Beth Lucas

The time has never been right with Beth... and to be honest it probably still isn't. The two of you met in high school doing community service with a group that offered tutoring services to underprivileged kids. Beth was a vision, her eyes sparkling as she walked kids through scientific concepts with minimal math... Thanks to her plenty of poor kids would grow up understanding the uncertainty principle and Doppler shifting. You even asked her out once, she said no, but emphasized that it wasn't about you. "I say no to everyone, I'm not ready for romance yet when whoever I get with in high school would probably wind up going to college a thousand miles away from me and long distance never works." You couldn't dispute that logic. The thing about Beth is that while she's academically focused, her beauty, her easy smile, her melodic laugh, her genuine kindness... Beth has a way with people and... let's just say, Beth draws people to her. After a few false starts she developed rules for dating. 1. She should at least have thought about kissing by the end of the first date. 2. Within a month of dating she should have at least thought about being intimate with her partner. 3. Within six months she should have at least considered the idea of moving in together. Nobody's made it to the six month mark yet. You kept in touch with her through undergrad and then her time in med school, but you never quite qualified for what she was looking for in a partner. One Saturday you were out for a jog in the park, trying to distract yourself from your own latest heartbreak and you ran into Beth with papers strewn all around her as she studied for her medical boards in a gazebo. She welcomed the distraction you offered and you two got to talking. Beth said she had just started seeing someone, you took that as an indication it wasn't serious and took the chance to ask her for coffee. She accepted and you helped her pick up her papers when a gust of wind sent the papers flying.