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“So, the Korean War started…” said the droning professor. Annie’s eyes were fluttering. She'd been up for what seemed like ages.
“What the hell time is it?” she wondered. She looked at her watch, 9:45.
“Fuck…at least a half hour more!” she thought. She began scanning the room to see if anyone else was nodding off like she was. Some people were studiously taking notes on the excitement that was the Korean War; some people were doodling on their notes. Some were reading the paper, Annie kind of thought that was rude. She kept scanning the room when she came upon a sweatshirt that seemed familiar. The red hoodie! Annie squinted her eyes. She muttered,
“No fucking way!” and the people in front of her turned to look at her. Annie gave an embarrassed look and pretended to take notes. She looked up from her notes and stared at the red hoodie again. She thought that maybe it was just another guy with a red hoodie, after all those were popular. Just when Annie had made herself think that it was someone else, he turned around. Annie rolled her eyes in disbelief.
“Jesus Christ, it's HIM!” she thought! She got a really un-amused look on her face and at that time Nick saw her.
“Oh great,” he thought. He looked at her and gave her a look like “What's up” with his eyebrows. Annie rolled her eyes at him. She kept staring at him all through the rest of the lecture. He wasn't taking notes, but he was drawing. She was too far away to see what exactly he was drawing, but he was concentrating on it pretty hard. Every now and again he'd catch her staring at him, and he'd smile to himself.
“Damn, she's kinda pretty,” he thought. Suddenly, they were both pulled from their collective world's with
“Okay, so read chapter 5 by Friday…there will be a quiz!” and the rustle of book bags being opened and notebooks being shoved into them as fast as they would go. They both got up, Annie looking like she was in a serious hurry.
Annie stepped out of the lecture hall and looked back in hopes that Nick wasn't going to follow her. He wasn't behind her so she moved a little faster. BAM! Annie let out a sound like “Oooomph!” She looked up and she had slammed into Nick, again.
“Damn, girl, you seriously gotta watch where you're goin’!” said Nick, laughing a little. Annie put her head down, she was so embarrassed. Running, actually slamming into the same person two times in the same day, just her luck.
“I'm sorry,” she said meekly and kept her head down. “Hey, it's okay, coulda happened to anyone. Maybe not twice in the same day, but hell, it's all good!” Nick said. He brushed some hair out his eyes and smiled at Annie.
“You know, I don't think I got your name earlier this morning. I gave you mine right?” he asked.
“Yeah, it's Nick, right?”
“Yeah, it is. Yours?”
“Oh,” Annie said shyly, “it's Annie.”
Nick extended his hand out to her, “Well, pleased to meet ya Annie! I'm sure I’ll bump into you on campus some more!” He smiled as he said that. At least I hope I bump into her, he thought.
“Well, I’ll talk to you later Nick, I gotta get goin’” said Annie, as she smiled a little at him, and scurried off quickly.
“Damn, she was in a hurry” Nick said aloud. He shrugged his shoulders and walked off to his next class, smiling about Annie. “She could definitely bump into me anytime,” he laughed.
Annie was sitting in the middle of the Student Union on campus, eating some semblance of breakfast. That is, if you could call the slop these people called food. Annie was choking down her “pancakes” and reading Teen People when she heard an all too familiar sunny voice.
“Hey there Anns!” Annie winced, but she put on a happy face for Taylor.
“Hey Tay, what's up?”
“Oh, not too much, just grabbing some sustenance before heading to my next class. You?” Annie shrugged,
“Not much different. Eatin’, readin’, contemplating the meaning of my existence. Same ol’, same ol.” Taylor smiled, she thought Annie was very odd.
“Well, I guess I’ll see ya lat-Oohhhhhhhh…MIKE, DON'T DO THAT…heheeheeheeh!” Taylor yelped! Her boyfriend, Mike, had snuck up behind her and grabbed her butt. This made Annie grimace, she hated Mike. He was such an ass, and he was cheating on Taylor. But, Taylor was too ignorant to even care.
“Well, I'm gonna go now.” Taylor said as she smiled at Annie. Annie returned the smile, somewhat less affectionately. “C’mere you…” Taylor growled as she grabbed Mike. They walked off in another direction, and Annie just stared at them and rolled her eyes.
“Young love, really fuckin’ sucks!”
Annie sat in her dorm room, contemplating whether or not she should even attempt to try and catch up on the history she had avoided reading for the last few weeks. “Fuck it,” she growled as she reached into her desk and pulled out a piece of paper.
“I’ll write Brookey instead.” She grabbed a pen, and started writing:
Dear Brookey,
Well,
yes, I am alive! I hate school with a passion, and did I mention
my roommate is a total idiot? Well, even if I have, I'm saying it again,
Taylor Morgan is a damn idiot! Anyway, got that outta the way. So,
okay, I sorta remember Kevin…Mr. Horse Man!!! So, you danced with
him? You little slut! Heehee! Just playing! Well, what
are you going to do? I mean, David IS your boyfriend, no, make that
your fiancee, but what does fiancee really mean? Heehee! It's
not like you're gonna cheat on David, right? So, you danced with
him. So, he held you close. If I had a quarter for every guy
that held me close, well…I’d be fuckin’ broke, but that is so NOT the point!
Don't stress about it too much Brooke. Unless, you feel you need
to stress. Do what's in your heart, babe! That's all any of us can
do. Keep your head up and you know I'm always here if you need me.
Oh, damn girl, almost forgot…I’ve run into this amazing looking guy twice
today. Like, I've literally run into him…but he's a damn asshole.
Oh well, right? Can't ever find the good ones can I? Well, talk to
you later! Call me if you need me! Luv ya bunches!
Anns
Annie took a deep breath
after finishing the letter. She always got a little sad after writing
a
letter to Brooke.
She was writing to the person who knew her and loved her the best, at least
that's what she felt, and she'd have to wait a while to hear a response.
She missed her Brookey, but at least a letter was better than nothing.
She dug in her desk to find an envelope and finally found one. She
put the letter in the envelope and addressed it. She sealed it and
put it on top of her book bag so she wouldn't forget to mail it tomorrow
morning. Annie yawned, looked at the clock, 11:45pm.
“Damn, I've been up forever. Gotta get some sleep.”
With that, Annie put on her pajamas and crawled into her bed. She said her prayers and turned off her light. She prayed for at least one night of peaceful sleep.
For the fourth night in a row Brooke woke up after having a dream about Kevin. Each time they were seconds away from a kiss and suddenly her alarm goes off, or something interrupts. It was frustrating in more ways than one. She wanted the kiss, she wanted to be around him again just to see if there actually was something between them, or if it was just the atmosphere of the party and his company she enjoyed. She had been questioning her true feelings for David lately, and that was one of the main things bothering her about the dreams. Does David notice the change in my attitude around him? she wondered.
"I have to get to work." She sighed, crawling out of bed and making her way to the shower. At twenty three Brooke's life was pretty good, she had just finished college at the University of Kentucky and was now working at a small advertising company in the city.
Brooke showered quickly, pinning her hair up in a loose bun and applying a touch of make-up after getting dressed. She quickly darted out of her apartment, already 10 minutes late, and sped off in her car.
When she arrived at work she immediately began working on a small account she had been given. She worked straight through until lunch, her growling stomach the only thing preventing her from continuing the work. She pulled away from her desk, walking up the stairs to another hallway of offices, poking her head into the office of her friend Jessica.
"Hey Jess, wanna go get a bite to eat?"
"Sure, why not. I've been on the phone all day." her friend said standing up and grabbing her purse. They walked a few blocks downtown to a small restaurant they both frequented, sitting down in a booth and ordering their food from the cute waiter who served them.
"Oh, he had a nice ass." jessica laughed as the waiter walked away.
"Jess, you need a boyfriend."
'You don't have to tell me that! Maybe I'll give him my number." She smirked, her eyebrows raising at the possibility. "Speaking of cute butts, have you and David set a date yet?"
"No we haven't, and how is that speaking of cute butts?" Brooke said, attempting to change the subject. Jess just laughed, smiling dirtily as the waiter set their food in front of them, but keeping quiet, and simply staring at his butt as he walked away. They ate their meal without talking that much, both of them dreading the return to work that was inevitable. As Brooke finished her meal, she excused herself to go to the bathroom, walking slowly around the island of tables and hunting in her bag for her gum. She stopped for a moment, fumbling with it's contents, finally finding what she was looking for, and popping a piece in her mouth.
"Brooklyn." The deep voice said from behind her. She swung around, standing face to face with him, with Kevin. Her pulse quickened, either from the scare he gave her, or merely from his presence.
"Why do you keep calling me Brooklyn?" She asked.
"It's your name isn't it?"
"Technically yes, but no one calls me that but my mother." She shrugged. Just talking to him sent butterfly's fluttering in her stomach, she felt like she was 13 again and meeting New Kids on the Block or something, it was an odd feeling. He leaned against the wall, cornering her against the wall, his face so close to her own. She could smell the faint scent of cologne on him, a musky smell that was making her eyes gloss over.
"Does it bother you?"
"No."
"Why are you acting so nervous Brooklyn?" He asked, his eyes so focused on her she had to turn her head away.
"I don't know, but I have to go, my friend is waiting." She said, wanting to be around him, but scared to be around him at the same time.
"You mean that red head talking to the waiter?" Kevin said, motioning towards Jess and the waiter with the cute butt, who were striking up a seemingly interesting conversation.
"Yeah, that'd be the one."
"It looks like she's having a conversation of her own. I think you can talk to me for a bit." Brooke had no choice but to stay, "So do you want to talk about what happened last week?"
Brooke didn't know what to say, she wasn't sure how he felt, hell she wasn't even sure how she felt herself, much less able to talk about it with the person who was causing all the confusion in her head in the first place.
"What exactly happened Kevin?"
"Brooke you know what I'm talking about. I know you felt it too."
"Felt what?"
"The connection Brooke." He stated matter-of-factly. "If you didn't feel it too, you would have told me about being engaged to David."
"Maybe I just assumed you knew." She said, refusing to look him directly in the eye.
"That's bullshit and you know it Brooke."
"Hey, I never asked to feel this way Kevin." She yelled, holding back the tears that seemed to want to explode from her eyes, pushing him back so she could walk past. "I have to go, my lunch break is over."
Kevin grabbed her by the arm, not letting her leave and turning her back around to face him.
"So you do feel something?"
"Kevin I have to go, please don't ask me to do this. Not here. Not now." He let her arm go, but she didn't leave.
"We need to talk Brooke. Please call me." Kevin handed her a slip of paper with his number and address on it, watching her leave. Brooke looked back at his as she left, he never moved from the spot he was standing. She reached the table. throwing down some money for her lunch and grabbing her jacket.
"I have to get back Jess." She stated, jessica shrugging to the waiter and picking up her coat as well. Brooke hurriedly made her way to the door, glancing back one more time as she opened it. He was still watching and raised one hand to her, mouthing goodbye as she turned away and rushed up the street, a million thoughts twisting and turning in her brain.
"Brooke slow down, where's the fire." Jessica ran to catch up to her. "Jesus, what happened to get you so worked up?"
"Nothing, I just have to get back to work." She shot back.
"If you say so." her friend said, not attempting to keep the pace.
Brooke darted into her
office building, quickly returning to her desk and tossing her coat on
an extra chair. She sat down, burying her head in her hands, pulling
back to look at the rumpled note he had pressed into her hand, wondering
if she should call him, wondering what she was going to do about
David, if anything at all. Brooke suddenly wished she had brought
her lunch to work that day, wishing none of this had happened and that
her life wasn't about to become a gigantic mess. She shook her head
and returned to her work, crumpling the paper into a ball and throwing
it into the wastebasket.
Finally the day was over, and Brooke drove home in silence, hoping David hadn't decided to go to her house after work like he did occasionally. She was so stressed out, and for once it wasn't her job that was the cause. Should I have kept that phone number, do I really want to talk to Kevin? she asked herself as she pulled in front of her apartment. She locked her car door and entered the building, checking her mailbox and making her way up to her 3rd floor apartment as she sorted through the letters in her hand. A huge grin came over her face when she arrived at the letter of her best friend Annie, and she was tearing it open even before she reached her apartment.
"Please tell me what I should do Anns." She said to herself as she shut the door behind her and sat down at the kitchen table to read. Brooke laughed out loud at her friends biting humor, but slowly questioning her own answers to Annie's statements; It's not like you're gonna cheat on David, right?
Brooke wondered.
"I dunno Anns, I don't have one fucking clue what
I'm going to do about David or Kevin. Especially if I do what's in my heart,
that just makes things worse."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter
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