The Intro to Programming class was like Chemistry in that it took place in a massive, crowded lecture hall. It was unlike Chemistry, however, in that it actually seemed to care about introducing its students to the subject rather than knocking them unconscious with a textbook to the skull.

Kaitlyn looked around the lecture hall. A sea of students with laptops spread out before her, their fingers already tapping away at keyboards. The only lectures she'd attended lately were for higher-level CS classes, so she'd gotten pretty used to smaller classes of less than a hundred people. Coming back to this felt pretty overwhelming. The size of the crowd made her grimace.

Still… it'll be worth it. I think.

She leaned against the wall near the top of the hall, her head on a swivel as it scanned the crowd. It wasn't the same class as she'd taken so long ago, not exactly. This one was taught by a different professor. That only served to make the sheer size of the class even more mind-boggling.

After a few moments, she perked up. There, near the back corner of the room, her eye caught a flash of familiar blue-green cloth. Leaning over to get a better look revealed the sleeve of a mint hoodie and a familiar head of curly brown hair.

There he is! A grin spread across her face. Alright, time to make my introduction.

Pushing off the wall, Kaitlyn began making her way toward an empty seat next to Ian.

Her plan was fairly simple. Ian had trouble with his grades from procrastinating, lack of motivation, and whatever else he had on his plate. That she could understand. If that was the situation, then maybe having a study buddy would help to keep him on track. Heck, if she played her cards right, she might even be able to tutor him in some of his other subjects as needed.

But there was a problem. Ian took ages to warm up to her and talk about classes normally. So the real issue in Kaitlyn's eyes was how to accelerate that process.

Meeting him that first day at Cappy's probably wouldn't help. Even if she could carry a conversation, he certainly couldn't. Not with a stranger. Meeting at Bash Bros tournaments helped matters, but it wasn't enough to crack through the shell entirely, and she knew from experience that it would still take him time to open up about classes in that situation.

And so, she decided on a third option. Going in undercover.

It's not REALLY being dishonest, she reasoned. I'll tell him I'm auditing if he ever asks, obviously. It's not like I'll hide my real major and classes from him. But no one would think to ask whether I've already taken the class before. That's just a dumb question for a first year in their first semester.

If they were taking the same class, then maybe studying together would come much easier. At least, that was the idea. If that failed… well, then it would be back to the drawing board.

Settling down next to her target, Kaitlyn set her backpack on the floor. As she did, she shot a discreet glance over. Sure enough, Ian was hard at work on his own laptop, already tapping out lines of familiar-looking code.

He's already working on it… wow. He really is dedicated.

Still, it didn't change her plan. Steeling herself, Kaitlyn leaned down to pull the battered laptop from her bag. The motion brought her into Ian's peripheral vision. Looking up with a smile, she tried to get his attention.

"Um, excuse me?"

Ian blinked, glancing around in surprise before his gaze finally fell on her. "Oh. Me?"

"Yes! Sorry." She straightened with her laptop in hand. "I'm Kaitlyn. What's your name?"

"Er…" Ian stared at her in confusion for a moment before answering. "Ian."

"Nice to meet you, Ian!" Kaitlyn spoke with more confidence than she felt. In reality, starting a conversation like this still felt more than a little uncomfortable. It was hard to shake the voice saying that she was being a completely intrusive bother, especially when the guy had already been doing something. But there was no other way to go about it.

"You too." He gave her an uncertain smile. "Uh… did you need…?"

"Oh! No," she shook her head. "I just… I'm trying to meet the people in my classes. You know?"

"Oh! Ok." Ian nodded. "I get it. Sorry, I uh… I'm not so great at that."

Kaitlyn grinned. "It's ok. I'm not either. But I'm trying."

She kept up a halting dialogue with the guy all the way until the class began. As it did, she noticed Ian tab out of his game in order to take notes, just like her. A brief outline of the lesson appeared on her screen line by line as she tried to maintain focus on the professor.

I already know this. But if I want to help him study, I'd better be sure I'm hitting the right points.

She sent occasional glances Ian's way to see what he was up to. That's how she noticed that, about halfway through the lecture, his attention drifted. It didn't take long after that or him to return to his own projects.

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That's ok. I won't nag him or anything.

It wasn't like he needed to pay attention in lecture. Not this one, at least. No, his problem was doing the assignments. So there was no point in interrupting now, even if they had known each other better.

I'm not here to make waves. Not yet. Kaitlyn tapped out a few shorthand notes about the topics she already knew. I'm here to help. And that all starts with planting a seed.

She spent the rest of the lecture alternating between sneaking glances at Ian's code and taking notes. Occasionally, she'd spare a moment to work on some projects of her own. While she didn't have anything like an entire game to work on, there were a few basic quality of life tools and adjustments she could make to the laptop to make her life easier. And what better time to do it than now?

As the lecture ended, the body of students sprang to life. They tucked away laptops and folding desks before leaping to their feet, some dashing out the doors to get to their next classes. As Kaitlyn stood, she made sure to send Ian one final smile. "See you around, Ian."

"Uh, yeah!" He gave her a small wave. "See you."

With a nod, she turned to leave. Just wait. This time, we're gonna be a force to be reckoned with.

***

"Er, Kate?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

Kaitlyn looked up from her bench. Before her lay a disassembled collection of springs, plungers, and cylinders, each set laid out next to each other in a neat row.

She smiled at Christa. "I'm cleaning my pipettes."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "On your first day? Goodness. You're certainly settling in nicely, I suppose!"

"It's just a good habit to get into. Especially with new pipettes."

Christa spread her hands wide and shrugged. "I suppose you have a point there! Still, I don't know many postdocs who would do that, much less undergrads…"

"Yeah? Well…" Kaitlyn's smile tightened. "I've heard some horror stories. Better safe than sorry, you know?"

"Alright, if you insist," Christa allowed. "It certainly seems you know what you're doing. Maybe I should ask you to do mine as well!"

"Sure, if you want."

Kaitlyn sprayed down one of the plungers with ethanol for a second rinse before setting it aside to dry. The practice really was an easy one, once she'd gotten over her fear of breaking the dang things. It was almost calming, too. Just like she was cleaning dishes.

Kaitlyn frowned. Do I have a thing for cleaning? I don't, right? Even if it can be a little fun, I've never been a neat freak or anything like that…

The sound of the door opening interrupted her thoughts. Right on time, Elliot stepped into the lab. his eyes alighting on her. "Hello. And you are…?"

"Kaitlyn. Nice to meet you." Kaitlyn flashed him a smile. "I'm the new undergrad."

His mouth opened in a silent "oh." "I see. Elliot. Nice to meet you, as well."

As he pulled on his lab coat and stepped forward, his eyebrows rose with surprise. "Christa's already got you hard at work, I see."

"Oh, no, this one's not on me!" The woman called from her nearby bench. "Kate decided to do that one herself!"

At his questioning look, she nodded. "Yeah. Just a habit I've picked up."

"Really?" Elliot blinked. "You've worked in labs before, then?"

"Yeah. Also plant labs, just like this one." She gestured around the cluttered space. "So let me know if you need anything done. I can make media, prep plates, plant, measure roots… Whatever you need."

His lips twitched into a lopsided smile. "Careful. If you offer something like that, people might actually take you up on it. I hate pouring plates, and I might need some for planting later this week…"

Kaityn flapped a hand toward the boxy white lab fridge. "Don't worry. Christa made some this morning herself, and there'll be plenty left over for you. Even if you add a few more seed lines to your plan."

That gave him pause. Her ginger-haired labmate tilted his head to the side, then went to check the fridge. He returned a moment later with a look of bewilderment and slight suspicion. "Seems like you're right. But how did you know…?"

She just shrugged. "It seemed like a lot of plates."

It wasn't the real answer, of course. And maybe it was taking things a bit too far to mess with Elliot like this, especially when he was so perceptive. But she couldn't help herself.

What's the point of being in a time loop if I can't pull shenanigans like that sometimes? It's way too fun.

Elliot's searching gaze seemed to indicate that he wasn't satisfied with the answer, either. But eventually, he shrugged. "Well, that's good news for me at least. You have any plans after you're done here?" He nodded toward the disassembled pipettes. "Or are you serious about helping to measure roots?"

"Oh, I'm completely serious." Kaitlyn reached for a bottle of distilled water. "Just give me a few to rinse and dry these. It won't take long."

"Sounds good," he nodded. "I'll grab my plants then."

He headed down the hall, whistling as he walked. The long white coat flapped behind him. He didn't make it far out of the lab before pausing to talk to Esme. As their voices carried across the space, Kaitlyn noticed his change in bearing. Elliot seemed more relaxed and expressive around the girl, less guarded. Nothing like he was around her.

…Yeah, Kaitlyn realized. He's not nearly as bad as Philip, at least. Elliot doesn't give off the same cold vibes, even when he is suspicious about something. But he definitely is suspicious about things A LOT.

In a way, she could understand it. Kaitlyn was suspicious. She knew too much, acted too familiar with "strangers", and couldn't lie about any of it to save her life. Even the cheeky half-truths she enjoyed so much seemed to alert Elliot whenever she tried them, as she'd just seen.

It's not like I can just stop, though. Yeah, sometimes I'm doing it for fun, but not always. Sometimes it really is the best I can do at explaining something without lying.

She sighed. The more she learned about Elliot, the harder it would be to pretend that she knew nothing about him. It would also be harder to act like a stranger. It left her with a bit of a dilemma. What if she learned too much before getting a romance ending? Would she have to fumble her way through repeat interactions, only to be called out about her strange reactions? How would the guy react then?

…I don't know what to do about this. Really. But I can't just ignore him.

Setting aside the problem and her reassembled pipettes, Kaitlyn stood. That was a problem for another day. For now, it was time to measure roots. Again.