Jameson couldn’t keep his eyes off of Prandi. He had never seen a girl so mesmerized. As she soaked up everything like a sponge, he imagined a younger vision of her: a precocious owl-eyed child examining her world and finding wonder and awe at every corner.

He already knew this quality made her the perfect lab partner. He was starting to wonder if she was a perfect partner altogether.

In their Biology Lab, he always deferred to her, letting her make difficult incisions and pertinent decisions because she was brilliant and, well, because she was willing.

But they weren’t in Kansas anymore.

And not all the decisions were theirs to make. She was pledged to marry someone else. How could they wriggle out of that? Jameson wondered if her family would grow to accept him or if he’d be cast away. Was this a losing battle? Should he just drive her home and cut his losses?

As he watched her ooh and ah over the virtual solar system, he realized letting her go would be an unpardonable sin – she was perfect.