“One more,” his mom said as she snapped another picture of Max in his cap and gown.

  Max grinned. He found it hard not to grin and realized he must look pretty foolish. But it was one of those moments in life where the folly was justified and Max soaked up the atmosphere like a sponge.

  Graduation was over as the seniors of Parker High School stood around the front lawn of the school where the ceremonies were held. Friends and family members greeted Max with handshakes and hugs and passed along envelopes full of well-wishes and money. Mary Anne, Mr. Mitner, and a few other employees of Hurley’s Market were also there.

  Most of the graduates were gearing up for celebration in the form of partying or vacations. Max’s evening was a little more reserved, as he and his parents went to a nice steak restaurant for dinner. He had, after all, signed up to work a double-shift the next day at work.

  “Eat up, young man,” his dad said as the waiter took away Max’s salad plate and replaced it with a plate with a nice juicy steak and baked potato. His dad’s chest seemed to swell with pride and his mom’s face appeared to actually be glowing.

  Max could sense it too. He knew his parents were proud and he enjoyed seeing them happy, but deep down he knew that it was he who was the proudest and the most thankful for having parents like these. He knew how they had sacrificed over the years to provide him with everything he needed, especially a loving environment. He felt confident in the knowledge that their faith in God had concreted his own faith, and he was ready to go out into the world and take that faith with him.

  ***

  A week and a half later, it was time for registration at Cedarbluff, which started at 8:00 a.m. At 7:20, Max was in line, the line for students whose last names began with J―P. He was the only one in that line or any line. For twenty-five minutes, he was the only one in the auditorium where registration was held. Finally, others started filing in. Two students took their places at the computer terminals in front of the two lines on either side of him. Max began to get anxious hoping his person showed up on time.

  Finally, at ten minutes before eight o’clock, a girl seated herself in the chair behind the computer that set directly in front of Max. She was small, short, with shoulder-length, coarse, bright red hair and a ton of freckles. Her glasses were very thick for someone so young. She hardly looked old enough to be in college. She wore an old faded t-shirt and pants that appeared to be Army fatigues.

  A few minutes ahead of schedule, she and the other two staff workers motioned for the first one in each line to come forward. Max quickly walked up and handed her the classes he was hoping to attend.

  The girl took Max’s paperwork. “Let’s see here. Last name: Beaver. First name: Eager. How long have you been standing here, Slim?”

  “A while,” Max said sheepishly.

  “Ah, trying to get into Stoner’s class I see. This is your first semester here, right?”

  Max nodded.

  “You can’t go straight into Physics 1 without a prerequisite math credit, and you can’t go into Physics 2 without Physics 1.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Max.

  “I’m saying, Gomer, you can’t take the professor’s class without at least having taken College Algebra or Trigonometry.”

  “But I’m really good at math,” Max pleaded.

  The girl smiled. “So, you’re a math geek.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Hmm,” she said as she squinted and stared up and down at Max as if trying to summarize him. “I’m betting your geekness isn’t confined to math.”

  Max laughed. “You’d probably be right.”

  The girl smiled as if that insult was more of a test to see if Max could laugh at himself. Her expression seemed to indicate he had passed. “I’m sure you are very good at math, but the algebra or trig course really is required. You can take that this semester and Professor Stoner next semester.”

  Max agreed. He was a little disappointed that he didn’t get into the professor’s class, but didn’t mind taking college algebra.

  The next two weeks went by quickly and Max finished his first full day of classes at Cedarbluff. Over the summer, Max had worked as many hours as he could to save up money. Although he was on a partial scholarship and had a government grant, he knew there would be unexpected costs somewhere down the road and he didn’t want to burden his parents.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Two more days went by and then the weekend. Max worked and took Mrs. Johnson to church.

  Monday kicked off the new week and, after Max’s last class, he was leaving the main building when he heard his name being yelled somewhere in the crowd. He smiled as he knew it could only be one person.

  “There you are,” Rollo shouted as he came wobbling through the hallway full of students. “You thought you could hide from me all semester?”

  “I tried,” Max said and laughed.

  Rollo came up and gave him a bear hug, which actually lifted Max off the floor. “Good to see you, my friend. How was your summer?”

  “It was good. Thanks. How was yours?”

  Rollo simply threw up his hands and shrugged his shoulders as if to say it wasn’t noteworthy. He then turned to see the young red-headed girl from registration approaching them. “Yo Jules, baby. You are looking so fine.”

  She walked up to them and stopped, ignoring Rollo and smiling at Max.

  “You guys know each other?” Rollo asked.

  “We met at registration. Well, kind of,” Max answered then extended his hand. “Max, a.k.a. Geek.”

  “Julie, Julie Blankenship,” she said with a smile as she accepted the handshake.

  “Jules is the most sought-after babe on campus,” Rollo laughed. “When are we going out, Honey Bunny?”

  Julie shook her head. “You are way out of my league.”

  Max laughed.

  “Hey guys, do these pants make my butt look big?” Rollo turned around to give them the best angle. After a second of silence, he turned back around. “Well? What do you say, Max?”

  Max replied with a simple “No.”

  “Are you sure they don’t make my butt look big?” Rollo said, pushing the joke.

  Max smiled. “No, they don’t. It’s everyone else’s butt that makes yours look big.”

  Julie laughed out loud.

  Rollo stood there in astonishment with his eyes and mouth opened wide. “Chalk one up for Maxie. That was excellent.” He offered up a high-five, which was accepted by Max. He looked over at Julie. “Did you hear we are starting a comedy team called Rollo & Max?”

  “Hey, Rollo,” called out a girl from the passing student traffic.

  Rollo’s eyes lit up. “Whoa, gotta go, guys. Catch you on the rebound.” He took off down the hall.

  Max watched him disappear into the masses. “He is something else.”

  “That he is,” agreed Julie. “I’m just not sure what. So, do you have any other classes today?”

  “Nope. I was just heading home.”

  “Me either,” she said.

  They continued to walk together, and she stayed with him as he walked out through the main entrance toward his truck. It was a chilly fall day, and the sky was completely overcast, but there had been no rain. The wind was picking up, however, and it made Julie cross her arms in front of her in an effort to ward it off.

  “How’s algebra going?”

  “Good. Really good,” Max replied.

  Julie smiled. “Wow, you really are a geek. I am sorry you couldn’t take the class you wanted. But are you going to be coming to Professor Stoner’s Bible studies?”

  “His what?”

  “Oh, Max, you don’t know about those? They’re on Thursday nights at seven o’clock in the student center. I go sometimes. Rollo is always there, probably because they provide snacks.”

  Max laughed. “How many students come?”

  “Depends,” Julie answered. “Usually around twelve or so.”

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll be there.”

  Max reached his truck, opened the door, and threw his books inside. “Where’s your car,” he asked.

  “Over by the dorms. I’m like Rollo; I live on campus.” Several seconds of awkward silence passed. “Well, I guess I’ll see you Thursday night if I don’t see you on campus sooner.”

  “Okay,” Max said with a nod.

  Julie turned to walk away then turned back. “Hey, what’s your cell phone number in case you can’t make it?”

  Max remembered he actually had a cell phone this time. He took it out of his glove compartment and said, “I don’t know the number.”

  She laughed. “Well, first you need to stop keeping it in your truck. Someone will steal it for sure. Here, let me call my number and then we will know yours.” She took Max’s phone and dialed her own. Her phone began to play Frosty the Snowman. “There you go,” she said, holding the screen up for Max to see. “That’s your number. I’ll just save it in my phonebook. Now, I’ll take your phone and save my number in your phonebook. Done.” She handed the phone back to Max. “Now we can call or text each other any time we want.”

  “Okay,” Max said with a grin.

  Julie turned to walk off and Max began to think about his father’s fears. “Julie, wait up.”

  Julie turned around and came back. Her smile seemed to indicate she was hoping he would call her back. “Yes?” she said with anticipation.

  “I really would enjoy being able to call you up and talk, but the truth is, I only have the phone for emergencies, and it only has a limited number of prepaid minutes.” Max looked her in the eye for some sort of expression and seeing none, looked at the ground.

  Julie’s face might not have revealed her thoughts, but her words did. “Well, you are a humble and honest geek as well. I like texting better anyway,” she said. “What kind of a texting plan do you have?”

  Max shrugged, so she took his phone again and went into the menu.

  “Okay, says here that a text only cost you a few seconds each and they’re free on the weekend. So, we can text each other. How’s that sound?”

  “That sounds great,” Max said with a big smile.

  Julie smiled back and then turned to go back toward the main building.

  Max got into his truck to drive home. This had definitely been his best day at college. Reconnecting with Rollo was great, but the connection with Julie seemed more to occupy his mind as he drove home. There was something about her. It wasn’t physical because if he concentrated on each individual physical aspect of Julie, i.e., the bright red hair, the white complexion, the huge freckles, the thick glasses, the underdeveloped frame, and the less than feminine attire, it didn’t seem to make sense. But add them all together and he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was.

  He was still thinking about Julie as he drove right past his home. He navigated through town until he came to a large white provincial house. He parked his truck behind a fairly new Mercedes then followed the walkway through the professional landscaping, between the columns, and to the front door.

  He rang the doorbell. Several seconds passed and the door opened.

  “Max! Hey. Good to see you. What brings you here?” Carlie stepped out of the front door and gave him a hug.

  “I have a favor to ask of you,” Max said.

  “I owe you, so you name it and, if it’s within my power, it’s yours,” she said with a smile.

  “Can you teach me how to text?”