Alice

You walk toward Alice hoping that she'll make a good partner. She seemed nice enough before, and you suppose that she'll be helpful.

"Hey," you say to Alice. "Want to work together?"

"Oh, thank god. You saved me the pain of asking someone," she says.

"I guess that's a real fear for you," you ask her, as you sit down.

"It really is," she says, gesturing to the paper. "Let's get started."

There is little time for small talk. Alice wants to get the test done and, working with her, you suppose you do, too. You hear a lot of groups talking between themselves, and yours is much more quiet and focused. Despite how much better it is for actually absorbing and remembering the knowledge, you find yourself occasionally glancing at her angelic freckled face and wishing that there could be just a little more small talk between you.

But Alice wants to well in school, and you suppose so do you. In fact working with her, with this level of focus, you find yourself being reminded of some things from High School and Math 101. It doesn't become clear until halfway through that this test isn't just designed to verify what you know, but to actively remind you of it. Maybe there is some method to Professor Ketchup's heinous crime of a first-day test.

"Okay," she says, once the last problem is answered, and hands the test back to you. "Check it?"

You do so, ignoring the way her nervous eyes focus on you, like you're the only thing in the world. Ignoring that way she sweeps back her hair behind her ear and smiles slightly, showing her dimples. Or...trying to.

"Seems good," you say.

"Okay," her smile grows wider, and her dimples grow larger. "Let's turn it in."

You offer it up to one of the TAs early, but not by much. You end up with little time to talk to Emma, as Mister Ketchup starts to discuss the syllabus like any other teacher, and class progresses without further event.