I was the proud carrier of two, brand new student loans.

As I finished that semester, I realized very quickly that I was not on the right track on a couple of very important topics. The first one being that the cafe was going to pay enough to get by on my bills, but definitely nowhere near covering tuition. So that was loan number one. With the end of that semester looming over me, I made math like I'd never done before in my life and calculated that as a matter of fact, I was very tight on funds for books, materials or health insurance.

Then the other thing I realized was that without my father's financial backing or connections, I was also completely on my own when it came to life post graduation. I'd been counting on starting my career out in one of his retail businesses abroad. With that out of the picture, I figured I'd have to get in on someone else's company or start my own. In either case, it would help if I knew something about business.

What little business acumen I had, I acquired from opening Casual Friday Funeral's first online shop, before they signed with their label and took the rights away from me. I'd designed the pieces of clothes and sewn them myself, subcontracted print shops to mass produce stickers, keychains and wristbands and had barely got any sleep for the remainder of our high school senior year or my college freshman. It had frankly been a relief when the label took over and rebranded the band with a new logo and official merchandise. I missed the chaos at times, but there was no way I'd have been able to keep up by myself. This experience was great, but not enough for what my future now looked like.

I mentioned this to Ayrton, my new roommate, on the afternoon we finished unpacking all our junk into our new apartment. He shrugged and said, "Why don't you take business classes then?"

The box I'd been carrying grew too heavy for my arms, so I put it on the secondhand coffee table we got at Goodwill and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I mulled it over, and there was one problem.

"I'd have to change major, or take it as a minor."

Seeing the reluctance in my face, Ayr rolled his eyes. "What's the problem, honey?"

I squeezed my lips into a tiny smile.

What wasn't the problem?

"Well, I'm a sophomore. It'd be like starting over..."

"And?" His eyebrows went up. "Because that bullshit excuse can't be it."

"And my life's already derailed. I just feel like—stop looking at me like I'm an idiot. It's a lot, okay?" He kept looking at me like I was a dumdum so I sighed. "Life is all about changes and all that jazz, but you can only roll with certain of them if your bank account's not hungry."

Ayrton put his hands on his hips. "You know what non-rich people, like we now are, do in cases like those?"

I cringed at his wording but still asked, "What?"

"Get a fucking loan."

My hands threw up in the air. "I already took one."

"Well, take another one."

Surprise. Loan number two.

The most complicated part after that had been to convince the school that I would make a good fit in the business school. Nay, a great fit. There was a rigorous application system, since it was one of the most coveted programs in all the state and they didn't even care that I was already a student at the same institution. It was only when I remembered my aforementioned business credentials and the fact that my online shop had been profitable that they were convinced I could survive in the program.

That was how, when the next semester rolled in, my third year of college was split between a fashion major and a business minor. I felt like a fish out of the water when I left the arts buildings behind, with its flamboyantly dressed fauna, and transitioned to the halls of corduroy clad students. Even though it was a million degrees out. I admired them for their fashion statements if not for their creativity. I sat in my first class, an elective called The Business Plan, surrounded by blacks, grey and browns.

Meanwhile I was a bright mustard spot in the middle, which in retrospect was probably not the wisest color choice for my first day. I kept attracting stares, and I knew for once it was because of what I wore and not because of my size.

This was confirmed by the teacher, who upon walking into the room made a double take at me and said, "Some fresh faces around here, I see."

I tried to shrink myself as best as I could. Which was to say, not much.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I took it out and put it on the table. There was a text from Ayr saying, Remember the hunt continues tonight.

That brought a full body clench. We'd been looking for a third roommate ever since we rented the apartment a few months back. Every new person that showed up for tryouts was stranger than the previous one. So far we'd had an apiculture aficionado who wanted to keep bees in his room, a girl wearing a strong scent of eau de MJ, and a girl with two dogs. Nothing wrong with dogs, except Ayrton couldn't stop sneezing during the whole interview and that gave us all the answers we needed.

We had another person scheduled to come over tonight after class and I prayed that this one would be normal. I had hope that since it was a girl we would click and turn our apartment into a mini sorority of friendship, hair braiding and better yet, expenses shared three ways instead of two. It'd be wonderful.

That was what I was focused on when class let up. I didn't have a shift at the cafe tonight, so all I had to do was get home to clean up a bit until Ayrton and our hopeful applicant arrived. It was particularly important to me that the bathrooms were spotless. We had two and so far Ayrton and I had split both, but whoever joined us was going to have to flip a coin to share with either of us. I was hoping it was with Ayrton.

I'd managed to stay focused during the entire class and make good notes. Everyone around me was distracted by their phones, either because the topic bored them or because it was so known to them they didn't even have to pay attention. This elective was one of the easy ones, which was one of the reasons I'd taken it. The other one being that if I ever wanted to start my own fashion brand, I had better make one hell of a business case to a potential investor. Or join Project Runway. Whichever came first.

"Hi."

It wasn't the word what stopped me. The classroom echoed with the sounds of scraping chairs, chatter, steps on wooden floors and the occasional laughter. What made me pause was the way a group of girls looked at me as I tried to make my way out. Like I was the hottest thing since toast.

That didn't compute.

Someone cleared their throat and I looked around, as if waiting for a good samaritan to point out whatever the abnormality of the setting was. Surely it wasn't just because I stuck out like a sore thumb everywhere I went.

"Addy, right?"

I froze. Whoever knew my name was right behind me and I didn't know what to do.

Was it somebody from school? Or worse, from my parents' social circles?

Would it be too bad if I just jumped over the row of desks onto the bottom one, and ran out of the classroom?

Could I sign up for a different class this late?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This was me overreacting, which occasionally happened. Making new friends in my senior year had worked wonders for my social anxiety, but the recent events had brought the world of hurt I kept locked up inside of me back to the surface. I wasn't exactly equipped at the moment to deal with people from what felt like a past life. Safe from Vera and the band, Ayrton and Page, I really didn't have the skills to deal with other people.

Except this person wasn't any of them, but the voice was familiar. So who the heck was he?

Turning with a sigh, I said, "Yes?"

I froze again, I kid you not.

Because I knew this guy. Every cell in my body knew this guy. The hairs on the back of my head, which stood up to attention, knew this guy.

If ever I'd had a crush in high school that was so impossible, so silly, that I was able to dismiss it from my mind without effort, it was on this guy. And it was as if my entire being vibrated at the possibility of developing a brand new crush on him right that instant.

I squashed that desire under the heel of skepticism and self-deprecation I'd acquired over the past four years, for he was as out of reach now as he was before.

"Miguel," I said. Breathless. As though I hadn't told my loins to calm the fuck down just now.

The confusion cleared away from his face and his lips drew into a wide smile that showed teeth. Green eyes twinkled as if someone were pointing a reflector off of his perfect, tanned face. Jesus Almighty but he'd actually grown up to be even more stunning than I remembered him at Trinity. I'd been a sophomore and he a senior when I became friends with Page, the girlfriend of Miguel's roommate. I felt like a fifteen year old all over again.

"I knew it was you," he said.

I gave him a watery smile and for some reason I said, "Yeah, I'm hard to miss."

Stupid brain. It was exactly what I thought, but not at all what I should've said. He chuckled and I knew I had to get out of there, no matter the cost.

"Um, listen it's good to see you but, uh-" I cut myself off to pick up my messenger bag and angle myself toward the exit. "I really have to go, sorry."

Miguel took off the cap he was wearing, revealing the mass of copper curls I remembered. He ran a hand through them as he smiled and said, "No worries. I'll catch you next class, alright?"

"Yeah, sure."

Shit. I was going to have to ask if I could switch to a different elective. Or arrive so late for every lecture that I'd end up sitting at the worst spots, all the way to the back and likely away from him. That was probably an easier plan.

"See you."

My tongue was so tied that I couldn't even responded to that. Thankfully my feet worked. I pivoted and managed not to trip on air as I descended down the steps. My heart was pounding. It felt like I'd just had a meet cute with the guy of my dreams.

Outside of the classroom I glued my back to the cool wall and shook my head. No way. Great things like this didn't happen to me. I was the sidekick, there for Page when she confessed her feelings to her best guy friend, there for Vera when her boyfriend wooed her with music. I smacked my cheeks with my hands and told myself I had more important things to worry about.

I made a promise to myself that this would be the last time I'd let Miguel unhinge me. From now on, I was going to be a hundred percent a business lady.

okay but i also couldn't wait longer for their (re)meet cute