Her hands trembled as she read the note on her windshield: 'I know your secret.’ Nervously, she scanned the parking lot filled with regular people. Who could possibly know? She had been so careful. She rubbed the soft spot on the back of her neck abstinent mindedly.

There wasn't anything particularly interesting about the note. It was written on a piece of lined paper that looked like it had been torn from a notebook. And the words were scrawled messily in blue ink like the person who wrote it was in a hurry. Why would they leave it here of all places? The University parking lot was a wide open space in the middle of nowhere. It could have easily been grabbed by someone else or blown away.

Wait, how did they know her car?

When she looked up, she noticed a man standing a few cars away. He had one hand on the door of his black Tesla, but he’d paused and was looking at her curiously. One thick black eyebrow was raised and he looked as though he wanted to say something. She smiled, raised the piece of paper and said, "Old school communication."

The stranger laughed. "I love it. Are you an English major?" He let go of the handle on his car and walked a few steps toward her.

She quickly scanned his features to determine if she’d met him before. Curly black hair, long but tied up messily on the top of his head. Big, round eyes, looked green but he was standing just far enough away she couldn't quite tell. Thick, pink lips and a few freckles across his nose. The results were inconclusive, there were too many boys here that looked exactly the same.

The scan only took a few seconds, but he was already staring again.

He asked a question, she reminded herself. "Oh, no, I'm actually a psychology major. What about you?" As soon as the question left her lips she regretted it. She didn’t mean to invite a conversation with this man, no matter how pretty he was. Was he pretty? She needed to get home so she could analyze the note. Captain would be furious if she was discovered.

"Psychology makes sense," he answered. "You seem really thoughtful. That's probably a weird thing to say.” He bit his lip. “I'm a math major, so I'm not all that good with people. My name is Jason, by the way."

“I'm Azure.” She smiled and tightened her hands on the strap of her backpack. “And you seem plenty fine at people to me.” She hadn't had enough conversations with people to know how to politely to get out of this one. And what if he happened to be the note writer? It seemed unlikely but she didn't have any leads yet.

“That’s kind of you to say.” He took a few more steps forward so he was standing only a few feet away. "I was about to go to the campus bar to study, do you want to join?” He smiled in that way that made Azure believe he was desperate for her to say yes.** **This is one of those moments where she wished she had inherited her mothers mind reading skills.

Learning to understand boys like him _was _part of the job too, the note could wait a couple of hours. “Okay, but let's walk,” she suggested, knowing she couldn't risk him getting into her car. It looked normal on the outside but the tech inside wouldn’t be familiar to him. And there was no way she was going to get into his car.

"Sure," he shrugged. "Where are you from by the way? I can't place your accent.”

Her heart jumped into her throat as she stuffed the note into the top of her backpack. Before turning back to face him she took a deep breath, she’d been put on the spot many times during training, she could do this. And it was normal for people to ask where you’re from, she knew that.

"I moved around a lot growing up. So, my accent isn’t really from anywhere in particular."

…

At the bar she fumbled through what to order and ended up with a beer that was much more bitter than she liked but would never admit it. After they’d touched their glasses together in what he’d called _cheers,_ Azure reached down, unzippped her bag and took out her social psychology textbook book.

“Oh, you actually want to study?” Jason asked, surprised.

“Isn’t that what we came here for?”

"That is what I said," Jason paused and looked at her in that strange way again. "But, I guess I was hoping we could just talk." Blush rose into his cheeks and he looked away.

"Oh, yeah we can talk." She didn’t understand why people didn’t just say what they meant. Azure closed her text book and folded her hands on top of it. "So….the reason I’m actually taking psychology is because I don’t really understand people.” She didn’t blush, but she nervously rubbed her thumbs together. When Jason didn’t say anything she continued. “I know it’s pretty embarrassing to be twenty two and not know how to interact with people, but I moved around so much that I stopped trying to make friends by the time I was thirteen. How’s that for an overshare?”

Jason laughed hard like it had escaped his body even before he was aware that it was coming. But he quickly put his hand over his mouth. "Sorry," he blushed again. “I swear I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because I get it. Not that I moved around a lot, but I definitely didn't have that many friends growing up. I was one of those kids who spent most of his free time with one friend in my parents basement playing videogames. Now, that definitely makes me sound really cool. Want to be friends?” He laughed again, but this time it sounded different, maybe like he was a bit uncomfortable.

"I mean, making friends is kind of part of my homework.” Azure took another big sip of her beer and even though she was only about a third of the way through the glass, she could feel it in her cheeks.

"Yes!" Jason answered much more enthusiastically than she anticipated. "Us hanging out can actually be studying!"

After two hours and another beer, this time something a lot more fruity, she realized she needs to get out of there or she was going to say something she’d regret. So she pushed back her chair and announced, “I better go and get some actual studying done.”

“Wait! Let me at least get your number.”

Azure didn't have a regular number, but she had downloaded a couple of apps so she could communicate with her teachers. She scanned quickly through the options to determine which would make her seem the least dorky. “Do you have Discord?" She asked. He nodded and she pushed her notebookacross the table so he could write down his username.

"I’m going to stay and actually study, but it was nice to meet you." Jason said as he pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear. He looked like he was going to stand but decided against it.

"Nice to meet you too," for the first time Azure felt like she actually meant it.

Back at her car, Azure was still thinking about her time with Jason. He was a bit of a weirdo but in a way that made her feel, almost comfortable. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she almost didn't notice the note on her windshield. This time it read: ‘You don't think you can be normal, do you?’