Sanctuary

"Ugh," she sighed, dropping the last three duffel bags on her bed. "I think that's everything."

"Sweetie, you know I love you, but trust me when I say you have too much crap," her father joked, planting a kiss on her forehead as she glanced around at it all. She really didn't understand it. She had packed relatively lightly before leaving for winter break. But somehow, she had returned with twice as much. It didn't make sense.

"Thanks, Dad," she said, giving him a hug and smiling up at him. "I appreciate it."

"I'll talk to you in a few days, okay? I'm supposed to see your brother soon. Maybe we can all go out for lunch or something.

"Sounds good, Daddy," she said, throwing her hair back over her shoulder. "Just let me know."

He gave her one last kiss before exiting her dorm room. She looked around, wondering when Hallie would be returning. She really would have liked having someone to talk to while she unpacked.

….but to no avail. Two hours later, and Taryn was bored out of her mind. After a quick nap, she decided to bundle up and venture out onto campus to see who had returned yet. Anyone, really, would suffice at this point.

"ROOMIE?!" she heard someone calling from down the hall. She knew that voice, she thought as she grinned and threw open her door. She poked her head out, grinning as she saw Hallie bounding down the hall - or at least attempting to - with some of her bags. Alex followed slowly behind, sporting his red Brighton sweatshirt and khaki pants. He was carrying what Taryn knew was the rest of Hallie's luggage.

"Ahh!" Hallie squealed, dropping her things and throwing her arms around Taryn's shoulders. They hugged for a while as Alex squeezed by them and deposited Hallie's things next to her bed.

"Hey," he greeted Taryn warmly as he, too, hugged her. "How was your break?"

She looked down at her boots, biting her lip. "It was good. What about yours?"

"So good," he gushed. "Figured out where I want to go to grad school, so that's pretty exciting."

"Ew, I can't even think about grad school," Hallie joked. "Last time I checked, I was still a sophomore."

"Perks of being a junior," Alex joked, shrugging and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, I have to go finish helping people. But come to my room later and we'll catch up, okay?" he said, his gaze locking with Taryn's. Her heart skipped a beat as she nodded, watching him leave.

"Girl, tell me all about it!" Hallie said, unzipping her first bag and looking excitedly up at Taryn. "It's been so long since we've actually talked! How was everything?!"

"It was good, like I said," Taryn said as happily as she could. Which was true. There had been quite a few low points, but for what it was worth, she had also had quite a few good. C'est la vie, eh?

"How's the family? You got to hang with your brother, yeah?"

"Yeah, he was around for a while. Apparently he and Stacie are back together. Which is weird, but I'm not questioning it. Stacie's the older sister I never had, so it's really nice having her around again!"

"That's great, Taryn," Hallie said supportively. "Make sure I get a wedding invite, okay?"

"Sure," Taryn laughed. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I never know what plans my brother has in store."

"Preach it, girl" Hallie agreed emphatically. "I got back home and apparently my entire family has gone vegan now. They change their minds probably just as much as James does." She moved onto the next bag, rifling through it for whatever she was looking for at the bottom.

"When is everyone else getting back?" Taryn said, picking at her hangnail.

"I think everyone's on their way, so hopefully soon! I can't wait to hang out before classes start again. I missed being able to do that. Probably the only downside to being home," Hallie said with a small frown. Taryn nodded. She had missed everyone too, and even wondered if they had visited each other over the break.

"Did you see Danielle at all over break?" Hallie asked her.

"Nah, she was doing some massive volunteering project. I think Shae was helping her, so I didn't hear from them much." At all, actually.

"Aw, it's cool. You'll probably see them tonight," Hallie pointed out.

"At dinner?"

"Yeah! Why wouldn't you?"

"I don't know, I guess you're right!" Taryn said with a small smile. To be honest, she wasn't sure she knew what to say if that even happened. She missed her friends so much, but she feared that they had already moved on. And she didn't know what to do next.

***

"So he's unwrapping his present, right? And his face is PRICELESS. Like, he didn't talk for at least an hour. Just stared at the keys like they were fake." Maggie's smile lit up the dining hall as she told her friends the story.

"Damn. If I were given a Mustang, I'd be fucking running outside and driving it. Immediately," Parker laughed, taking a bite of his rice.

"Yeah, but this is my dad. He's so used to surprising everyone for Christmas, but this is the first time he's gotten something of that caliber given to him. It was pretty fantastic," Maggie gushed. Her blond hair was curled to perfection as usual, and her skin seemed to glow even more than it had before break, if that were even possible.

Taryn sat at a round table in the dining hall, surrounded by the very friends she had met on her first weekend at Brighton. They all seemed in fresh spirits, rejuvenated by over a month away from campus. Even Matt was back to his usual flirty self, accidentally nudging Taryn's leg underneath the table and pretending that it wasn't happening.

"Well, I'm glad all of YOUR breaks were great. You guys, I totally got busted for that New Year's thing," Audrey complained, looking around pointedly at her friends. "I spent the remainder of break in my room. Alone."

"Rough," Parker laughed, flipping his hair back to the side.

"What happened?" Taryn asked, her face heating up. It seemed that everyone at the table was amused, in on the joke that she clearly knew nothing about.

"Oh, it was nothing," Hallie said, shaking her head as she looked at her roommate. "We may have all crashed Audrey's house on New Year's. And had a great time."

"Yeah, my parents took off for a business trip or something ridiculous," Audrey mumbled.

"Aw, don't act like you didn't have fun," Maggie teased, taking a bit of her wrap. "I saw you making googly eyes at Nate."

"Nate?" Taryn laughed, watching Audrey's face turn beet red.

"Her boyfriend from back home," Matt gushed mockingly.

"Please. He's not my boyfriend," Audrey fought with a smirk.

"Whatever. Between you and Parker, I was surprised someone at that party didn't get pregnant," Matt laughed.

"Parker!" Maggie scoffed, shoving his shoulder. "You and Chelsea?!"

"Nothing happened, I swear!" Parker said hurriedly. Taryn glanced quickly at Hallie, who maintained consistent eye contact with Parker. But Taryn could tell her mind was racing.

"I'm sure," Matt said slyly, his eyes narrowing at his best friend. Taryn looked down at her lap, suddenly disheartened that she hadn't known about the party. Even though she hadn't been in the best of moods lately, she would've at least appreciated the invite.

No. She mentally scolded herself for wallowing in self-pity. Forget winter break and the temporary lapse she'd had. She was better than that. Relationships were a two-way street, and she knew that the New Year's party has most likely been spontaneous. Not receiving an invite was in no way a personal attack, and she suddenly felt ashamed for thinking that all of her friends had turned against her. What kind of friend was she, even, for thinking that?

She glanced over at Hallie, who was watching Parker animatedly tell a story. Right now, the last thing Taryn should have been doing was doubting her friends. All she really needed to do was focus on being a better one.