Authors' note: This is my first attempt at a story. So feedback is certainly appreciated. It gets off to a rather slow start but hopefully will pick up a bit in later chapters. I have the first few chapters mostly done but I can't make any promises as to how quickly I'll be posting new ones after that. I can however promise that I'll finish it at some point if you're patient. Hope you enjoy the experience of reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Hats off to little_blonde_jug for her thoughtful editing.
Chapter 2: Bree Again
The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. I kept an eye out for Bree but didn't see her. I heard through the grapevine that Steve ended up with a rather unpleasant hygienically challenged roommate and I even got a vaguely apologetic text from Jen, something about 'it just happened'. I got a bit of ribbing from my friends about getting dumped for the likes of Steve, but it was all in good fun and frankly I was so intrigued by the mystery that was Bree that I didn't really mind.
Not that I think I would have minded all that much anyway. The fact of the matter was that I'd made a science of the 3-4 month relationship over the last few years. Hell let's be honest and just expand that to cover my entire dating history. There were girls I'd liked, a number I hadn't, and a very few I might have been able to love. But nothing that lasted and certainly nothing that would hurt too much on the back end. My goal was to have company in the morning, a few good times in between, and no complications along the way.
Thursday night found me in the cafeteria for a late dinner. I caught a glimpse of Bree sitting back in the corner. She was dressed in jeans and a baggy shirt with her hair back in a pony tail, sitting by herself and picking at a salad. She looked up as I walked over and it seemed like her face couldn't decide between a smile and a frown- She finally landed on something that had a bit of both in it.
"Ty, sorry about the horror movie impression the other morning. Needless to say I'm not a morning person."
I wondered if she'd thought about that line ahead of time, because I'd certainly given my response some thought over the last few days.
"No worries, I'm well aware of how I look in the morning. Most girls run away rather than walk, so you did all right in my book."
That got a smile so I decided to press my luck and asked if I could sit down. She just nodded.
"So how have you been this week?" I asked.
"Well enough," she said "Just trying to get in the swing of things. It's been two months and you'd think I would have it all figured out by now but I guess not."
"I wouldn't sweat that if I were you, I'm on year 3 and I still don't have everything figured out." I said with a grin.
This got a small smile. We talked for a bit longer as she finished her food. I eventually asked her what she was doing this weekend. Studying seemed to be on her agenda, I didn't get the impression that she got out that much.
She asked me what I was doing for the weekend and I think she expected to hear something about a party or some such. She seemed a bit surprised when I told her I'd be spending most of it working. She was even more surprised when I mentioned I had two jobs. I then had to explain that my mom wasn't able to help with school and that I worked a couple of days a week at as small auto repair shop and also picked up hours at a local liquor store as often as I could to make ends meet. This inevitably led me to explain that I'd tried an apartment last year with some friends but had to move back into the dorm to keep expenses down. Ah, the life of a poor college student.
We chatted for a while longer. She'd long since finished eating but she was obviously staying to keep me company as I finished my food. I guess we'd made some progress from screaming and running away.
