The quad of Fayetteville State University was the first thing Ash had ever seen of the college. There was a picture of it on the school's pamphlet for prospective students.

In the picture the trees and grass were a bright green, there were rainbows of tulips lining the walks, and students from every diverse background laughed as they walked to class.

The picture wasn't what had sold Ash on the college. She had been sold on the school's large amount of financial aid and extensive student-work program. But if it had been the picture that had enticed her to attend the fine establishment she would have been disappointed. In reality, the quad only looked like the picture for two weeks in the spring.

As Ash stood in the quad, scouting out students for her psychology assignment, she gauged from the buds in the tree and the stalks rising out of the ground that they were still a few weeks from the quad fulfilling its full potential. Thankfully the lack of tulips hadn't kept students inside and Ash had a plethora of subjects to choose from.

She scanned the crowd from her perch on the stone wall, looking for the right target. She spotted them after a few minutes.

They were a pair of girls talking and walking together along the path. Their body language suggested they were good friends which allowed Ash to conclude that they most likely had similar views on major issues. It was just what she wanted. Two answers for the price of one question.

She hopped off the wall and moved until she was directly in their path. Then she stared. It took less than a minute for one of them to make eye contact with her and when the girl on the left met Ash's gaze, Ash smiled and waved.

She kept her smile in place as she took the last few steps to meet the girls and prepared to pitch her voice higher.

"Just the girls I wanted to see. Love that necklace by the way." She pointed to the charm necklace looped around one of the girl's necks. Ash watched as the compliment instantly earned her comfortability points with the girls. "I don't want to take up too much of your time on this beautiful day," she continued quickly without giving the girls a chance to talk. "Can you believe these amazing clouds!"

The girls looked up and Ash used their moment of distraction to confirm her initial analysis of them.

The charm necklace said 'I Heart Fluffy' and the other girl's earrings were paw prints. There was a cat charm hanging from one of their keychains and their clothes were colorful.

"I just have a quick question for ya'll," Ash continued, knowing exactly how to frame her question. "I'm doing a study on animal rights versus farmer's rights. Do you agree that the whole idea 'animal rights' is just a ploy to bankrupt farmers? Does it really matter what conditions cows live in?"

The girls' reactions were instantaneous as their expressions turned to shock as they shared a quick glance. Ash wasn't surprised to find the girl wearing the charm necklace as the first to speak. Wearing a charm necklace declaring your love for your cat projected an outspoken personality.

"Of course it matters!" the charm necklace girl said.

Her head was tilted slightly up to allow her to look down her nose at Ash. "Those animals are living, breathing, beings!"

The second girl moved closer to her friend, standing just behind the charm necklace girl's shoulder. This was a defensive formation. The charm necklace girl continued to lay out her argument and after a minute Ash noticed that the girl puffed her chest out.

Another minute and the girl pushed her shoulders back. She felt confident in what she was saying and her friend mimicked her movement. They were in agreement on this subject.

"You know what, I agree with you," Ash said after the charm necklace girl had finished her argument. "Farmers do need to be held accountable for the animals' living conditions." Both girls froze as Ash agreed with them. "Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me today."

It took a moment for the girls to fully process what Ash was saying but Ash could see their defenses start to lower as their shoulders relaxed in the slightest. "Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoy the beautiful weather."

Ash gave a small nod and then walked away. She returned to her spot on the stone wall and pulled out her pen.

Quickly, she noted her observations about each girl. What their appearance had told her, how it had changed the way she had presented her question, and what their responses had revealed about them. Once she felt like she had recorded all that she had observed she slipped the paper into her folder along with the other twenty-four reports she had already made that morning.

She checked her watch. She had forty-five minutes before her shift at the coffee shop started. She set her folder aside and went back to watching the crowd, searching for her next subject.

This time she focused on the males. She found her victim a few minutes later. He was wearing a sweatshirt with the college's name on it, he had built arms, a backwards hat on, and he had to be at least six foot four. She hopped off the stonewall and prepared herself for her approach.

"Excuse me, sir," she said. She waved to get his attention but kept her head slightly bowed and her voice hesitant. "I hate to ask but I could use some help."

"How can I help?" the guy said, stopping with a comfortable distance between him and Ash.

There was no hint of annoyance on his face or in his tone.

"I'm working on a psychology project and I have to survey people. Would you mind answering a question for me?"

"Of course," the guy said, relaxing his stance as he settled into his spot and looked at her attentively.

"With the rise of awareness pertaining to the pay inequality between men and women, some are calling for male CEOs to step down in order to provide more high-paying, high-respected positions for women. Do you agree with that?"

From Ash's initial observation of the guy, she would have expected a lecture on how all male CEOs had earned their position from handwork, and maybe women should just work a little harder.

But from the moment the guy had stopped Ash had known her initial thoughts were not accurate. From the distance he had kept to his eye contact, she had suspected he would approach this question with a more open mind.

The guy nodded thoughtfully and remained quiet for a minute before he responded. He was taking Ash and her question seriously. "I agree that there need to be more high-paying, high-respected positions for women. It's been too long that women have been sidelined and I do believe they deserve every chance and opportunity a male is offered."

Ash nodded with a small smile. He was more open-minded than she had thought. She heavily suspected he was raised by a single mother.

"I don't know how you go about opening those positions," the guy continued. "Is it fair to ask current CEOs to step down? Maybe? Should companies add clauses to their official business statements that say they will interview equal amounts of female and male candidates when searching for a new CEO? I don't know." He smiled like he wasn't sure if he had answered the question right. "Is that enough of an answer? Do you need anything else?"

"Just a few background questions if you don't mind?" Ash asked. He nodded his head and Ash quickly found out his major, year of school, and whether he was raised local. "And the last question: did you grow up in a home with two parents or divorced parents?" Ash was already ninety-nine percent sure of his answer.

"It was just me and my mom," he said proudly.

"Perfect," she smiled. "Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it."

"Of course." The guy waved before walking away and Ash moved back to her spot on the wall.

That had been the most interesting interaction she had had all morning and she was eager to note all her observations. She was a few steps away from the stone wall when she noticed someone had taken her spot and her steps faltered. It was the boy from the cafe and her psychology class and he was watching her.

He had sought her out. Or maybe he had just seen her from across the quad. Either way, he had stopped to talk to her. That said something, but what, she wasn't sure.

She quickly ran through her options of communication as she took the last few steps toward him. The day before she had thrown most of her interrogation tactics at him with almost no results. What would he do if she didn't say anything at all?

When she reached the wall she didn't acknowledge the boy as she reached for her notebook and quickly wrote down her observations. It took her a few minutes and in that time the boy didn't make any sound or movement that revealed that he had even noticed her.

But once she was done and set her attention on him she found he was already looking at her. Ash had the sense that he was trying to read her just like she had been trying to read people all morning.

"What are you doing?" he asked. The words said he was curious even though his tone and posture revealed nothing.

"Completing an assignment," was all she said, wondering if she would ever be able to be as unreadable as him.

"For Professor Huxley?" She nodded. "I don't remember any assignment like this one."

Ash already suspected that the boy must be in the same year as her and his comment was another confirmation of her theory. "I was having a discussion with Professor Huxley last week and he encouraged me to spend some time observing people."

"That's what you call observing?" His look became more intent and Ash felt like he suddenly understood too much about her.

She tried to shrug off the uncomfortable feeling. "I've found a quick way to figure out exactly what people think and believe. Almost everyone is influenced by the people around them or their perceptions of the situation which in turn affects how honestly they answer the questions."   

"So you...?"

"Cut to the chase."

"By offending them?"

"I'm not trying to offend them. I'm trying to elicit a strong reaction. You know how people reveal a lot through their body movements, facial expressions, and tone. These nonverbal cues are stronger when the subject is upsetting or they feel passionate about something."

"So you're lazy."

"Efficient, thank you very much."

The boy looked at her for a long moment and she once again felt like she was freely giving away data for him to come to his own conclusions about her. She asked herself if she should care what profile he was creating of her. This wasn't an issue she had run up against before. Gaining people's attention had never been one of her skills.    

"Well," she said, reaching for her folder just to have something to do other than look at the boy. She gathered all her things and then looked back at him. He was still studying her. "I'm off to work." She gestured behind her.

When the boy didn't say anything she added an awkward "ok," and left.

She was only a few steps away when the boy appeared at her side and started walking along with her.

"Is this your job at the coffee shop?" he asked.

Ash glanced sideways at him. His shoulders were relaxed and his hands were in his pockets. Again, he looked to be at complete ease.

She wondered if he had any other state of being. "Correct," she answered, looking away. "I'm a barista."

She caught a movement from the corner of her gaze and looked back to find a quizzical look on his face. It was the easiest expression she had been able to read on his face thus far.

"Are you still technically a 'barista'," he added air quotes to her title, "if you just work in a college coffee shop?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked. Was he doubting the legitimacy of her title?

"I just mean, don't real baristas work in real coffee shops?" There was a mocking undertone to his voice and a small part of Ash's brain picked up on the second nonverbal cue he was showing in under two minutes, but it got buried under Ash's annoyance at his question.

"How would you define a 'real coffee shop'?" She asked, mocking him with her own use of air quotes. "I sell coffee. I make lattes. I can even make those stupid leaf designs in the milk foam. I have to deal with non-caffeinated cranky college students at six in the morning. In fact..." she continued, "do you know that most people credit college for the reason they drink coffee? In the early 2000's a social psychologist surveyed college students from twenty different universities about their coffee drinking habits."

She turned to give him a smug look as she prepared to lay the data out but was caught off-guard when she found him giving her an amused look.

This was the third cue he was blatantly revealing and it made her pause. For someone who was capable of being completely unreadable, why was he suddenly putting his feelings on full display?

"Please, continue," he said, motioning for her to speak as he flashed her a pleased smile.

Ash almost smacked herself in the head when she realized he was employing her technique of gathering info by using a reactive statement.

"See! It is effective," she said. He shrugged.

Ash smiled victoriously. In giving her a taste of her own medicine this boy had revealed more about himself. He was a quick learner and an easy adaptor. She had also spotted a bit of cockiness in his smile which made her think he was fully aware of all his talents but liked to present himself like he was nothing out of the ordinary.

They continued in silence until they reached the coffee shop. Ash stopped just outside and fixed the boy with a steady look. His nonchalant look had slipped back into place but she wasn't fooled by it this time. There was something beneath it and it tickled her curiosity to know why he felt like he had to keep whatever it was hidden.

"Well," she motioned to the coffee shop. "I'm Ash by the way."

She stuck out her hand and he took it and gave a firm, controlled shake.

"Zach," he replied.

"Thanks for the entertaining walk Zach," she said.

He nodded. She waited for a moment longer to see if he had anything else to add before she pulled the door to the coffee shop open. She was surprised when he took the door from her and held it open for her. She was even more surprised when he followed her inside.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he walked with her to the front counter.

He looked around like he was checking his surroundings before he said, "Getting coffee."

"Seriously?" She scrutinized him, trying to figure out what game he was playing.

"Yeah," he said. "Did you know that most people start drinking coffee in college? A psychologist discovered this through surveys in the early 2000's."

She smiled as she mentally noted another discovery. Zach could retain information and regurgitate it almost word for word.

"Go ahead and order your coffee," she added, motioning for him to step up to the register.

"Thanks," he said.

Ash didn't wait around to hear his coffee order. There might be a small piece of information she would be able to glean from whether he liked his milk-frothed or his espresso cold but she still had to change into her uniform.

When she returned to the front of the store she assumed Zach was gone until twenty minutes into her shift she realized he was sitting at a table in one of the corners. The shop was busy enough that she hadn't noticed him and that continued to be true throughout the afternoon.

There would be a rush of customers and Ash would forget about Zach but when things quieted down and she had time to look around she would stumble upon him still sitting at the back table, working on his computer.

She forgot about him again as her shift was ending and didn't remember to look for him until she was leaving and passed the corner he had occupied most of the afternoon.

By then he was gone but she had no clue when he had left. Ash wondered if that had to do with his ability to blend in or if it had just been a busy afternoon in the coffee shop.

She mulled over all the new things she had learned about Zach on her walk back to her dorm and she was still thinking them over when she arrived home.

She opened the door, flicked on the lights, and looked around. If someone was trying to piece together a profile about her from her room she wondered what conclusions they would reach.

The furniture was sparse and mismatched. When she had first arrived at the school she had started out with only a second-hand mattress. At the end of her freshman year, she had picked up a few more free pieces from students who were moving out and needed to get rid of their bulkier furniture.

Now, she was halfway through her junior year and she had acquired enough furniture to fill her small space. But the walls were bare, the bedding worn at the edges and her closet only a quarter full.

Where an outsider might see someone barely able to cobble together a home, Ash saw the safest space she had ever known.

She didn't care about the mismatched furniture or her lack of belongings.

All she cared about was a roof over her head, a space to herself, and a lock on the door.

**********************************************************************

YEAH! GIRL! 🙈 HO MY GOSH!

Alright, alright, alight stay cool, stay chill, do not lose your ish!

🤐🫢😶 Nope, totally gonna lose it.

Quick! If you have thoughts about the story, Zach, or anything else say them now. 🗯💬💭

You can not be mad at me for fangirling! I told you this would happen and I just gotta...FLIPPEN BUCKETS THAT WAS GOOD! AH!

That last line: killer! I mean it says it all! A roof over her head and a lock on her door! Oh my gosh! Oh. My. Gosh! That is just 🤌 Oh so beautiful!

Love it! Amazing! It perfectly paints the picture of Ash's past it's just 🙈 jeez! I can't! I just can't! It's so good!

Oh boy am I in love with this book! Ah! I can't wait for more! 🤭 Okay, I'll stop.

Real quick: give me a fun, friendly greeting in your language! (Also tell me what language it is)

Alright, if you want to then vote, comment, follow!