The dinging of my phone woke me. I checked to find a text from Rob asking if I was good. I searched the screen for the time and saw it was just after three in the morning. I couldn’t believe I slept so hard. It was only supposed to be a quick closing of the eyes. I needed to be on a plane in three short hours.
I slowly dragged my cramped body from the narrow ass bed and searched for my clothes in the dark. Quietly, I dressed and just as I located the doorknob to leave, I recalled what I wanted to leave with her. I pulled out three stacks and laid it on the table closest to me. I didn’t want to risk knocking into something by going to the nightstand nearest her bed.
The second time I reached for the knob, I heard Zoey slur, “I love you.”
Those three words stopped me in my tracks. I wondered if she was talking in her sleep. She hadn’t spoken them since Alpine. I’d almost thought they were a part of my active imagination. My stomach turned, but in a good way. Sheer fucking bliss.
“I love you more, Ni?a,” I whispered.
And I did. There was no way she could care for me more than I did her. No way she longed for me the way I obsessed over her. When it came to Zoey, I lost all common sense; tonight was a clear demonstration of that.
When I closed her dormitory door behind me, all I could think of was how soon I could be with her again. When would I see her face again?
So fucking pretty. And such fucking trouble.
~~~~~~~~~~
~Zoey~
About two weeks later, and with much trepidation, I found myself knocking on Stenton’s apartment door in Philadelphia. How I was able to make it there with my clunker, I didn’t know. I wasn’t all that sure if I wanted to be there in the first place.
I didn’t expect a strange man to open the door. He was tall, Caucasian and drunk, so different from the one downstairs who “checked” me in.
“Hi,” I croaked out. “Is Stenton home?”
Why did I sound like a child?
The tall guy chuckled and moved aside. I entered the apartment and saw random figures walking about and some even sitting. His place was modest in size and very contemporary with high ivory stained walls and walnut wooden floors, highlights and features. It was by no means the expanse of his home in Alpine, but it was probably the fanciest apartment I’d ever been in. I entered directly into the living room where there was an open floor plan that blended the room with the kitchen and dining room from what I could see through the crowd. There wasn’t a houseful, but certainly more than I expected, considering I was only expecting Stenton.
It didn’t take me long to find him. Once the door closed behind me and I looked to my right, he was there, talking to a woman with platinum hair. His attention automatically transitioned to me and stayed there though he didn’t move. His eyes instinctively slanted in awareness of my presence. It’s funny how your body becomes aware of certain senses once you’ve shared it with another individual.
The woman he spoke with melded into the wall, clearly comfortable with her proximity to Stenton. His body language spoke interest to me, but hers said she wanted more than Stenton’s proximity there against the wall. I wasn’t in the mood for people. I just wanted a bed, preferably mine at my parents’.
Stenton’s face transformed almost into a scowl. I didn’t see his usual smile when he recognized me. I kind of sort of wondered why, but the wiser part of me knew he was concerned about my disposition.
“Hey, Mascot!” I heard from the left of me. I turned to find Tynisha, holding a fancy, short, and thick bottle that had the word Mauve printed across it. This was my first time seeing her off a television or computer screen. I’d guessed she’d learned I was a student. “I didn’t know you were coming,” she said stoically, but from her stomach.