Finals followed, and then Christmas break. My homework had piled up. I had an etude that I had been composing for piano, but I changed it around whenever the mood came upon me and grew increasingly frustrated. I felt confident about most of my classes, but still spent the majority of my time in the library. Ari and I were neck and neck for the top of our graduating class and I really wanted to beat him. Most evenings I was joined in the library by Ari, Rory and Emily, and I was starting to see a lot more of Julia as well. I didn’t know if she just needed to study or if she was using studying as an excuse to hang out with Rory, but I noticed the two of them together a lot more than usual. Julia was laid back around Ari and me. Ari said Julia had told him a while back that she didn’t know how to act around him anymore. She is flirty by nature and maybe she thought it best not to say anything at all for fear of upsetting me. But Julia is sweet and I couldn’t imagine her saying something that would ever anger me.