Here and Now

by T. Renee Fike

  “Really?” he asks, sounding stunned.

  “Yeah, since before break. We ended up talking when I got back and figured things would get better since we talked, but clearly that wasn’t the case. I’m honestly glad I found out now.”

  “Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to kick his ass?” he asks, with a smile on his face.

  I can’t help but laugh out loud, “No, there’s no need. I just want to move on and forget the two of them.”

  “Do you seriously think Lily is going to leave you alone?” he asks.

  “I told her how I felt earlier, so I think she’s going to leave me alone, at least for a while.”

  “Good luck with that, she uses people and she will be back, she needs your friendship Bay.”

  “Why?” I ask,

  He looks at me like I’m crazy, “You’ve always been a great friend to her, you’re a good person; she knows that and she needs people like you in her life. She will be back.”

  “Well she can screw off, I don’t need her.”

  “You’re right, you don’t need her, but she needs you, especially because she’s not a good person. I tried to tell you that before, but some things you have to see and learn for yourself. I hope you learned your lesson, even though I wish you didn’t have to learn it that way,” he says.

  “I should have learned it a while ago, but I think I was just being dumb and trying to give her the benefit of the doubt because everyone was against her. Now I can see why.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks with an intense look.

  “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for checking up on me, but you can inform my brother that I’m just fine.”

  Evan smiles before standing up, “I will. I’m going to get going, but if you need anything don’t hesitate to let me know,” he says as he walks to the door.

  “Thanks Ev,” I say as he opens it and sees Dani standing there

  “Oh hi,” she says, looking befuddled.

  “Hey Dani, I’ll see you guys later,” he says before leaving.

  “Why was he here?” she asks as soon as she shuts the bedroom door.

  “Owen talked to him, so he came to check on me.”

  “That was sweet,” she says with a huge smile.

  “Doing something for my brother, yeah sure, so sweet,” I joke. She ends up throwing a pillow towards me, which smacks me on the top of the head, causing me to laugh.

  The rest of the night is quiet and I couldn’t be more thankful. I’m able to enjoy the rest of the evening without any more drama.

  Chapter Twelve

  A month goes by and Evan was right, Lily has reached out to me at least ten times, trying to fix our friendship. I just don’t have it in me to care anymore. I haven’t heard from Austin and I’m thankful, dealing with one of them is enough.

  I’ve passed Austin on campus and he looks at me and I feel him staring at me, but I just look away. I’m not interested in what he has to say or do and moving on is what’s working for me. I just wish Lily would take the hint.

  Dani has been amazing, she’s flipped out on Lily on more than one occasion, making Lily leave our dorm room in tears. Do I feel bad, normally I would, but I don’t anymore. She is truly only out for herself and doesn’t give a damn about anyone else, so why should I care?

  “Hey you,” Evan says as I’m walking towards my next class.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” I ask, surprised to see him. I don’t usually run into him or talk to him much on campus; usually it’s when he’s checking in on me for Owen.

  “Are you going home this weekend?” he asks out of the blue.

  “No, why?”

  “Owen said he wasn’t sure, and I was going to see if you wanted to ride along with me if you were.”

  “Why would I go home this weekend?” I ask, confused.

  “I’m going home to hang out with your brother this weekend. Plus, I told my parents I’d stop in and see them and since we lost and basketball is over, I figured now is as good a time as any.”

  We didn’t have a great basketball season this year. The guys didn’t even make it to the playoffs, so no sweet sixteen or anywhere close to it, which is surprising. The team’s usually really good, but for some reason, they just couldn’t get their shit in order.

  “No, I’m staying here this weekend. I appreciate the offer though,” I say.

  “Okay, I just wanted to make sure. I’ll catch up with you later then,” he says before heading in the opposite direction as me.

  That was weird; Owen never told me he was going home this weekend, I wonder why. Maybe he didn’t want me to come home, so he could hang out and have quality guy time? Who knows? It’s not really a big deal, because I have a big project I need to work on this weekend, which is going to take up quite a bit of my time.

  I go to the rest of my classes today before heading back to my dorm.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask Dani, who looks sad.

  “I hate men,” is all she says.

  “Why?” I ask, having no clue what she’s talking about, or rather who.

  “Because they suck,” she says as a tear escapes down her cheek. I drop my bag immediately and rush over to her.

  “What happened?” I ask, knowing I’m missing something.

  “The guy I was talking to is a jerk, just like most of them are.”

  “I didn’t know you were talking to someone,” I add.

  “Yeah, for about three months,” she sniffles.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

  “Because every time I talk about a guy it never works, so I thought maybe if I didn’t say anything to anyone it would actually last this time. I guess I was wrong,” she says as she grabs a tissue.

  “You really like him.”

  “I did, but just like most guys, he’s a cheating asshole,” she says, now looking angry.

  “Not all guys cheat, we will find ones that want to date us and only us,” I assure her.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “So who was this guy?” I ask, curiously.

  “Just a guy from my Lit class. He’s an asshole now though.”

  “What was his name?”

  “Jason.”

  “Well you will find a guy way better than Jason ever could be,” I smile. “Do you want ice cream?” I ask, knowing you can’t go wrong with ice cream.

  “Raspberry with the chocolate hearts?” she beams.

  “Absolutely,” I say as I stand up. “I’ll go grab some and be right back.”

  “Thank you so much,” she says, now having a huge smile on her face.

  “Anytime,” I say, knowing it’s the least I could do. She’s always there for me; it’s about time I’m there for her.

  It doesn’t take long for me to run out, grab some ice cream and head back to the dorm.

  “Hey,” I hear from behind me, the closer I get to the entrance.

  Turning around, I see Austin standing there.

  “What’s up?” I ask, cutting to the chase.

  “I wanted to see if we could talk,” he says surprisingly. I haven’t talked to him in weeks, why the sudden change now?

  “Talk about what?” I ask.

  “Seeing if we could possibly start over? I’m not doing any drugs, and I have my head straight and I realize how bad I messed up,” he says, looking genuine.

  “We can’t start over, what you did can’t be undone and I don’t want to go back,” I inform him.

  “You’re a great person Baylee and you didn’t deserve what I did and for that I am truly sorry.”

  “Thank you. I hope things work out for you, but it’s not going to be with me. Maybe we can be friends in the future, who knows,” I smile.

  “I’d like that,” he says with a slight smile.

  “For now, I think it’s best if we go our separate ways.”

  “I hope you find someone who treats you the way you deserve Baylee.”

  “One day I will. Have a good night,”
I say, before turning around and heading towards the door. He doesn’t say anything else, not that I expected him to. I open the door and head towards the elevator and take it up to my floor.

  Once in my room, I fill Dani in on what happened outside with Austin, and hand her the container of ice cream. She snatches it out of my hand and dives in, while keeping a conversation with me about Austin.

  “He’s still a douchebag, I wouldn’t take him back,” she says as she stuffs a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

  I can’t help but laugh, “I’m not going to and I told him that.”

  “Good.”

  “I’ll find someone who is worthy of me.”

  “Yes you will and I wouldn’t settle for anyone less than the best,” she cheers as she lifts her spoon of ice cream. We click spoons while laughing and enjoying our dessert treat.

  The rest of the evening is spent with Dani filling me in more about Jason, how they met, where they hung out, how serious they really were. She got upset a few times, but by the end of everything she tells me, I can tell she’s feeling better and knowing she deserves someone great as well.

  Deciding to call it a night, I lie down, yet I can’t help but think how I missed the fact that Dani was dating someone for three months. I vow to myself to start paying better attention to things.

  The week flies by and I barely have time to do anything other than write paper after paper. School has been so busy this week with assignments, I barely have time to think let alone hang out or think about going to any parties this weekend.

  No matter how much work I do, I still have a project to complete this weekend. I talked to Owen last night for a whole whopping ten minutes because of my school load. He finally told me he was going home to hang out with Evan and some of their other buddies. Something about one of their buddies just got engaged, so they are going home to celebrate and party it up. That’s why he didn’t bother to invite me to come home, which I completely understand. I tell him to have an awesome time and that I will talk to him sometime this weekend or on Monday when he gets back to school. He agrees and we disconnect our call.

  “Hey you, what are you planning to do tonight?” Dani asks as she flops on her bed.

  “Homework, I have so much to do this weekend, I doubt I’ll be leaving this room,” I sigh.

  “You can’t be locked up in here all weekend, how about we go out either tonight or tomorrow, and the rest of the time you can be locked away,” she tries to bargain.

  “Is anything going on?” I ask, knowing she clearly has something on her mind.

  “Tomorrow, there’s a party I think we should go to,” she smiles.

  “Okay, then I’ll work on this today and tomorrow and we can go tomorrow night,” I agree.

  “Did you eat anything?” she asks. I glance at the clock and see it’s almost eight.

  “No, but I will soon,” I say, not realizing how much time has passed.

  “Pizza?” she asks.

  “Yeah, that works,” I say, as I look back down at my instructions making sure I’m not missing anything.

  “I’ll order it,” she says as she grabs the phone and places the order.

  “You don’t have to stay in because I’m here,” I inform her, though I never look in her direction.

  “I know, but I think I’m actually going to call it an early night. I need a break from drinking and partying,” she says from her side of the room.

  “Okay, well if I keep you up, just let me know, I can turn on the side lamps.”

  “I’m not going to sleep yet silly, I’m going to eat pizza, mess around on my computer, and then call it a night at some point.”

  I can’t help but laugh, why on Earth would I think she was going to go to sleep at eight on a Friday night? I don’t think sometimes.

  The pizza arrives about forty-five minutes later and I take a break to enjoy the delicious smelling pie. “Thank you so much, this smells amazing,” I say as I take my first bite.

  “Anytime, plus this shit is delicious,” she says before diving into her slice.

  Between the two of us we end up eating almost the entire pizza, not caring how we feel or look at the moment.

  “I can’t eat anymore,” she complains as she rubs her stomach.

  “Me either, I think I ate too much,” I state as I lean back on my pillow, not wanting to get up or move a muscle.

  “You can’t rest,” she informs me.

  “Sure I can, I think I’m going into a food coma,” I joke.

  “No, we have plans tomorrow, so get your ass up and start working on your homework,” she instructs.

  I can’t help but laugh, knowing right now I can’t move to do anything. “I think I ate too much, give me like fifteen minutes,” I say as I shut my eyes for a few minutes.

  “No,” she snaps, and then I feel myself get smacked by a pillow in the face.

  “Hey,” I shout, not wanting to move.

  “No sleeping,” she demands.

  “I wasn’t. I was just going to rest my eyes for a few minutes, I’m not going to fall asleep, so don’t worry; I will get some work done. Tomorrow we are definitely going out,” I assure her.

  “You better.”

  “I will, I promise,” I say, before closing my eyes again. I’m not sure how long my eyes are closed, but shortly thereafter I hear Dani yelling my name.

  “Wake the fuck up,” she shouts. Blinking back, I look over at her and she has a stern look on her face, “You need to get back to work, get your ass up,” she orders.

  “I’m up, I’m up,” I say as I sit up; knowing damn well she caught me, because I did indeed, pass out.

  “You said you weren’t going to sleep, you lied,” she points out with a smile on her face.

  “I thought I would be fine to close my eyes for a few minutes, I didn’t think I would actually fall asleep,” I say as I reach over and grab my syllabus, so I can pick back up where I left off.

  I spend the next few hours busting out a paper, deciding I’ll work on my actual project tomorrow. By the time it hits one, I decide it’s time for some rest, I can continue tomorrow.

  Saturday is the same, the morning and afternoon is spent working on my project, before Dani tells me to give it a rest and to get a shower, so I can get ready to go out tonight.

  Two hours later, I’m showered, dressed, hair and make-up done, along with being fed. I’m ready for a night out and a break from homework.

  It’s eight-thirty by the time we decide to head out. “Where’s this party at?”

  “It’s not a frat or sorority party,” she says as we walk towards the opposite end of campus.

  “Is it on campus?” I ask, as we get closer to the end of campus.

  “No, it’s right off campus,” she says, still not giving me anything more to go on.

  “Why won’t you tell me?”

  “Because you won’t know anyway, plus you won’t really know anyone here either. It’s nice to not have to worry or think and you don’t have to tonight,” she smiles as we continue to the party.

  “I’m hoping its close because it’s freaking cold out,” I say, hugging my coat tighter to my body. I’m really glad I decided on jeans with a sweater today, instead of a dress or anything else.

  “We’re almost there,” she says as she points to a house that’s lit up.

  “Thank goodness,” I say as I continue to follow her. We walk across the street and Dani walks right into the house, not knocking or anything else.

  I follow her inside, looking around slowly, trying to figure out where we are, though she already informed me I wouldn’t know anyone here, maybe she could be wrong.

  There’s a bunch of people in the living room and the kitchen, and a small group playing beer pong in the dining room.

  It doesn’t take long for Dani to start introducing me to some people. Clearly, she knows everyone here, which I’m slightly surprised about. I mean, I know Dani is outgoing she always has been, it’s just surprising be
cause she hardly talks about anyone in particular, yet here she is with friends everywhere, on campus and off campus. I just can’t help but wonder why she never introduced me before.

  I’ve met Tiffany, Penny, Liz, Nina, Scott, Aaron, Mike, and Jon so far.

  “What do you think?” Dani asks me.

  “About what?” I ask, knowing I have no idea what she’s talking about.

  “Anyone of interest?” she says as she nods towards the men in the room.

  “Jon’s pretty hot,” I say quickly.

  “He’s single too,” she beams.

  “I’m not going to promise anything, but I definitely wouldn’t mind talking and getting to know him a bit,” I smile.

  “Let’s see how things go then shall we?” she says as she holds her arm out, I link mine through hers as she leads me towards the tall sexy man.

  Jon is tall, much taller than me; he has the sexy athletic build, with dark hair, almost black, with dark gray eyes. His jeans hug his body perfectly, showcasing his perfect ass, one that I wouldn’t mind grabbing ahold of myself.

  Approaching Jon, he already has a smile on his face, Dani starts talking to him before bringing me into the conversation. It doesn’t take her long to dismiss herself so she can go and grab another drink.

  “Sorry about that, she’s pretty obvious about shit,” Jon says, catching me off guard.

  I can’t help but laugh, “Yeah, she definitely is.”

  For the next two hours Jon and I talk, we talk about life, school, relationships, friends, how Dani and I know each other, sports, you name it, we talked about it. The conversation flows so well, it almost seems too good to be true, which has me on edge a bit.

  I haven’t drank much considering I’ve done more talking than anything else. Looking over at Dani, she smiles and keeps giving me a thumbs up, clearly enjoying herself.

  Jon asks if I would like to go grab lunch tomorrow, which I know I should say no, because I still have a crap load of homework. I can’t help but say yes, wanting to spend more time with him. Though it’s getting later and later and I’m tired, I don’t want to leave. Not yet anyway.

  Being anti-social and only spending my time with Jon seems rude, especially when I came with Dani, so being the nice and good roommate that I am, I tell Jon that I should probably check on Dani. Heading in her direction she is nothing but smiles, “Well that apparently went really well,” she giggles, clearly having enough to drink.