Southern Comfort

Ellie and I walked into our Thursday 1:30 class that we shared. Classes had started three weeks ago, and things were starting to get into the full swing of the school year. All of my courses were based on things that I had learned in high school. Everything was going perfectly.

I sighed upon seeing no two seats next to each other empty. Sending a small farewell wave to Ellie, I walked to the second row and took a seat next between two guys. I discreetly watched the boy to my left out of the corner of my eye as I pulled out my laptop, and my text book.

The professor started the lecture, and I zoned into my own world, forgetting about the boy sitting next to me. Like Rory said, I was getting used to North Dakota. The friends I’ve made are absolutely great. Though I was never a huge partier, the party scene up here was pretty incredible. They were nothing like the backwoods keggers we had in Alabama.

Being my parent’s little girl my whole life, it wasn’t hard to admit that I missed them a lot. Though I talked to both my mother and my father on the phone frequently, there still felt like a void in my life that couldn’t be fulfilled. Being from the South, I was very big on family. Without your family, you’d be nowhere.

A tap on my left shoulder snagged me out of my thoughts and forced me back into reality. I turned now to get a full look of him. He had short brown hair. My eyes gazed into his blue-ish green eyes. It was like my brain stopped functioning at that exact moment. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t do anything but stare hopelessly. Once again, he snapped me out of my daze.

“Do you happen to have the notes from Tuesday?” He whispered sheepishly, “I over slept after hockey practice,” he explained, careful not to interrupt the class. His cheeks were a fading pink, starting at his cheek bones and spreading across to the tips of his ears. I smiled warmly, and gave a short nod.

I slid my notebook from underneath my text book, and flipped it open to the page from the last class. Pushing the book towards him, I returned his smile.

“Thanks,” he said sweetly. His attention was drawn away from me when he picked up his pen and began to feverishly copy the notes. I tried to turn my attention back to the professor, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him.

I tried my hardest to take in every detail of his face without him noticing me being such a creep. He had an interesting look to him. He wore sweatpants with the word ‘hockey’ written down the right leg, and then the Sioux logo on the other leg, smaller, on the thigh, with the name ‘Frattin’ underneath.

Class seemed to fly by faster than I expected it to. Before I knew it, we were being dismissed. It seemed pointless to have gotten out of bed this morning to come. I felt as though I hadn’t learned anything at all.

When I stood, the boy next to me turned to me, extending the notebook towards me. He wore a grateful smile on his lips.

“Thank you…?”

“Gracianne,” I finished for him with a shy smile.

“Gracianne,” he repeated, “I like it.” His smile transformed into a playful grin as I blushed. “I’m Matt, Matt Frattin,” he introduced himself, taking my hand into his. My flushed cheeks darkened even more when he brought my hand to his face, and he ducked his neck to lay a sweet, simple kiss on the back of my hand.

“Stop laying on your lame mack, Fratts,” another male voice interjected, as someone hit Matt in the back of a head with a notebook. He took his eyes off of me, and turned his head to make some sarcastic remark. As he did so, I scanned the room to find Ellie standing at the end of the row with a smirk on her face as she watched the interaction.

“It was nice meeting you, Gracianne. I’ll see you on Tuesday,” he spoke smoothly, ending it with a wink as he followed his friend down the row, towards Ellie. I followed a short distance behind, until I met up with my roommate. She gave me a grin that took up half of her face and showed off almost every one of her perfect pearly whites.

“Who was that?” She wondered out loud as we exited the room. I could still see Matt and his friend a ways ahead of us. I sent her a small smile, and yet another blush rose to my lips.

“Matt Frattin,” I answered her softly, almost afraid if someone would hear me. She sent me a smirk.

“Look at that, Miss Southern Belle caught the eye of a hockey player,” Ellie boasted. I simply rolled my eyes and listened to her talk on and on about my ‘new found love.’

Opening the door to our dorm room, I rolled my eyes at Kadee who was comfortably spread across my bed, watching television. Her short black hair was pulled back into a pony tail and her side swept bangs were clipped out of her face. I took note that she was wearing the sweatpants she borrowed off of me a few days ago.

“Making yourself comfortable?” I asked her rhetorically, with yet another roll of my eyes.

“Guess what, Kadee!” Ellie squealed excitedly, “Grace found a boyfriend!”

“He is not my boyfriend,” I quickly interjected, sending her a glare. “He borrowed my notes to copy them, that’s all,” I explained in a mumble as I set my bag down at the foot of my bed, and then unzipped my hoodie and pulled it off.

“He kissed the back of her hand,” Ellie clued in Kadee, who replied with a satisfied sound.

“It’s love at first sight!” She exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and fell back onto Ellie’s bed while a long sigh exited my lips.

“I hate you guys.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I miss you too, Mom,” I spoke through the phone speaker.

“Are you still liking all of your classes?” It was so comforting to hear her accent. I was getting sick of listening to the people up here talk. My mother’s voice reminded me of home. It was so warm and welcoming.

“Yeah, they’re great,” I partially lied.

“That’s good, honey.”

“How’s dad?” I asked her, referring to her husband of the last twenty seven years and my father. Before I left for school, I was a huge daddy’s girl. There was just nothing like a hug from your father.

“You know your father, I’ve hardly seen him in the past two weeks,” my mother started, “he’s been obsessing over the performances of the reenactment next week. He’s been down at the fields all day and night!” she exclaimed. I laughed a little, imagining my dad in his civil war outfit down there with all of his friends. He had always loved the history of our roots.

Just then, my there was a knock at my dorm room door. I knew it wasn’t Ellie or Kadee because they were both in class.

“I gotta go, Mom,” I told her sadly, “there’s someone at the door. I’ll call again soon.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Have a good night, and be safe. I love you, and I miss you. I can’t wait til Christmas.”

“Me neither,” I agreed honestly. I couldn’t wait to get back home. The cold weather was really starting to get to me. As far as I understood, it hadn’t even begun to get cold here in North Dakota. “I love you, Momma, and I miss you. Goodnight.”

I hung up after she said her goodbye, and then I made my way to the door. I swung open the wooden door to reveal the face of the boy I met in Psychology, Matt Frattin. My stomach filled itself with butterflies when I saw the grin stretched across his face.

“Hi Gracianne,” he greeted me, leaning up against the door frame. He smirked at my shocked expression.

“Hello Matt,” I nodded with the slightest hint of a smile. “How’d you find me?”

“I’ve got lots of friends,” his smirk grew larger. I let out a small laugh and nodded. “I was thinking, maybe I could take you out tonight. You haven’t left my mind since Psych on Thursday,” he admitted. I bit my lip as my heart started to race, and I studied him.

“I guess I can give you a chance,” I agreed to his offer. His smirk was replaced with a genuine smile.

“Great,” he said enthusiastically. “I’ll be here to pick you up around seven. Dress nice, but not too formal.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “I’ll see you then,” I tried my hardest to evacuate the shakiness of my voice. He gave me a charming smile before he turned and walked back down the hallway. As soon as I closed the door behind me, I let out a squeal and began to text Ellie my news.