Kai and I sat across from one another in the quiet study room in the basement of Leopold Hall. We were the only people in the room, both of us with our laptops open, typing furiously into our word processors, a handful of books strewn out on the table between us. He had a serious face on, eyes focused on his screen, his brow wrinkled, hair messy. I peeped at him over the top of my laptop screen, letting my eyes linger, until he caught me and our eyes met.

“You stuck?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

“You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“I’ve got this audition coming up,” I said, breathing out a stressed sigh. “It’s a little nerve-wracking.” I pulled one leg up onto the chair and sat on it.

“Yeah?” said Kai with a curious smile. “An audition for what?”

“I’m so embarrassed by it,” I said, nervously laughing. “It’s silly.”

“Okay, now I really want to know,” he said, pushing his laptop away from him slightly as he eased back into his chair. “Out with it.”

“All right,” I said, feeling a bit bashful but knowing that Kai wouldn’t judge me for anything. I had already forgiven him in my heart. “My roommate Jisoo is a theater major and she’s convinced me to audition for The Music Man.”

“Ha!” exclaimed Kai. “That’s awesome.”

“I don’t think I’ll even get cast,” I said. “There are plenty of theater majors who are probably better than me. But hey, at least I’m going to audition.”

“So what’s involved with that?” he asked. “What do you have to do for the audition?”

“Well, Jisoo told me to prepare a short monologue,” I said. “And a song.”

“Nice,” he said. I could tell Kai was getting quite interested in this turn of events. The excitement dripped off his face. “So you can sing?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking down. “I was always in choral in school. I’m all right.”

“That’s just awesome,” admitted Kai. “I’m excited for you. I hope you get the part.”

“Oh my God,” I said. “If I get the part, I don’t know what I’ll do. Probably pee myself or something.” I laughed and shook my head. “I’m secretly excited about the possibility.”

“You’ll have to let me know how it goes,” said Kai with a comforting smile. Despite the rockiness between us, I was happy to be sitting there in the study room with him, finishing up our joint project for English class. I knew that I had to address what had happened between us, to put an end to it, to be open and honest with Kai. He was a sweet guy, a bit misguided obviously, but it was my own fault for not being as assertive as I shoul