It felt weird to be in class without Tyler. He always sat next to Robin, fiddling with his pen, touching Robin's leg slightly inappropriately, and sometimes snoozing for a moment if the class couldn't hold his attention. Today, a feisty redhead sat in the blond boy's spot. And while Robin liked his loyal friend, she wasn't Tyler. She didn't make his heart thump like he'd just drank a mixture of sugar and caffeine every time she looked at him. Tyler was basically the human form of a caramel-topped latte, at least to Robin.

"Liza has gone completely mad." Des gasped loudly, making some head turns in the still-filling classroom. Robin had just told his friend--who had spent the night at Sarah's family's alpaca farm--everything that had gone down since they last saw each other.

Robin nodded. Although he wasn't sure his mother had gone mad. Perhaps she'd always been just as unstable. It just hadn't been apparent when he followed her rules.

"What are you going to do now?" Des asked. "You're not going back home, are you?"

Robin shook his head. "No," he just said, not quite knowing what to reply. Because he didn't have a solution yet. He opened his notebook to prepare for class.

"You know you can always stay with me," she assured him, putting a comforting hand atop his. "You can sleep on my floor."

"Pax would pee on me." Robin chuckled at the thought of waking up to a bunny doing its business on top of him. It was nice to laugh despite the clouds hanging over him.

Des burst out into laughter as well, once again turning heads from morning-groggy students. "He probably would," she agreed.

"I might take you up on that though anyway," Robin mumbled. "If I can't figure anything else out. I'll get a job and stay with you until I can get a place for myself."

Des patted Robin's shoulder. "We'll figure it out," she assured him, making him feel less alone in his struggles.

As the class started, Robin felt less focused than usual. There were too many other things whirling through his head that he couldn't take in theories by Jung and Freud. Eventually, he took a leaf out of Tyler's playbook and fell asleep with his head resting on the open notepad, smearing ink all over his forehead. After all, he had only caught a couple of hours of sleep before leaving Tyler's house at the crack of dawn.

"Mr. Erie, are you awake?" the voice of professor Royce reached him through dreams of soft blond curls.

"Wha!?" Robin replied eloquently, almost falling off his chair as he snapped awake. Des helped him steady himself. "I'm here."

The professor only deigned him with a stern look in return. "Anyway," he continued. "That's everything for today." Immediately, the students started to stir. Professor Royce cleared his throat, causing them all to quiet. "But before you all leave, I wanted to remind everyone that the selection for the Tully scholarship is next week. If anyone is interested, please come talk to me."

This piqued Robin's interest, even in his sleep-deprived state. A scholarship could solve his issues. He'd heard the professor talk about it before but hadn't paid much attention then.

"Now you're free to go," the professor announced, which was followed by immediate shuffling of chairs.

"Should we get going?" Des asked Robin. "I need to feed Pax but we can go by the cafeteria on the way and get some sandwiches."

Robin looked up toward the pulpit, where the professor still lingered. "You go ahead," he said. "Go feed the bunny and I can meet up with you later. I need to talk to the professor." He pulled on his backpack, pumping himself up for the coming conversation. Unfortunately, falling asleep in class had probably assured that the professor had an unfavorable opinion of him to start with.

Before Des could ask any questions, Robin walked up toward the imposing man. With his back turned away from Robin, as he was erasing stuff from the whiteboard, Professor Royce kind of reminded him of a blood-thirsty grizzly bear with his brown corduroy blazer draped over wide shoulders with greyish hair spilling down over them.

Perhaps Robin had watched a few too many documentaries about Alaskan wildlife with Des.

Robin cleared his throat, although not too loudly, to draw the man's attention.

"Mr. Erie? I see you've woken up from your nap." The man chuckled lightly, looking less intimidating than before. More cuddly teddy bear than ferocious grizzly bear.

"I'm sorry..." Robin mumbled, looking down at his shoes. They were muddy from his excursion into the Caster backyard the night before.

"You're not the first student to fall asleep during a lecture." Professor Royce shrugged. "I've stopped taking it as an insult. You usually seem attentive though, is something the matter with you today?"

"I'm fine..." Robin mumbled. "I just didn't sleep well last night."

The professor nodded. "If you say so, son," he replied. "Where's your... friend today by the way? Mr. Caster, I mean. He always sits next to you."

"He's out of town," Robin explained, failing to mention that Tyler had also taken his heart with him. "He has some hospital appointments coming up. For his leg, you know. I will help him catch up afterward."

"That's great. I can help you with which chapters you two should focus on if you want. Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Robin shook his head. "I wanted to ask about the Tully Scholarship," Robin managed to squeeze out. "Like, what do I have to do?"

"You're interested in the scholarship?" The professor looked intrigued.

Robin nodded. "I just... maybe I shouldn't though. But I need..." He interrupted himself, not wanting to reveal his whole conundrum. "What does the scholarship entail exactly?"

"It's a scholarship handed out by the Psychology department to a student with a specific interest in the field. This student will propose a research project that they will conduct during their undergraduate degree. The student who is awarded the scholarship gets a full ride toward a Bachelor in the subject, so it's usually given to someone who already majors in the subject."

Robin's heart sank. He was a Business Major. Which meant he had no shot. Yet another door closed.

"That said," Professor Royce continued, "there are always exceptions. And..." the man reached his hand into his briefcase and produced a stack of papers. An essay called "Review of studies about Munchhausen by proxy". The essay Robin had written late one night, caught up in a love-high. Robin had perused the books he'd borrowed from the library with articles about why a mother would stage her child's sickness. The essay had a big A written in the top corner.

"I read this last night. It's very well-written and interesting." Professor Royce handed Robin the essay. "You analyze the data well and you approach the subject with sensitivity." He threw Robin a look, like he wanted to ask something. Perhaps if the examples in the essay were self-lived. "I could recommend you for the scholarship if you use this as the basis for your research project. Is that something you're interested in, Mr. Erie?"

Robin's heart jumped in his chest. Hope lived again. He wanted to hug the professor, but he was quite sure that was frowned upon in academia, so he refrained. Instead, he just nodded eagerly. "I am," he managed to squeeze out. "What else do I need to do?"

"All students who are recommended for the scholarship will be required to prepare an oral presentation about their proposed research project and present it in front of faculty members and an audience. It's a quite rigorous process. But we want to make sure we pick someone prepared to do the work needed for a career in the field. So the final decision about the recipient is made after the presentations."

Robin nodded again, trying to remain calm. But his insides were in turmoil from the mere mention of an oral presentation. His hands went clammy and his fingers became numb. He could write a million essays, but saying even his name in front of an audience seemed like an impossible task.

Talking in front of people was his worst nightmare. They would all look at him, judge him, laugh at him.

"So do you think you would be able to prepare a presentation on this subject?" Professor Royce asked, pointing toward the essay in Robin's hands. "I can help you if you want to."

Robin swallowed, trying to suppress the bitter panic rising in his chest. "Yes," he replied, trying to sound certain. "I will do it."

Whatever it took to remain with Tyler. He would do it. Even if it entailed wrestling sharks or climbing mountains. Although he was probably more suited for academic work than such dangerous adventures.