International Relations

Everything else was prereqs -- literature, math, bio, et cetera. There were two exceptions: Arabic as the foreign language, which only the female Al-Assaf scholars took, and International Relations, which was meant to be the melting pot.

Amy doodled in her notebook next to Harper. She found the younger redhead likeable, albeit it skittish and with a latent desire to abandon her ambition and retreat to the low country. The redhead looked green around the gills in fact, Amy thought.

Finally, the professor entered and they got to business.

"Welcome to international relations," the smooth young Arabic professor intoned. "A lot of your classmates may think this is a class that teaches precious little. But that would be in error. The men in this class hail from the Arabian peninsula and Northern Africa. The women hail mostly from this state and the South. The men don't have much experience with Westerners. And the women have a ... limited ... view of the world. So this class will bridge the gap. You will work on a business project, a case study. One man, one woman. And you will learn that the differing perspectives two cultures may have are important ... especially when combined in a single team. And those bonds you develop in this class ... you'll find to be the strongest you develop in your entire college career."

Amy watched, transfixed. She didn't even notice Harper dashing out.