AN: Woah…this first chapter got really long. OK, here it is: Natalie, Tucker, Conner, Kyle, and some new faces all at college having a good time before school lets out for summer. I will go ahead and say that I know little to nothing about OU (I’m Okie born but went out of state for school) so everything about the “campus” is made up…by me. That goes for the Greek organizations, too, all letters assembled at random. Anyway, I hope you guys like this even though it’s a little (OK, a lot) late. Thank you theangelonyourright for reminding me about my favorite rednecks.

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Tucker Turner couldn’t appreciate the importance of Freshman Comp. He had been staring at a blank pad of paper for nearly an hour (well, half an hour at the paper and the other half across the table at Natalie Wilson) without a single word to write. This was his final—a three page essay on any subject he wanted—and he hadn’t started yet. He scratched the back of his almost shaggy black locks and fidgeted with the fray of his jeans. With a whole folder full of math problems to work through for Calculus, it was hard to focus on five carefully planned paragraphs. With a sighing, amber-eyed redhead sitting across from him, it was impossible to focus on anything.

The two freshmen had claimed a table in one of the upper floors of the campus library. With finals only a few days away, the entire place was packed. Books, notes, bags, and coffee cups were everywhere. Even with every table taken and every study room reserved, it was as quiet as a church. Natalie couldn’t study in the dorm room, and Tucker wouldn’t study without Natalie keeping him in line. The library was the only solution…however, the solution wasn’t exactly successful for Tucker.

“Any progress?” Natalie asked between songs on her iPod. Her history notes looked like a neon rainbow of highlighting. Tucker smiled faintly and shook his head. She glanced to his empty page and frowned. “Not even a cloud chart?”

“Cloud chart?” Tucker snorted with laughter. “What is that?”

“If you had paid attention in class, you would know,” she teased, pulling out the earpieces from under her long curls and drawing a lop-sided circle in the middle of the paper. “You put your topic in that cloud.” Tucker was already making skeptical looks. “Then you draw lines…like this…to other clouds that represent your paragraphs.”

“Natalie, I am not drawing clouds for my essay.”

“It’s a cloud chart, hon. It’s a way to organize your thoughts.”

“You have to have thoughts to organize them.”

“Well, I can’t do everything for you.”

“Scoot over, cousin, there’s not a seat left in the house.” Natalie moved her chair over so Kyle Childers could edge his in. He dumped a huge science book on the corner of the table and glanced over to Tucker’s side. “Nice spider there.”

“It’s a cloud chart,” Tucker grumbled and crumpled up the paper. Natalie yawned, rattling her cup from the campus coffee shop and finding it empty.

“I need soda…anyone have a dollar?” Tucker’s hand dove into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills.

“Get me a Coke, too?” he asked.

“What do you want?”

“Dr. Pepper.” She pointed to Kyle, who shook his head, and wandered off to find a vending machine. Tucker began to doodle spiders dangling from the top of his new page. Kyle Childers, Tucker’s best friend since first grade, was starting to look more like Natalie the more Tucker hung around the both of them together. A cherry auburn hue was more obvious the longer Kyle’s cinnamon-colored hair got, and they had a few of the same smiles. Kyle had Natalie’s study habits, too. His essay was already turned in. “Hey K,” Tucker wondered, “what did you write your final about?”

“For Freshman Comp? Raising horses.” Tucker sighed. That was of no help. “You haven’t started, have you?” Kyle chuckled.

“I’ve been busy this week.”

“You mean the Kappa Phis were busy this week,” Kyle corrected suspiciously. “Why are they huntin’ you down now this semester? They’re always leaving flyers for their parties at the room.”

“They were suspended last semester from any activities,” Tucker explained during a long arm stretch. “They couldn’t even have a study party in the fall. Something about drugs…I don’t know…”

“Sounds like a nice group,” Kyle muttered.

“They’re nice to me,” his best friend shrugged. “Dad was in a frat. Sounds cool.” Kyle smiled and shrugged as well. He had never seen his best friend as the “frat boy” type, but the Kappa Phi Kappa clan seemed to think so. Tucker had those genuine good looks to bring in the female crowd, although Kyle wasn’t completely lacking. Kyle had a feeling they were requesting Tucker—and his surprisingly blue eyes—by name. Tucker yawned as Natalie returned with two bottles of Dr. Pepper. The hiss of the caps seemed inspire a second leg of study fever for the cousins, but Tucker was still stuck. Natalie smiled at him as he slowly scratched the letters N and T on the back of a smiling spider.

“Why don’t you write about why all you rednecks love Dr. Pepper so much,” she tried. Tucker shook his head and began to laugh.

“What gave you that idea?”

“Nobody drinks Dr. Pepper where I’m from. Here it’s all there is.” He laughed again, looking to Kyle for an opinion, but he had stolen Natalie’s iPod and dived back into science. “Hey, you can write about anything,” Natalie defended, “I was just giving you an idea.”

“Well, sweetheart, I will stick that right here in the middle of my cloud chart,” he promised with a wink. “Why…Rednecks…Drink…Dr…Pepper.” He finished the last word and drew a long oval around the title. “I think I already have an idea for the next one.”

“Hey!”

The entire floor jolted upright as Mary Jo Hanson, Natalie’s loud and habitually late roommate, made her entry. She was dressed in fashionable sweats that actually matched her handbag, her multi-colored blonde hair piled into a fluffy bun on her head and a huge travel mug (no doubt filled with her favorite latte) branded with the letters Omega Zeta in her manicured hand. She gave all three a cheery smile before snagging a chair someone’s bag was near and pulling it up next to Tucker. “Oh, a cloud chart!” she gushed. “That looks like fun!”

“It’s only fun if you make the clouds look like spiders,” Tucker shared. Mary Jo giggled and took a long drink of her coffee, the thick caramel smell causing Kyle to sniff.

“What did you bring this time, Mary Jo?” he whined. “It stinks like rotten candy.” He was never really nice to Mary Jo; he picked on her fashion bags and over-styled hair. When she had to go without make-up during Rush Week, he called her Mary Kay-less. He didn’t mean any harm, and Natalie was secretly convinced that it was all tension that would end up in one steamy confrontation between the two. Until then, they bantered like fifth graders.

“That’s because it tastes like candy,” she bragged. “Wanna try some?”

“I like my coffee black,” Kyle declined with a twisted face, “and not full of sugar chocolate crap.”

“Amen,” Tucker concurred.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Natalie advised.

“Come on, Kyle,” Mary Jo smirked playfully, “just a little sip.” She waved the massive cup in front of him, and he nearly spilled it batting it away. She pouted with mock disappointment. “You’re no fun.”

“Mary Jo,” Natalie averted, “did you bring last Wednesday’s notes? I’m missing those…and Monday’s…”

“I gave them to Conner,” she replied while pretending to flip through a Spanish book. “Oh, speaking of Conner…where has he been? I’ve been looking for him all over…”

“Why do you want to talk to Redcloud?” Kyle grumbled.

“I wanted to take him to a function,” she sighed. “Natty, does he ever talk about me? I mean, when you two hang out in History?”

“You two hang out in History?” Tucker immediately perked up.

“We do not hang out in History, we study,” Natalie told them both, “and no, he doesn’t talk about you…not really.”

“He wouldn’t want to go to one of your silly sorority functions, anyway,” Kyle replied almost bitterly. “They’re stupid.” Mary Jo stuck out her tongue and popped in a piece of gum, which she would habitually smack for the rest of the time.

“I don’t know about that, cowboy,” Mary Jo answered while twirling a loose piece of gold around her finger. “Tucker seemed to be enjoying himself the other night at the Oz party.” Eyebrows rose, but none as high as Natalie. She set her highlighter down and gave Tucker a very interested glare.

“Oz…as in Omega Zeta?” she clarified. Mary Jo immediately flashed the sisters’ trademark finger symbol with a photo-perfect grin on cue. “You went to a sorority party?”

“A lot of the Kappa Phis were there,” Mary Jo described. “Conner wasn’t though…I wish I invited him.”

“I thought you weren’t into the Kappa Phis, Tucker,” Natalie murmured. Tucker was cornered, and his adorably goofy grin proved it. Said grin always pulled a sly half-smile out of Natalie that she never could hide. It was a trademark exchange. “No wonder you don’t have an essay,” she excused.

“Kyle’s right,” Tucker scowled, “it was stupid.” Mary Jo’s jaw dramatically dropped, and she threw her gum wrapper onto Tucker’s lap. “Hey!”

“Your cloud chart is stupid!”

“It’s not stupid,” Natalie fought back, “it was my idea.”

“Well, it wasn’t your idea to draw spiders on the clouds,” Mary Jo taunted.

“Those are the clouds,” Tucker glared.

“I think they’re cute,” Natalie smiled.

“Thank you, baby,” Tucker simpered back.

“Ugh, that’s it!” Mary Jo blurted comically, standing and picking up her bag. “I’ve had enough of this Cory and Topanga crap you two are always shoveling.” Tucker quickly held up a folder to block his mouthing of the word “jealous” to a snickering Natalie. “Here, Kyle, I’ll leave this for you.” She walked around the table to place her mug in front of Kyle’s book. He made a face and thanked her sarcastically. “I’ll catch you kids later!” she nearly shouted, making her exit as loud as her entry. Natalie shook her head as soon as she was gone.

“Did she study anything at all?” Kyle complained. Tucker shook his head. “Stupid Oz. She has a thing for Redcloud, poor guy.”

“Yeah, poor guy,” Tucker scoffed. “Hey Natalie,” he proudly grinned, “I have four clouds on my chart.”

“Good job!”

“I wouldn’t want to go to a stupid Oz function,” Kyle continued while inspecting the coffee in Mary Jo’s cup. “Sounds…stupid.” Natalie rolled her eyes and took a few gulps of pop. When no one was looking, Kyle took a sip of Mary Jo’s drink; it was still hot. “Not bad,” he decided to himself.