Over the next week, Juniper hardly had time to wonder over his hasty exit. Sherman never reappeared the rest of that night. She'd even made an effort of searching the crowd that sprawled across the lawn outside.

On campus she kept an eye out for him at every turn. The problem was she was certain he wasn't in any of her classes. That fact was slowly but surely confirmed over the week. Few of her classes had a strong crossover with the political science department.

By the weekend she was really considering whether he was a figment of her imagination from the beginning. He didn't even show up at the game to distract her. It bothered her, and it bothered her that she was bothered by it. Not even the team's win erased the irritation.

The one thing that always did was a smoothie from her favorite shop. The owner had created her business from the ground up and franchised all on her own. The flagship store was only a few blocks from campus and their plush beanbags were too good to miss out on.

Juniper nestled into the one by the window, using the ledge to set her things on. She kicked off her shoes and bent her legs to make a resting place for her laptop. Seven open tabs greeted her.

"Are you planning to take over the world?" Sherman asked from over her shoulder.

"What the hell?" she shouted, heart hammering a mile a minute. It was pure luck she hadn't thrown her laptop clear across the room. The frame groaned under her tight grip.

The beanbag dipped as Sherman perched on one of the raised sides by her hip. "Well, are you?" he prompted.

"Am I what?" Juniper groaned.

"Planning world domination," he said.

Juniper couldn't help the small laugh before she locked it down. "Just homework. What do you want?"

"Look, I'm sorry for bailing. I just really can't be out here doing karaoke," he said. The beanbag fluff shifted under him as he leaned in towards her. "Was the rest of it fun?"

"Yes," she answered shortly, taking a long sip from her smoothie. The mango, banana, and pineapple blended into a perfectly tropical blend. It was the sort of drink that could transport you to far away beaches. That is, if someone wasn't slowly invading your personal space.

The entire seat was topping precariously to one side now. Both Juniper and her laptop were on the verge of rolling right over Sherman into the tiled floor below. The guy looked far too comfortable with the close proximity.

"It was a lot of fun," she finally continued. There was more shuffling as she struggled to extricate herself from the deep pit. Her leg popped free and she hooked it over the edge as an anchor. "Someone brought out a guitar and did backup for the karaoke."

Sherman's face seemed to fall immediately. It was lucky she had her leg over the edge because when he finally moved out of her personal space the entire beanbag rolled violently. "That's neat," he finally murmured.

"Who even says neat?" Juniper scoffed. She moved both smoothie and laptop to the small ledge in case he decides her space was also his again. "What is it about karaoke that makes you run for the hills?"

Over the years, she'd seen her fair share of stage fright. Talent shows were a nightmare for that sort of thing and she avoided them like the plague towards the end of high school. Most of the stage fright she encountered was from cheer tryouts. People walked in with all the confidence in the world until they were alone for their demo.

Even Juniper had the odd moment of hesitation here and there. Every crowd had its own chance for massive failure and epic embarrassment. It happened less and less the more time she spent on the team.

"If you can't sing I totally get it," she said, softenging her voice.

Sherman laughed, so hard tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. A handful of minutes passed before he straightened back up. "Can't I just not like karaoke?"

"Your face looked like someone surprised with a haunted house," she pointed out. That was putting it lightly. She'd seen paper ghosts with a better complexion than what he'd had that night.

"The day I find something you can't explain your dislike of I am never going to let you live this down," Sherman said. The lines around his eyes deepened with his smile. "I really am sorry about ditching you. I was looking forward to hanging out with you."

Surprise must have flashed across her face judging by the way he laughed. Juniper recovered quickly and grabbed her smoothie for something to do. The condensation mixed with the quickly pooling sweat on her palms. "We could still hang out, if you wanted," she offered.

"I was about to suggest the same thing," Sherman said.

They both averted their eyes suddenly, each fumbling with their phones. Juniper got hers unlocked first and passed it to him. "Put your number in. It was impossible trying to find you on campus."

"You were looking for me, huh?" he teased, quickly typing his phone number into hers. The thick calluses on his fingers grazed her skin when he handed it back. His new contact name was still up on her main screen.

"Captain Side Quest?" Juniper read aloud. Her eyebrows rose as she looked back up at him. "Am I supposed to call you that in person too?"

"I think Lord Captain Side Quest would be better for face to face," he said after a moment's thought. The bean bag made a final shift as he got back to his feet. The soles of his tennis shoes squeaked on the tile floor.

"Gone again already?" Juniper asked.

"I would hate to interrupt your studies, madam," he said, completely straight-faced. Then he threw in a bow for good measure. "I'll text you and we can hang out later?"

"I can do later, my lord," she replied, smirking as she gave him a salute.

"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to curtsy," he said.

"And I'm pretty sure I'm not getting up," Juniper shot back. They waved until he was out the door and she could finally turn back to her studying. Despite his insistence on not disrupting her, his texts were nearly constant. The three back to back photos of weird leaves pushed her to finally put her phone in to not disturb.

It was nearing evening when she packed up her stuff and shimmied out of the bean bag. The seat had only gotten deeper over the hours she'd been there. Any longer and she might have been looking at her deathbed... deathseat.

The smoothie shop wasn't far from campus so she wasn't at all surprised to see the throngs of students passing by. There were two who gave her friendly nods on their way by. Not for the first time Juniper felt a pang of longing for the smaller size of her high school campus. When everyone knew everyone it just had a different sense of community that she craved.

A passing girl slammed into her shoulder, nearly spinning Juniper around. She caught a glimpse of her black band t-shirt with the band name Regiment in bright green across the front. "Watch where you're going," she snapped at Juniper.

"Me?" she sputtered, ready to raise a hell of an argument. The girl was already gone by the time she got her words together. A text came in from Sherman then with an address and an offer of the best burgers she'd ever eaten. She typed out a reply as she turned towards the dorms.