In the Rhodes Science Center at Egmont College, there's a huge mosaic of our school mascot, the Egmont Panther, faithfully created in colored tiles on the floor. It's bad luck to step on the panther, so on my way to class on the first day of my junior year of college, I carefully stepped around it, just like everyone else. A few clueless freshmen walked across the mosaic, and the rest of us chuckled to ourselves, knowing that they now had bad luck for the entire year.

It's funny how quickly traditions like that can start. The Rhodes Center, with its huge windows and state of the art science equipment, was brand new during my freshman year, and already, everyone knew not to step on the Egmont Panther.

I headed upstairs until I found room 231. The desks were arranged in neat rows, and there was a large whiteboard at the front. Most of the other students in the class were already there, even though class wasn't supposed to start for another five minutes. Not even the professor was there yet, although I had taken Introduction to Biology and Ecology/Evolutionary Biology with Jonas, and he was notorious for showing up just as class was about to start.

I quickly looked around at my fellow students. I recognized most of them from previous science classes, but there were a handful of new faces. I couldn't stop stealing glances at the girl in the back, with her smooth, light brown skin, shoulder-length wavy brown hair, round glasses, and slight smile. She was wearing a T-shirt that read "Women need more sleep than men because fighting the patriarchy is exhausting," and there was a book in her hands. I wanted to sit next to her and ask what she was reading, but I didn't have the nerve. Instead, I found a seat next to the whiteboard and stared at the wall until Jonas showed up.

Jonas was a tall, dark-skinned man with square glasses perched on his nose. His tight curly hair was flying in all directions, making him look like he might have used a Tesla coil to style his hair instead of a comb, which frankly seemed like something Jonas might have actually done. He glanced around the classroom and mumbled to himself, "This classroom looks so dull right now. How can anyone learn in here?" He ran out of the classroom, came back with a bulletin board covered with photos that he had taken with his students, and hung the bulletin board up on the wall. "That's better," he said, louder this time. "Can we please move the desks as well? I'd like them in a horseshoe shape if possible."

All of us moved the desks around, and once Jonas was satisfied with our handiwork, he introduced himself. "Hello everyone," Jonas said with a wide, genuine smile. "My name is Professor Igbinedion, but please call me Jonas. I will be your instructor for Florida Everglades: Ecology and Conservation, and I look forward to teaching all of you about our local ecosystems this semester."

He picked up a stack of paper, and we passed the syllabi around the classroom. Just flipping through the syllabus made me smile. I couldn't wait to design my own experiments and study the wildlife in the Everglades, from insects to raccoons to alligators. This was the course that I had been waiting for ever since I had first come to Egmont.

Meanwhile, Jonas wrote a list on the whiteboard. "I'd like everyone to introduce themselves by telling me each of these things."

Your Name

Class Year

Where You're From

Five Things You Love

"I'll start," Jonas said. "As I said, I'm Jonas, this is my eighth year teaching at Egmont, and I'm originally from Austin, Texas. Five things that I love are learning new things, my wife, my daughter, tea, and my two turtles."

"You have turtles?" the girl next to me said.

Jonas' eyes lit up. "Yes, their names are Shuri and Nakia. I can show you pictures of them if you come to my office hours."

"Did you seriously name your turtles after Black Panther characters?" a boy on the other side of the room asked.

"Actually, my daughter named them, but I wholeheartedly approve of the names. Wakanda forever!" Jonas then turned to me and asked, "Dani, would you like to go next?"

"Sure," I said. "I'm Dani, I'm a junior, and I'm from a suburb of Cleveland. Five things that I love are Weezer, Dungeons and Dragons, my sister, my great aunt's snickerdoodle cookies, and cute animals."

We went around the room, and I only half-listened to everyone's introductions until the girl with the round glasses said something that I didn't expect. "My name is Joyce, I'm from Miami, and I'm a junior. Five things that I love are coffee, Jane Austen novels, Twitter, Indian restaurants that have good vegan options, and Madeline Fujita's cello playing."

I hadn't heard that name in years. I looked into Joyce's eyes, wondering how she knew my old friend, but she suddenly looked away.

"If you don't mind me asking, who's Madeline Fujita?" Jonas asked. "Is she a student here?"

"No, she goes to Julliard," Joyce said with a smile. "There are a few videos of her playing on YouTube, and she's absolutely incredible. You all should check out the video of Madeline Fujita playing the Dvorak cello concerto. She plays it with so much angst and longing, and it's just amazing to listen to."

"Thanks for the recommendation, Joyce," Jonas said. "Shannon, would you like to introduce yourself next?"

The other students in the class introduced themselves, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Joyce had said. Madeline was at Julliard, playing the cello just like she had when I knew her. I wondered if she was like me, trying her best to move on from high school and create a new, better life. I wondered if she was succeeding in that.

Thinking about Madeline made me think of Blake, but I pushed him out of my head. I wasn't in high school anymore. I had to forget about him.

Once we were done with introductions, we went into the lab, and Jonas quickly reminded us of how to use all of the lab equipment. It wasn't anything new to me, but it was clear that some of my classmates had forgotten how to use a Bunsen Burner over the summer. Jonas promised that we would get to go out into the Egmont College Wetland Research Area during the next class period, and already, I couldn't wait.

After class, I went straight to Jonas' office on the third floor of the Rhodes Center. He wasn't there yet when I arrived, so I waited outside his office and read an article that one of my friends had sent me.

Jonas showed up at his office after a few minutes. He laughed and said, "Dani, it's the first day of school! What questions could you possibly have after only one day?"

"It said on the syllabus that your office hours were from 3-5 PM," I said.

"Come on in," Jonas said as he opened the door to his office with a smile.

I went inside and sat on the beanbag chair in the corner of his office. The office was filled with books and papers, only about half of which were shelved properly. The rest were lying around on the floor. The walls of the office were covered with pictures of Jonas' family, the freshwater fish that he was researching, and of course, his turtles.

Jonas sat down and started making himself a cup of Earl Grey tea. "Dani, would you like some tea?" he asked.

"Sure," I answered.

"What kind of tea?"

I had been here so many times that I didn't even have to ask him what kind of tea he had. "Chamomile would be great," I said.

Jonas made me a cup of tea and then handed it to me when it was done. He put his feet up on his desk as I took a sip. "So what brings you here today, Dani?" he asked.

"I mostly just wanted to see if you had any new pictures of Shuri and Nakia," I said.

"I have a bunch of new ones on my computer," Jonas said. I ran over to his computer, and he pulled up dozens of pictures of his pet turtles. They were all adorable, and soon, Jonas and I were both fawning over how cute Nakia looked when she was eating strawberries.

"How was your summer, Dani?" Jonas asked.

"It was okay," I said. "It was nice to see my sister, but I missed Egmont. How was your summer?"

"It was nice. I got to do some research, and I went on vacation to Europe with my family. How was the drive here?"

"Too long. I drove myself and the Callahan brothers here yesterday, and we didn't arrive until after midnight."

"Did you get to do any research over the summer?"

"I feel like there aren't all that many summer research opportunities in Cleveland. I would have to stay at Egmont, and I can't be away from my family that long, not when my stepfather's drinking this much, and I think I might be losing my mind already, even though it's only the first day of school..."

"Dani, relax. You'll be fine. You just need to focus on your academic work."

I was certain that focusing on my schoolwork wasn't the answer, but I nodded and said, "I'll do that, Jonas."

"Maybe we can get you some experience during the school year," Jonas said. "You're a good student, Dani. You just need to practice your skills a little bit to help you stand out when you start applying for jobs next year."

I didn't want to be reminded that I only had two more years at Egmont before I would be thrown into the real world, but Jonas didn't seem to care. He was already lost in thought, sipping on his tea and trying to figure out how to improve my future resume.

"Now that I think about it, there's a position open at the Egmont Zoo," Jonas said. "They just got three dolphins, and they're trying to get college students to help the zookeepers take care of them. Maybe you could apply for the job."

I grinned, instantly in love with the idea of working with dolphins. "I want to apply, but what if I don't get the job?" I said.

"You have a good chance. I know the keeper who's probably going to be in charge of working with the dolphins, and I'll definitely put in a good word for you."

"Thanks, Jonas."

"No problem. I'll email you the link to the application right now."

Jonas went on his computer and started writing the email, but he suddenly realized what time it was. "I have a meeting in ten minutes," Jonas said. "Is it okay if we talk later? I'll have office hours at this time tomorrow."

"That's fine. I'll see you later, Jonas."

"See you later, Dani," Jonas said, waving as I left the office.

I went downstairs, walked around the Egmont Panther again, and headed straight for Wallace Hall. I wasn't done packing yet, and I desperately needed to finish before my dorm room started looking like Jonas' office.

I wandered around on the first floor until I found my dorm room and unlocked the door. I had been lucky enough to end up in a single this year, but the room seemed cramped with all of the boxes still there. I ran over to my desk, turned on my laptop, and Googled, "Madeline Fujita." The first result that popped up was the video of Madeline playing the Dvorak concerto. I clicked on the video and then watched while I put my clothes into the dresser.

The audience applauded as Madeline walked onstage. She was definitely the same girl that I knew in high school. There wasn't some other Madeline Fujita playing the cello at Julliard, but she did look a little bit different. Maybe it was just the makeup and the fancy dress, but she looked older, like a grown-up version of the Madeline I knew. However, there was a sadness in her deep brown eyes that hadn't been there when I first met her.

Madeline sat down, and the orchestra began to play. I waited for what felt like forever, expecting Madeline to start playing her cello at any moment. Finally, after four minutes of soft woodwind melodies, grandiose orchestral sections, and French Horn solos, Madeline came in, and I saw exactly what Joyce was talking about.

When I listened to Madeline play, all sorts of emotions leaked through: anxiety, fear, triumph, yearning, melancholy, and heartbreak, but most of all, pain. I could feel just how much she was hurting, and I wanted nothing more than to reach through the screen and help my old friend.

All of a sudden, someone knocked on the door. I opened it, and Aditi was standing in the doorway. She was a short, brown-skinned girl with a usually cheerful demeanor. Aditi and I had been roommates during our freshman year at Egmont, and although we had decided not to live together the following year, we remained friends. "Are you listening to classical music?" she said.

"Yeah," I answered.

"This is so unlike you," Aditi said. "Did you go crazy over the summer or something?"

"No," I said. "There was a girl in my biology class who recommended this Dvorak recording. I thought that I'd listen to it."

"You didn't even pronounce Dvorak correctly. It's Dvor-zhak, not Duh-vor-ack."

"How do you know?"

"I took piano lessons when I was kid. Anyways, do you want to go to dinner?"

"Sure," I said. The room wasn't a total disaster anymore, and I could always clean later. I followed Aditi out of Wallace Hall, and we chatted on our way to the dinner.

"I can't believe that we're juniors already," Aditi said as two freshmen stood in front of Fontana Hall, looking over a map.

"Me neither," I said. "Admitted Students Day feels like yesterday sometimes."

"I actually almost didn't go to Admitted Student Day. My mom wanted me to stay home and study for my AP Biology test."

"It's a good thing that you went. We wouldn't have met otherwise."

"Yeah, and I need someone to play D&D with!"

As the two of us approached the dining hall, we went our separate ways to get our food. I spotted the girl with the round glasses taking a veggie burger from the vegan station, and I waved to her, but she ignored me. I then walked past the vegan station, got a huge plate of fettuccine alfredo, and found a table in the dining hall. Aditi sat down across from me, and we resumed our conversation, as if it hadn't stopped at all.

"Speaking of Dungeons and Dragons, do you want to play tonight?" I asked.

"I'd love to," Aditi said. "My character could use some more XP. Kara won't be able to come though. She said that she has too much homework to do anything tonight."

"On the first day of school?"

"Yeah. She has Professor Gilbert for biochemistry, and she's basically evil."

"Is there anyone else who might be able to play with us?"

"I don't know, but I can ask around. Let's plan to meet at eight in the Greenway Lounge."

After dinner, I returned to my dorm room, finished cleaning, and then did my Environmental Policy homework. Jonas, thankfully, had been nice enough not to assign any homework for his class on the first day. At eight, I left Wallace Hall and walked across campus to Greenway Hall.

Sometimes, when people hear that I'm going to Egmont, they ask why I, as a liberal lesbian, would want to move to Florida instead of staying in Ohio. I have my reasons, but the biggest one is how it feels to be at the top of Greenway Hill, one of the highest points in Florida (not that that's saying much). As I stood in front of Aditi's dorm, shaded by a huge palm tree, I could see the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico in the distance, the sky exploding in bright colors, while the wind softly rustled my short, dark brown hair. The best part was that I could come back in the middle of winter, when the whole state of Ohio was buried in snow, and I could do it all again.

I entered Greenway Hall and found Aditi waiting in the lounge, but she was the only one there. "Everyone else I know seems to be busy," she complained. "Can we even play D&D with two people?"

"I think we can, but let me check." I grabbed Aditi's copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide and flipped through it. "Yes, we can play with just the two of us. I can be the Dungeon Master if you'd like."

"That works," Aditi said.

As it turned out, playing D&D with just the two of us was a bit awkward, but we still had a good time. A few of the other students who passed through the lounge thought we were crazy, but as long as Aditi and I had our snacks and our twenty-sided dice, we didn't care.

Around midnight, Aditi yawned and said, "I'm getting tired. Can we stop for tonight?"

"Sure," I said. "I'm getting tired too."

"We should try getting more people next time," Aditi said. "I'll post something on Facebook, and we can try getting a party together for this weekend."

"I'll definitely be there," I said as I left Greenway Hall. "See you tomorrow, Aditi."

I walked down the hill and went back to Wallace, briefly pulling out my phone to check my email on my way there. While I was playing D&D, Jonas had sent me the link to the application for the job at the zoo. Suddenly, I wished that I had spent my time filling out the application instead of crawling through dungeons with Aditi. Now, it was just one more thing that I had to do tomorrow.

The next morning, I had Introduction to Psychology and Animal Behavior, but after I was done with class, I clicked on the link that Jonas had sent me and filled out the job application. Between revising my resume and actually filling out the application form, it took me the whole afternoon to apply for the job. My resume looked a lot better after I spent several hours working on it. "Experience in animal caretaking" may have been a little bit of a stretch when the only "animal caretaking" I had ever done was walking my grandmother's poodle, but the keepers didn't need to know that.

I finally submitted my application around nine o'clock that night. I went to bed a few hours later, and I woke up early the next morning for Environmental Policy, a class that I was already starting to hate. Jonas' class, however, was amazing. We got to go to the Wetlands Research Area, and Jonas showed us around, pointing out different types of plants and animals. We then split up into groups to explore the area and identify as many species as possible, and Jonas put me with Leo and Joyce.

The three of us wandered around for a while, trying to identify different species. Right before we were supposed to leave, Leo pointed out a crocodile resting on the other side of the pond. "I think we found an alligator," Leo said.

"No, that's a crocodile," I said. "Look at the shape of its snout."

He looked closer and said, "Yeah, you're right," as he wrote down that we had spotted a Crocodylus acutus specimen on the other side of the pond on our worksheet.

"You know, maybe we should leave," Joyce said. She started walking back toward the bus, and Leo and I followed her. I kept glancing back toward the crocodile, which was still motionlessly waiting in the same spot where we had found it. Once we got on the bus, Leo told some of our classmates about how we had found a crocodile, while I sat in the back of the bus and texted Aditi about our Dungeons and Dragons plans for the weekend.

After class, I went to Jonas' office hours again. He was meeting with a freshman when I arrived, excitedly telling him about Shuri and Nakia, but once the freshman left, I crashed down onto the beanbag chair in his office. "Did you apply for the job at the zoo?" he asked me as he poured me a cup of tea.

"Yes, but I haven't heard back yet," I said.

"Give it some time," Jonas said as he passed me a cup of tea. "You might just have to be patient, Dani."

I wanted to take Jonas' advice, but when a week went by and I hadn't heard back yet, I was about ready to give up on the job at the Egmont Zoo. I figured that they had found someone else who was more qualified, and I could kiss my dreams of playing with cute dolphins goodbye. In fact, I was in the middle of another meeting with Jonas, drinking tea and complaining about how I still hadn't heard back about the job, when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, but I still asked Jonas, "Is it okay if I take this call?"

"Go ahead," Jonas said.

I went into the hallway. "Hello?" I said.

"Hi, this is Claudia Perez from the Egmont Zoo. Is this Danielle Bloomberg?"

"Yes, but you can call me Dani," I said.

"It's nice to hear from you, Dani," Claudia said. "I'm calling about your application for the Assistant Zookeeper - Dolphin Exhibit position. We were very impressed with your qualifications - my neighbor teaches at Egmont College, and he spoke very highly of you. Would you be available for an interview over the weekend?"

I could barely contain my excitement. "Yes, I'm definitely available," I said.

"Does tomorrow at 3:00 PM work?"

"I think so." I would be a little bit late to D&D, but Aditi would forgive me as soon as she heard about this job.

"Fantastic. Meet me at the Egmont Zoo in front of the new dolphin exhibit. It's still under construction, but it's nearly finished now."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Perez. I'll see you on Saturday."

Claudia hung up, and I ran back into Jonas' office. "I got an interview!" I exclaimed.

"Congratulations," Jonas said, smiling. "I knew you could do it."

The next day, I drove my decades-old gray sedan through the city of Egmont Beach. I got stuck in a traffic jam, but I was only a few minutes behind schedule by the time I parked my car in the zoo parking lot. I ran into the zoo, frantically explaining to the people at the ticket booth that I had a job interview, and sprinted right toward the dolphin exhibit. There was a sign in front of the exhibit that said, "The World of Bottlenose Dolphins: Coming October 2018!" A woman in her forties was leaning against the sign, and I asked her when I could find Claudia Perez.

"I'm Claudia," the woman said. "You must be Dani. Let's go inside, and I'll show you around the exhibit."

Claudia opened the door to the building, and I took it all in. When we stepped through the door, we were standing next to a huge pit, with bleachers for the zoo visitors across from us.

"This is all going to be filled with water soon," Claudia explained. "The dolphins arrive shortly after that, and then we have a few weeks for them to adjust to their new environment before this exhibit opens to the public."

"Where are the dolphins now?" I asked.

"They're at an aquarium in Tampa. The aquarium got shut down for safety reasons last year, so they're trying to get the animals out of there as quickly as possible. We were the only zoo in the area that was able to take the animals, but construction on our dolphin exhibit has been slow." Claudia went downstairs to the underwater viewing area, where visitors would soon be able to watch dolphins swim around in their tank. "How have your classes at Egmont been going so far?"

"Very well," I answered. "I'm taking a class on ecology in the Florida Everglades, and I love it."

Claudia continued to ask me questions, and I did my best to answer each of them. Once the interview was over, Claudia told me, "I'll get back to you as soon as I can about the position here, Dani, but I'm confident that you will be an excellent fit."

"Thank you, Ms. Perez," I said.

"Call me Claudia, and thank you for coming here," she said with a smile.

I headed back upstairs, and on my way out of the exhibit, I spotted a man in his twenties mopping up the deck around what would soon be the dolphins' pool. I thought that he looked familiar, but I didn't get a good enough look at him to figure out how I knew him.

I wandered around the zoo for a little while, watching the zebras and the monkeys for an hour or so. I then drove back to Egmont, since I couldn't miss D&D, and the next day, I got an email offering me the job at the zoo. I, of course, eagerly accepted, and I told Jonas the news after class on Monday.

"Congratulations, Dani," he said with a smile. "Let me know how that job goes. It should be a lot of fun."

"I won't actually start working with the dolphins for another few weeks," I told him. "I have a lot of training that I have to do first."

All of a sudden, Joyce opened the door to Jonas' office. Like most people who entered his office for the first time, she looked slightly concerned about Jonas' organizational skills. "I can leave if you need to talk to Jonas," I said to her.

"No, it's okay," she said. "Jonas, do you happen to have my copy of Jane Eyre? I think I left it in your classroom."

"I'm sorry, but I don't," Jonas said. "You can check in the Rhodes Center Lost and Found. It's downstairs."

"Thanks, Jonas," Joyce said. She closed the door and went downstairs, and as I slumped back into the beanbag chair, I was struck by an intense desire to get to know Joyce Nielsen a little bit better. She fascinated me, and it wasn't just because she had somehow discovered Madeline Fujita on the Internet, or because she was, in fact, one of the most beautiful girls that I had ever met. I couldn't let myself get distracted, however. I had a job at the Egmont Zoo now, and more than anything, I couldn't wait until my first day of work.