Sanctuary

“So how have your classes been so far?” Danielle asked, pulling open the door of the registrar’s office wing. It was the second day of classes, and Taryn was accompanying her to the registrar as she dropped a wrongly registered class.

“Good! Most are pretty huge lectures, but I expected that. I only have one more that I haven’t been to. Math,” she said, scrunching her face in disgust.

“Wait, aren’t you a psych major?” Danielle asked in confusion. She adjusted her plaid button down and pulled up her dark-wash jeans.

“You’re telling me. Brighton says this is the last one I have to take, so whatever. Just have to get through it, I guess.” They approached the receptionist, and Taryn watched as Danielle politely greeted her and turned in the necessary forms. After a few minutes, she was finished, and the two continued on their way across campus.

“So how was your break?” Taryn asked eagerly. “Tell me about the volunteering!”

“Oh, it was nothing. Just learned the ins and outs of a nursing home. I loved it, considering I wanted to work in something like that when I’m older, but it was beyond depressing. I’m rethinking it now.”

“Oh,” Taryn said with a small frown. “Well, don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah. I guess Shae had more fun. He was in charge of organizing patients’ visiting families. He met a lot of cute girls, so he was pretty psyched.”

“Of course,” Taryn laughed. She could just picture him, standing at the front desk flirting with them as they filled out their information. “Have you heard from him recently?”

“Not really. A random text here and there, but not much. You either?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Just wanted to make sure he was still alive.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s fine,” Danielle laughed, brushing her smooth hair back. “What’s really weird is that Alex kept texting me over break.”

“Alex?” Taryn said, her brow furrowing.

“Yeah, your RA guy. We’ve been texting for a while now. He’s actually really funny once you get past his obvious attempts to hit on you.”

Her mind raced, trying to process the information. Funny how they had been texting for weeks and Taryn hadn’t heard from him since move-out day.

She shook the thought away. She was doing it again. Acting like everything was a personal attack.

“Weird,” Taryn said, amused. “Just be careful. He has a way of getting under your skin.”

“Yeah, I guess I should be glad I don’t live with him, yeah?” Danielle giggled.

“Seriously, girl,” Taryn agreed. “Sometimes it’s just too much.”

“What about Shane? Neither Shae nor I have heard from him since the final exam.”

“Same,” Taryn agreed. “I didn’t really expect to, though. He’s super focused on this new girl he really likes. Kylie, I think it was?”

“Speak of the devil,” Danielle said, her face widening into a grin. She held out her arms, welcoming Shane into a hug. “Hey!”

“What’s up, ladies?” he said smoothly. He was sporting a new haircut, a baseball hoodie over his jeans.

“How was your skiing trip?” Taryn asked nicely, flashing a friendly grin.

“Oh, it was amazing. Kiley loved it. She had never been before, so it was really cute.”

“Wow, Brighton’s resident player just might be smitten over someone,” Danielle teased, playfully slapping his arm as the trio started down the sidewalk.

“Maybe. But you tell anyone and I’ll kick your ass. Taryn’s been good and hasn’t said anything so I expect the same from you,” he joked.

“Wait, Taryn knew?! Shane!” Danielle exclaimed. “I’m hurt!”

“You also like to talk,” he fired back with a laugh. He threw his arm around Taryn’s shoulder, and she got a whiff of his fantastic aftershave. “My girl Taryn’s more dependable.”

“You’re such a dick,” Danielle laughed, stepping backward and linking her arm through Taryn’s. “Let’s go, girl. Leave the player to his business.”

“Whatever,” he said, continuing to walk down the sidewalk. Taryn turned, being led by Danielle in the opposite direction. “See you guys later!” he called back to them. Taryn turned, meeting his eyes and flashing a quick grin before being yanked further by Danielle, who was clearly on a mission. Mission for what, Taryn had no idea.

***

She walked into the large lecture hall, tentatively walking up a few stairs and choosing a row right in the middle of the room. Just the way she liked it. She slid across the row of seats, choosing one and sliding into it. Taking a sip from her Starbucks cup, she looked around the room. This was an Intro to Math course, one she absolutely didn’t want to take but was necessary for her degree. God, she hated math. She glanced at the kids near her, hoping she would be as successful as last semester in making friends.

“Hey,” she heard someone whisper shout. She ignored the voice, assuming it wasn’t anyone she knew. It wasn’t long before she heard it again.

“Hey.” She felt a balled up piece of paper hit her shoulder and fall to the ground. “New girl!”

“Shae?” she asked, surprised, as she turned around. He sat two rows behind her, doodling casually in his notebook as he smirked at her. “Since when?”

“Since I suck at math and have to retake this course,” he laughed, motioning to the empty seat beside him. She stood, grabbing her bag and wincing as a black-clad emo kid sat next to her old seat. Not a moment too soon.

“So how are you?!” she said, sliding in next to Shae and smiling at him. “I haven’t heard from you in forever!” And if she were being honest, she wasn’t sure she would have seen him again if not for this newfound mutual class.

“I’m good. Busy as anything,” he groaned, flipping his hair from his face. “Just work, as usual. What about you? How was your break?”

“It was okay,” Taryn said. “I was also super busy. With work.”

He didn’t catch on to her weak lie. “Yeah, the plight of the suburban teenager. Or any teenager, actually.”

“Not Maggie,” Taryn laughed.

“Maggie’s parents were trust fund babies. And she was an even bigger one….so she doesn’t count,” he smirked.

“True,” she admitted, trying to keep herself from smiling too much. She couldn’t really explain why she was so excited to see him again, but just glancing at his profile brought back a whirlwind of memories from the last semester, more specifically when he kept her sane and talked her down when she started nervous-rambling. She hadn’t realized how important having such a close guy friend had become.

“You know you’re going to have to tutor me in this class, right?” Shae joked as the professor began scribbling equations on the board. “I haven’t done any math since the fifth grade.”

“Well, we’re both screwed then, because I’m awful at this.”

“Shit. Well at least if we fail, we’ll fail together,” he said, nudging her forearm with his.

“Wow, that was almost romantic. You been catching up on Nicholas Sparks?” she teased.

“You wish, DeMarco,” he teased. Wait, what? The very words from Shane’s mouth the previous semester. Thankfully not regarding the same topic.

“I hate you,” she shot back jokingly as her heart pounded. Weird.

“Well, I guess this’ll be a long semester, then,” he smirked, leaning back in his chair and shrugging. He raised his eyebrows at her, making her giggle. Something was off about him. He was different, more feisty than usual.

Oh, well. He was probably spending too much time with the likes of Alex and Shane. She honestly wouldn’t have been surprised. It would be just her luck, anyway.