“Well, no, he wasn’t. I just like the word affair. It sounds steamier, don’t you think?”
“Where is he now?”
“I have no idea. We broke it off. So, who knows? Anyway, I say go for it. Kiss the guy. Live in the fun house with three guys. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“I keep asking myself that same question,” I say, as I bite into my mac and cheese.
Chapter 3
Charlotte
I call Baker and tell him I’m in.
“Welcome to the Villa,” Baker says.
“The Villa? What’s that mean?”
“The Villa is our nickname for the place. It’s got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“It’s not bad.”
“When are you moving in?”
The next day starts the first week of classes, so I decide to wait until Friday to move my stuff in. I’ll just stay with Mom and Davin until then, no sense rushing a move that’s not urgent.
Friday afternoon finally rolls around and I’m about done unpacking my things and setting up my room, and my friends, Alex and April, head back to their apartment after giving me a hand.
It’s rather cozy in here, and I’m excited to finally be in my own space, have my own place, sort of.
I lie down on my bed, heave a sigh, and look around my room. I’ve put up soothing landscape pieces of artwork, and a couple of motivational quotes.
The credit goes to the one who’s in the arena.
This year is all about putting up a fight for what I want, and not backing down to challenges.
Oh, and setting boundaries.
First things first. After Baker sends a welcome text so I have all of their numbers, I send a text to my roommates that they are not to enter the bathroom from the hours of six to seven tonight, as I will be showering and getting ready for a night out on the town. They text me thumbs up.
It’s a good night, because my friends are taking me out to celebrate my official singledom.
After my shower, I’m putting my makeup on and I hear a knock on the bathroom door.
“Who is it?” I sing.
“You know who it is. Open up.” It’s Colin’s voice.
“I’m sorry, who?”
“Stop being a dick. It’s Colin.”
“I don’t know anyone named Colin.” I smile into the mirror.
“Come on, Charlotte. I really have to go.”
“I would say I’m sorry, but I’m really not. You’ll figure something out.”
“Come on.”
“I’m setting boundaries. What can I say?”
I hear a grunt and he goes away. I finish up, and about ten minutes later I head into my room.
I try to slip out of the house without being seen, but when I turn the corner down the stairs, Greg calls to me from the couch where he’s watching TV.
“Hi there, roomie,” he says. “What kind of night on the town are you having tonight?”
“Just heading out for a little bit with my girlfriends.”
“Which bar?” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“Probably Purple Spike. Don’t you guys have a game tomorrow, though?”
“Pssh, yeah, at like noon,” Greg says, standing up. He pulls his left arm over his head in a sort of stretch. I think this may be his way of surreptitiously showing me his muscles? I’m not sure.
“Well, you guys should stay focused and make it an early night. No bar crawls for you,” I tease.
“Are you saying you and your lady friends would be distracting to us?”
“Goodbye, Greg,” I say, heading out the front door.
“Because sometimes a distraction on a game night is a good thing! It takes the pressure off, in more ways than one!” he shouts behind me as I’m walking away.
To get to the bar from the Villa, I have to cross campus. It’s a beautiful walk that takes me across the grassy quad in front of Old Main, the spot where we’ll be having our graduation ceremony come spring.
My phone rings as I’m walking. It’s my brother.
“Hey, sis,” Davin says. “What’s happening?”
“Heading to a bar. What’s up? Everything okay?”
Davin sighs. “Mom is worried about you.”
“Why would she be worried? I’m fine.”
“Oh, I don’t know, the fact that you just had your first major breakup? The fact that you were so emotionally distraught you weren’t eating for a while, and now you moved into a house with three guys? She’s mad at me for even bringing up the idea with you. So now I feel like it’s my responsibility to at least check in with you and make sure everything is okay. Is it okay?”
“I literally just moved in this afternoon. Yes, everything is fine.”
I pass a student I had a class with just once, freshman year, and we’ve been doing an awkward half-wave thing ever since.
The Greene State Half-Wave. It’s a classic.
“Okay. Well, you have me on speed dial. You know where to find me. I’ve got this audition coming up for a student film at Greene State.”
“Oh really? What’s it about? Nothing that will bird hole—I mean, pigeonhole you, I hope.”
I cross the street and head toward the downtown area of Galesburg.
“Not going to let me live that one down, are you, sis? This one is about a con-man from the 1880s who rides trains and seduces women to get to their money.”
“You’re going to pull that off?”
“Oh, yes. I don’t show this side of myself to you and Mom, but I can be very charming. I can be like McConaughey in the early 2000s when I want to be.”
I laugh. “I’m almost to the bar, so I’m going to let you go. Thanks for checking up on me, big bro.”
“Of course.”
I grin as I arrive at the Purple Spike, pausing for a moment before I head inside. Some tech guy from Colorado made a fortune and then decided what he really wanted to do was brew beer, not work in technology, so he moved here and started this place. Now we Galesburgians have the pleasure of drinking his delicious micro-brews.
And this is something my friends and I are especially appreciative of going into senior year. All of us are finally of legal drinking age. Not that that was necessarily an issue living in a college town with fake IDs handed out like candy on Halloween around here.
I walk inside the bar. It’s got multiple rooms, and I head into the side of the bar with the darkly stained wooden booths and see the broad smiles of my friends, many of them I’m laying eyes on for the first time since they left campus in June. I hug and say hello to all of them.
There’s brunette April, who was studying abroad last winter term. There’s Faith, with her long, fair hair. Black-haired, voluptuous Alex and her devilishly handsome boyfriend DJ, who happens to be Greene State’s star quarterback. Our tall, baseball-playing friend Grant’s back is turned to us as he calls for a drink at the bar. His girlfriend Maya, who is at least a foot shorter than him, runs up to me and koala bear hugs me.
“Charlotte!” she shouts as she squeezes me and then whispers, “I heard about the breakup. If you need to talk, let me know.”
I squeeze her in acknowledgement in return. She’s such a sweetheart.