The Story of Us (2 page)

I can see the tears welling up in her
eyes so I lower the box down and Drew follows my lead. The moment
feels private, so I make up an excuse to give them the time they
need to say goodbye.

“Well, I’m parched. If you’ll excuse
me Ms. Delmont, I left my water bottle inside. It was really nice
seeing you again.”

“Of course. Likewise, Valerie. I hope
you’re time here is amazing. I hope this is a great experience for
all of you.” She forces a smile through blurred eyes as she turns
back to Drew.

I smile and slip back inside, where I
find Hailey staring out the window in our common room.

“What’s so fascinating?”

She physically jumps before turning
around to face me. “Holy Jes- You scared me half to
death!”

“I noticed.” I laugh at her shocked
expression. “What were you doing?”

“Just thinking.”

“About? Did Ms. Delmont say something
to you?”

“No, nothing like that. I’m just
wondering if I made the right choice.”

“Oh no. We’re not doing this again,” I
whine. We’re here and we’re staying. Get Ivy League right out of
your head. State college is not-”

“It’s college in general,” she
interrupts. “Maybe I shouldn’t be here at all. It’s kind of selfish
to leave my mom right now, don’t you think? She’s never been alone
like this. And Ms. Delmont says this guy she met keeps asking her
out on dates. She keeps saying no, but Ms. Delmont seems to think
that she’ll cave soon.”

“So Ms. Delmont
did
say
something.”

“Well, yeah, I guess. She was trying
to make me feel less guilty though. She was trying to convince me
that my mom’s moving on with her life, that she won’t be lonely
with me gone. That she’ll probably even be dating soon. But now I’m
more worried than ever. I mean, who is this guy? What if he turns
out to be some scumbag and I’m not there to help her see
that?”

“Your mom’s a big girl, Hailey. She
can take care of herself. She’s doing great without your dad. She’s
way more independent than she used to be. And plus, she has Ms.
Delmont, who is going through the whole empty nest thing too, so
she won’t be alone. It’s nice that they’ve become
friends.”

“That’s what Ms. Delmont said, too.
That they’ll help each other. But still, I feel like this is a
selfish move.”

“Sacrificing your college
experience to stay home with your mom wouldn’t do anyone any good,
including your mom. Because she
wants
you here. And if you stayed
home for her, she would have to live with that for the rest of her
life. She would feel guilty for depriving you of your college
experience. It would eat at her and you know it.”

Drew enters the common room with a
smile that drops as soon as he looks in Hailey’s direction. “What’s
wrong?” He asks with a look of pure concern.

It’s moments like this that hit me
hard. I try not to be jealous of Drew and Hailey’s relationship.
But the fact that he enters the room and instantly knows
something’s bothering Hailey, without any obvious signs – no
crying, no yelling, only a subtle look on her face – I can’t help
but want that. I’ve never been the overly romantic type, but when
it’s flaunted right in front of my face nearly every single day,
it’s hard not to miss it, despite the fact that I’ve never had
it.

“Take care of your girl, Drew. She’s
having a moment,” I tell him. And then I walk out to find the
closest coffee shop.

My coffee addiction is becoming a
problem lately. I’m not sure when it got this bad, but somehow it’s
managed to control my life. I need a cup of coffee at least three
times a day. Sometimes more than one cup in a sitting. And if I try
to go without, I get extremely tired and I’ll have a headache all
day. I know it’s a problem, but I can’t seem to get it under
control. The stormy air outside fuels my craving even more. I
follow the path to the middle of the quad and look around. Why
didn’t they show us where the coffee shop was on the college tour?
Coffee is essential to college students! I try to remember
everything the guide had said on the tour, so I can eliminate what
direction it won’t be in. I refuse to be one of those freshman who
carry around a campus map, so I struggle to draw directions solely
from memory. To the right, down the hill, is the math and science
buildings. Straight ahead is the library and behind that is the
Education and auditorium buildings. Behind me a ways is the
psychology center and in front, but a little to the right side of
that, is the English hall. To the left of me is the administration
building and the cafeteria. I think I remember there being a pizza
& sub shop somewhere around there, so I head in that direction,
figuring it’s my best bet.

As I walk, I watch all of the freshman
moving their things into their dorms. There are a lot of parents
helping. A lot of sad goodbyes. And a lot of eager jumping up and
down when they leave. This is the start of a new life. I know it
sounds cliché, but it really is. It’s closing a chapter that I know
by heart and opening one that’s blurry and unclear. It’s scary as
hell, but in a good way. The possibilities are endless.

When I get to the cafeteria, I notice
the pizza shop just behind it. The delicious aroma makes its way
into my path. What a cruel trick. No doubt I’ll be gaining the
freshman fifteen. Who would eat crappy cafeteria food when there’s
delicious greasy pizza to be had? As I approach the pizza shop, the
coffee shop finally comes into sight. Aha! I knew I’d find it over
here with the treasured pizza. I know I’ll be visiting this section
of the campus often.

The coffee shop, or The Grind, as the
sign refers, is a small building with floor-to-ceiling windows
aligning the whole front, with the exception of the bright red
double doors. A bell chirps when I open one of the red doors; the
kind that lets someone know they have a customer. I instantly look
around, but no one’s here, not even an employee behind the counter.
I take a deep breath, inhaling the intoxicating smell of coffee.
It’s easily my favorite smell in the whole world. There’s tables
placed up against the windows and a couple smaller ones filling in
the gaps between those tables and the coffee counter. The counter
is extremely long, nearly the length of the whole building. On the
counter, they have a register, various pastry items for sale, cream
and milk canisters, multiple types of sugars, stirrers, napkins, a
refrigerator filled with juices, and the list goes on. Above the
counter are hanging star-shaped lights. Behind the counter, hung up
on a long brick wall, are five chalkboards aligned side-by-side,
each with the names and descriptions of the different coffees they
offer. It reminds me of a Starbucks, but not quite as fancy. A
rustic, more run-down Starbucks.

I wait for a couple minutes, looking
around and taking everything in. Then I start to get frustrated. Is
anyone even working here? I wait another minute and then I go over
to the door, open it and close it again so that the bell chimes
once more. Then I continue to wait.

Finally, the door behind the counter
opens and I hear laughing. Giggling, actually. And then I see a
couple entangled in each other’s arms, fully dressed, but intimate
nonetheless.

“Ahem,” I blatantly declare, making my
presence known.

“Oh!” the girl exclaims, suddenly
noticing me. She actually looks a little embarrassed, although she
knew full well that she was coming out into the public area of the
coffee shop engaged in the arms of some guy. And just when I start
to think about what kind of a guy this must be, who’s unashamedly
groping this girl in public, he turns around.

“What the hell?”
I shriek, half in disbelief, half in confusion,
and maybe a little in anger.

“Princess?” He asks, with a sideways
smirk on his face.

Suddenly, the little bit of anger I
had turns into full blown rage. I want to slap the smirk off of his
face. I want to slap him for calling me princess. I want to slap
him for whatever he was doing with this girl. I want to slap him
for being here, at WSC, altogether. “What the hell are you doing
here?” I manage to ask through gritted teeth.

He laughs before answering, and I
swear it pisses me off even more. “I work here.”

“Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why do you work
here?”
I shout.

“Because I need the money,” he
nonchalantly answers.

I glance over at the girl, who is now
standing a few feet away from him and looking extremely confused,
and then I turn my gaze back to him. I try to control my anger, but
it still comes through. “I mean, why are you here at
WSC?”

“Because I go here.” He
shrugs.

My eyes go wide. “You’re enrolled
here? You live here?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yepp. Luckily for you, this could be
an everyday occurrence,” he replies, with that same smirk on his
face.

I want to say a million things in
return, but instead I just walk out.

Chapter 2

“
What. The. Hell.”
I demand, when I
walk back into my dorm room. Drew and Hailey just stare blankly at
me in confusion. I march right over to Drew, “You
must
have known Craig
was here. Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

His expression goes from surprised to
understanding in a matter of seconds before he responds, “He asked
me not to.”

Hailey looks over at him in surprise.
I can tell she didn’t know either.

“Why? Why would he ask you not to? And
why would you listen?”

“He’s my friend, Val. He didn’t want
you to know. I respected that.”

“You helped him blindside
me!”

“Okay, okay.” Hailey intervenes,
calmly. She turns to me, “So he’s going to school here. So what?
It’s not a big deal. You shouldn’t care, Val.”

She knows she has me, because if it
was anyone else, it wouldn’t matter. Why would I need to know that
one of Drew’s friends is going to be at the same college as us? I
wouldn’t. Except it’s Craig. And he gets under my skin.

Ever since Hailey and Drew started
dating, Craig has been a major pain in my ass. Actually, it started
before that. But since Drew and Hailey are dating, I have to put up
with him because he’s Drew’s friend. He’s from the same small town
as Hailey, Drew, and I. But Hailey and I went to private school,
while Drew and Craig went to public. But even still, I knew of
Craig’s reputation. I’d never have anything to do with him if it
wren’t for our best friends dating. I still don’t understand how
sweet, innocent Drew could ever be friends with a guy like Craig
Morgan. But because he is, and he’s dating my best friend, I’ve had
to deal with Craig on more than one occasion. He taunts me
religiously, calling me ‘princess’ because he thinks I’m a snob,
but more so because he knows I hate it. He flirts with me
endlessly, again because he knows I hate it. He’s never serious
about it. He hooks up with every girl he comes across. And now I
can add stalking to the list of reasons Craig annoys the crap out
of me, since he followed me all the way to WSC. He’s like an
irritating fly. He infuriatingly buzzes around as I dodge him.
Then, just when I start to think we can coexist, he comes back just
as aggravating as ever. I can never seem to get rid of
him.

“I’m sorry, Val. In hindsight, I
probably should have just told you,” Drew admits
sincerely.

I take a deep breath. I
know it’s not really Drew’s fault. I’m not really mad at
him
. “No. He’s your
friend. I guess I can understand. If Hailey asked me not to tell my
boyfriend’s friend something… if I had a boyfriend… I wouldn’t
betray that either.”

We all stand for a moment in awkward
silence.

I decide to break the ice. “Well, he
works at the coffee shop. So, Drew, I think you owe it to me to go
down and get me a coffee now, since there’s no way in hell I’m
going back there today.”

Drew chuckles, “Okay, fair enough. You
want anything Hail?”

“No, thanks. I’m not as obsessed with
coffee as Val. I don’t need, like, six cups a day,” she teases,
making fun of me. She gives Drew a small kiss and then he heads out
the door.

I turn to Hailey, “I just don’t
understand why he’s even here. All summer me, you, and Drew have
been talking about WSC and Craig’s never mentioned even applying
here, never mind attending.”

“I know. I didn’t know he was coming
here either. Do you think…” she trails off.

“Do I think, what?”

“Well, it’s just that… you guys have a
history. Do you think he came here for you?”

This makes me literally laugh out
loud. “No. For one, we don’t even have a history. We have mutual
friends. That’s it. And two, he was tangled up with some slutty
girl before he noticed I was even in the coffee shop. No way he
came here for me. Not even a possibility.”

“See, the way you said
‘slutty’ girl, makes me think there may have been some jealously
behind that statement,” Hailey accuses, smiling like she knows a
secret. “And besides, you
do
have a history. I’ve seen you curled up with him
on a couch all night, dance with him to a slow song, and even hang
out with him alone on occasion.”