“We have to get out of here!”
“We can’t do that.” They’d been given a three-page schedule as soon as they arrived. They were supposed to be on the tour for another forty-five minutes, then dinner. She could see why Zach wanted to come to this school. Barnett had a certain sophistication he would like. It wasn’t her, though. She wanted something less rigid. More creative and open to ideas.
“I don’t know about you, but looking at statues all day isn’t my idea of a good time.”
“We’re not here to have fun.” They were supposed to be learning. Concentrating on colleges and the future.
“If you can’t have fun at college, then where can you? Come on. Let’s explore.”
She’d love to ditch the tour and go away with him. It wasn’t something she would normally consider, but with him, it was different. However, she couldn’t leave Randy. She rose on her tiptoes. He was standing at the very front. He kept nodding as the tour guide pointed out another historical fact.
“Baby doll, if I have to hear one more anecdote about a founding father, I’ll bash my head in.”
Keeley felt the same way. Hell, she didn’t owe Randy anything. Wasn’t like they came together. “Let’s slip away after this. It’s too noticeable now.”
She really shouldn’t be there, she thought. She was wasting the school’s time and her own. Stupid Zach. This was his dream school, not hers. He knew that, too, but did that stop him from pressuring her to come? No! He was always doing things like this, too. Going behind her back and then making her feel bad if she didn’t go along with his plan. She should just say no from now on. This was her life, after all.
When the group began moving, Keeley and Talon shuffled to the back. The tour guide directed the group to a building to the far left. Talon inched toward the right, motioning for Keeley to follow. As the group veered away, Keeley kept her head down and hurried after Talon.
“Now what?” she wondered out loud. They were behind an old building at the edge of campus. Alone. She was happy to be away from the tour, but now she felt a little shy. On the train, there were other passengers. Here, it was just the two of them.
“What’s the thing you’ve been looking forward to most here?”
Him.
But she didn’t say that out loud. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know much about this place. Zach wanted me to come, so I did.” How pathetic did that sound? “What about you? Do you want to see anything in particular?”
“I’m in the same boat. I don’t plan on applying to Barnett, but you wanted me to come, so I did. I’ve been curious about you since we switched phones.”
Her face grew warm. “Really?”
Talon looped his arm around her waist. “I came here to get to know you better, Keeley.”
His words made her giddy inside but she also had questions for him. “Then why did you act like we’d never see each other again when you drunk-dialed me? And why did you just leave like that at Java Hut?”
He pulled her till he was close enough to drop his head onto her shoulder. Softly, so only she could hear, he whispered, “I’m always making mistakes with you, aren’t I?”
She tried to ignore their close proximity, but it was difficult when all she felt was him. “Can you please just tell me?”
He pulled away. “I want us to have fun on this trip. Can we save the other stuff for later? Please?”
It was the “please” that did her in. Yeah, she could wait. She wasn’t going to have a chance like this again. This new Keeley was going to go for it. “What do you want to do, then?”
He gestured to the building. “What do you think is in here?”
Keeley remembered the campus map. “A lecture hall.”
“Let’s take a peek,” Talon said, grabbing her hand.
Quietly, they stepped inside. The class was huge! It looked like a miniature stadium. There were at least two hundred people in it, all furiously typing notes as a woman lectured about amino acids. Was this how college was going to be? Keeley noticed one girl playing a game on her phone. That was so her.
Talon nudged her and mouthed, “Boring.”
She agreed. They might as well have stayed with the tour.
As they tiptoed out, Talon commented, “Wow. That was intense.”
“No kidding.” Somehow, seeing that girl made Keeley feel better. Maybe not everyone at college would be ambitious and directed. Maybe some of them would still be drifting, like her.
Her phone pinged.
Randy: Where are you guys?
Oh, man. Keeley showed it to Talon. “I don’t know what to tell him,” she said.
“Just tell him we ditched.”
“But we didn’t invite him to come along. It seems rude.”
Talon looked at her like he was seeing something new. “Since when are you anything but direct? Here. I’ll tell him.” Talon grabbed her phone.
Left. Be back later.
“Problem solved.” Talon turned her phone off, then did the same with his. “There. No distractions. Just us and college.”
But now what? They had no direction.
Talon didn’t seem to have the same dilemma. He grabbed her hand again and tugged her to a different building. “Let’s take our own tour.”
They spent the rest of the day exploring the campus. They had no idea where they were going or what they were doing, and it was fabulous. There was no pressure to act a certain way or say the right thing. She could just be … herself. Well, the version of herself that seemed to pop up whenever Talon was around.
Thank God Talon came on this trip. She shuddered to think about being stuck with Randy the whole time. Randy had never been this accepting of her. It always felt like he wanted her to be something more. More of what, she didn’t know. It made her self-conscious. Like she was lacking in some way. But Talon … well, he seemed to accept her for who she was.
It was getting late, and Keeley and Talon were wandering around one of the dorms when a group of rowdy guys passed. They were handing out orange flyers. At first, it seemed random, but then Keeley realized they were being selective. They were only choosing really attractive people.
“Party tonight, man,” a guy told Talon. He gave Talon a flyer and completely ignored her. “Lots of free booze. And the girls.” He let out a low whistle. “Finest on campus.”
Talon handed back the flyer. “I’m good.”
“Come on! It’s going to be epic. We have an ice luge.” Again, he spoke directly to Talon. It was like she wasn’t even there.
Talon motioned to Keeley, including her in the conversation. “We’re here for a campus tour. We don’t even go to Barnett.”
“Even better! I’ll show you the ropes. Give you a taste of the real college experience.”
“That’s okay.” Talon looked at Keeley. “I’d only go if you go.”