pajamas. Kelsey laughed.
“A lot of people think that this is the best place in the country to live. Lots of fresh air, nature, a great quality of life.”
“But to dismiss the rest of the country. What about Chicago? D.C.?”
“Dylan loves Portland. Always has. He’s really sporty too. There aren’t a lot of places where you can ski today and surf tomorrow. You can here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We should go camping. There’s a lot of great places near my parents.”
“Camping? Outside?”
“That’s where we usually camp,” Kelsey said in amusement.
“I’m a city girl,” Jessica said. “All right, he’s a cutie, so I’ll give this nature thing a try. But only for a while. And I’m not promising to go camping. Suppose it rains?”
“So what? It always rains,” Kelsey replied.
“You people are crazy,” Jessica said, getting into bed. “Please turn off the light when you go to bed. And double-check the alarm.”
The next morning, Jessica and Kelsey were up, dressed, and sitting having breakfast in the dining hall at 8 a.m.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” Jessica said as the sun shone off Lake Washington. “No wonder you‘re willing to suffer through the rain and cold.”
“Just for moments like this,” Kelsey agreed, sipping her coffee and looking out the dining room’s glass wall. She saw a person walking a very active dog on the private beach. Must be a professor, she thought, as the dog leapt up to try to get a stick in the person’s hand. The dog missed.
Jessica took a bite of the English muffin in front of her. “They make a pretty good breakfast,” she said, setting it back down.
“It’s hard to ruin eggs,” Kelsey said.
“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Jessica said. “I ate some really questionable breakfasts in college.”
“I would have thought Princeton would have excellent food.”
“Surprise!” Jessica said, brightly. “So what’s on the list for today? I know you know, Miss Responsible.”
Kelsey opened the folder she had brought with her today. The schedule for the rest of the week was inside.
“How to study in law school with our small group at 9, another professor meeting this afternoon, and the cookout is tonight.”
“Well, they certainly picked the right day for the cookout,” Jessica said, looking at the lake again.
“The weather changes by the minute here. Don’t get comfortable with the sun,” Kelsey said, closing the folder and picking up a piece of toast.
“I’m not. I’m just enjoying every minute of it.”
“Saving the memory for the next eight months without it.”
“Exactly. Wait, eight months without sun?” Jessica said in alarm.
“Ah, you’ll go to New York for Christmas. Maybe there will be some there,” Kelsey grinned, biting into the toast.
Kelsey walked into her small group room promptly at 9 a.m. Oddly, there seemed to be a couple of people missing. She dismissed it and sat down.
Last night, after dinner, Dylan had pointed out the three friends of the two jerks that had been plaguing them. Kelsey noted that the three new boys were now sitting in front of her, talking. Jessica had decided to call the entire group the “Irritating Five”.
Dylan had promised to Jessica that he would find out their story and report back at dinner tonight. Kelsey smiled to herself. Jessica was certainly determined to engineer a relationship with Dylan, and he was already doing her bidding. Kelsey could learn from her.
Kelsey looked up to the front to see one of the boys looking at her. He smiled and looked away. Kelsey blushed as two professors walked in. They might be irritating, but a least a couple were handsome. Kelsey shook her head to focus as the professors walked to the front of the room.
“Hello, everyone,” said the very attractive woman with long brown hair. “I’m Professor Schiavelli. I teach Constitutional Law here at Darrow.
Kelsey
Susan Klaus
John Tristan
Candace Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, June Scobee Rodgers
Katherine Losse
Unknown
Bruce Feiler
Suki Kim
Olivia Gates
Murray Bail