Personal Jurisdiction by Diana Minot Read Free Book Online Page A

was tough? You have to do more than just skim the cases!”
    “Give it a rest, Kate,” Alex said. “I didn’t see you volunteering to help, either.”
    Kate rolled her eyes. “Please. There was no saving that mess.” She turned and flounced away, and Crystal, who had been staring intently at her fingernails the entire time, smiled apologetically at the group and then followed Kate.
    “What a bitch,” Jamie said.
    “Yeah, I guess we know who to watch our backs around this year,” Elise said, not taking her eyes off of Lincoln.

Chapter Six
     
    The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Whitney’s other professors seemed mild compared to Professor Neals. Her favorite so far was Professor Isaac Chaplin, who taught Civil Procedure, seemed to have real office hours, and did not insist on assigned seating in his classroom. Even though Whitney knew that the majority of people would sit in the same seat all year anyways, she hated the thought of assigned seating. It made her feel like a child in grade school.
    Late Friday afternoon, Whitney made her way up to the library, her casebooks in tow. The whole place was deserted. Elise had tried to convince her to go out tonight, but Whitney was exhausted from the week and already felt behind on everything. Besides, whenever anyone said they should “go out”, all Whitney could see were the dollar signs on the price lists at the bar. She was too tired right now to deal with the stress of figuring out how to order drinks within her budget. Elise was not easy to put off, but finally gave it a rest when Whitney agreed to go to brunch with Jamie and Elise on Sunday. Elise insisted they must “brunch”, because that’s what all fashionable ladies do. Jamie responded that if you use brunch as a verb, you are trying too hard. Whitney tended to agree with Jamie, but she did love brunch. Or brunching. Or, really, just eating a ton of food in the morning. Whatever you wanted to call it. And she could get away with just drinking coffee and not alcohol at brunch, which made it much cheaper than a night at a bar.
    Whitney took the elevator to the top floor of the library and found a spot next to the massive windows overlooking Lake Michigan. It was exceptionally warm for September, and the lake was littered with boaters eager to take advantage of the last breaths of good weather before Chicago’s winter made its presence felt. Whitney left her books unopened for a few minutes, watching the boaters and feeling jealous of their carefree lives. In her mind, none of them had problems or overwhelming responsibilities. They all had perfect jobs that allowed them ample time and money to float along the lake, soaking in the sunshine. She imagined herself joining them in a cute, frilly sundress, holding a cold beer and watching the sun fade away behind the city’s skyline.
    “Is this seat taken?”
    Whitney snapped out of her daydream and looked up at the voice, hoping she had not been making weird faces as her imagination ran wild. Oh god, it was Ben, standing right next to her and looking amazing in his jeans and casual black t-shirt. His hair had its usual slightly mussed up look that she had been secretly admiring all week.
    “Oh, hey! No, it’s all yours. Sit down. What are you doing here? It’s Friday night!”
    “Said the pot to the kettle,” Ben said.
    “Touché,” Whitney said. She did not bother to point out that Ben was sexy, smart, and funny, and she was awkward and boring. Surely, he had better things to do on a Friday night. Well, okay, she did not actually know if he was funny, since she had not had much of a chance to talk to him yet. But she imagined he was. “I’m just feeling a little bit like I need to play catch-up after this week. Which is funny because I tried so hard to be prepared.”
    “I hear you,” Ben said. “Professor Neals is terrifying.”
    “Yeah,” Whitney said. “Kate was kind of mean to Elise after that first class, don’t you think?”