Uncharted Territory

Reagan

I was standing in the kitchen washing my breakfast dishes before heading off to class. I had started at ASU the day before and so far I liked it. It was extremely different from Harvard, but not in a bad way. I was about to leave when Kennedy came in the kitchen.

“Oh Rae, I forgot to tell you last night that we’re having a party this Friday. It’s a Welcome to Tempe party for you.”

“But I arrived here a couple weeks ago.”

“So I’m a little late at planning things.” Kennedy shrugged.

“I think you just want an excuse to invite people over and drink.”

“How could you think that? This party is totally and completely for you.” Kennedy said but I could tell he was trying to hide a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and said, “Whatever, but you should know that I’m not really a fan of parties. I only went to one during my freshman year at Harvard.”

“What?! How are we even related?” Kennedy exclaimed.

“I don’t know. That doesn’t really change the fact though that I don’t want to go to this party.”

“You have to go to it Reagan. It’s at our house. The guys will be here plus you’ll get to meet some of my friends from other bands.”

I sighed and said, “You know that I really don’t like meeting new people. I get so shy and awkward. You were always the more outgoing one between the two of us.”

“It’ll be fine. I promise. You can always invite some friends from ASU if you want.”

“What friends? Today is only my second day.”

“Just do this. For me?” Kennedy asked, giving me his puppy dog face.

“I don’t know Ken. Let me think about it. If I do agree to this though, you owe me.”

“I’m letting you live with me.” Kennedy pointed out.

“Touché.” I said as I walked out the door.

I got into my car and guilt instantly washed over me. Kennedy had done so much for me in the few weeks I had been here. Just days after I had arrived, Kennedy had bought this car for me. It was used but worked perfectly. He had said that I would need a car to go to school and around town in so he bought it for me. He had bought me a car and I complained when he wanted to have a party just because parties weren’t my thing and meeting new people made me nervous. I sighed but got out my phone and sent off a quick text to him telling him that I’d be fine with having a party at our house. He responded back, seconds later, with a “Thanks! Love you sis.” Maybe this party would turn out to be a good idea.
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I walked into my class and looked around the room as I contemplated where to sit. I didn’t want to judge people but the ones in this class looked like people I wouldn’t normally hang out with. The boys looked like frat boys while the girls looked a bit bitchy. I saw a pretty blonde girl sitting by herself a few rows back and decided that she looked like the best choice.

I walked to the chair next to hers and asked, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

She smiled and said, “Of course not. I’m Grace.”

I slid into the seat as I said, “Thanks, I’m Reagan. I’m glad you let me sit by you because everyone else in this class looks kind of stuck-up and mean.”

“Believe me, they are.” Grace sighed.

“Oh, do you know them?”

“Not all of them but the majority. I went to high school with a lot of them.”

“So you’re from Tempe?”

“Yep. I moved to Chicago for a couple years but now I’m back. I didn’t attend school in Chicago though which is why I’m a 22 year old sophomore. So are you a freshman?”

I shook my head and said, “I’m a sophomore also. This is my first year at ASU though. I went to Harvard last year.”

“Wow. Why are you slumming it at ASU if you made it into Harvard? Not that ASU is a bad school; it’s no Harvard though.”

“I liked Harvard but I needed a change of scenery. My brother lives here so I decided to move in with him.”

Grace smiled and said, “I completely understand.”

Thankfully Grace didn’t ask for any more details about why I left Harvard. It kind of seemed like there was more to why she had left Chicago but I didn’t want to ask, especially since she didn’t press the Harvard issue. Sometimes it was easier, and better, to censor parts of your life from others.

Grace and I talked for the rest of the class and I was excited that I had found someone so relatable in one of my classes. I was also glad that she was in there so I didn’t have to sit with the other girls in class. It seemed as if they had kept looking back at Grace and talking about her but I figured it was stupid stuff from them going to high school together. Some people never grow up once high school ends.

The next few days flew by mainly because Kennedy and I had a lot to do to get ready for the party. Thursday came and I walked into the class I had with Grace. I sat by her again and we immediately started talking. She was one of the people I liked the most here at ASU. She seemed extremely genuine.

Grace and I had been talking for a few minutes when one of the girls who sat in front of us turned around. “You’re Reagan, right?”

“Yes.” I said.

“Hi, I’m Brittany. I just wanted to warn you about Grace. I’ve noticed that you’ve been talking to her a lot in this class and I just wanted to tell you that Grace will stab you in the back without a second thought. She’s kind of known around Tempe for betraying people. Miss Grace caused quite the scandal a few years back.”

“Well thanks for the advice Brittany but I think I can take care of myself. Grace seems perfectly fine to me so I think I’ll keep on talking to her.”

Brittany just gave me a look and said, “Well don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Brittany turned back around and I turned towards Grace. She looked extremely upset so I said, “Well my first impressions were right. The girls in this class are bitches, except for you of course.”

Grace just shook her head and said, “She’s right though. I did a few things that I regret but they got the whole town of Tempe talking. They’re talking again now that I’m back.”

“Well everyone makes mistakes but the past is there for us to learn from it. I didn’t know you back then but I can’t imagine what you did is as bad as what everyone says.”

“When you’re from a small town everything seems worse than it is; and people love to gossip.”

“Well you’re one of the nicest people I’ve met here so far so I’m just going to ignore what everyone is saying and keep being friends with you.”

Grace smiled at me and said, “Thanks. It’s nice to finally have someone who doesn’t judge me.”

“Well I think it’s time for a subject change… My brother is having a Welcome to Tempe party for me tomorrow but since I don’t know many people it’s just going to mostly be his friends. That means it will be pretty awkward for me. You should come so I’ll have someone to hang out with.”

“Sure, that actually sounds kind of fun. I didn’t have any other plans except for hanging out with my parents or my pregnant sister and her husband. The party sounds like a lot more fun though.” Grace laughed.

“Great. Here’s the address. You have no idea how glad I am that you’re coming. I don’t have any friends here yet that are girls and hanging out with guys all the time is a little overwhelming.”

I’m glad Grace was coming to the party. I’m sure the boys will like her just as much as I do, and hopefully she can start hanging out with us so I’ll have a girl to help keep me sane around all those boys.