The Summer Of Sunshine And Margot. Susan Mallery

to be coddled, but this class was sounding more like boot camp than higher education.

      “The college has a strict policy on plagiarism and cheating. I’m sure this won’t be a surprise, but if you are caught cheating you will be expelled. There are no exceptions. On the day of our tests, you will each bring a blank blue book to class. I will take them from you in exchange for one that I have brought.” She smiled. “You will be expected to show your work on every problem. There will be pop quizzes. Please make sure you have blank Scantrons, Form 100, with you at all times.”

      She paced back and forth in front of the class. “What else? I will randomly collect the homework. If you have completed the homework, you will receive bonus points. At the end of the semester, if you are within ten points of a higher grade, bonus points will be added to your total points and could push you up to the higher grade. Any questions?”

      No one raised a hand.

      “Excellent,” Professor Rejefski said. “Then let’s get started.”

      Two and a half hours later, when the class finally ended, Sunshine felt as if she’d run a mental marathon. She was exhausted and her head was spinning. They’d covered most of the first chapter. While she understood factors and the order of operations, she was a little shaky on word problems. She’d made a note to find out when the TA sessions were, whatever those were. She was going to have to go to all of those. And maybe the math lab. Hiring a tutor wasn’t out of the question.

      She glanced at the test schedule the professor had handed out and then slipped it into her backpack along with her notes. She told herself that all she had to do was get to her car and drive home. She could be overwhelmed there. In private. Having a breakdown in the classroom was not a good idea.

      She settled her backpack over her shoulder and walked to the classroom door. A tall, lanky guy moved next to her.

      “Hey,” he said with a nod. “I’m Justin.”

      “Sunshine.”

      “Hey.”

      She offered him a tight smile as they walked outside.

      “So I haven’t seen you around here.” He half moved in front of her. “Are you new?”

      While she heard the words, it took her a second for them to actually sink in. Someone was talking to her. She needed to respond. Her freak-out about the class wasn’t exactly visible to anyone but her.

      “Hi. Yes. Today’s my first day on campus.”

      “I thought so. I would have noticed you before. You’re hot.”

      What? “Okay. Thanks.” She went to step past him. Justin blocked her effort.

      “I’m having a pool party at my house this afternoon. Just friends and beer. We’ll barbecue burgers and stuff. You should definitely be there.”

      The statement was so at odds with her sense of being completely out of her element that she could only stare at him.

      “Excuse me?”

      He flashed her a smile. “You’ll have fun. I promise.”

      She shifted her backpack to her other shoulder, then actually turned her attention on Justin. He was good-looking, in a very young, teenage kind of way. He’d yet to fill out and he had the eager air of a happy puppy.

      “How old are you?” she asked bluntly.

      He grinned. “Old enough.”

      She waited.

      His grin faded. “Twenty-three.”

      She waited some more.

      “Eighteen.”

      “That’s what I thought. Thanks, Justin, but no.”

      She moved around him and headed for her car. Puppy Justin chose not to follow, which was heartening. Now if only she could get rid of her sense of impending doom. Telling herself she could do it, she could figure out college, wasn’t working any kind of magic. She was scared and apprehensive and not the least bit confident about her abilities.

      “Change is always hard,” she murmured to herself as she drove out of the parking lot. “I have to do this. I have to.”

      It was the only way for her to be more. If she didn’t want to believe herself, she had Justin as an illustration. She wanted to be more than the girl with boobs and an ass. She wanted to be proud of herself. It all started with this math class and by God, she was going to get through it.

      Or so she hoped.

      Bianca had left a note on Margot’s door requesting they start at ten in the morning. Despite her late night, Margot was up at six, and showered and dressed by six-thirty. She waited until seven to go down to breakfast where, as promised, a small buffet had been set up in the dining room.

      Alec was already there, eating his breakfast and reading the paper. An actual paper—not a digital version—which made sense, given what he did for a living. He looked up when she entered.

      “Good morning.”

      She nodded. “Morning.”

      And that was it. He returned his attention to his paper, she collected her breakfast and took it upstairs. When she finished, she returned her dishes to the kitchen before going over her lesson plan for the first few days. Mostly she and Bianca would get to know each other. It was very likely that she would have to modify her lesson plans as she figured out how Bianca liked to learn and what she most liked to do.

      Promptly at ten, Bianca appeared in the lounge. She wore yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Her dark blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wasn’t wearing any makeup, yet she still looked so beautiful as to be otherworldly.

      “Good morning,” Margot said, standing. “I’m excited to get started. How are you feeling?”

      “Nervous mostly. I’m not sure why I’m doing this. It’s really a ridiculous thing, when you think about it. How can you possibly help me?”

      First-day jitters weren’t uncommon. Margot smiled reassuringly. “Of course you can always change your mind. Let’s try this for a few days and see how it goes. If it’s not working, then I’ll completely understand.”

      Bianca tilted her head. “You’re not going to try to talk me into staying the course?”

      “Not my style.”

      She relaxed visibly. “Good.” She pointed to the window. “It’s foggy out. Let’s go walk in the garden. We can pretend we’re in London and we’re spies on a mission for Winston Churchill.”

      Margot’s first thought was that if they were spying for Churchill, they wouldn’t be in London. They’d be behind enemy lines somewhere in France or Germany, but she sensed saying that would spoil the moment.

      “Let me grab a jacket and we’ll head out.”

      The fog was thick and damp and they could only see a few feet in front of them. Margot knew that on her own she would get lost in a matter of seconds, which might be what Bianca intended. But rather than try to remember which way they’d come, Margot told herself to relax and enjoy the experience. Even if she did get lost, eventually the fog would lift and she would find her way back to the house.

      Bianca linked arms with her. “The fog always makes me think of Rod,” she said with a laugh. “He never liked it. Said it made him sad, which was always funny to me. The man is from Scotland.”

      “Rod?”

      “Rod Stewart. I met him when I was very young.” She thought for a second. “Maybe nineteen or twenty. I was in Saint-Tropez and there was a party. Back then there was always a party. We had a wild week together. He was just so charming.”

      Margot wasn’t sure if the story was informational or meant to impress. They were walking along a stone path lined with plants, bushes