Chapter 5: The Lab and the Game

**Four.**

My major is pretty tough—a lot of homework, and it's really hard.

One weekend, Ethan and I were stuck in the dorm struggling with a physical chemistry problem.

Finally, Ethan groaned in pain.

"I can't do this anymore! Why is it so hard? No matter how many times I recalculate, it's wrong."

Looking at the few hairs he'd pulled out, I felt a little sorry for him, but there was nothing I could do.

College coursework is so much harder than high school, and not by a little.

"How about we ask someone else?" I suggested.

"Ask who?" Ethan asked, stumping me.

Professors? ...Didn't really dare.

Classmates? Ethan was already the top science student in the state.

While I hesitated, someone came to mind: the Harvard upperclassman. If she were here, these problems would be a breeze for her.

But I'd already deleted her.

If I'd known I'd still be tortured by homework in college, I wouldn't have acted so impulsively back then.

Just then, Ethan, who'd been lying there, suddenly sat up.

"I just thought of someone!"

"Who?"

"The senior we met at the library last time—I added her on Instagram, remember? She's in this major too, she must know."

Ethan acted right away, grabbed his phone, and sent a message.

A minute later, he excitedly dragged me outside.

"Come on, she agreed! Let's go find her now."

I barely had time to grab my backpack and toss on a hoodie before Ethan was halfway down the hall. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it—probably another Canvas notification reminding me that a problem set was due in twelve hours. For the first time since the start of the semester, I felt a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, someone would finally explain this mess of equations in a way I could understand.