Later that night, Lisa and I sat together, both of us cross-legged with textbooks in our laps, on one of the couches in the lobby of Leopold Hall. Pretty much the entire freshmen class of ALOHA students was there with us, chatting loudly, screwing around, laughing, and generally having a good time together. In front of us was a group of boys playing a card game in a circle. Another boy had come in with a box a of cheap pizza. Some girls sat off to the side around an open laptop, talking and giggling and pointing into the screen. Lisa looked at me and smirked, rolling her eyes. I knew she wasn’t a fan of hanging in the lobby, but I wanted to be somewhat social with my class and I was happy that she agreed to be there alongside me.

The lobby was comfortable. Warm light, a pleasant din of voices. Despite how frenetic it was, the energy was encouraging rather than draining. Being an introvert, this usually wasn’t the case for me but I certainly felt a change going on inside of me. A very welcomed change at that.

Reaching over, Lisa grabbed my side and gave me a swift and tender pinch causing me to squirm.

“Hey!” I said.

“Hey yourself,” she replied. “So are we done with this experiment yet?”

“C’mon,” I said. “You were a freshman once too and you hung out in the lobby.”

“Yes,” she said. “And now I live upstairs.”

“Are you going to deny me my experience?” I said. Lisa had fire in her eyes, both of us feeling feisty with each other.

“Of course not,” she said. “I’ll let you have your… fun.” With that she extended her hand and motioned to the chaos playing out in front of us. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her. I closed my textbook and set it off to the side.

After a bit of poking back and forth at one another, Lisa and I stopped our loving horseplay when Kai ambled up to our couch. He looked a bit disheveled, as was his style, and gave us a half-smile as he approached and ran his hand through his somewhat greasy looking hair.

“Hey girls,” he said, standing in front of the couch. Lisa looked him up and down and I could tell from the look on her face that she was skeptical. I knew that she was a bit jealous, even though she had nothing to be jealous about, and that made me feel like I was wanted. A good feeling.

“Hi Kai,” I said happily.

“I just thought I’d come over and invite you two to come hang out with me and the guys,” he said, motioning to the opposite side of the lobby. His friends Jinyoung and Sehun, along with a few other of the ALOHA boys, were sitting on the floor in a circle.

“Thanks,” I said, looking over to Lisa who was definitely not having it. “Lisa and I were just about to take off, though. Maybe next time?”

“Yeah, all right,” said Kai with a bit of disappointment. I knew that even after our conversation he was still infatuated with me. I could see it in his eyes. But it was something he was just going to have to get over and get past if we were to remain friends. It would happen eventually.

“I had a good time working on the paper with you, Kai,” I admitted sheepishly. “And thanks for listening to me vent about, you know, my thing.”

“You can say it,” said Lisa with authority. “You don’t have to hide.”

“Yeah, you can say it,” affirmed Kai with a smile.

“Okay,” I said with trepidation. I don’t know what I was so scared of. Just a hold over, I guess. I knew I was among friends. I had nothing to worry about. “My lesbian thing.” Lisa laughed.

“You say it like you’re some sort of secret agent,” she said. “Never to divulge your clandestine mission!” Lisa’s joke gave Kai a laugh as we