Free Tru Love by Rian Kelley

her mother’s heart. She expels a heavy sigh. Her mom never went to college and she wants Genny to have the experience. It doesn’t matter to her what Genny studies. It doesn’t matter to her father, either, so long as she attends Notre Dame. His alma mater. But it snows there and she wants sun. Maybe she’ll major in marine biology and attend the College of the Virgin Islands.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Eight
                  Truman wasn’t in calculus and Genny spent more than half the period trying to convince herself that the disappointment she felt had more to do with her inability to spot Hunter anywhere on campus this morning than the absence of her personal body guard.
    She looked for Hunter. She hoped he was looking for her. But that’s not the case. She went by the band room, poked her head through the door when she heard a series of thuds and whisks, but none of the drummers were Hunter. One of them waved at her and asked her why Hunter wasn’t in school today. Genny shrugged, then slipped back into the tiled hall, focusing on the echo of her footsteps rather than the stuttered beat of her heart.
    He ditched. He can’t face her, or doesn’t want to. He’s putting as much space between them as possible. He’s letting her know that they’re absolutely over, no second thoughts.
                  Genny understands that part is over. That it was over
    before they really began. They were pushing it, or maybe they were both hoping they could be more to each other— I mean , Genny rants inside her head, it shouldn’t take two months and counting just to get used to kissing her boyfriend. Unless he’s really just a friend.
    But what about their friendship? Doesn’t Hunter want any of that?
                  Apparently not.
                  People lose best friends every day, she tells herself. She’ll survive. She has Serena. She’ll make more friends. She might even apply herself to the task soon.
                  She snorts her doubt about that, navigating her way from calculus to French without really looking where she’s going.
                  Genny doesn’t make friends. She applies the laws of gravity to her relationships. People who are meant to be together are drawn into each other’s atmosphere, orbiting the same way planets do. Occasionally, you meet someone who becomes the focal point of your universe, the way the earth spins relentlessly around the sun.
                  Some people believe astronomers were the first romantics.
    Genny includes herself in that group. She totally gets the pull of the stars and why wolves howl at the moon.
                  “What are you dreaming about?”
                  Serena’s voice shatters her thoughts and Genny frowns at her.
                  “That good?” Serena says. “Must be Mr. tall and handsome.”
                  They walk into their French class and take seats in the back row, next to each other.
                  “I was thinking about wolves,” Genny corrects her.
                  “Exactly.” Serena’s smile is full of self-satisfaction. “He is very wolfish,” she continues, like she’s agreeing with Genny. “His coloring, those muscles.” Then her eyes snap with excitement. “Wolves mate for life, you know, a definite plus, especially for someone naturally a little guy shy right now.”
                  “I’m not guy shy,” Genny denies, frustrated, “I mean, I’m not even looking.”
                  “Exactly,” she says again. “You’re seventeen. You’ve had one boyfriend your whole life and that lasted only a few weeks. That’s not natural, not even for a late bloomer.”
                  Genny can’t find the rights words that’ll make her shut up, so she makes a face, scrunching up her nose and mouth to show her distaste for her