The girls soak him in from head to toe, grinning like Christmas came early. Back off bitches. “Yeah, we do. You go to school here?” The dark haired one, with a summer tan in November, sits up a little straighter, and I swear she leans forward so he can see down her shirt. But his eyes never make it lower than her face.
“No. I go to Berkeley. My girlfriend’s trying to decide where to apply so I’m here touring the campus with her and her friends and they’d really like to see a dorm room. Would you mind giving them a little tour?”
Boob flasher rocks back in her seat with a scowl on her face. But another girl says, “Sure. I’ll give them a tour.”
The nice one stands. And so does the stripper, having acknowledged us for the first time. “You guys ready?”
“Sure,” I say, stepping forward with Keesh and Steph on my heels.
I look back at Alex who stops at the door. “You guys go ahead. Seen one dorm, seen them all. Plus, there won’t be enough room in there for me and the big guy.” He and Dom let out a chuckle. “Have fun.”
“Okay, so Davis is at the top of my list so far,” Keesh says, as we make our way out of town.
“Wait. We haven’t seen any place else yet,” I protest.
“Exactly.
Steph shakes her head. “Personally, I find it odd that they have a bridge made especially for frogs so they safely cross a street. That’s just weird.”
“I thought it was kinda cute.”
“You would, Meg.” Keesh laughs. And it’s true. That’s totally something I’d find endearing. “Well, we still have like five hundred more schools to go. So I could change my mind to a less
weird
school.” Keesh sits back and flips through the school brochures we gathered. “I can think of one in particular you’d like more.”
We spend the afternoon with our very own heart-stopping sexy tour guide walking from building to building on the Berkeley campus. The girls and I roll down the lucky 4.0 hill, in hopes that it’ll work its magic during our own finals week. Dom and Alex snap pictures and send them to our friends back home. Josh tells Alex to stop sending him pictures of us and instead send pictures of hot girls at each campus. What? We’re not hot enough for him.
I’ve seen it all before when I visited Alex a few years back. But Keesh and Steph are in total awe. The campus is amazing. Makes me feel smarter just being here.
“I’m in love,” Steph says, taking in the campus. She walks slowly turning her head from side to side, scanning every inch of the place, afraid to miss something. “The history here is amazing. Now, this is a school I can see myself at.”
Dom rests his arm on her shoulder and tugs her closer. I’m not sure, but he looks worried. I know what it’s like for the person you love to move away. I know he has to have some serious issues running through his mind right now. They’ve been together for almost three years, if you don’t count their little break. I’m sure they’ll work something out. Or, at least, I hope so.
Alex leads the way to a local burger joint. The food is delicious and I can’t complain about the company. I know college is still a year away, but I already feel like I belong here. Not at Berkeley in particular, but in this type of environment. Where I’m an adult. Where I’m free to do what I want. Be with who I want. It’s a really cool feeling. And surprisingly, I don’t miss my parents. Not all that much, anyway.
“Berkeley is at the top of my list,” Steph says, pushing a French fry into her mouth.
“Davis is still at the top of mine. How about you, Meg?”
I’m not about to answer that question. It’s loaded and scary. “I don’t know. I’m not ranking anything until acceptance letters are in my hands.”
I can barely open my eyes when Keesh knocks on the door and tells us we’re supposed to leave in thirty minutes.
“Oh shit.” Alex rolls to his side to face me. “We slept in.” He closes his eyes again, drapes an arm across my body and cuddles me toward him. The warmth of his arms lulls me back to sleep.
Another bang shocks me awake. “I’m up. I’m up.”
Keesh peeks her head inside the room. “Oh my god, you guys. Get your asses up. We’re supposed to be on the road already.” She shuts the door with a touch of a slam. Oh hell, who am I kidding? She never does anything half way. She hammered the door shut.
“Let’s just clean up and get dressed. We can shower when we get to the hotel.” I start to get out of bed, but Alex pulls me back down.
“Let me hug you for just a second longer.” He burrows his face into my neck.
“Okay. If you want.” I smile at his touch. After another night of non-stop making out, I guess we needed some sleep. The girls are gonna give me crap, I know it. But it was worth it. Not that kind of worth it, though. My earthquake preparedness kit is still tucked away in my bag. I like calling it that. I know that when it happens for me and Alex, I’m going to feel like the earth is trembling with a 10.0 quake so it only makes sense.
Alex sighs as he moves away from me. “All right. Time to go.”
We’re on the road again, a whole two hours behind schedule. Keesh and Steph let me have it. They aren’t angry with us for making everyone late. They’re angry that we were late because Alex and I were actually sleeping. I think Keesh’s exact words were: “Next time you make us wait, it better be that you took Alex’s sexy ass for the ride of your life.” Inside, I laugh again just thinking about it.
“Hey, babe,” Steph says. “I think you’re going the wrong way. You were supposed to stay on that freeway.”
I catch a smile form across Alex’s lips. He looks over at Dom, who returns a discreet grin. The guys are definitely up to something.
“No, I got it. We’re gonna make a pit stop.”
“I thought we were driving straight through.” Steph gives him a confused look in his rear-view mirror. “What happened?” From the backseat, she leans forward, resting her elbow on the center console between Alex and Dominic.
“Nothing happened. I just want to stop somewhere.”
“Where?” Her voice rises an octave.
Alex looks out his passenger window. His smile has gotten bigger and he looks like he wants to laugh.
I take out my phone and send him a message.
What r u guys up to?
A second later, I hear his phone beep and I wait.
My cell lights up with a new text.
Ul see ;-)
I knew it. I love surprises. And I hate them too. I wonder what this one will be.
“San Jose State? That isn’t on our list,” Keesh says, finally waking when the van comes to a stop.
Dom looks back at us. “It’s on mine.”
The three of us look at him and then at each other. But before any of us can respond, he’s out the door and it’s shut behind him.
“What’s that about?” I ask Steph.
“I have no idea, but I’m about to find out.”
We practically fall out because we’re in such a hurry to hear Dom’s story.
He holds out his hand to his girl. “Walk with me, babe.”
The two walk hand in hand ahead of us and out of ear shot. Can’t hear a thing.
“Okay, Alex. Spill.”
He chuckles. “I guess Dom is looking for schools too. He wants to have some options too since he’s finishing his associate’s degree this year and is looking to transfer.”
“Here?” Keesh questions.
“I think that depends on Steph. If she chooses a school up here, then yeah. If she chooses a school near home, he’ll stay down there.”
“Wow. How romantic,” I squeal. “Does she know? She hasn’t mentioned anything to us.”
He shakes his head. “I think he’s telling her now.”
Up ahead, Dom and Steph stop walking and turn toward each other. Our crawl slows to a stop too.
“We shouldn’t watch,” I say.
“We shouldn’t, but like hell I’m gonna miss this,” Keesh responds, her eyes glued to our friends.
“Looks like she took the news well,” Alex says, hanging his arm over my shoulder and bending down to kiss the top of my head.
Yes it does. My throat tightens as I watch Dominic take Steph’s face in his big hands and kiss her. She smiles as he pulls back, her eyes still closed. He then wraps his arms around her and they hug it out.
“That was so cute,” Keesh says, her hands clasped together under her chin.
“Oh my god, it was beautiful,” Alex jokes in a high-pitched voice.
Keesh whacks him in the chest with the back of her hand. “Don’t make fun, buddy. It was beautiful.”
He laughs. “Okay, it was.”
After a short tour of the campus, we sit down in the campus village for a quick meal.
“And I thought Berkeley had history. This campus is amazing,” Steph says. “Did you see the Cesar Chavez arch? I wish my parents could see it.”
“You took enough pictures. I’m sure they’ll get the idea,” Keesh says.
“True.” Steph gets back to her sandwich.
“What did you think, big guy?” Alex asks Dominic.
“I like it. But I can get my business degree anywhere. I’ll only being doing a few years wherever I go. I want Steph to make the choice. She has more to consider. Like her major, what each school has to offer, the dorms. I won’t even be living on campus.”
Alex takes a sip of his soda. “It’d be cool to have you around. We could get together all the time. Just saying.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Dom reaches across the table with his big fist and Alex slams it with his own.
When we get arrive in Santa Cruz, my tummy tingles. Nerves rush through my body as I take in the gorgeous scenery. It reminds me of our camping trip.
“I love it,” I say. “It’s so pretty.”
“I can’t believe this school is even on your list.” Alex turns around to look at me. He must notice my confusion because he asks, “Why did you pick it?”
Um. Because it’s only an hour and a half away from you. But I don’t say anything.
“She didn’t pick it. I did.” Keesh saves my ass.
“Oh,” he says. “Makes more sense. This is a total beach city. Not much else to do but surf and walk the boardwalk.”
Are you kidding me? I picked a school along the beach. “What happened to walking from class to class through the forest?”
“Well, the campus is in the woods. But I doubt people go here and stay on campus the whole time.”
We’re just about to hit the main street onto campus when Alex tells Dom to make a left going in the opposite direction. Not even a mile down the street, I see what he’s getting at. The ocean.
“You really didn’t know Santa Cruz was right next to the beach?” he asks. I can already feel the grit of the sand in my teeth and we haven’t even gotten out of the damn van. “You didn’t.” He turns back to Dom. “Go back toward the school.”
Dom parks and we all get out.
“Hey, would you mind getting the brochures and maps while we stay here for a minute?” Alex asks the gang.
I watch as my friends walk away. I guess it’s our turn to have a talk. Although, for some reason, I don’t think it’s going to be one of those
aww how cute moments
.
Alex turns to me, talking my hands in his. “Megan, you know I love you, right?”
“Yeah.” I look into his eyes for quick glance before staring at my shoes.
“You know I’d want nothing more than to have you close to me, right?”
I nod, gazing back up at him again.
“You know I want what’s best for you?”
“Uh huh.”
“Then why in the hell would you even consider going to a school less than a mile from a beach when you loathe going to Newport once a year?”
I can’t help but laugh. “I’m an idiot.” I laugh harder. “I just looked up schools that surrounded Berkeley. I remember someone telling me that it was like going to school in the forest. I thought it would be just like Mammoth. I guess not.”
“You can’t go to school here, babe. As much as I want to be as close to the same zip code as you as I can, this one isn’t it.”
I step closer to him, hugging his waist. “I know. I can already taste the salt and it’s making me nauseous.”
His body shakes in my arms. “You’re crazy. You can’t taste the salt water from here.”
“Yes, I can. I can even feel the sand. I feel like sandpaper is scratching my skin.”
“Maybe you should study psych with Keesh. She should do research on your brain because you’re nuts.”
Chapter 16
Two days of college touring down. Two more to go. I’m not gonna lie. I’m kind of over it already. The dorm rooms look pretty much the same. Two wooden desks. Two twin beds. A sad excuse for a closet. Some have bunk beds. But not one room ventures too far from the norm.
The buildings are all the same too, some a little older, some a little cleaner. But really, not all that different. Each school seems to have its own little vibe, but nothing that’s really standing out to me. I think it will all come down to where I decide to apply and where I get in—and how far away I’m willing to go from home.