Small talk with them

Riley looked over my notes and started explaining the material I’d supposedly been struggling with.

I listened and nodded along, even though I knew I didn’t really need the help.

The class wasn’t that difficult for me.

The studying was mostly an excuse.

I was interested in getting to know Riley, and sitting down at her table gave me an easy reason to start a conversation without making it obvious.

After a few minutes, the conversation naturally drifted away from school.

“So what year are you guys?” I asked.

“I’m a junior,” Riley said. “He’s a senior.”

Her boyfriend finally looked up from his laptop. “Barely.”

Riley laughed. “Don’t listen to him. He says that like he’s already graduated.”

“Because I basically have.”

I smiled. “I’m a senior too.”

“Really?” Riley asked.

“Yeah. Last year.”

We talked about our majors, where we were from, and how strange it was that another semester was already underway.

Her boyfriend joined in more as we talked, and the three of us ended up joking about professors, terrible cafeteria food, and how everyone seemed to spend half their college career inside the library.

Riley was easy to talk to.

She had a slightly nerdy personality that I found surprisingly charming, and she laughed easily whenever I teased her about how often she studied.

“You’ve got to be here every time I come in,” I said.

She smiled. “Maybe you just come here too often.”

“Maybe.”

Her boyfriend laughed.

For a while, it genuinely felt like the three of us were just getting to know each other.

But even while I participated in the conversation, I found myself paying a little more attention to Riley than I was letting on.

I’d gotten my excuse to sit down.

Now I wanted to see where the conversation could go.