Practice, lounging around with Ginny, extra runs, and avoiding contact with Tiberius kept my dance card full. I’d started eating most of my meals in the Union after spotting Tiberius at lunch in the dining hall on Wednesday. The anonymity of the Union was welcoming. I was nothing but a small speck among a bunch of people I didn’t know or have to get to know. It was like an airport, except I didn’t have to leave anytime soon and board a flight. So I stayed there. A lot. As for study hour, I continued to arrive late, always grabbing a seat in the front row, and jumping out of my seat five minutes early. This wasn’t my first rodeo, so I knew all I needed was to be there for seventy-five percent of the hour for the proctor to mark me present. Plus, my running times were improving, and Coach Wallace was pleased with my effort. Mostly, the coaches just wanted me to run and didn’t want to deal with me, unless they absolutely had to. For the most part, I was still a social misfit, which was why I couldn’t believe where I was and how I was spending my last weekend before classes officially started.
