Stay with me

Since I couldn’t hear a word they said, I instead pretended they were all part of a soap opera while making up commentary in my head.

Pixie-haired girl removed her head from Ollie’s shoulder before curling into a ball next to him, and Ollie’s gaze drifted in my direction. I quickly turned my head over my hands in the opposite direction to look out the window instead. The view wasn’t any better, but I didn’t like what his stare did to me. It pulled me in, and suddenly I was losing control.

I never lost control. Control was all I had.

The class was small in psychology, about ten students at most. Though there were plenty of desks available in the front, I chose one in the last row in the back. Again, I blame it all on my need to control the situation. I could see everyone in front of me, knew the location of my exit, and understood my surroundings.

The professor still wasn’t in, and I took the time to analyze each student. The way they either slumped in their chairs, or sat tall and ready for class to begin, which ones had friends in the classroom, and which ones didn’t. In the second row on the far right sat a girl with short blonde hair and small shoulders. She looked up from her desk and toward the door every ten seconds.

She was waiting for someone.

“Good afternoon, hello, good day,” a gentleman rambled while bustling through the door. “Sorry I’m ru

The teacher was a tiny fellow with gray wiry hair and patches of stubble surrounding his jawline. His glasses sat on the tip of his nose as he shuffled amongst his papers at his podium. He was a slob, with his shirt half tucked into khakis two sizes too big. From the looks of it, you could tell he was late often.

He glanced up from his desk, and his attention was immediately drawn to me in the back. “I’m Dr. Kippler. There are extra textbooks on the bookcase behind you if you need one.” After I retook my seat, I flipped through the pages of the textbook when Dr. Kippler spoke up again. “Ah, nice of you to join us, Masters.”

I lifted my gaze to see Ollie taking a seat at the front of the room in front of the girl with blonde hair, and then it made sense. She was waiting for Ollie. Her small shoulders relaxed and she tucked her short hair behind her ear.

“This time I will let it pass since I was late myself, but no more warnings,” Dr. Kippler added, but I knew this was a regular thing for Dr. Kippler. He would never be on time.

Ollie nodded before turning his head to the blonde-haired girl who greeted him with a gentle hand over his shoulder.

But his attention quickly became mine the moment he spotted me in the back.

Three intense seconds passed with his eyes on mine before he mouthed, “Hi.”

The blonde-haired girl turned to see what had robbed her of his attention. She narrowed her eyes, and I gave them both a small wave with my fingers.

Dr. Kippler cleared his throat, and both Ollie and blonde-haired girl snapped their heads back to the front. “Masters, what are the six human emotional needs?”

Ollie’s posture relaxed as he stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Certainty, variety, significance, love, growth, and contribution,” he replied without opening his textbook.

“And which ones are required for human survival?” Kippler tested him.

“Certainty, variety, significance, and … love.”

I coughed out a laugh at the mention of the last one.

“Beg to differ … miss …,” Kippler looked down at his desk. “Jett.”

As I tapped my pencil on the edge of the desk, everyone turned around in their seats.

“No, keep going. You guys are doing great,” I said with a thumb in the air and a smile to match my sarcasm. I’d been in situations like this before, and it was a lose/lose battle. I had my beliefs about love, they had theirs, and I wasn’t here to convince anyone otherwise.

“Becks, which one do you feel is most significant to your needs?”

The heat was taken off of me and was now on a red-headed freckled boy sitting in the front. He was a total fire-starter. He had the red hair to match.

“Significance.”

My eyes rolled at my accuracy.

“I guess I want to be seen and heard,” Becks added. Yeah, with fire.

“Gwen?” Kippler asked.

Gwen, also known as the blonde-haired girl behind Ollie, leaned closer to Ollie. “Certainty,” she said. Ollie adjusted in his seat before she continued, “I want to feel safe and secure, I suppose. Especially in my relationships.” The way she said it somehow made the air in the room thicker, stuffier.

“What about you, Masters? What is your most significant need?”

I was on the edge of my seat for this one, certain Ollie was going to say “Significance” as well. Since I’d been here, he’d managed to get more attention from girls than I’d received from Jake. He looked like the kind of guy to crave attention and the need to be desired by others as much as the next guy.

“Hard to say, Kipp. I want to say, out of my options, love, but love is hardly an emotion.”

Wait. What?

“What do you mean?” Dr. Kippler asked.

“Emotions can change. They can go from one extreme to the next depending on various conditions, but love…”—he shook his head slightly—”love never waivers. It endures all other emotions. If it couldn’t withstand, then it was never really love in the first place.” Ollie let out a sigh. “Love is invariable, Kipp. Constant. Not an emotion.”

I stared at the back of his head with my brows in the air.

Dr. Kippler scratched along his jawline in deep thought. “With that being said, what is a better term you would replace love with as an emotion?”

Ollie let out a small laugh. “You tell me.”

The room went quiet again as Dr. Kippler looked around the room. “What about you, Jett? Which emotional need is most important to you?”

My head cocked in Dr. Kippler’s direction now that the heat was back on me.

“Variety,” I said sharply, not having to think at all about my answer.

“Care to explain?”

“Nope.”

Dr. Kippler nodded at my honesty and brought his attention back to the class. “For those of you who are unfamiliar with variety, it’s the motivation to seek change or a challenge outside of a normal routine. Unless Masters here would like to alter the pyramid once again?” he asked, looking to Ollie with a challenging grin. Chuckles spread throughout the class and Ollie shook his head before Dr. Kippler continued, “Very well. Your responses to my question could clarify the very reason why you’re here in the first place.” Kippler brought his hands together as he became proud of himself with his revelation.

After my last class of the day, I entered the office of Dr. Conway. The room was the same size as my dorm, and the sun cast enough light through the large window to brighten up the space. A leather couch rested against the wall, facing a desk with papers scattered across, and posters of positive quotes filled her pale blue walls.

Dr. Conway turned to face me from the chair with an authentic smile. “Mia, it’s so nice to finally meet you.” She stood with an extended hand. “Please take a seat.”

As soon as she opened her mouth, I knew Dr. Conway was an American by her Boston accent. Her thick black hair framed her face and dropped just below her shoulders. “How was your trip here?”