So that all being said, the relevancy of it was, I was stronger now, bolder, and if I happened to run into Loch, well, I told myself I’d no longer be intimidated by him. Nope, I’d stand up to him and would probably tell him what a jerk he’d been and how he’d almost ruined my life and that he could go take a hike.
Yep. That’s exactly what I’d do.
Oh, and the very last thing I knew?
All my tough girl talk aside, I knew I was terrified to see him.
Confession Number Two
“I’ve only seen him a couple times over the past two years,” Marcy was telling me as she spooned a bite of Honey Nut Cheerios into her mouth. Her dark hair was up in a messy bun and there was mascara smudged under her dark blue eyes. One of the straps of her tank top had fallen down to her tanned arm but she paid it no mind.
I put a bagel in the toaster. “Don’t really care, Marce.”
“Yeah, but I’m just preparing you in case you happen to run into him.”
“There’s what, over ten-thousand students on campus and you think I’m gonna run into him? And on the first day? Yeah, the odds are stacked pretty high.” I rolled my eyes as I got the cream cheese out of the fridge.
We, of course, were talking about Loch. Goodie.
“I’m just saying that the Powers brothers have been a big deal at Hallervan for years, Sim. First of all, Zeke was voted Sexiest Man on Campus, like, every year. He was a big football star and is now playing in the pros. Gable was the hottest asshole you’d ever lay eyes on. He smiled at me once when I was walking across the quad and I think I blew an ovary. But he graduated last year and I’m pretty sure he’s working for some architecture firm downtown. Ryker’s now Mr. Intense and Studly Senior Wrestler, and I think every girl I’ve talked to wants to have his babies.”
It was so weird hearing about these guys who I’d played with for years. Guys Loch and I had tormented constantly when we were little. I let out an exaggerated sigh as I turned to look at her. “And you’re telling me all this because?”
She lifted the shoulder where the strap was hanging. “Getting you ready for your run-in with Loch.”
I huffed out a barely there laugh as I spread cream cheese on my bagel. “Like I said, it’s not likely that I’ll run into him.” I hoped.
She stood and carried her bowl to the sink. “Just warning you.”
“Warning me about what?” I licked my thumb that had cream cheese on it then took my plate to the dining table and sat.
She turned and rested her butt against the sink crossing her arms over her chest and I saw she’d fixed her strap. “You remember Loch as a skinny sixth grader.”
I took a bite. “Yeah? So?” I questioned, my voice garbled because of the food in my mouth. Classy, I know.
“He’s hot now.”
After taking a drink of orange juice, I looked at her. “He was hot then.”
“Yeah, but he’s hot now.”
I shook my head and took another bite.
“Hot as in man hot not little boy hot,” she went on to explain.
I was getting ticked off now because what did I care. “So he’s hot. Big whoop. He’s still an A-hole.”
“Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She pushed off the sink and made her way to the back door, plucking her keys off the holder we had on the wall. “All right, off to learn about drugs in Psychopharmacology class.”
“Gonna be home for dinner?” I asked.
“It’s Wednesday so Dr. Hoyt has late patients but he might cut me loose early.”
“I’m making lasagna.”
“Awesome. I’ll tell him I already have to study for a test or something so I’ll be home around five, ‘kay? See ya later!” And she was out the door.
Marcy worked as a receptionist of sorts for a psychiatrist who was a family friend, which was good for her future career. I, on the other hand, worked at a secondhand gaming store which had no impact on my career but it was fun playing the games against the guys I worked with when business was slow, which was often.
After swallowing my last bite of bagel, I went to brush my teeth, giving myself a last going over in the mirror then headed to class.
~*~*~*~
I’d loved Hallervan’s campus from the moment I’d first seen it.
When I was twelve, a few weeks before the fateful dance, I’d gone with Mom, who as a high school French teacher had taken her senior students on a spring tour of the language department. The whole place had felt exciting, all a-bustle with students hurrying to get to class, mingling in the Student Center, or hanging out on the quad studying, playing Frisbee or just tanning. On that same trip, Mom had told me about how when she and Dad had gone to Hallervan, she’d tutored him in French their sophomore year so he could keep his grades up, hence keeping his tennis scholarship, and how they’d ultimately fallen in love.