The Budding Metalinguist

XLV

Almost as soon as Lillian returned to her dorm room, her phone began to buzz again. With an exhausted sigh, she pulled it out of her pocket. She didn't want to have to talk to Galena again, but she knew it was safer to answer than to ignore the call. Without even looking at her phone, she swiped and held it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked wearily, expecting to hear Galena's exuberant tone.

"Hi!" the person on the other end responded excitedly. Lillian was instantly confused- the voice wasn't Galena's, but it sounded familiar.

"Who is this?" she asked slowly.

"Rachel," the voice explained, still full of energy.

"Oh!" Lillian realized. "Hey!" Rachel's very presence was enough to ameliorate all of the stress Lillian had accumulated over the course of the day, what with Galena and Dakota. "How are you doing? Sorry, I meant to call, but I didn't get the chance." Lillian didn't want to bring it up, but she was incredibly relieved. She could tell from Rachel's tone that any distance or awkwardness caused by the revelation of Lillian's identity had had no lasting impact on their relationship.

"Don't worry about it," Rachel answered. "I'm calling to let you know- I got the scholarship."

"Oh, that's great!" Lillian enthused with a sudden rush of pride for her friend. "The chemistry department scholarship?"

"No," Rachel answered. "I got the one from the Alumni people." She paused dramatically. "The full ride."

"I'm so happy for you!" Lillian gushed. She smiled widely. When Rachel began taking classes at U of O, she had been desperately hoping for scholarships to help her progress as fast as she needed to. Applying for the alumni scholarship had been a stretch- she hadn't been sure if they would count her in. Her father had been a U of O graduate, but he and her mother had been divorced since Rachel was a toddler. But that hadn't stopped the scholarship committee. As usual, Rachel was exceeding expectations at every level.

"I'm going to be able to go full time next fall," Rachel continued. "I already mapped out everything I want to take. Differential Equations and Linear Algebra and the new advanced chemistry electives. I'm so excited."

"You know something, Rachel?" Lillian began. "I shouldn't be surprised. You really deserved this. I'm so excited that you're going to be full-time."

Lillian could almost hear Rachel's smile in her response. "Thank you," she said briefly. Her gratitude was far from perfunctory.

Lillian smiled and let the stress fall off her shoulders. She felt happier than she had been in weeks. Everything was so much better now that she knew Rachel was gratified.

❦

Dakota and his siblings were sharing a meal together once more when he heard a knock on his door. Abruptly, he dropped his chicken onto the couch and beckoned the twins frantically into the mirror. He closed the rift as quickly as possible and hurried over to the door, fumbling it open nervously.

Dr. Hests stood in the doorway, blushing even more than usual underneath a compact green hat. Without invitation, she stepped into the office. "Hi, Dakota," she greeted comfortably.

"Hi," he answered. He knew he had no choice but to entertain her.

"I was going to ask if you'd like to come to dinner, but it seems like you're already eating," she offered. Dakota noticed that she was having a hard time masking her confusion. The large bag from the Crave grill that lay atop Dakota's desk was clearly meant for containing more food than he now had on his plate.

"They were out of small bags," Dakota explained quickly.

"Oh," Dr. Hests realized. With no apparent reason, she walked over to the desk and examined the bag. Grease spots peppered the inside. She strategically avoided the grease and picked it up carefully, holding it between two fingers. Her eyes darted over the lines of advertisement text. Dakota stiffened, watching her expression.

"This is weird," she commented slowly. "There must have been some kind of printing error." Dakota could almost see her analytical mind trying to determine how a standard printing process could possibly have produced the kind of error she was seeing.

"I noticed that too," Dakota responded stiffly. "Like I said, they were out of small bags. I figured there was just some error with the company bags."

"Hmm," she answered thoughtfully. "I was going to ask for tonight, but I guess I'll move it. Want to come to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Where?" Dakota asked reflexively.

When she named the restaurant, Dakota was instantly embarrassed. The restaurant Dr. Hests was suggesting was a fancy and alarmingly expensive Thai place.

"All right," he answered finally. "I'll meet you."

This is going to be the most awkward dinner date of all time, his echo commented. Dakota was disheartened by how right it was.

"Now is not a good time," he hinted.

"I have some grading to do," Dr. Hests responded with a wink. She strode out of the office and closed the door gently behind her. Dakota sat down on the couch and sighed.

It was one thing to have a security risk, like Lillian or Jennifer Maple. It was quite another to get entangled with the head of the department. It put Dakota in serious danger.

And the closer Dr. Hests became to him, the more she became a threat. And the higher the chance that she would find out.