“Either. Both.”
“Well, as soon as it was clear I wasn’t quite cut out for the Ivy League, my grandmother, who is English, offered to fund me studying in the UK. It was a no-brainer, really. I get a few months at a time away from my Wasp of a mother and all I have to do is drive up to London every couple of weeks and pay the old girl a visit. I chose Brighton as it was far enough away to mean I couldn’t be expected to stay at her house. I love her, but only in small doses. What about you?”
“American Studies and English Literature. I liked the uni and was supposed to be coming here with my best friend, but her plans changed. I like being by the sea,” I added, realising it was true; subconsciously I had always been drawn to it.
“You must be missing her, right?”
“So much,” I admitted before stopping myself from pouring out my tale of woe. “I have to go. Thanks for the coffee.” I stood and slung my bag over my shoulder.
“Hold on. Can I have your number? I’d like to see you again before next week’s lecture. Would that be okay?” My hesitation made Garrett jump to the obvious conclusion. “I’m happy to just be friends, someone to sit with in lectures, grab an occasional coffee with. That type of thing.” And I needed a friend, someone to sit with in lectures, grab an occasional coffee with.
“Umm, okay.” I told him my number and felt my phone vibrate in my bag as he rang to give me his. “I’m off. See you next week.” I didn’t turn back to see if he watched me leave.
I didn’t want to know the answer.
I knew I needed to ring Mum and tell her about Jake before she found out about it via Flynn; she would never forgive me for that. But, as supportive as Mum and Dad could be, I didn’t want to actually put into words what had happened.
Huddled under my duvet, I bit the bullet. Mum answered on the first ring.
“Hang on, love. Simon, turn the TV down. It’s Neve.”
“Hello, darling!” Dad shouted from the background, making me smile as I visualised him, knowing better than to try and take the phone from Mum.
“Your dad says hello. How are you, love?” And that was all it took for the tears to start.
“I’m okay,” I hiccupped.
“Well, that’s obviously not true. What’s the matter?”
“Jake finished with me yesterday.”
“Oh. Why?” There was no evidence of surprise in her voice.
“I don’t know. He said he just couldn’t do it anymore. It didn’t make sense, Mum. I thought things were going great. And he was lovely when he was down here but then, all of a sudden, he said that we’re over.” It didn’t make sense, the more I thought about it.
“Well, maybe he had his reasons, love. You’ve always known he had issues beyond your relationship,” she added. I’d never told her the full story about Jake’s family but, as he has been friends with Flynn for years, I suppose she had always known more than we had discussed.
“Yeah, but it was nothing to do with any of that. He just said he ‘wanted out’.” The crying calmed as my brain tried to make sense of his words, but hindsight wasn’t making things any clearer.
“Maybe he realised you were outgrowing him, now that you’re at university, and is doing the honourable thing?” she offered.
“That’s a horrible thing to say,” I said, outrage increasing my volume. “How can you even suggest that I would think like that?”
“I’m not suggesting you would, lovely, but he might think it. If he loves you as much as he appears to, maybe he thinks you deserve to be free?” If Jake had thought like that, he would have said it. I knew it. I knew him.
“I don’t know, Mum. I just know that I miss him. And I miss you. And Dad. And Cass. I miss being at home.” My voice trailed off into a whine.
“Look, why don’t you come home this weekend? We can drive down and pick you up on Friday night, and drop you back on Sunday. What time do your classes finish on Friday?” She had gone into Mum’s-in-charge mode and secretly I was glad I didn’t appear to have any choice in the matter.
“I have a seminar which finishes at twelve and then I’m done for the day.” Mum checked on Dad’s schedule and announced they would pick me up at three. I hung up, determined to focus on the weekend ahead.
Before I even had a chance to decide what to do with the remainder of my evening, my phone rang again.
“Hi, Cass,” I answered, smiling at the knowledge that she had rung, just as she had promised to.
“So, are you up for going out on Saturday night?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I’m at Flynn’s and your mum has already been on the phone, saying we have to go home for a family weekend. I think she’s included me in that,” she laughed.