Game Theory × NH

027 | cobalt

× Mercury

Professor Lawtherd was standing at his desk reading something when I knocked on the door to the room. He looked up and smiled, beckoning me in.

"You look lovely," he observed, taking in my updo and body conscious lace dress. "What is the occasion?"

"A recruiting dinner," I told him as I stepped into the room. "Sorry I wasn't in class today, I had a late night and my alarm didn't go off."

"It's perfectly fine, Miss Mercury," he assured me and took a seat at his desk. He adjusted his glasses and looked up at me. "I assume you're here to get the assignment?"

I nodded. "Yes, and to know what you talked about."

"You're assignment is just some reading, that was all we did in class for the day. We started the book The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway and I trust that you have the book...?"

I nodded again, knowing that it was part of the book requirements. "Where do I have to be by tomorrow?"

"Chapter ten," he told me and grabbed a small stack of papers from the corner of his desk. "I also handed back the essays you did on the Greek myths but..." he trailed off, looking at the papers one-by-one questionably. "For some reason yours is not in here."

I stared at him. Was he serious? That essay told the story about my parents, about a part of my life that only two people know about, not including Professor Lawtherd. It had to be there, I didn't know what I would do if it were to get into the wrong hands...

He must have seen the panic in my eyes because his face softened. "There's nothing to worry about, Miss Mercury. It's somewhere in this room, I assure. As soon as I find it I will let you know so you can put it in safe keeping. I couldn't imagine how hard it was to write that."

"No, no it's okay, really," I reassured him, even thought it was far from okay. "Just please let me know as soon as you find it because that paper is very personal to me and I don't want just anyone reading it."

Professor Lawtherd nodded seriously. "I understand. I'll let you know as soon as possible."

"Thank you," I said before rushing out of the room and making my way back to the dorm to wait for Jace to pick me up for dinner.

× × ×

"Oh, my god," I heard Jace say as I opened the passenger side door of his Honda Civic. "Who are you trying to impress? A cute waiter, perhaps?"

It was September 15th, the night of the dinner where all the scouts come and chat up the players. Earlier that week I had said my goodbyes to my friends and Coach Sharp and promised them that I would be going down there soon to see them play. It was hard to let them go, but I knew that it gave me something to look forward to in the near future.

I smiled over at him as I buckled up. "Well, if there happened to be a cute waiter, I wouldn't say no."

"Neither would he," Jace added with a playful grin as he pulled away from the curb and started making his way off of campus. "We're running late, but the important people don't usually show up until a half hour later, so we should be okay for timing."

"I don't understand why I even have to go," I explained my thoughts to him as I looked out the window at all the shiny lights twinkling passed the window. "I've already got my career in the bag."