He furrows his brow defensively. “What?! I do not.”
“Oh? So why did you turn down the role of Professor Kinsley in my friend Alex’s short film?”
“For your information, sis, I turned that role down because I don’t want to get…what’s the word for it. Shoot, I’m blanking. You know when the bird flies into the hole?”
Mom squints. “What are you talking about? A bird flying into a hole?”
“It’s the expression,” Davin says, obviously thinking hard. “I don’t want to get…bird-holed.”
I cock my head. “Are you trying to say ‘pigeonholed?’”
He snaps his finger and points at me. “Boom. That’s what I’m talking about. Charlotte, you were always the smart one in the family. I’m afraid of getting pigeonholed.”
I can’t stifle my laughter. “You’re afraid that a role in a ten-minute short film will bird-hole—excuse me, pigeonhole—your career for the rest of your life. Yeah, sounds like something you should be worried about. Not.”
“This is serious, Char. Remember how hard it was for Matthew McConaughey to get out of doing rom coms? I have artistic integrity, and I didn’t like that professor role.”
My brow furrows and I look at my mom, who is focusing on the pancakes, which Davin will surely eat.
“Davin, I just have to ask you. Are you insane? You’ve been acting in plays at the civic theatre since you graduated from college. You want to break into real acting roles, no matter what they are. No matter how small. Matthew McConaughey was typecast, sure, but he also made millions of dollars doing it. You have to move somewhere that they do theatre, and I mean a lot of theatre. Like L.A.”
“Screw L.A. I’m not selling out and moving to Hollywood. And why are we so focused on me? You still need to figure out what you’re doing after you graduate next year.”
“You’re not selling out. You’re giving yourself the best opportunity to succeed. And for your information, I’m going to be applying to graduate school for journalism, thank you very much.”
“Who wants pancakes?” Mom smiles, and brings a stack of them over to the dining room table. “You sure, Char? Just one?”
I sigh. “Fine. I’ll have one.”
We sit down to eat. The truth is my appetite has been almost non-existent since the breakup. But even though I’m not hungry I probably should at least try to eat.
“Davin, what do you think about Charlotte living here for her senior year of college? Do you think it’s an immature thing for her to do?” Mom asks.
Davin shrugs, looking to me. “You’re trying to save money?”
“Yeah, and since Jacob and I broke up, there’s nowhere to live, really. All the good spots on campus or near campus are filled up.”
Davin snickers. “Oh, that’s too bad.”
“What was that?” I ask him.
“What was what?”
“You just did a thing. You laughed to yourself. What were you thinking about?”
“Well, I was at a party where there were some Greene State students the other night and one of my old football buddies from high school was there. You remember Baker Washington? He has a spare room in his place.”
“Of course I know Baker. We’re the same age. So, he has a vacant room I could check out?”
“Yeah, but, on second thought, I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s probably not a good idea for you to live there.”
“Why not?” I protest.
“Yeah, why not?” Mom echoes.
He shrugs. “It’s a four-bedroom house.”
“So? What’s the matter with living in a four-bedroom house?”
Davin clears his throat. “And Colin West is living in one of the rooms as a fifth year senior transfer.”
I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Colin West.
He’s one year older than me, and we ran track together. In high school he was the leader of the BMOC, the Big Men on Campus group, and who were always getting in trouble with our principal, but also somehow always getting out of it. Their ability to get out of trouble was in no small part thanks to Colin’s talent—both in football, as well as in track—and this strange level of charisma that has always seemed to follow him wherever he goes.
Colin has always managed to fill me with this strange mixture of admiration, fear, and anger.
Oh yeah, and, unfortunately, attraction.
Stupid attraction.
I can feel my insides heating up just thinking about him, and thinking about what we did together that summer going into my senior year of high school. He had just graduated, so he was heading into college.
“Colin West?” I tap my nose like I’ve forgotten all about him. “Oh, right, from high school. Rings a bell.”
Davin smirks. “Okay, now I know you’re full of it if you’re pretending you don’t remember Colin. You know, the town celebrity who was drafted in the first round of the NFL football draft last year? But turned down the contract for mysterious reasons, and now is playing his super-senior year at Greene State? That Colin West?”
“You guys used to go out going into your senior year, I thought,” my mother chimes.
“Ohhhh. That Colin West. Oh, right. I think I remember him. What’s the big deal? I barely think about him.” I cut a piece of a pancake with my fork and dip it into the syrup on my plate.
Davin makes the same snicker he made initially.
“You really think you could handle living with Colin? I think you’d go even more insane than you’re going living at home right now. No offense.” He shovels a big, syrupy bite of blueberry pancakes into his mouth.
“What do you think, Mom?” I ask.
“I think you should go where you think you’ll thrive the most. I’d love to have you here. I love to nurture you, I admit it. But if you think you need to go live on campus for your senior year experience, I would understand that. As for Colin, well, one would have to hope at least that he’s grown up in the past few years.”
“Give me the number,” I say. “Colin and I knew each other a long time ago.”
“Four years isn’t that long, ya know,” Davin says.
“This is the present, and I’m done being held back from the past.”
“Not sure if it’s a good idea. The protective brother in me is coming out. You and three guys living together? Really? I just don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
I pull out my phone and wave it back and forth. “Oh. Look who still has Baker Washington’s number from a party in high school, anyway.”
“Fine. Just be careful, sis.”
With those words of brotherly wisdom, I think back to my dream. How I was driving backwards with my ex-boyfriend Jacob and getting dropped off at my mom’s house.
Maybe that’s what it was all about. Maybe it’s time to move forward.
And if there’s a good house on campus in which my old fling Colin West happens to be one of several people living there, that’s just a meaningless coincidence, right?
“Pssh. I mean, I have to check the house out first anyway. And me living with three guys? It would be fine.”