Free Honesty - SF8 by Susan X Meagher Page B

person you’re copying from hasn’t paid less attention than you have. I’ll take my chances with my own shoddy study habits, thank you very much!"
    "So…?"
    "Isn’t it obvious?" she asked. "The more people, the more you can slither down in your seat and disappear. If there’s more than fifty people, the odds of being noticed are very, very small," she pointed out.
    "You know, Mia, I don’t think this was what the founders of the University of California had in mind when they established this institution," Ryan observed.
    "Oh, so what are you taking, Smarty Pants? What’s your major anyway? P.E.?"
    Ryan was a bit surprised that Jamie had not talked about her major. "No," she replied with a smile. "I’m double majoring in molecular and cell biology and math."
    Mia scrunched up her face in puzzlement and asked, "Why?"
    "’Cause I like it," Ryan replied, thinking the answer was obvious.
    "What kind of courses do you take? I’ve never known a biology major."
    "Well, I’ve actually finished my requirements for bio. Now I’m concentrating on math."
    "You should take this cool music thing with me!" Mia said brightly, thinking that it would be fun to goof around with Ryan during class.
    "Don’t think I can manage it, pal. I want to do an independent study next term, and my advisor has talked me into branching out a little from straight math."
    "What’s your independent study gonna be on? The theory of why volleyballs bounce?"
    "Nooo," Ryan replied patiently, not offended in the least by Mia’s teasing. "I’m not sure this will stick, but right now I’m thinking about studying stock market fluctuations." She cocked her head and asked, "Are you sure you want to hear about this?"
    "Of course," she said. "I’m all ears."
    "Okay," Ryan said as she continued. "I don’t know if you know much about linear systems, but the two polar models are the random-walk model and the harmonic model. A model in between the two is color chaos, which produces irregular oscillations with a narrow frequency band."
    She looked up to see that Jamie’s eyes had glazed over, but that Mia was staring at her intently. "Go on," the curly-haired woman urged. "This sounds fascinating so far, Ryan. I didn’t know that was something that interested you so much. That was color chaos right?" she asked with a focused expression.
    Jamie’s mouth nearly hit the table. "Do you know what she’s talking about?"
    "Not a clue," Mia said. "But I’ve been dating men since I was fourteen, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s how to look interested when they bore you to death." She smiled over at Ryan and patted her hand. "Not to imply that you’re boring me, of course."
    "Of course," Ryan gamely replied, deciding to keep the rest of her topic to herself. "Never crossed my mind."
     
    After they had finished eating, Ryan gave Mia a lesson in how to clean a kitchen properly. The smaller woman watched attentively and performed each of her assigned tasks, but when they were finished she said, "Okay, I think I understand how to do this. But why bother? Maria Los cleans because she likes to."
    "I’m sure cleaning up our filth is what gives her life meaning," Ryan said with a smirk. "But henceforth, the price of a meal is to clean the kitchen. Just because she’s hired to clean doesn’t mean we should go out of our way to make the place dirty!"
    Mia nodded at her, following Ryan with her eyes as she grabbed her book bag and went upstairs to study. As soon as Ryan was out of the room Mia commented, "I can never tell if she’s kidding or not. Does she really think it makes sense to clean up when you have someone to do it for you?"
    "I’m pretty sure she was serious about that," Jamie informed her. "But you can always tell if she’s kidding by looking at her eyes. She just can’t keep them from twinkling when she’s kidding."
    "Huh," Mia mused, on her way out of the room. "She’s a hard one to figure out."
     
    To give her partner some space,