Chapter Two
Caroline
I sat in the back of the classroom, listening to the professor ramble on about classwork. I looked to the right at Sarah’s seat. It was empty, and the class had started 10 minutes ago, so I sent her a text message to see where she was at. She was close to reaching her 4.0 mark, and if she started missing classes, it wouldn’t help her in the long run.
I slid my phone back into my purse as the professor’s beady eyes peered back and forth over the classroom as he continued in his dry, monotone voice. I couldn’t believe that Sarah managed to maintain an A in his class, because I could barely stay awake throughout his lectures. A few minutes later, Sarah crept into the classroom.
She mouthed, “Sorry,” to the professor as she crept past him and made her way down the aisle to her seat. I fixed my eyes on her, waiting for an explanation as she settled into her seat and hung her purse on the back of her chair. “Girl, you don’t want to know,” she whispered to me.
I scooted my desk closer to hers. The loud screech sent the professor’s eyes in our direction. I smiled. “Um, sorry, Professor Morgan.” He kept his gaze in our direction for a few seconds, silently watching like a nosy neighbor, then continued his lesson. As he continued speaking, I whispered to Sarah, “No, I do want to know!”
“I ran into Bradley a little while ago, and he almost got me to go back to his apartment with him for an early morning, um, sex show.”
“Sex show! Bradley?”
“Yes! I almost went, but I know that Professor Morgan is going to give a pop quiz on this lecture and I couldn’t count on you to take the notes for me.”
“Oh, gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
The professor cleared his throat in the front of the classroom, causing me and Sarah to freeze. We had waited for a few minutes before we started speaking to each other again. “So, anyway, he was telling me about a party tonight. I think we should go.”
“Tonight?” I looked to the front of the classroom to make sure Professor Morgan wasn’t going to look our way. “No, I can’t. I have to study for a test that I have tomorrow. I haven’t studied shit for that class, and I can’t afford to fail that test.”
“Oh, come on, Caroline! Live a little! We are about to graduate, and then after that, it’s the real world. No more parties. No more staying out all night, drinking. Just regular, boring adults.” She glanced to the front of the room. “And you’ll probably end up marrying somebody like Professor Morgan.”
“Ew, no!” I covered my mouth when I realized that I had spoken louder than I wanted to. A few students around us snickered as Professor Morgan peered at us. He removed his glasses and let them hang from the string around his neck.
“Ladies, is there something you want to say to the class? Please, go ahead. You have the floor.”
“Um,” I cleared my throat, “no, Professor Morgan, I don’t have anything to say… except… that you’re doing a wonderful job teaching this class and I can’t wait to hear more of your lesson.”
Sarah giggled as she hid her face behind the student seated in front of her. Professor Morgan’s thin lips pursed together as his frail body stood in front of the classroom. His sweater hung loosely from his body, and his black tie was tied into a small knot around his neck. After a few moments had passed, he slid his glasses back onto his face and continued his lesson as if he was never interrupted. Sarah smirked as I shook my head, and we kept our silence until the end of the class.
Afterward, we went to grab something to eat before our next class began. Sarah and I had been best friends since we were in kindergarten. We both had Ms. Caven’s class, and I remembered her walking into the classroom with two ponytails on each side of her head and tears in her eyes. Ms. Caven introduced her to me, and from that day forward, we became best friends. She didn’t know much about her mother until she was a teenager. She told me that she ran out on her and her father when she was younger.
I remember the day she came to my house and told me. She cried for a while after that because she felt like there was a side of her that she would never know because of how her mother ran out, but I comforted her the best I could. She had a good father, though. Mr. Zimmer did everything thing he could to make up for the fact that her mother wasn’t in her life. He was at every mother/daughter dance that the school had, and he even tried his hand at doing her hair.
He had help, though, because Mr. Zimmer was always a handsome man. He looked much younger than his age, and the mothers of students in our grades would always flock to him, especially when they found out that he was a single father. I didn’t realize how handsome he was until I was a teenager. Actually, the majority of girls in our high school saw how attractive he was. Sarah used to hate when I joked around about him, but I only did that to mess with her. I knew that as long as she was alive, her father would be off-limits.
“So, are you really going to study instead of going to that party? Seriously, Caroline?” She took a handful of french fries and shoved them into her mouth.
“Yes, I am serious. I am not like you at all. You can get good grades by looking at a few things at the last minute. But me? I can study for two days and still get a D on the tests.”
“Well,” she said after she took a sip of soda. “That is more reason for you not to waste your time studying because you will most likely fail anyway.”
I rolled my eyes at her as we sat in the middle of the small campus café. Sarah was born smart, so she could ace tests that she barely spent any time studying for. It was uncanny, and she’d been that way for as long as I knew her. “Listen Sarah, I am not a mutant like you, OK? I can’t magically get an A without studying. So, I’m going to have to pass on this party, but,” I sighed, “I know it is going to be fun and I hate that I won’t be there.”
“Wow, Caroline. So, you’re really going to make me go to this party by myself?” She poked her bottom lip out. “All by my wittle bittle self? What if the monster is out there and he tries to take me?”
“Oh, please, Sarah. I’m sure if a monster decides to take you, it is because you want him to. If not, once he takes you, he will bring you right back once he finds out how ANNOYING you are.”
She laughed and nudged me with her foot underneath the table. “You are a loser! Fine. I’ll just go to this party by myself, and I will put it all over Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook just so you can see how much fun you are missing out on! This is our last year in college, and you want to waste it studying!”
Just then, Bradley and Johnathan walked over to our table. Bradley was on ASU’s football team, and Johnathan played basketball. Johnathan was interested in me, and we had been on a few dates with each other, but as of right now, it was nothing serious. He was tall with a short haircut and a toned, athletic body type. He looked more like a model than a basketball player, and he wasn’t that good in the sport, but his height is what gave him the opportunity. People warned me that he had a bad side to him, but I never saw it. After all, rumors are just that: rumors.
“What’s up, ladies?” Johnathan said as he pulled a chair to our table. “So, I know you two are going to the frat party tonight, right?”
“No,” Sarah spoke up before I could respond. I glared at her as Bradley shook his head. “I tried to get her to come, but for some reason, she wants to study instead of going to a party. Can you believe that? We are in college, and she would rather study than go to a party.”
They laughed at the irony of her statement as I sliced my burger in two. “Well, yeah, I need to. I have to get at least a B in this class, and if I don’t, I can kiss my career goodbye. I need to finish strong with all the courses in my major.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Sarah mocked. “Well, you can be a nerd and stay home and study, and we will have all the fun for you.”
“I hate that you won’t be there,” Johnathan said, with his hazel eyes lighting the path to my heart. “I was looking forward to hanging out with you tonight.” He slid his hand on top of mine. “Maybe I can come to your dorm and keep you company instead of going out.”
I smiled. “No, I can’t ask you to do that. I know this is a big party and one person is already going to miss it, there doesn’t need to be two. Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I’m sure there will be more times for us to hang out afterward.”
“Yeah, there will. I will make sure of it.”
“Well,” Sarah interjected, “that’s enough of that. I need to get to class, and you need to keep being a nerd.” She got up from the table and grabbed her trash. “I will see you tomorrow and rub your face in all the fun we had tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you will.” Johnathan and Bradley stood up to leave the table as well. “Um, Sarah,” I called out to her before she walked away, “you be safe tonight, alright? And don’t have too much fun. I want to see you again in one piece.”
“I will be safe, I promise. Oh,” she said as she turned to me once more, “you be safe, too, you know? With all that studying going on. I know things can kind of get out of hand with all those books laying around.” The three of them laughed together as they walked away from my table.
I hated that I wasn’t going to be able to go to the party with them tonight, especially since it was one of the last ones of the year. I knew that I was doing the right thing, though. As I watched them walk away, I nearly reneged on my decision to study and let them know I would come along with them to the party, but as they walked further away, I kept my mouth closed. It is for the best, I said as I poured more sugar into my iced tea. It is for the best.