Aisha let her have it, laying into Kayden with text messages that could have formed a full blown dissertation: lining up all of Kayden’s wrongdoings when it came to Misha Kaiser, especially the fact that she was already referring to him as Misha.

Kayden wanted to protest—she’d made friends with plenty of coworkers in the past—but Aisha refused to indulge her. Kayden wasn’t stupid; she knew her best friend was right, and wiser despite being younger, but she still kept Misha’s number saved in her phone. Just in case.

She tried to rationalize it: there was no reason to worry since nothing would ever happen between them. She wasn’t stupid, and despite this new development being the epitome of impulsivity, she otherwise was not an impulsive person. Fantasizing was fun and all, but she would never ruin Misha’s career, or hers.

She didn’t reach out to him even as she continued walking with him after class and interacting in the office. By Friday evening, she had talked herself out of ever texting Misha anything. She knew better, after all. It wasn’t smart.

Sitting on Eric’s swinging porch bench, she relayed her problems. The fruity alcoholic seltzer irritated her stomach, but she didn’t care since it buzzed her brain. She explained Aisha’s rationed opposition while Eric enjoyed a cigarette. “…She’s right, obviously. So, I didn’t text him.”

The flames of the fire pit reflected off of his glasses. He flicked the ash off the end. “And he hasn’t texted you either?”

 “No, which I guess is a good thing.” She rested her head on his shoulder.

Eric held his hand out in front of her. “Gimme your phone; I’ll text him for you.”

She immediately sat upright, scowling at him as he took another puff. “Oh hell no. You’ll probably say something weird like ‘Ooo let me suck on your toes’.”

He burst into a cackle, coughing a bit. “Yeah that sounds like me.” When she gave him a side-eyed grin, he nudged her with his elbow, shifting his long blonde hair behind his shoulder. “Nah, come on, I wouldn’t do you dirty like that.”

 “Uh huh, sure.” She nudged him back and stared into the fire, pushing the swing forward and back with her toes. She took a swig of her beverage. “It’s better if I don’t say anything anyway. I don’t know what either of us was thinking.”

“You’re both grown-ups. I personally don’t see the problem.”

She smacked her knuckles against his thigh without any force. “You don’t see the problem with a lot of problematic stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Like… I dunno. Drugs.”

He laughed. “Victimless crime.”

“Okay but don’t you think my boss wanting my number is not victimless?”

He tossed what little was left of the cigarette into the fire. “It’s not a crime, that’s for sure. No crime, no victim. He was upfront with you, wasn’t he?”

She shook her nearly empty can to listen to the liquid swish. “Well, yeah, but there’s the whole teacher-student no-no policy every university has.”

He shrugged. “He said he wants to hang out. He didn’t say anything about banging. Maybe the guy just needs some friends. You said he’s younger than the other professors. He’s not much older than you. What if you’re over thinking this and it’s totally innocent? You could just be projecting your lust onto this whole situation.”

She scoffed. “Rude.”

“I’m serious. Go flick the bean to clear your head and get over it.” His laughter was belly-shaking.

“Oh my god.” She pretended to be bothered by his casual masturbation recommendation, but she was used to it by now. She barely tapped the now-empty seltzer can over Eric’s head with a grin. “You’re ridiculous.”

“No, you’re ridiculous. You’re making it weirder than it should be. It’s not a big deal. Just treat him like all your other friends. Start with what he asked for: video games. Easy-peasy.”

Sighing, she shook her head with a playful smirk. “You are such a bad influence on me.”

“Hey, someone in your life has to be the voice of reason.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the opposite of what you are.”

“I see no harm in flirting and hanging out with your future boss, even though you have burning loins for him.”

***

While it may have been accurate to call Eric a bad influence, it was the encouragement she was hoping for. The next morning, she casually sent Misha a photo of her TV setup, with her gaming consoles visible and their corresponding multiplayer games stacked atop. Her caption read, ‘Now show me yours.’

Misha quickly responded with a laughing emoji followed by a photo of his own setup before admitting he would have to run to the Game Swap for one of the games.

After a quick jog around the neighborhood, she hosted a study group at the library. Maybe she had this calculus thing down, after all.

While on her way out of the library, she noticed a familiar head of orange hair heading toward her into the building. Stephanie, as usual, had her gaze on her shoes or the ground in front of her, so Kayden could easily pass by without broaching the church-going issue at all. She decided against that, though, and instead cheerily greeted her old friend. “Hey, Steph!”

Stephanie seemed pleasantly surprised once she recognized her former suitemate. “Kayden, oh my gosh, it’s been a while! How are you?”

They embraced. “I’m great, how about you?”

Once they parted, Stephanie tucked a hair behind her ear as she glanced nervously to the side. “Oh, you know, fine, except for all the stress about finals. Are you staying here this summer?”

“Yup, Utah is my home now.”

“Oh, good! I’ve decided to stay down here the whole summer this year, too.”

“That’s amazing, actually, ‘cause I was gonna text you about maybe going to church with you.”

Stephanie’s eyes lit up as a hopeful smile took over her lips. “Really? What ward are you in?”

“I don’t know. Don’t get too excited, now, I haven’t even been to church in like a year.” She shrugged and flung her hair back over her shoulder dismissively. “I’d rather go with you, anyway. Are you still in the dorms?”

“Oh, no, they’re way overpriced. I’m sure my bishop could help you figure out which ward you’re assigned to. Where do you live?”

“I’m on the south end, near Main Street, but, seriously, I don’t want to be around a bunch of strangers. I don’t need the added stress of meeting new people.”

Stephanie hesitantly bit her lip. “Well… okay, but, I mean, no promises.”

 “Don’t worry about it. Just pretend I’m not already a member.”

 “Okay, if you say so. Send me a text before you want to go, and we’ll work it out.”

With a smile, Kayden gave her friend a one-armed hug. “Thanks so much. Good luck on finals. I’ll see you later!”

As they departed, Kayden shot Aisha a message: ‘Just talked to Steph. Here’s to getting on the straight and narrow’—a reference to a common LDS saying—followed by a champagne emoticon.

Aisha replied with a thumbs up and ‘Emphasis on the narrow.’

As the afternoon crept into dusk, Kayden began pacing her apartment anxiously, picking at her bottom lip with her nails. She second guessed her decision to text Misha after all. Wouldn’t Vince find it weird to have their professor join a game? Especially since the semester wasn’t even technically over yet?

Ultimately, she decided to dive in, and sent a message in her group chat, without adding Misha to it.

Kayden: Hey ya’ll. Battlefield tonight?

Tito: Dude it’s the Saturday before finals.

Josh: Yeah this is the prime cram time.

Vince: These procrastinators… I got your back, Kay.

She sent back a fist emoji followed by, ‘Thanks! Eight good?’

Vince: Works for me.

Now the hard part: passing on the invite to Misha, and then surprising Vince with his presence. She stared at the open message thread with Misha on her phone, rereading his last reply: ‘Of course, that’s the only one I don’t have. I shall grab a used copy today.’

She had only replied with a thumbs-up emoji. Hours had passed. What if he hadn’t found a copy? What if he had plans? More importantly, what if Vince thought it was weird for Misha to join them? Is it so wrong for adult college students and professors to hang out?

She inhaled deeply before sighing aloud, “Oh, fuck it!” and swiping her fingers rapidly across the keyboard.

Kayden: Get that copy yet? Vince and I are playing at 8.

Misha’s response was swift. So swift, in fact, that Kayden jumped in surprise when her phone buzzed in her hand so soon after hitting send.

Misha: You bet I did. Eight sounds good.

After dinner and a shower, Kayden snuggled up in her favorite chair and blanket, signing on somewhat early. Vince was also already online, so she joined a voice chat with him. Headset on, she launched the game. “So, uh, by the way…” she nibbled her bottom lip again. What would he say? “…Misha’s gonna join us.”

Vince’s tone dripped with confusion. “…Misha?”

“Yeah. Uh. Kaiser.”

“Oh!” His voice gave away his surprise, but there was no detection of judgment, except maybe in that tense silence that followed.

As if scripted, Misha appeared online and joined their voice party. “Hey there.” His melodic voice caused Kayden’s heart to jump.

Vince greeted Misha as if they were already friends. “Yo, Doc. I didn’t know you were a gamer!”

Misha grumbled lowly. “Yeah, surprise seems to be the consensus around here.”

Kayden and Vince both chuckled, with him presenting a friendly challenge, “Guess you’ll just have to prove your skills.”

“No pressure, though,” Kayden added. “I’m not exactly what you’d call a master gamer, myself.”

“She makes a great medic though.”

“Well, be prepared to resuscitate me a lot. I prefer to charge head-first into the frontlines.” Kaiser’s grin could be heard.

Without thinking, Kayden replied, “I’ll keep my paddles charged and ready.”

Misha chuckled quietly without adding commentary, and the trio battled as a team with a little less awkward tension than anticipated.

The doubtful voice in Kayden’s head finally quieted.