The first time I'd ever seen Jem was when Emmie, Heather, and I went to Kahala Mall one day instead of school because we were convinced we could be rebellious teenagers, even though we'd eventually go to school the next morning with the realization we'd all somehow missed pop quizzes. Needless to say, it was the last time we'd ditched together, but we'd run into Jem at the Jamba Juice counter so it was all worth it in the end.

Jem was all autumn rays and wishful thinking. She was quiet but comforting, sweet with a playful bite, and brilliant but sensitive. She was also fiercely protective and passionate, and that's why I knew she would've made a good fit in DC if she had decided to go to Georgetown instead of UH. As I sat by the foot of her twin-sized dorm bed, I was reminded of how special she was. Even if she considered herself the forgettable one of our trio of friends, Emmie and I both knew she'd change the world.

"Did you text her back?" I picked through the bag of Munchies for cheese puffs. "Two hours should be good."

Jem scrunched her face together before looking down at her untouched phone, the screen dark. "Are you sure? I don't wanna look too needy."

I didn't know why she was asking me for advice about this in the first place. Not only was I allergic to relationships and flirting, but I was also notoriously bad at replying to text messages. Knowing me, if I'd been in her situation, I would have legitimately just forgotten to reply. She was better off just taking a stance and going for it. Whether she realized it or not, Jem wasn't someone most interested parties ever turned down. More often than not, she was oblivious to how many people wanted to ask her out.

I moved to grab her phone but she yanked it out of reach. "What is with you baby gays and being nervous about texting back too quickly? I'd be offended if I found out you purposely kept me waiting."

"Wow, so many things to unpack with that one," she huffed, "most important being the fact that it is not just baby gays that do this. Hetero folk are the most insufferable when it comes to chasing each other. Also, you wouldn't have to worry about me keeping you waiting because I'm not interested in you—"

She couldn't finish her sentence because she was too busy dodging the cheese puff I'd thrown her way.

"Seriously," I continued, "it's been long enough, just text her back."

Jem looked at me with uncertainty before bringing her phone back around to punch out her reply. She'd met a girl at a poetry reading on her floor last week and they'd been flirting ever since. Why she was nervous about a girl she'd met at a poetry reading of all places, I wasn't sure. I didn't even know why she was at a poetry reading in the first place. Jem had never been interested in poetry before in her life.

"I don't understand how you do it," she said once she placed the phone back down. "The whole dating thing."

I looked at her like she'd grown two heads. "I don't date, what are you talking about?"

She plopped down onto the bed, her head dangling off the edge with her hair grazing the carpet. "You know what I mean. Even with your flings, you don't have a problem talking with them. You don't get nervous."

What was there to get nervous about, I wanted to ask her. People are people and not every person liked every other person. Getting turned down because you weren't compatible with someone else's personality type wasn't the end of the world. There were billions of people alive on the planet at every given moment.

I also wasn't the type to get into relationships and anyone that knew me was aware. The guys I fooled around with were as straightforward about what they wanted as I. It made things easy to start and even easier to end. That was why Calum and I worked well together.

"Honestly?" I placed the bag of chips down and crossed my legs. Having conversations like this with her made me feel like an older sister. "You have to realize that if you try too hard to appear like one thing, they'll fall for someone that isn't you. Trust that things will work out if they're meant to be."

Jem brushed her fingertips against the fluffy beige carpet. "Why do you always know what to say?"

"Do I?"

She rolled her head lazily. "Yes."

Pulling myself up onto the bed, I slid down next to her and the two of us kicked our feet up against the wall. "The only thing I know how to do is fuck without feelings."

Jem clapped her hand down over her mouth before smacking my stomach with the back of her other hand. "You're so crass."

I laughed as I replied, "I'm just making sure to fill our sexual deviant quota." I nudged her side and she almost blushed. Jem was more modest when talking about her love life and other aspects more intimate, which made being friends with Emmie and me amusing. Neither of us could be described as modest.

"Are you calling me a prude?" She pouted.

"Absolutely not. I don't shame anyone's sex life...Or lack thereof."

Jem smiled at first before bursting out into a full-blown laugh, a ray of sunlight that could not be contained.

"What are you working on?" I questioned, eyeing the disaster on her desk. There were countless papers, pens, and notebooks that were strewn about as if a tornado had ripped through her room. "Coming here reminds me how glad I am that I never pursued higher education. I don't miss this high school version of this. College version looks like complete shit."

"It's not for everyone," she reassured me. Jem loved school more than anything but she never made me feel bad about not pursuing higher education. "It's for my paper. My group hasn't decided what to do yet."

Knowing Jem, she'd obliterate whatever subject matter she settled on. Even in high school, once she set her mind on something, she didn't stop until she went above and beyond what was expected of her. Nobody could ever accuse Jem of being lazy or incapable.

"Well, if you ever need to run it by me when you do, just let me know." Not that I imagined I'd be much help. The only thing it felt like I was good for nowadays was overthinking everyone's problems without actually doing anything worthwhile about it. Maybe I was the lazy and incapable one here.

"You're the best." Jem planted a kiss on my cheek before settling back into her spot. "I think I'm mostly just frustrated because my group members suck and they won't schedule a day for us to meet up and work on this. I always work better when I'm bouncing ideas off of other people, you know?"

"Yeah, that makes sense." Since I wasn't as familiar with how group projects worked in college and whether or not they were different from how we operated in high school, I wasn't sure how to help. It wasn't like the teacher was going to scold a bunch of adults to do their job. "If you end up doing most of it, maybe you can tell your professor about it? So they know you did most of the work and that your group partners weren't participating."

"Yeah, maybe. They usually make us grade our partners so I can always just—" Just as her head lowered to the mattress, her phone lit up with an incoming text. "Oh shit, she replied already."

I leaned in to get a better look while Jem swiped her phone open. One of the first texts I saw was a row of emojis.

"Wow," I remarked as I read what she'd sent. "You went for it. What happened to being nervous?"

"It's only 'cause you're here. Look, it paid off!" She shoved her phone in my face.

I had to push her hand away before my nose left smudge marks on her screen. "Girl, I got it," I yelped with laughter. "She agreed to the boba date. I'm happy for you."

Jem continued to squeal as she muttered under her breath about what she was going to reply.

I figured I would give her a break since she didn't need my help, or more so that I wasn't equipped to give her the help she needed, when an incoming call cut through the air and gave me another excuse. When I glanced down at my phone, I was caught by surprise at the name that showed up on the screen. I held the phone up to my ear and answered, "Hello?"

Zachariah released a shaky breath that immediately sent up red alerts, and I sat up in my seat with concern. He rarely ever called since we preferred to text each other, and when he did, it was to make plans to schedule another stop on our food battle royale. But we had just met up last week, so we weren't due for another round for at least one or two more.

"Are you busy?"

I briefly looked at Jem fawning over her text message before standing up to walk into her half-bath for privacy. Judging by his ominous tone and the question itself, this wasn't something he wanted out in the open. "Just hanging out at Jem's dorm. What's up?"

He paused for long enough that I thought he had hung up and had to check the screen to make she he hadn't. "I know it's not cool of me to call you considering you're her best friend and all but....you know her better than anybody else."

"Did something happen?"

"I assume you're aware of Jarrod."

I couldn't forget Emmie's ex-boyfriend if I tried. He'd played a real number on her I never understood. He was also the most recent ex she hadn't quite cut the cord from completely, so having his name brought up by Zachariah shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. "I may know a thing or two."

If Zachariah was irritated with me, he didn't show it, but he recognized it would be strange to talk to me about my best friend. "Sorry, I shouldn't have called. I don't want to put you in an awkward position."

It would be a lie to deny that even though I knew nothing of this specific situation, I was already worked up by the idea that Jarrod was still involved enough that Zachariah felt the need to call me.

"Did something happen that I should be worried about? You sound stressed."

Zachariah tried to push back but he'd already done the damage by bringing it up to me in the first place. "You know what? Don't worry about it. I'm stressing out for nothing. It's nothing I can't handle." Before I insisted he fill me in on what was going on, because despite what he was saying, it was clearly bothering him, he added, "We should have lunch next week. I could go for some barbecue."

In defeat, because I knew he wasn't going to give me answers, I decided to not push. There were other ways to get the answers I wanted.

"You always want barbecue."

If it were possible, I'd say I could hear Zachariah's smile. "I'll text you later, okay?"

When I walked back into the room, marching with a purpose to where I'd tossed my things when I'd first arrived, my friend had broken out of her flirtatious haze to dress my frantic figure with concern.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "I thought we were grabbing dinner?"

I tucked my phone into my back pocket and replaced it with my car keys instead. "I have to see our femme fatale."

"Emmie?"

"The one and only."

I wasn't sure she'd be receptive to my line of questioning, but I'd already settled on figuring this out, and I'd convinced myself that this was how I was able to help. Emmie had always wanted me to make sure she didn't spiral too out of control in her relationship since she led a little too forward with her heart, so attempting to nip this in the bud before it could grow into something bigger was the only solution I had.

Jem sat up in her seat but I was already halfway through the door by the time she threw her next question at me.

"Wait, what happened?"

"That's what I'm going to find out."