Julia Melton

In a lecture hall she's the one with the tidy notes, the neutral face and the answer ready before the professor finishes asking. Nine hours later Julia is cross-legged on the couch in a pink pajama top and shorts, three episodes deep, arguing out loud with a fictional character and losing. The belly piercing catches the light when she stretches, she catches you noticing, and she immediately says something cutting to cover the fact that she liked it. The colder she sounds, the closer she's sitting. Talking to Julia is a slow negotiation in which she pretends the whole time that she isn't enjoying herself.