The Homecoming Benefactor

6 | the bonus

I woke up Tuesday morning to find bruises on my neck and 648 unread messages. As it turned out, I had accidentally texted that message to my whole sorority group chat, in addition to the one I had meant to send it to. Today was going to be a long day.

It was cold again, 33°, so I threw on Nick's camouflage jacket that I had forgotten to give back. Underneath, I had on an Eta Pi shirt and a pair of flare leggings. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I had three classes back to back, so I usually didn't dress to impress. Starting at 9:30 AM, I had geology, U.S. history, and then calculus. That was the class where my friend group had trauma-bonded.

I couldn't stop thinking about last night. Yes, I wanted to be with Bryce, but I definitely wasn't ready to have sex with him. It wasn't like I was saving myself for marriage, but I also didn't want to lose my virginity to someone I had just met in a car parked somewhere it could easily be broken into. Part of me hated Bryce for trying to rush that milestone, but the other part just couldn't bear to end our story where it was. I was still going on Thursday's date.

In my bedroom shoes, I started the journey to the Dooley Science Center. When I open the door, I hear the words, "nice jacket!"

Oh, no. It was Bryce. Part of me didn't want to see him after what happened yesterday, but part of me was happy he was acknowledging me with people around. I realize now that I was constantly thinking about myself in parts, and it wasn't a good thing; I was too confused about my own feelings to handle them properly.

"You know," I remarked, looking him up and down, "you kind of marked your territory on me."

"Like that's a bad thing?" He moved closer, leaving only a few inches between us.

He was damn good at making me forget how mad I was at him. At that moment, the part of me that was in love with him won. The part of me that wanted adventure won. As he loomed over me, the top of my head barely at his collar, the feeling that I felt when I met him for the first time came back.

Desire.

What was wrong with me?

"My class starts in five minutes," I spoke softly, laying a single finger on his chest. "I don't want to be late."

"Goody two-shoes," he sighed, kissing me on the forehead. "See ya later."

I headed to class, butterflies whirling around in my stomach. I couldn't wait to see him again.

•••

"What did you do, lose a fight?"

When I walked into calculus, my last class of the day, my friends had questions. It was Devi with that particular question.

"Did you..." Araceli's eyes widened as she spoke. "Did you have sex with Bryce?"

There was an awkward pause before I answered the question. "No, it was too soon."

"What, you've never had a hookup?" Mattie cocked her head like a confused dog.

I looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "I'm a virgin," I whispered. "Graham's the only person I've ever dated, and I think we all know why he never tried anything."

"Good morning, class," Dr. Velazquez beamed, closing the door to the lecture hall. "Are we ready for some calculus?"

The room was silent. I don't think a single soul in there was ready for calculus. After the midterm, half the class had dropped because there was no way for them to pass. I had a 69 exactly; I needed one more point for a passing average.

"Before we start today, I want to announce that there's an extra credit opportunity. I know a lot of you are struggling," Dr. Velazquez announced.

All six of us stared at each other with fear in our eyes. There's a reason I keep emphasizing that we trauma bonded over this class. The regular assignments were a lot, so this extra credit thing was bound to be ridiculous.

"For ten extra points on your final grade," Dr. Velazquez stated, pacing the stage, "you can work with a partner to present on a way that you use calculus in real life."

"Hell no," Mattie whisper-shouted to us. "Fuck that!"

"I'm not doing it, either," said Devi, shaking his head. "I can't think of a single reason I would ever use calculus outside of this class."

"Timmy, I know you're passing, but can we do it together?" Araceli nudged her boyfriend, and he nodded.

I was torn. There definitely was no way I was retaining any of this after the semester ended, so I had no real-life applications for it, but those extra points would put me firmly in the passing range. I looked at Nick to see what he was thinking.

"Actually, I have an idea," he smirked.

"What is it?"

"Calculus... on the farm." Nick looked like he had just invented sliced bread.

"I don't know a lick about that, but we could do it," I replied. "I'll make the PowerPoint if you can give me the information."

"Deal," he chirped, shaking my hand like we had just made some kind of business transaction.

• AUTHOR'S NOTE •

I know this chapter was really short, but I wanted to get a moment with Francie and Bryce alone one more time before their official "date." The next two chapters are very homecoming-heavy.

Do you know who's writing the letters? Who do you think the right fit for Francie is? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, pookies <3