Love's Not A Competition: Senior Year

Wednesday September 2nd

I took a deep breath as I stepped out of the cab. Kids were hanging around the entrance, pulling suitcases through the doors or catching up with friends. I remembered the nervous excitement I had felt on this day two years ago. That was the day I had met Eric, the day I had met Zeke. I could remember walking into my dorm room and seeing him for the first time. I had been very impressed and very, very nervous. I couldn’t even talk to him I had been so nervous around him. I smiled at the thought before grabbing my suitcase and wheeling it towards the doors.

Other third years smiled and greeted me as I walked down the corridor on the third flight. My arms were hurting from lugging my suitcase up two sets of stairs. I wished they had an elevator but knew that it would be a stupid idea considering the number of students at the school. I pulled the key from my pocket and opened my new dorm room door. I noted the emptiness I felt as I placed the suitcase near the bed. All my boxes were piled around the room and I was glad I had four days until classes started so I could unpack. I sat down on the single bed and looked around me, taking in the desk opposite me and the window on the wall between the bed and the desk. The door was on the opposite side of the window and my closet was on the same wall as my bed. The only good thing about having a single room was having my own bathroom. I walked into the bathroom and studied my reflection in the mirror. Nothing had changed over summer, nothing visible on the outside anyway.

“Knock, knock.”

I walked out of the bathroom and Brittney squealed when she saw me. Arms wrapped around me and I hugged Brittney back, not realizing how much I had missed seeing her over the summer. Of course, I had been kept occupied by my guest over the summer. Brittney let go of me after a few minutes and we smiled at each other. She was looking the same as always, blonde hair cascading down her back, bright blue eyes lit up with a smile and designer outfit without a speck of dust on it. I noticed that her Canadian accent was wearing thin though it was definitely still there.

“You look really tan,” she said, grinning.
“I should hope so,” I said. “All those hours in the sun weren’t wasted.”
“How was your summer?”
“I talked to you nearly every day. You know how it went.”
“I know but I want to know anyway.”
“It was fantastic. Best summer ever,” I said, smiling secretly to myself.
“You’re not telling me something,” she observed.
“I am not,” I lied.

She shook her head slightly, not believing me but not prying either. One of the many qualities I loved about Brittney. We both looked up as another squeal filled the room. I saw a flash of blonde hair before we were both pulled into bone crushing hugs. Katie let us go and beamed at both of us brilliantly. I smiled as she talked to Brittney, telling her that her dorm room was right across the hall from Brittney’s room. Katie turned to me and sighed happily.

“I hate school and everything but it’s so good to be back,” she said honestly.
“I know what you mean. It’s like our home away from home,” I agreed.
“Well, I don’t know about you but I’m definitely missing my room,” Brittney said. “I feel so cramped in my dorm room.”

I rolled my eyes and Katie giggled before we started talking about our summers. We had all kept in touch over the summer but we couldn’t help it. Katie told us that she had spent most of it with Jesse except for the week they had been fighting. Katie had rung me up the night it had happened. It was over some stupid thing, not even worth mentioning. But they hadn’t talked for a whole week before Jesse had finally rung her, apologizing and asking for her to take him back. She had agreed and they had spent the rest of the summer together, mostly at Jesse’s place since he owned his own house and they wouldn’t have to deal with nosy parents. Katie told me that they had had sex for the first time together over the break. She wasn’t the only one.

Brittney told us about her time with Aidan. They had gone to Canada for a few weeks for Aidan’s older sister’s wedding. They had also gone to each other’s vacation homes, not spending much time with their parents. They were like Katie and Jesse, wanting to get away from nosy parents so they could have some privacy. She was sad that he wasn’t here this year but he had promised to call her every day after classes and they would hang on the weekends since he was staying in an apartment that his parents owned, a few blocks from the school. They would hang out every day but Brittney needed some time for school work and cheerleading practice.

“When do they boys arrive?” Katie asked.
“Eric told me that he was coming tomorrow because he wasn’t feeling very well so he moved his flight up a day. Zeke should be arriving later today,” I said.

Zeke had only come back to Los Angeles two days ago. He had wanted to sort out his things before coming back to school. Our summer together had been as amazing as I had hoped it would be. We had gone sightseeing, hung around the house together and just spent time together. My mom had taken quite a liking to him and he had even met Mason and Rebecca when they had come back from Florida. I had even taken him to see my grandma. They had gotten along swimmingly which made me happy.

“I guess we’ll meet downstairs for dinner. See you,” Katie said as she walked out.
“I should go unpack,” Brittney said, sighing.
I smiled and she hugged me again.
“It’s good to be back,” she said before walking out.

I closed the door behind her and turned around to look at the boxes. What a fun day this was going to be, not. If there was anything I hated more than packing, it was unpacking. I started with the box that had my bed linens in it because that would be the easiest thing. I made my bed in record time before moving onto my clothes. I had only unpacked three boxes and I wished I was doing anything else but this. It was so trivial and boring.