Tethered (J + P series) (13 page)

Chapter 22

The last week of school arrived.  I was busy studying and packing up for the summer.  Chuck planned to pick me up on Thursday to take me home. 

Students were trying to arrange roommate assignments for next year.  I wished I could afford a single room, but knew that was not in my future.  A girl on my floor named Molly asked to room with me next year.  I took her up on the offer since she was quiet, studying health sciences, and seemed nice.  Mags and a friend from home were going to room across the hall from us, and Jen and Tara would be next to Mags' room.  The boys were sticking together as well.  Ian and Tim rooming together and Greg and Jared rooming together.  Hopefully the summer apart would do us all some good.  Maybe we would return in the fall less irritated with each other.  I wondered if any of the couples would last through summer.   Mags and Tim seemed like the couple to last.  Jen and Edward had a few fights recently which might make summer hard on them, especially if Edward ran across his ex-girlfriend, an old temptation.  And Jared and Tara, no comment.

Wednesday night, I finished studying and grabbed a quick shower.  On my way back to my room, Tara popped out of her room.  “You can have Jared back now.  I am done with him.”  I felt like puking.  “No thank you, I am not interested in your sloppy seconds.” I said and headed into my room.  The door closed and I heard her mumble something toward my room.  Probably cursing me.  Good, their relationship didn't make it past two weeks.  I hopped into bed.  My roommate was already fast asleep so I laid down and drifted off peacefully.

After my last final, I said goodbye to the girls and wished them a fun summer.  Then I headed to the boys' side.  Tim and Ian joked with me about some of the finals I had to endure this week.  “Bet you wished we had shared our amazing brain power with you in more tutoring sessions before your finals.” Ian teased.  I laughed and told them I felt pretty good about my grades and begged them to keep in touch over the summer.  Then I knocked on Jared and Greg's door.  Greg was the only one in the room, which was a relief.  I had not seen Jared since he and Tara broke up and I was not anxious for an awkward moment.  “Hey Greg!  I came to say farewell.” he got up and gave me a big bear hug. 

“Perry, I got used to seeing you almost every day.  What am I gonna' do this summer?”  He truly looked concerned.

“Come visit me,”  It's a three hour drive from his house to my house so I doubted he will take my suggestion to heart.  “or write me.”

“I will.”  We hugged again and I start toward the girl's side.  As I passed the laundry room, I heard Jared call out my name.  “Perry, hey, wait up.”  I walked a little faster.  I couldn't do this right now.  His voice got closer as he called me again, but I kept my pace and made it to the girl's stairwell without turning back.  “Goodbye Jared” I whispered.  I headed back to my room, grabbed my bags and headed home for the summer with Chuck.

Chapter 1 of Complications

Book 2 of the J+P series

The summer was not over yet and here I was heading back to school.  The campus looked the same, no new buildings or statues erected as far as I could tell.  The dorm had not changed over the summer.  I claimed my side of the room since Molly had not shown up yet.  She was more studious than my previous roommates and would hopefully be a good match for me.  I hadn't seen any other friends on my floor yet.  I was dying to know if any of the boys were here yet.  How could I discreetly scope out the guys wing?  I put on my Converse and decided to check out the lower level of the common area. 

I checked for mail and found a few back to school sheets in there.  The radio station was locked up but from peeking through the window, I saw the old ratty couch and the graffiti on the walls.  No change.  I walked past the laundry rooms toward the guys’ wing, getting closer to where the guys in our gang resided.  I heard loud boisterous guys arranging a game of football on the lawn between dorms.  Our friends were not footballers.  I peeked around the corner where the boys rooms were, all the doors were closed.  I turned around quickly and slammed straight into Greg and a new boy. 

“Stalking someone Perry?”  Greg teased as he steadied me. 

“Oh sorry,” I could feel the color heating up my cheeks, “I'm glad it was you I body-slammed and not some stranger.”

“Good to see you too kiddo.” Greg smiled.  “Oh, hey.  This is Dave; he is a buddy from back home.  He is living in the room next to ours so you will see a lot of him.”

I extended my hand and David shook it.  He was not my type, but attractive.  He was shorter than Greg and more muscular (but not in the beefy way).  He had blonde curly hair and blue eyes.  He smiled but did not say anything. 

“Anyone else back yet?” I asked.

“Not yet, Dave and I were gonna' pick up some pop from the store.” Greg had a car, he was the only one from our group and we were grateful for any trips he invited us to join him.  “Wanna' come with?”

I could not think of anything better to do at that moment.  Plus I seriously had missed Greg over the summer.  “Absolutely.”

We walked to his car, which was actually a pretty cool car for a 19 yr old kid from a middle class family.  It was a bit sporty and retro with a great stereo system.  Dave let me ride shotgun and he poked his head between the driver and passenger seats to join our conversation.  We chatted about the summer and the sucky jobs we had to work.

I asked Dave who he was rooming with and he said it was another friend from home named Jim.  “Boy, you all just love this college huh?  So did all four of you hang out back home?”

“Sort of, Jared wasn't in the mix all the time, but the rest of us were pretty solid.” Dave said.

I liked Jared and Greg an awful lot, and Dave seemed nice enough.  I wondered what Jim was like. 

“Who are you rooming with Perry?  Anyone I know?” Greg asked.

“Nah, a girl named Molly.  She lived a few doors down from me last year. She is in life sciences too.  Kinda quiet and shy but nice.  I don't know how she will fit into the mix of us all.”

“Oh man, a new one.  Weird, you know you can always hang out in my room.” Greg offered.

“Thank you for that.” I smiled and nodded.  I looked out the window and felt the warm sun on my skin with the cool breeze blowing through my hair.  The summer had been hard.  I worked a lot and did whatever my parents bid me to do.  I was glad to be back on campus with my friends and my freedom.  I felt alive here.    As I opened my eyes to come out of my thoughts I saw Dave looking at my from the side-view mirror.  His eyes met mine for a moment and he quickly looked away, like he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.  I looked at him for a moment longer and then decided to engage Greg to push away any awkwardness.  Something in my gut told me this year would be full of complications and excitement, I could hardly wait.