The first month
and a half of Kelsey’s final semester of university passed agonizingly
slowly. She was sick of being mopey and
pathetic, so instead she was putting on a disinterested façade to the
world. She was sure her roommates
appreciated it, especially Caitlin who was deliriously happy in her
relationship with David. The two of them
were sickeningly sweet all the
time. Kelsey was just trying hard to
focus completely on her studies and not think about Tom at all. He was making that slightly difficult,
however, as every week she received a letter, flowers, chocolates, or some
other lavish gift in the form of an apology since he was still filming and
couldn’t pack up and follow her. The
movie was wrapping up in just a couple weeks, though, so she knew that he would
be persistent and that this issue would have to be addressed head-on soon. She thought she might possibly be ready for
that…but the prospect still seemed rather miserable. She looked up from her boring literature book
at the sound of keys in the door.
“Hey Kelsey!”
Caitlin chirped cheerily as she and David walked hand-in-hand into their apartment.
“’Sup.” Kelsey said, her attention no longer focused on
the happy couple. They looked far too in
love and ecstatic for her tastes.
Caitlin just rolled her eyes at Kelsey.
In her despair, she was apparently attempting to act like a gangster
(again). Her baseball cap was on
backwards and her clothes were…well…no more needs to be said. She usually looked more presentable outside
the apartment than inside (but that really wasn’t that hard). David grabbed a movie out of his bag and put
it into the DVD player on their tiny entertainment center while Caitlin
microwaved some popcorn. The two then
started snuggling on the couch.
Disgusted, Kelsey moved to her room.
Their relationship was ridiculously perfect – it sucked. She had just barely settled when a knock
sounded at the door. She heard Caitlin
open the door and then heard a yell for Kelsey to come to the door. She reluctantly stood up and went to greet
her visitor. It was Spencer. Her jaw almost dropped.
“Spencer?” She asked, still wanting to believe that this
was not happening.
“Kelsey!” He
replied enthusiastically (far too enthusiastically- Kelsey’s internal warning
signs started going off). “I am so glad
to see you back in Provo! And without
that guy – I know he was a jerk. You are
better off without him.” Kelsey stared
at him in shock. What the heck made him
think that that was a good conversation starter under any circumstance??? But she composed her raging emotions before
responding in a neutral tone of voice.
“It is good to
be back at school. Can I help you?” Kelsey was trying her hardest to be polite.
“Actually, I
want to help you!” He said perkily. “I
assume that you are feeling pretty awful after your break-up, so I thought that
picking up where we left off would help.
How ‘bout it? We could go out
right now!” Part of Kelsey was tempted
beyond belief to slam the door in his face and hopefully he would catch that
hint, but she restrained herself. Where
they left off was essentially nowhere, but apparently he was not familiar with
that…this was not good. But what choice
did she have?
“Sure?” She
phrased her answer as a question in a strangled tone of voice.
“Fantastic!” He offered her a handful of weeds that he had
picked on his way home and took her arm.
She stared behind her at Caitlin, pleading for help as she was pulled
out of the apartment by her eager date.
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