"Get out of my way
asshole
." The short, curvy, thicc with more c's than you can fit on the page black girl shouldered past me. I stared her down in reply.
"You're going to regret that," I mouthed back at her. Her stunning brown eyes briefly held mine,
"Make me," her eyes seemed to say in reply. And then, she was gone, down the path to her dorm, next class, or wherever the hell she went between classes. I stepped into the building with my next lecture and sighed. Why did Anna insist on being so
difficult
all the damn time?
Anna was incredibly popular on campus. She was at the center of the social life, involved in student government and different culture clubs on campus, all on top of double majoring and minoring. She's the perfect student, which is part of what is so annoying about her. But at the same time, it's intensely attractive. Of course, her body is to die for. Every guy in the school has fantasized about her. I'm pretty sure I've seen her single-handedly cause at least two different sexual awakenings in some of the more sheltered freshmen just walking by them.
But despite being incredibly hot, that wasn't what attracted me to her most. On the surface, we couldn't have been more different. I was tall, in fine shape, with dirty blonde curly hair. I am more of an athlete type, involving myself in as many athletic clubs and intramural sports as I could. But we were attracted to each other because of our intensely competitive nature.
I was also a very driven and motivated student. As cliché as it seems, we were kind of academic rivals. We grew up in the same hometown, went to rival high schools, and were finalists for the same scholarship some old-ass alum gives each year to a senior from our town. It just so happens that I won it over her, and she has
not
forgotten about it.
Our first year in school together we found ourselves in a lot of the same gen ed classes. Our passion and drive to succeed were nearly identical. We pushed ourselves, trying to answer every single question asked of the class before the other. It got to the point that people would snicker at how quickly Anna's and my hands would pop up, each desperate to outdo the other.
It came to a head when we decided to try to put our differences aside and study together for our biology final in our spring semester. We'd spent an entire school year passive-aggressively butting heads in all our classes, but biology had been kicking both of our asses for the better part of the semester. We were the last students staying behind, trying to pick our professor's brain about the exam.
"Not you two again," she sighed. "Look, you two are excellent students. I'm not telling you any more about the exam than I already have. Just study together if you're both so worried." Then she gathered her computer and papers into her bag and left without another word. Anna and I looked at each other in stunned silence.
She opened her mouth as if to say something nasty, and I tensed, preparing my response. Then she closed it and took a breath. My body relaxed in turn.
"So do you want to...actually study together?" She said.
"Do you actually mean that?" She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I do. Look, we're both motivated to succeed, and I know it's not just to beat each other. Or at least for me, it's not only about beating you. So we might as well help each other out when we both need it." I stood in stunned silence for a second. Anna hadn't said a kind word to me in years, maybe ever. I think my mouth was slightly open. I closed it and responded.
"Oh, you mean it? I mean, sure...do you want to, like, come back to my place later?" I responded dumbly.
"No, I'm not going to your gross boy dorm. You can come to mine. And I have a single to myself so we'll study there. I'm not studying in a common room where other people will join us."
