Author's note: Hello my readers, this is a new story where I will be uploading a new chapter every week. I'm going to try and upload every Thursday. Just a warning that this is a little different from my usual writing and there will be elements of horror in it. I would love to know what you think about it!
*****
I remember the day I first met Alex. I was in my second year, taking a first-year religious study course as a fun option to my otherwise heavy course load. I was taking notes on my laptop when I heard a voice say quietly beside me. "Hey, you got a spare pen? Mine is out of ink." I looked over to see a girl with long dark hair beside me. She was wearing a tan lace-up shirt and dark jeans. I suddenly felt very silly in my t-shirt and sweatpants but hey, comfort over style, right? She raised one manicured eyebrow at me. "Oh, sure!" I said. The prof today had apparently had a double espresso shot today because he was talking super-fast. I quickly grabbed one of my pens and put it in the girl's hand.
"Thanks..."
"You're welcome." I replied automatically, though I detected the somewhat confused tone in her voice. I glanced over and flushed with embarrassment. I had given her a pen I had bought from the zoo, one with several wolves on the design.
"You like wolves, I take it?" She spun the pen once as she shifted to jot down notes in her notebook.
"Yeah, I do." I said with a grin. Unfortunately, that was the end of the conversation that day as the prof continued talking at a rapid speed. After the prof dismissed the class everyone stood up hurriedly to leave, the 11:50 finish time meaning to most that it was time for a well-deserved break and lunch. I turned around to get my pen back but the girl was gone. She stole my pen! I was pretty annoyed, especially since it was my favorite pen. I planned on getting it back from the girl in the next lecture.
My plans were dashed when I arrived on Wednesday and looked around for the girl. There was no nicely dressed brunette to be found that day. Dejected, I sat down and turned on my laptop as the prof started the lecture on Hinduism.
"Hey." I turned around to see her sit down, she sounded slightly out of breath and her hair was windswept. "Sorry I jacked your pen yesterday, I was in a hurry." She placed the pen carefully onto my tiny desk.
"Well, I guess I'll forgive you of your crime." I said, taking the pen back and putting in my case.
"I've seen the side of the light, I swear." She chuckled. "What's your name?"
She reached out with her hand and I shook it.
"It's Jessie." I said.
"I'm Alex."
From that day on we sat together, comparing notes and chatting. I found out she shared my love for Supernatural and we would always spend some time after class chatting and sharing stories about that show and other shows we had watched.
Eventually after some time we started talking about other aspects of our lives and after a while, we had become close friends.
"So I was wondering." She said one day as we were sitting in a quiet corner by a window overlooking the campus. "If you wanted to go out for coffee tomorrow after class. There's a really nice café that's a fifteen-minute walk from here."
"Oh like a study group thing?" I asked. She had never invited me out before.
"No. Like a date." She said nonchalantly.
"Oh! I would love to." I said, blushing hard.
***
I thought about that moment fondly as we prepared dinner together. Alex's uncle had a cabin that he had agreed to lend to us for the long weekend, and during the long hours of studying for midterms together, during breaks we had made plans for what we were going to do while we were there. We would set off tomorrow, bright and early. I was excited, but not as much as Alex.
"It's so beautiful there, you're going to love it." Alex said as she flipped the chicken in the frying pan. "And the cabin is great. It'll be a great time to-"
She was interrupted by my roommate and best friend, Nat, opened the door loudly.
"-be alone." Alex finished her sentence. I know Alex found Nat irritating, but even she looked concerned when we saw that the tiny blonde's face was flushed and her eyes were puffy.
"What happened?" I asked as Nat flopped down onto the couch. She promptly burst into tears.
"Matt broke up with me." She said once I made it over to the couch. I pulled her into a hug. "Oh no, I'm sorry." Nat must've felt awful, they were also supposed to have a romantic weekend together.
"I guess I should've known, he was acting all weird and distant for a while now, but I thought he was just stressed from school." She sobbed into my shoulder. Alex had finished cooking the chicken and she came over with three plates of the chicken Parmesan and spaghetti we had made.
"Thank you." Nat said tearfully.
I flipped on the tv and we watched a terrible movie on Netflix while we ate. We tried to cheer Nat up by making jokes and she had laughed a couple times, but would quickly settle back into a somber mood.
"This is really good." Nat said as she put her plate down. "So, you guys are leaving tomorrow morning, right?"
