Spellbinding Summer

Landon

“Final essays are due end of day Friday. Remember, this is sixty percent of your final grade. You’ll need at least three current examples of psychological concepts, relating them back to the foundations of psychology. Be specific!”

I stood with the rest of the class and put my supplies in my backpack as the professor finished her speech.

“Landon.”

I glanced over to see Stephan walking toward me. He was one of those individuals whose future success was undeniable. He was going to accomplish great things one day. I wouldn’t exactly say we were friends, but we were more than just acquaintances.

“Hey man. Finish your essay, yet?”

His expression led me to believe that he had probably finished his essay months ago. He was polite and responded anyway.

“Yes. I just want to read it over one more time. I need to do well on this.”

I smirked at him. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

He nodded. “I actually need a favor.”

“Sure. What’s up?” I slung my backpack over my shoulder and began to walk out of class.

“As you know, I applied for that over the summer study abroad program.”

“Right. I completely forgot. Did you get in?”

He smiled, “I did.”

“That’s awesome, Stephan. Congratulations. I know how much you wanted that.”

“Thanks. But…”

“Uh oh. This must be where the favor comes in. Do you need me to water your plants or something?” I held up a hand. “I don’t do pets. Well, I could probably fish-sit for you. Do you need me to watch your fish?”

“No,” he shook his head, “My sister.”

I abruptly stopped walking. “What?”

He sighed. “She broke up with her douchebag of a boyfriend. He kicked her out, and she didn’t really have anywhere to go. I told her she could stay with me, but that was before I got into the program.”

“I’d like to help, but I’m still in the dorms. What about your parents?”

He shook his head. “They are on some safari trip. They are going through some weird bucket list, mid-life crisis thing. Plus, they didn’t know about her boyfriend. He wasn’t the nicest guy.”

“What about friends?”

The look he gave told me the answer before he said it. “They hung around with the same people. It seems they picked his side. Which was fine with me. None of them were good people.”

I was about to apologize for not being able to help when I saw the desperate look on his face. “Fuck. Fine. But if I get kicked out at the end of the school year for having a ‘female’ in my room, you are supporting me for the rest of my life.”

At the beginning of the year, the dorm supervisor gave this huge speech about “females” in the dorms after hours. The man took his duties very seriously and his verbiage always cracked me up.

Stephan laughed, “Thank you so much, Landon. You have no idea how much better I feel knowing she’ll be with you.”

“It’s really not a big deal. Don’t worry and enjoy the program. It’s an awesome opportunity. But, um, how long will she be staying?”

He shook his head. “It shouldn’t be too long. She is already looking for a place.”

I nodded. Well, that won’t be too bad then. She’ll probably need to stay for a week or two. I’m sure she’ll be out of my hair before I know it. Plus, most of my time will be at the library studying. I'm sure we'll barely see each other.

“Alright, when do we start? I’m guessing I should meet her first.”

He grinned, “Meet for drinks on Saturday?”

“Perfect,” I nodded. “I’ll need a drink after this week’s finals, anyway.”

Stephan let out a relieved breath. “I can’t thank you enough. I know this is a lot to ask.”

I just waved it off as if it wasn’t an issue. I mean, how much trouble can one woman be?