The V- in 403C - Jess Bryant Page 0,1

themselves. They were the ones that had passed along their genius level IQ’s and lack of social grace to their only son and then sent him out into the world to tackle college when he was a mere sixteen years old, making him a boy wonder in the world of academics and a weird, awkward, out-of-place freak to everyone else. But he didn’t blame his parents, which was just another in a long line of reasons he was nothing like his peers.

His father was a historian and his mother an archeologist. They were good parents. They were just even better at their jobs. They’d pushed Jonah to be the best too and when he’d excelled at academics, they’d given him every opportunity to succeed. All of the extra hours studying, learning and researching had meant he not only started college earlier than most people, but also that he had a wealth of real-life experience and knowledge that put him well ahead of the curve.

He was thankful for all that his parents had given him, even if being a sixteen-year-old college freshman had been near torturous outside of the classroom.

Jonah had learned how to get by without drawing too much attention to himself. He’d kept his head down and his nose firmly in the books. He’d pushed on with his studies and ignored the fact that he was never invited to take part in the societal norms his classmates practiced. He’d never been invited to the parties or even the study groups and he’d been fine with that during his undergrad days because he’d been too young to really know what he was missing out on.

Maybe that was why, when Pete and Dawn had asked him to come out with them tonight to celebrate the end of their first full day as PhD candidates, he’d agreed. It had felt good to be invited to celebrate. He was finally old enough to drink and get into the same clubs as his peers and he’d wanted to be one of them this time around. He’d wanted to fit in with Pete and Dawn because they were the only ones who had welcomed him into the doctoral program with open arms and not suspicious glares because of his youth.

But sitting on his barstool, watching everyone around him have a good time while he worried about making a less than stellar first impression on his class tomorrow morning, was the opposite of fitting in and he knew it.

He had worked too hard to screw up now. Being chosen as Professor Lambert’s teaching assistant was a huge honor. It was a position every doctoral student in the history department clamored for each semester and Jonah had spent literal years racking up extra credit and volunteer work whenever he could to gain the illustrious professor’s attention and earn the coveted spot as his TA.

Showing up late or hungover on his first day leading the discussion group would be a terrible way to start the semester and likely would derail his entire career. Fitting in just wasn’t worth it when he took those repercussions into consideration. Besides, he shot a glance at the dance floor and realized he couldn’t see Pete or Dawn in the crowd, his friends wouldn’t even notice if he left now.

He looked down at the drink in his hand and frowned. There was no use wasting a perfectly good… whatever this was. He took another long gulp from the glass and decided he would leave the club as soon as it was empty. He would people watch for a while longer and then he’d catch an Uber back to his apartment on the other side of campus.

Walking home at this hour was probably a bad idea, especially in the neighborhood where he lived now. He’d lived on campus throughout his undergrad years but he’d wanted a fresh start now that he was a doctoral candidate. He’d rented a small place in the 400 Block Apartments because it was close to campus and he could walk back and forth, but he wasn’t stupid. It was a rough neighborhood on the bad side of town and he was always careful about locking his door. Strolling in by himself, a little bit tipsy, after midnight would just be begging for trouble.

Jonah took another sip of his drink and watched the crowd of dancers as they swayed to the pounding bass line. Maybe he’d be able to find Pete and Dawn in the crowd and say his goodbyes