against him and judge me in return. I don't need to know why you don't like him or why you never did... but you don't need to wrap me into it."
"I don't like him because I can see right through him and clearly no one else can," Juliana stated, recalling so many situations where Jordan put himself first. And he always would. "He's selfish. He's rude. And he's hurt you. I still don't get why everyone's condoned his behavior because you know what I think, Cassie? He'll hurt you and everyone else again."
"Okay," she said, feeling defeated by the conversation. "But really... when have you taken my side? Or advocated for me? Or stuck up for me? It always feels like you disagree with me," she pointed out. "It really is all about you. What you think. What you want. And you can't see that people may have different opinions than you. You have tunnel vision for yourself."
Juliana scoffed, slightly offended by her words and yet at the same time, unsurprised that she would paint herself as the victim. That was very on brand for Cassie Mendez. "I just think we're two different people and that's why it's been hard to work as friends. We've had a lot of issues getting along."
"You've had issues with Brittany, too," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. "So, I don't know... maybe you're the problem?"
"How dare you?" She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "At least I'm not a chaotic mess like you. I mean, in regards to your future, you'll most likely be a depressed and lonely NFL wife married to Jordan Evans who will treat you like shit, you probably won't even use your college degree because you're too immature and irresponsible to work a corporate job, and all you'll be is a housewife who went nowhere in life but you'll just blame that on your 'crippling' anxiety."
Cassie scoffed, anger written all over her face. "I get you. I get the person you are," she said as she nodded her head slowly. Juliana expected an insult to follow in return. "You've always dreamed about your future, so much so that you have your life planned out. You're gonna go to grad school after college and immediately after that, you'll be engaged. You'll have a perfect wedding and buy the perfect house. You'll probably want three kids, all two years apart and you'll get just that because you'll have absolutely no issues getting pregnant. All of your kids will grow up with perfect lives just like you did because you're a white girl with a white last name whose never struggled a day in her life, yet still manages to find something to complain about," she hissed. "And you'll still be blind to the fact that you only think and care about yourself."
Juliana jumped off the bar stool, hastily grabbing her things. "Tell your parents that I quit," she said before storming out of the restaurant. "Because of you."