Dreams

"Wait," Mackenzie holds up her hands, interrupting me mid story. "Lemme get this straight. So you're about to go on your first date with Conrad and you're talking about how much you love being around him and boom! Where is he today?"

I look around our dorm, anywhere but her face, "He's, uh, still in South Carolina."

"That's what I don't understand!" Mack yells, and Brenna pokes my side in agreement. "You know she's right, Sara."

"If you liked each other so damn much, why didn't you stay together?"

Glaring at her, I say, "What makes you think we're not together anymore?"

She rolls her eyes, "Your Facebook relationship status is 'single' and you totally freaked when I introduced you to a Conrad at that party last weekend."

I swallow, knowing I walked right into that one. "Sorry, I just miss him." Playing with the handle on my suitcase, I thought about heading back to South Carolina for winter break. Was he really still there? Did you still think about me, too?

Mack takes my hands in her's. "When you get home, find him. Talk to him. Get back together with him, alright?"

I shake my head, "He'd never take me back."

Brenna sighs next to me, "Of course he would you fool, he loved you more than I love chocolate. And that's saying something."

Laughing, I throw myself backwards onto my bed listening to the noise on the outside of our door - the hustle and bustle of us Dartmouth freshman heading back home. What Mackenzie said sparked the questions I had pushed to the back of my head once I made it to New Hampshire, bringing them to the front of my mind at lightening speed.

Once Brenna and I make it back to Charleston, I won't be able to stop myself from going to see him. I knew that. Talking to him would be a bit harder. Attempting to get him to laugh and smile that lazy, care-free smile - the small stuff that made my heart ache even more - would be something, I feel, that will only exist forever in my memories from now on. I won't be able to experience belting out "Sweet Home Alabama" in his car again or just laying on the hood of it at night, finding constellations.

"Do you think he misses me?" I question, twirling a piece of hair around my finger before frowning at the split ends, and then letting my arm fall with a thump back against the mattress.

Brenna smiles sadly at me, saying, "Of course he does."

Mack leans forward on her bed - the one directly across from me in the small cramped room. Brenna didn't stay with us, but she might as well. She lives in the dorm room right across the hall from us with another nice girl who already left for Europe with her family.

"So are we just going to sit here and listen to Sara's nostalgia or am I gonna hear the end of this story?" Mack asks, frowning slightly.

I sigh and stare out the window, but just as I was about to start again, Brenna's cell goes off. She gives me a small smile, checks the called ID, and groans.

Mack and I both crack up before finally saying, "Just pick it up. He's not gonna stop calling you until you do."

Brenna glances at her phone again and says, "I already know the end of the story anyway." I laugh lightly as she gets up from my bed and takes the call.

Closing the door behind her, I ask Mack if she has everything packed for break. The room is almost completely bare, no matter how many pictures we had spread across the pale walls throughout our first semester here.

After she nods and stall as much as possible before beginning again, until a pillow meets my face. "Tell the friggin' story!" Mack yells, "Gosh, you're killing me here, Sara."

I smile before taking a deep breath and saying, "Well, after we got in the car..."