Chapter 51: Dress Code: Nicole's Choice

Friday came early. It was as if the day knew I had plans I wasn't entirely sure I was ready for and had decided to get them over with as quickly as possible.

I wasn't nervous, exactly. Just a little curious about the kind of people Nicole called friends. For all I knew, they were all walking around with black cards in their wallets and casually discussing which vacation homes they were planning to renovate next.

The first few classes went smoothly enough, though Professor Thompson seemed to be having a better morning than the rest of us. Test week was coming up next week, and the man looked positively delighted about it. He had that particular kind of smile lecturers got when they knew they were about to make an entire room full of students question their life choices. Every time he mentioned the upcoming tests, his smile widened a little more, as if he were already imagining the stack of disappointing scores waiting for him.