That sounded so good to me, considering that I was about to have to face life without him at Charleston. “Don’t tempt me,” I replied. He laughed under his breath and slowly released me from his grasp. We both got up from the bed and he let me have the shower before him. We finished packing up our things and lingered in the room until the last possible minute, dreading what was to come.
Both of us were silent for the entire cab ride to the airport as we sat with our hands interlocked and staring out our own windows. When we came to a stop at the entrance airport, my heart sank. By the time AJ checked in for his flight, it would be nearly time for him to leave. At 10:45 they made the final call for him to board and we stood there holding on to one another.
“You should go or you’ll miss your plane,” I said as I fought back tears. I thought of the first time we’d held one another in my room that day nearly a year ago. Who would have ever thought that we’d make it this far? So many things had changed since then. We’d survived trials in our relationship that would have torn any other couple apart. We’d proven to ourselves that no amount of misfortune could break us, but now time and distance would test our strength too. AJ breathed in deep breath58 and kissed me once before finally letting me go so that he could catch his flight.
When he was out of sight, I didn’t have to pretend to be strong anymore. It felt like he’d taken a part of me with him when he departed and I could expect to feel that way until he was on campus with me. Tears streamed down my face as reality set in; I was about to face this whole college thing by myself and I was absolutely terrified.
Chapter4
Sam
It was nearly 8:00pm and there was no way I was about to bother unpacking my things. Instead, I shoved my bag into the closet and sprawled out on the bed. Thankfully none of the other girls were in at the moment, giving me a chance to relax and get my mind right. Deanna’s bed was made up so neatly that I questioned whether she’d even been sleeping here. All of her things were in order and seemingly untouched.
Going to sleep early didn’t seem like such a bad idea. My morning was going to be spent familiarizing myself with the campus so that I didn’t have to wander around on Wednesday when my classes started. My books were supposed to be waiting for me in the school bookstore, so that was another thing on my “to-do” list.
It was strange being alone in my new room. The day I moved in, there was so much commotion in the halls that I assumed it was always that lively. Now everything was so much quieter. Loneliness set in pretty quickly and I found myself feeling a little homesick. I hugged my pillow and stared at the alarm clock, imagining that, at that very moment, AJ was thinking of me too. Calling him seemed like it would have been too much seeing as how we’d just left one another, so I fought the urge and continued to lie there in silence.
Keys jingled in the door and then the lock clicked. Deanna perked right up when she saw me, throwing her purse on her bed before sitting beside me on mine. “Was it as awesome as I know it was? Tell me everything. I need for pictures to be in my hand by like tomorrow. Where’d you guys stay? I need details,” she rambled. Just thinking about answering her line of questioning made me more tired. Her enthusiasm when she saw me and her untouched belongings led me to believe that things hadn’t exactly been pleasant between her and our suitemates in my absence.
“Everything was perfect, but would you mind if I gave you the details tomorrow? I’m kind of sleepy,” I said while yawning.
“Are you really making me wait?” She sighed. “Fine, but you still have to listen to me complain.”