“Hi, I’m Hudson Hilton,” he says, extending his hand. “I’m your new suite mate.”
“Oh, sweet! I didn’t know this place was co-ed. Did you, Alice?”
No, I didn’t know either. I also didn’t know that it was possible to be assigned to the same suite as your fuckin’ ex-boyfriend. And not just some ex-boyfriend, the one who broke your heart into a million tiny pieces.
“Man, you’re quite tan, isn’t he, Alice?”
“I’m from California.” He shrugs.
“Ah, that explains it! Alice is from California, too.”
“Yes, I know.” He nods. “We actually know each other.”
Juliet jumps back in surprise as if this news means as much to her as it means to me.
“You went to the same high school?” she asks.
“What’re you doing here, Hudson?” I ask.
“Listen, this is some sort of accident, okay? I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t even know this suite was co-ed. I was assigned here. Just like you.”
“Well, I can’t stay here if you’re going to be here,” I say.
“What?! Why?” Juliet throws her arm around me. “No, you can’t leave, sweetie. Who knows what kind of crazy girl I’m going to have to room with next.”
I shake my head. I can’t deal with this. I can’t even be in the same room as him!
“Hudson?” I hear my mom’s voice from somewhere behind me. “What’re you doing here, Hudson?”
“Hello, Dr. Summers. Dr. Summers.” Hudson gives both my parents a brief hug. My dad is actually so surprised to see him that he manages to look away from his phone.
“It looks like Alice and I have been assigned to the same suite.” He shrugs.
“Mom, I have to go talk to someone about moving. I can’t stay here. Live with him.”
“Alice, don’t be rude,” she whispers to me and then turns back to Hudson. “How’s your mom and dad, Hudson? Are they here?”
“They’re in New York, but they had some errands to run. We’re meeting up for dinner later, after I unpack and stuff. I think they’re going to come see the place then.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Well, send them our best.” My mom smiles. She knows almost everything that happened between us, but she’s still polite and courteous. In this moment, I both love her and hate her.
“Excuse me, I’ve got to unpack,” I say and walk back into my room. I sit on the bed and try to assess the situation.
“What’s wrong?” Juliet bursts into the room only a few seconds later, followed by my mom.
I shake my head. I can’t talk.
“Juliet, is it?” my mom says. “I’m Dr. Summers.”
“Yes, of course. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. Are you okay, Alice?” my mom asks.
“I’d love to give you a few moments, Dr. Summers. But I just can’t leave without knowing what’s going on here. You know Hudson from before, don’t you?”
“He’s her high school boyfriend,” Mom explains. “They dated for two years. Long distance over this past year. And they broke up a few weeks ago.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“Well, actually, Hudson broke up with Alice. Very suddenly,” my mom adds.
“Shut up!” Juliet exclaims. “What an asshole!”
“Yes, he is a bit of an asshole,” Mom whispers.
Juliet goes on a rant about how much men suck and how much it sucks that we need them. I don’t really agree, but I agree in this moment. I like how protective she already is of me. But I still can’t stay here.
“I have to go talk to someone in housing,” I finally say, getting off the bed.
“Oh, sweetie.” My mom shakes her head. “Are you sure?”
“What should I do instead? Just stay here and live with him all semester?”
My mom sighs. “I don’t know. But if that’s what you want…”
“No, you can’t. Alice, please! You can’t leave me alone with that asshole, if he is really an asshole.”
“He’s not really an asshole, Juliet. He’s a nice guy. I just can’t live with him. That’s all.”
Chapter 3
When I walk out of the room, I find my father and Hudson discussing the biomedical stocks together. Hudson’s planning on majoring in Economics and has already invested a substantial amount of his grandparents’ birthday gifts into a few high performing and promising funds. My dad is always on the lookout for stock tips and never passes an opportunity to get one, even if it’s from the guy who broke his daughter’s heart. On the other hand, what the hell do I expect him to do? Ignore him like a child? It’s not like he cheated on me. Or hit me. Or anything unforgivable. He just broke up with me.
Definitely. Can’t. Stay. Here.
“Where are you going, Alice?” my dad asks as I try to sneak my way past them.
“Housing,” I say without turning around.
“Alice, c’mon. You don’t have to do this!” Hudson yells after me.
“Maybe I should go after her?” I hear him ask my dad.
“No, it’s better to just let her go, son.” My dad stops him, to my great relief. A knot forms in the back of my throat. Tears are about to start flowing. Luckily, the elevator doors close before anyone sees me crying.
“You’re going to be okay, Alice.” My mom holds me on the way downstairs. I try to wipe away some tears when the elevator stops at different floors and more people get in.
“Oh, don’t worry, honey. It’s just first day jitters. You’re going to be just fine.” A helpful woman about my mom’s age pats me on the back of my head.
“I’m here dropping off my third one and it never gets any easier, does it?” she asks, turning to my mother.
Mom shakes her head.
“I’ve done this twice already, but this is the first one that went so far,” she says and goes on to talk about what it was like to take my older sisters to college. Stephanie went to USC and Jacqueline went to UC Berkeley.
I dry my tears and wait for the elevator to finally get downstairs. The process takes forever as kids are moving in and out and the elevator has to stop at practically every floor. On top of all that, my mom makes a new friend at every stop.
By the time we reach the ground floor, I can’t control the flow of tears any longer. It has only been two weeks since Hudson dumped me over an arduous six-hour conversation. I’m not anywhere close to getting over him. He has been in my life for the last two years of high school. He has been my love for way longer than that. No, I can’t even think about this now. Not if I don’t want my eyes to puff up to the size of tomatoes and me to be walking around like some sorry homesick kid the rest of the day.
“It’s going to be fine,” I say to Mom as we exit the building. The humidity outside envelops us in a thick blanket. It’s so thick that I can practically taste the water as we walk through it.
“Of course you are.” Mom takes my hand. Many kids are embarrassed of their parents, but I’ve never been. Until this moment, that is. I suddenly become keenly aware of the fact that I’m crying and holding my mom’s hand on the first day of school. I drop her hand immediately. She either doesn’t notice or doesn’t make a fuss.