The thing about our campus was, it was small. Tiny. At 2,500 students, you ran into people all the time, which was why I was surprised it had taken three days since my return to campus to run into my friend Liam from freshman year.

Even through the warm evening light the slowly sinking sun cast, his face lit up when he saw me waving and he stopped in his tracks in front of the dining hall. "Grace, it's so good to see you! How have you been?"

"I've been well, how about you?"

"I had a good summer! I worked quite a bit, spent time with my family and friends, and stayed with my grandma in Colorado for two weeks."

He looked down at me from his six-ish-foot height, grinned, and ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair that curled at the tips. He looked older than our sophomore spring, more mature, and although summer break was only four months, it was half a lifetime in college.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." I was still smiling, a natural reaction I had to Liam. "Hey, let's get dinner together sometime this week and catch up."

"Sounds fantastic. Do you want to go to Four Cows to celebrate the beginning of junior year?" he asked. "I hear they have great vegetarian burgers. Like, so good that even meat-eaters enjoy them."

Four Cows was the local tavern, and they did also serve some outstanding burgers. And he remembered I was a vegetarian.

"Sure. We'll have dining hall food long enough, right?" I made a face. The dining halls weren't bad at all, but after a while everything tasted the same. "Actually, are you free right now?"

"Oh, um... sure. No, yeah, you're right. We'll get dining hall food every day. I'm learning to be more spontaneous."

I smiled and clapped my hands beneath my chin. Side by side, we then made our way down the hill and into town, passing Starr Hall where I had the distinct pleasure of inhabiting a single on the top floor this year. He lived farther up the hill in the International Student House, but he would be walking past my building on his way to the library all the time. Part of Old Stone Row, Starr was centrally located on campus and thus popular. I was lucky I had been able to get in, and a single room at that.

The way we fell into step on our way reminded me of our orientation hiking trip. We were paired with random people, "for safety," as they had told us, but everyone knew it had been for bonding reasons, and it had worked for Liam and me.

And now, junior fall, there he was again. He'd been working out over the summer, his shoulders were broader now. His natural tan was even darker, no doubt from spending lots of time outdoors over the break.

Two years later, it was now a lovely summer day in early September once again, the air was warm and the sun hadn't set yet. Four Cows was packed as usual, but they still were still able to seat the two of us on the outdoor porch.

"You look great, by the way." Kindness radiated from Liam's adorable, dimpled smile.

He was exaggerating. My simple pair of jeans and white crop t-shirt were nothing to write home about. White went well with my long, honey blonde hair and the jeans accentuated my small waist, courtesy of my mom's good genes, but I hadn't put much thought into my outfit for the evening. After all, I hadn't known I'd be going out for dinner. And I didn't know if he meant anything by it.

Still, my cheeks warmed at the compliment. "Thank you."

He was handsome himself even in his simple gray v-neck t-shirt and tan shorts, but I didn't tell him.

The mushroom burgers we had both ordered were fresh and juicy and every bit as tasty as promised. Around other people, I might have felt uncomfortable eating such inherently messy food, but not Liam.

"You know Amanda and I broke up late this spring, right?" he began between two bites. I nodded, dipping a potato wedge into the tiny tin bucket of ketchup. "Then you probably know the story, too."

"I heard that you broke up, but we weren't very close last year and I didn't want to pry."

His eyes studied my face, making the heat rise in my cheeks. To tell the truth, I had definitely wanted to pry—my curiosity almost always won over my tactfulness—but nobody had seemed to know anything which was something to be marveled at given our small campus. Did he know?

I determined he probably didn't when, after a moment, he continued: "We both didn't want to carry the relationship into the summer. And then she ran into someone from her high school again while she was home and they're dating now. We're still on good terms. Even though we enjoyed each other's company, we weren't in love and decided to call it quits."

"That is such a you-thing to say." And it was: leave it to Liam to split amicably and in agreement and then not say even one bad word about his ex, but instead talk about how much they 'enjoyed each other's company'.

"What do you mean?" His eyebrows met a crease in his forehead.

"Of course even your break-up is civilized and well-intentioned." My chin rested in my palm. "I can't see you ever going through a bad break-up."

"I mean, of course I'll do my best to avoid it, but it's never in one person's hand alone. I can't rule out that I'll get into an ugly, painful break-up at some point. I can only hope I'd cope well with it if it did happen."

"Point taken." I used the straw to stir the ice cubes in my glass of water. "Speaking of break-up, how is Amelia holding up? I noticed on her social media that her boyfriend is now an ex?"

Liam's older sister Amelia, to whom he was probably closest in his family, had recently finished grad school and broken up with her boyfriend of four years to whom she had been planning to get engaged. I had followed her profile over the summer and pieced the story together from her status changes and posts.

"Yeah. She's okay now, but still getting over Barrett. He really hurt her."

What kind of name was Barrett anyway? It screamed spoiled frat boy to me, the exact opposite of who I imagined for Amelia. I didn't know the guy, but judging by his name, I wanted to tell her: good riddance.

"He was a dirtbag," Liam confirmed and shook his head at the mere thought of him. "As if the cheating wouldn't have been enough, he and his former RA are expecting a child now."

"Wow." My mouth hung open. The scope of the problem evidently reached far beyond his name. Reaching for my glass, I remembered only ice cubes remained in it, so I set it back down and cleared my throat. "I'm sorry for Amelia. She deserves so much better than that jerk."

I had met Amelia early during freshman year when she had been a senior at our college. She was every bit as nice and involved as her brother, but even more ambitious than him. Her boyfriend cheating on her was messy and didn't fit into her plans for a perfect life.

Liam must have been upset, too, given that the Confortales were a tightly knit family, similar to my own. He spoke to his parents and siblings twice a week like clockwork.

His voice ripped me from my thoughts. "How are your dad and grandpa doing?"

"They're well, thanks. Dad was pretty busy with work this summer, but Grampa and I spent a lot of time reading in our Adirondack chairs in the backyard."

"And did you get to spend some time with your mom and sister?"

"Yep. Not a ton, but they and my mom's boyfriend came by on their way to Acadia where they vacationed. Many parts of the park are accessible to wheelchairs, so it was a good trip for Elsie, too."

"Oh, that's wonderful. I bet it was great to see them again."

I forced a smile. "Yeah."

Since my parents' divorce seven years ago, I was less than enthusiastic to see my mom and her boyfriend, Michael, even if he was probably a decent person. But I didn't want to discuss my family with Liam tonight. The cardigan I had brought alleviated the shiver that ran up my arms from the chill evening air.

"So what do you hope for in your junior year, Grace?"

I thought for a moment. I had enough on my hands with my classes as it was. If I got lucky, the Spanish club could be squeezed into my schedule every now and then. Any more than that was an unrealistic goal. It was a simple and subjective question but I felt pressured to get it right. "I'm hoping to take classes that prepare me for grad school, but also a few fun, liberal-artsy ones before I'll be stuck with serious psychology research in two years. And networking with professors who could write me letters of recommendations next year." Liam nodded in approval. "What about you?"

"Honestly, college is such a short time. I'm hoping for meaningful connections with people above all."

Another very Liam thing to say. I shifted on my chair and wrapped a lock of hair around my pinkie. Suddenly my answer sounded self-centered and shallow. "Yeah, that too."

He was such a good human being. Liam was a generous sharer, an attentive listener, and a reliable friend. We should have texted more this summer after we had been so close freshman year. I wondered if Jessica was still in touch with him, they had had lunch together sometimes back then. Last year, we hadn't spent much time together. He had already been involved in the student government association, or SGA, which took up a ton of time, and I had tried several clubs but hadn't stuck with one, and we had lived in opposite corners of the campus.

Despite our relative distance last year, tonight it felt like we'd never stopped being friends.

Later, he walked me back to Starr. His hands disappeared in the pockets of his tan shorts. "Can I give you a hug?"

My eyes widened the slightest bit. A fuzzy shiver ran through me as I wrapped my arms around him and let him squeeze me tightly.

"Good night." He smiled, turned around, and pushed through the door to the staircase.

Men asking for consent before touching women was a gesture of respect that I wouldn't have minded becoming fashionable. My friend Liam.

I half hoped I was wrong about his crush on me, because this man seemed too good to waste his affection on me.