Caroline was a young women who lived in a small town just out of Chicago. She was a successful college student. She was going to be a doctor. It was her third year in college. She was about done with her bachelor’s degree, and going to stay in school to work towards her masters, and eventually her doctorate. It was a Tuesday. The first Tuesday of the new semester. She walked into Chemistry 305. Caroline came in a little late because her class before that got out late. The auditorium was packed. There was one empty seat left, the seat farthest to the left in the sixteenth row.

Caroline went to the only seat left, and sat down. Just as class was about to start, she noticed she must had dropped her pen somewhere. There was a young man sitting next to her with dark brown hair and bright green eyes. She turned toward him and quietly asked,

“Excuse me. I must have dropped my pen somewhere. Do you have an extra one that I could possibly borrow?”

“Yeah. I have an extra”, the young man replied, “here you go.”

“Thank you!” Caroline replied.

“Hello! Welcome to Chemistry 305. I’m Professor Williams. We have a full class in here this semester. So it is very important that you are here on time because we will not wait to start class each day, and I do not like my class being disturbed by people coming in late…” the teacher continued to talk while many of the students’ minds started to wander off.

Caroline started to doodle on her paper. Drawing many random lines and shapes. The young man sitting next to her passed a paper to Caroline and placed it on her desk. It said,



By the way, my name is Josh.

Caroline grabbed the pen that Josh borrowed her, and started to write,



It’s nice to meet you Josh. I’m Caroline.

Caroline passed the paper back to Josh. Caroline tuned back in to what the professor was saying.

“So today is pretty much just a day for me to get an idea of how many people are in the class and where all of you are on the spectrum of everything you know in chemistry. If you could all just ask these few questions so I can figure out where to start with the criteria. Once you’re done just place the paper back on the front podium and you can be on your way for the day. I will see you all on Thursday.”

Thursday morning, Caroline woke up and remembered that she had Chemistry today. Excitement came over her. She wondered if she would sit by Josh again. She got to class early today to make sure that she could find a seat, and that if their was a seat by Josh it wasn’t already taken. She felt something when she was by him. She got butterflies in her stomach, and she hadn’t even talked to him that much. When she arrived at class, there were many seats still open, barely anyone was even in the class yet. She couldn’t see Josh. She decided to go sit in the same general area and she sat on Tuesday. She got out a piece of paper and started drawing until class started. She liked to draw. It was a way to express her feelings.

Just as she was looking up to check what time it was on the clock over the door, she noticed that Josh was walking in. She quickly looked back down, she didn’t want him to think that she was looking for him. He quickly scanned the auditorium and noticed there was an open seat by Caroline. He nervously walked up by her, she saw him nervous, her muscles in her body suddenly tensed up. He approached the row she was sitting in, and softly asked,

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

“Go for it,” she replied with a huge smile on her face.

He got situated in the seat beside her.

“How are you doing today?” Josh asked.

“I’m alright. Thanks. How are you?” Caroline replied.

“I’m good. Thanks for letting me sit beside you. Do you think this is going to be an easy class?” Josh asked, trying to start conversation.

“I’m not sure. He seems like a pretty serious teacher,” Caroline replied.

“Yes, he does. Well if you ever need help or want to study…” Josh started to say.

“Hello students. It’s nice to see you all today…” the Professor interrupted.

Josh sighed. He was so close to finding out her response to working together, but the Professor interrupted. He turned back towards the podium where Professor Williams was talking. Caroline smiled in her chair. Him offering to help her or offering to work together was a good sign for her, because she was very much in to him. So many thoughts were running through her head….



Does he like me?


Or is he just being nice?


Does he have a girlfriend?


It was Tuesday again. And as Caroline put her make up on in the mirror she wondered if once again Josh would come sit by her. She took a little more time to get ready today. She wasn’t looking fancy, just as if she was trying to impress someone. Which she was. It was a warmer day. Mid 60’s. She decided to wear a skirt.

Caroline entered the auditorium. It was a bit more crowded then normal. She glanced around the room for an empty spot, two actually. As she glanced around the room, she noticed that Josh had already found a seat and was sitting down. There was a seat next to him empty. Caroline didn’t know what to do. Her mind started wondering again…


Should I go sit next to him?


Or would that be obvious that I like him?


But I do like him. So shouldn’t I make sure he knows that.

She went for it. She walked toward where he was sitting, and she took a seat next to him. He looked up towards her and she sat down.

“Hello Caroline. It’s nice to see you again. I wasn’t sure if you were going to sit by me again today. But thank you for doing so,” Josh said nervously. Trying to make a move without being too obvious.

“It’s no problem. You picked a good spot today. How are you this afternoon?” Caroline asked.

“Thanks. I made sure to spot out the right one before I sat down,” he chuckled.

“Well you did a fine job.” Caroline said sarcastically.

They saw Professor Williams entered the room so they both turned their attention toward him. They were done talking for the day. It seemed like it wasn’t long enough each day. Both of them wondered if maybe they should get there earlier. Caroline wanted Josh’s number. Josh wanted Caroline’s number. Both of them were afraid to make the move. Finally Josh went out on a limb. He found a sticky note in his folder. Quickly wrote something on it and passed it to her.

You seem really nice. I would love if we could talk more then
just these 10 minutes twice a week. Here’s my number 920 733 4874

A huge smile came over Caroline’s face as she read it. She wanted to keep him wondering what she thought about it so she got out of her seat and walked away. That night she was sitting in her dorm room, and repeatedly looked at the sticky note. She wondered if she should text him, or if it was too early. She knew she’d see him again in two days, but she couldn’t get him off her mind. So she picked up her phone. Typed in his number and texted him.

“Hey. This is Caroline. Now you have my number too. Let me know if you every need anything!” sent Caroline.
Not even two minutes later her phone started to ring, she looked down and there was a text message from Josh.

“I was wondering if you were going to text me. I have a question to ask you Caroline,” Josh responded.

“Okay. Ask it.” Caroline said.

“Would you want to get lunch after class on Thursday?” Josh quickly sent.
He knew if he would have thought about sending it he wouldn’t have. So he sent it before he could think about it again. The time for her to respond seemed so long, when in reality it was only a few minutes.

“I would like that.” Caroline simply stated.



It was now Thursday and Caroline was once again getting ready to go to class. The fact that she wasn’t going to be going back to her dorm to change before she went to lunch with Josh made it so that she took even more time to get ready before class. She curled her hair, but not making it look too fancy, just pretty. She put on her make up. Slipped into a sun dress and was on her way.

When she got to class she noticed that Josh was sitting in the same seat that they had sat in on Tuesday. She sat down next to him. He turned to her and said,

“Well hello there Caroline. You look very nice today!”
Caroline was very happy that he noticed that she got looking nice for him.

“Oh. Well thank you Josh.”

“Where do you want to go for lunch?”

“I don’t care you can pick.”

“No. You can pick. It’s my treat. Pick anywhere you want.”

“What about El Aztecas?”

“The little Mexican restaurant up the road?” Josh asked.

“Yes. That one. If that’s ok with you?”

“That’s perfect.” Josh said as he smiled.
Class seemed to take forever. They both wanted it to just be over so that they could go to lunch and talk and get to know each other better. Forty five minutes later Professor Williams finally dismissed them from class.

Josh and Caroline walked to El Aztecas since it was just up the road from their class. When they arrived, it wasn’t too busy. Most of the booths were still empty. They got seated right away, and the waiter asked what they wanted to drink. They both ordered margaritas (virgin ones of course). Josh got enchiladas, Caroline ordered a chicken quesadilla. They stayed there for an hour and a half. That’s quite a long time considering the food only took fifteen minutes to come. They talked about everything, from childhood memories to what they want to do in the future. When they were finished, Josh walked Caroline back to her dorm.

“Thank you for coming to lunch with me,” Josh said.

“Your welcome. I had a great time. I hope that we can do this again soon.” Caroline responded.

“Really? You’d like that? That would be great.”

“Yes. I’d enjoy that!”
Caroline and Josh approached her apartment building. They stood at the stoop for a little bit and talked. It was almost time for Caroline to go to work.

“Well thanks again for lunch today.” Caroline said.

“Your welcome. Have a good night at work.”

“Thank you!”

“I’ll see you Tuesday in Chemistry. I hope to talk to you before that.” Josh said as he smiled.

“Yes. See you then!” Caroline said as she walked up to the door and opened it.
Caroline wished that he would have kissed her, but she knew that it was still a little early for that. She got dressed and went to work. She worked late; she didn’t get off until 9:45 p.m. She didn’t like walking back to her dorm in the dark.

As she got off of work she walked out of the building and Josh was standing there.

“Hey Caroline. I know you don’t like walking home in the dark so I thought I’d meet you here so you don’t have to walk back alone.” Josh said.

“Thank you so much.”
They walked back to her dorm hand in hand. She both had the greatest feeling inside. Once they got back to her dorm building, they said their goodbyes again. But this time, before he walked off the stairs, he leaned in and kissed her. It was hard for her to kiss back because she had the biggest smile on her face, but she managed to do so. She was so happy that he made the move and kissed her. For that moment, she had no worries in her life.