Mrs. Dylan watched from her kitchen window as the three young people walked down her driveway towards Jeremy's apartment in the mid-morning sun. Two girls and a boy all wearing the university student uniform -- jeans with ragged tears on the knees and upper leg (who the hell buys ripped jeans she thought), t-shirts, sneakers and backpacks. They were laughing in an easy, familiar manner like they had no worries at all. The boy had the beginnings of a beard, brown curly hair and carried a bit of a paunch. He needs to look after himself better she thought. But the young women were both quite striking. The taller, slimmer one wore her blond hair long and straight. From what Mrs. Dylan could see she was the most animated of the three. She had a nice smile which highlighted her athletic body. The other young woman wore her hair short and dyed bright red. She was shorter and stockier than her friend and had a lovely round face which just shone with youth and energy. Mrs. Dylan watched as the three started to climb the stairs to Jeremy's apartment above her garage at the far end of the driveway. She could see Jeremy standing at the top of the stairs waiting for them. They were all laughing as they disappeared into his apartment. She saw her own face reflected in the window -- a large round face dominated by dark, piercing eyes framed by short cropped white hair. She preferred the youthful, vibrant faces of the two young women.
Almost two hours later, Mrs. Dylan could hear the laughing again. She peered out the window and saw the three young people accompanied by Jeremy coming down the stairs. They all walked down the driveway towards the street. They were paired up with Jeremy talking with the taller young woman. She could see they looked really comfortable together. Feeling a pang of what she realized was jealousy, Mrs. Dylan was going to get to the bottom of this girl and Jeremy when they met later that evening.
Jeremy kicked off his flip flops beside the back door and then knocked on the door. Wearing his requisite shorts and t-shirt, he waited expectantly for Mrs. Dylan. It wasn't long before she opened the door. She stood, filling the doorway, wearing those tight cargo shorts and long white t-shirt, with her arms crossed across her considerable chest, staring at Jeremy with a cold expression on her almost angry face. He wasn't expecting this and his mind raced to try and figure out why she was obviously upset with him.
"Hello, Ma'am," he said uncertainly. "You look upset. Is something wrong?"
Mrs. Dylan didn't answer. She continued staring hard at him. She saw her boy was showing signs of discomfort and unease. She let out a loud sigh.
"Come in, boy."
She turned and walked down the hallway and into the dining room. Jeremy followed uncertainly. Mrs. Dylan sat down at the head of the table and saw Jeremy standing nervously in the doorway.
"Sit down," she said, gesturing to the chair nearest to her at the corner of the table. He stepped into the dining room and sat down in the indicated chair.
"Ma'am," he began nervously, "have I..."
"Quiet, boy," she said sternly. "I ask the questions and you answer. Got it?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Who were those people at your apartment this morning?"
"My friends," he replied. "We've formed a study group."
"A study group?"
Jeremy nodded. "For statistics."
"Statistics? You were meeting for statistics?"
"Yes. We are all in the same statistics class. Stats is a prerequisite for the programs we're all in. It's not easy so we decided to form a statistics study group."
"Who are your friends?"
Jeremy felt a wave of relief. He wasn't in trouble. He pulled his chair closer to the table and leaned into the table.
"Well," he began, 'there's Josie. She wants to study commerce like I do. She's on the rowing team too. That's where I first met her. Then there's Max. She wants to study psychology. Max is with Charlie, the guy who was there. I know Charlie from back home. We went to high school together."
"Josie the one with the red hair?" Mrs. Dylan asked.
"That's Max with the hair. She's always changing her hair color. Next time you see her it won't be red."
"You seemed to be pretty animated with Josie on your way out this morning."
"Oh yeah," Jeremy replied with a laugh. "Josie and I have a lot in common. We laugh a lot when we're together. She's fun to be with."
"Oh," said Mrs. Dylan, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. "Tell me more about this Josie."
"Well," he began, "she's pretty athletic. Smart too. As well as my stats course, she's also in my Econ 101 course. Has a boy friend attending another university. We tend to hang out on the days were on campus."
