Ethan finishes his workout.

I worked out a little longer after Jenna walked away, finishing a few more sets before finally calling it a night.

By the time I grabbed my bag and headed toward the entrance, the gym was even quieter.

Jenna happened to be walking out at almost the exact same time.

She noticed me behind her and smiled.

“Leaving?”

“Yeah. I’m done.”

We walked toward the doors together. I got there first and held one open for her.

She stopped for half a second.

“Well, look at you.”

“What?”

“Muscles and manners.”

I laughed. “I guess I have to have something going for me.”

She smiled and walked outside.

“Have a good night, Ethan.”

“You too.”

She started walking away, and I headed in the opposite direction.

I had barely gone a few steps when I heard her behind me.

“Wait.”

I turned around.

Jenna was standing there, looking like she’d just changed her mind about something.

“Uh…” She laughed a little. “This is random, but what are you doing tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I was just thinking… there’s basically nobody here.”

I glanced around the nearly empty campus.

“That’s true.”

“And I’m bored.”

She smiled.

“So if you’re not doing anything, do you want to hang out?”

I smiled back.

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

She laughed. “Okay, good. I wasn’t sure if that was a weird thing to ask.”

“It’s not.”

“Good.” She adjusted the strap of her gym bag. “I was just about to go back to my dorm and do absolutely nothing.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“Exactly.”

She grinned.

“How about we both go clean up first? I don’t exactly want to hang out smelling like the gym.”

I laughed. “Fair enough.”

“Give me, like, thirty minutes?”

“Works for me.”

She pointed toward her dorm. “I’ll meet you back here?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“See you.”

We headed off in separate directions toward our dorms.

I looked down at my gym bag as I walked.

I’d gone to the gym expecting a quiet workout and nothing more.

Now I had plans.

And for the first time since winter break started, the empty campus didn’t feel quite so empty.