“Yeah, everything’s pretty much as together as it’s gonna get.”
There was a long pause. I watched him, observed the sadness in his expression, and quickly thought of something to say to get his mind off of us being so far apart.
“Where’s your roommate?”
“I’m right here,” someone called out from the background.” AJ turned to his left in response to the voice and laughed. A blond haired guy appeared on the screen next to AJ waving into the webcam. “Hey, I’m Jimmy. Nice to meet you. Well, this is kinda like meeting you anyway,” he added.
I laughed and waved back. “Nice to meet you, too.” He disappeared into the background and it was just me and AJ again.
“Where’s Deanna?” He asked.
“She left with our suitemates and Karl awhile ago, headed to some restaurant.”
He shot me the look that I was expecting him to give. “Why didn’t you go? You need to get out and meet people.”
“Stayed behind to talk to you, duh.”
“Yeah, but you can talk to me anytime, and you’ll see me tomorrow; I want you to make friends – female friends of course,” he joked.
“I can hang out with them some other time. You’re more important. Plus one of the girls, Jen, is getting on my nerve already, and I didn’t really feel like being bothered.”
“Why don’t you like her?” He asked.
“It’s not so much that I don’t like her, she just got under my skin a little.” I chose not to share her thoughts on how long-distance relationships tend to end up. “The other girl, Bianca, was pretty cool, though. I could see us getting along.”
“Well that’s good.”
“Yeah, I guess. It seems like you’re getting along well with Johnny,” I said.
“It’s Jimmy,” the voice in the background called out.
“Oh, right. Sorry, Jimmy!” I said apologetically as I chuckled.
“Yeah, he’s pretty cool,” AJ replied.
The door to his room shut in the distance and I assumed that Jimmy left. AJ yawned and I remembered how long he’d just driven. “Why don’t you rest, so you don’t oversleep in the morning? You have to be at the airport before me right?” I asked.
“Yeah, at like six.”
“Well, don’t forget to set your alarm.”
“Already did – for five.”
“Okay, good – love you,” I said with a smile.
“Love you too,” he replied.
I wanted to hug and kiss him so badly, but instead was only able to tell him goodnight and that I’d see him tomorrow. He didn’t protest for long which meant that he must’ve been pretty tired. I packed my computer away and lay down on the bed. Tomorrow was going to come quickly and I couldn’t afford to be tired. Excitement crept in as I thought of seeing AJ in person. It hadn’t even been a full day since we’d seen each other last, but that fact did nothing to dull my anxious feelings.
I’m not sure what time Deanna finally made it in, but when my alarm sounded at 7:00, she was in bed sound asleep. The first thing I did was call for a cab to ensure that I wouldn’t be late getting to the airport.
My hair was a mess, so I flat ironed it until it cooperated with me somewhat. The goal was to look perfect today, but I’d have to settle for ‘good enough’. Once I gave up, I threw the last of my things into my bag and slid my tennis shoes on. I made sure to dress comfortably enough for the plane ride, but it was even more important that I looked cute for when I met up with AJ. My light-colored, fitted jeans and white tank top did the trick. I looked over myself in the mirror and played around with my hair a little more before double-checking my bag and heading out the door.