Silent Love

by Kenadee Bryant

  “Yes!” I yelled right back, not having known it was her. That was, what, two kills so far…doing pretty good.

  “We shouldn’t have let them play, dude,” Luke muttered over to Ethan. With one hand I slapped the back of his head before returning to my controller. Macey and I had the couch to ourselves, as we made the boys take the floor.

  “Women are mean,” he muttered again. Mace and I shared a smirk. They were such babies.

  For the next forty minutes we played COD, us girls dying more times than I can remember, and the boys yelling at us for getting them shot. Apparently, the boys didn’t think either of our four kills were impressive; well, compared to their twenty or so they weren’t.

  It was now nearing five, and the sleep I didn’t get last night was already starting to catch up to me. They had shut off the PlayStation a few minutes ago, and now we were all just sitting around playing on our phones. Sadly like our entire generation.

  “What are you guys doing tonight?” Mace asked, putting her phone in her lap.

  “We are meeting the boys for a team dinner in a little while. What about you?” Luke asked.

  “We haven’t thought about anything yet.” She looked at me. I was slightly disappointed we wouldn’t be hanging out with them for a little while longer, but I knew I couldn’t hang out with my brother all the time now.

  “We may just get some dinner with Amy then call it a night. I have classes early tomorrow,” I commented.

  “You may want to go and eat now. Everything on campus is going to be busy here in a little bit,” Ethan said.

  “That’s true. I don’t want to stand around waiting for a table forever.” Macey stood up and let out a yawn.

  “Yeah, we better go.” I stood up as well, stretching.

  “Okay, well, let me know when you get home tonight.” Luke stood up and came over to me. “Good luck tomorrow on your first day. Text or call me if you need anything. Even if it is to ask where what building is, okay?” He wrapped his long arms around me, pressing me tightly to his chest. I smiled and hugged him back.

  “I will. You have a good day tomorrow too. And make sure to actually go on time, okay?”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “I’ll find out and see if any of the boys are in any of your classes, so they can show you around,” he said, looking at both Mace and me. I was going to argue and say he didn’t need to do that, but I kept my mouth closed. It couldn’t hurt to have someone show us where to go I guess.

  “Thank you for today.” I smiled at my brother. I was glad we were going to the same college, even if I had to deal with Ethan too. I didn’t know if I could make it on my own in another one. Having my brother around just made me feel less homesick.

  “Where’s my hug?” Ethan butted in, shouldering Luke to the side. I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Fine, but only because you let Mace and I hang out with you guys.” As we wrapped our arms around one another, I pushed back any butterflies I was feeling. It was just a normal hug, like always.

  “Okay, we better get going. Have fun with the team,” I said, quickly stepping out of Ethan’s hold. I didn’t need him to see how he affected me. “See you guys tomorrow at the game. Good luck and go kick some ass!”

  “Hell yeah we will. Bye, you two, be safe.” Saying our last goodbyes, Mace and I left their dorm to quickly head to ours to grab more money and to text Amy.

  As we walked back to our place, a smile graced my lips. Today was what I needed. Even though everyone was hungover, it was fun. Being so close with my brother was making this easier. I knew Macey wouldn’t admit it, but she was glad Luke and Ethan were here with us too. Pushing aside any nervousness about tomorrow, I enjoyed this moment as we talked about what to eat.

  Chapter Five

  Of course, like every first day of school, I didn’t sleep. I tossed and turned the entire time, only dozing off for a little while before snapping awake. So, when my alarm went off at six, I groaned. I wasn’t ready to get up, and having gotten used to sleeping in until at least eight during the summer, I was tired. But the moment I realized it was the first day of college, I jumped right out of bed.

  I quickly made my way to the shower down the hall wanting to look my best for the big day. I knew practically every girl would be doing the same thing as me today—giving it a week of dressing up then going back to sweats. As I washed my long brown hair, I thought over my class schedule, already memorizing it. My first class, from eight to ten, was English 243. My second class, from eleven to twelve, was Art 111B. And my final class of the day, from two to three, was Math 200.

  My schedule wasn’t too hard this semester. I only went to classes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. I only had two classes on Wednesday and one on Thursday. I wanted to make sure this semester wasn’t too stressful because it was my first. I’d rather have a laid-back semester, and the next one I’d do more classes. So I only had five classes.

  Hopping out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around my frame and looked in the mirror. My blue eyes were shining with excitement and nervousness. I stared at myself for a few minutes. I definitely had my mother’s face, but whereas hers was beautiful, I was pretty at best. Not wanting to waste any more time, and knowing Macey still had to get up, I went back to my room to throw on something.

  I threw back on my PJs before making my way to Macey’s room. She was not the easiest person to wake up. I knew she slept through her alarm or she probably didn’t even set one, knowing I would get her up. Since both of us had classes at eight today, I was in charge of getting us up with plenty of time to get ready. Going over to her sleeping form, I found her shoulder under all the covers and started shaking it.

  “Mace, get up,” I said slowly, making my voice louder. She groaned from under the mountain of covers. “Mace, if you don’t get up now, you will be late, and I’m not waiting for you.” When I felt her move and groan again, I knew she was up. “I’m done with the shower so go get in.” Turning, I left her room and headed back to mine.

  The clock on my bedside table said it was 6:30 a.m. I had plenty of time to get ready and make my way to the English building. Going over to my closet, I heard Macey stumbling down the hallway to the bathroom. Shaking my head, I started to figure out what I was going to wear. The first day of school, you wanted to dress up, showing everyone how the summer “changed” you, and showing off the new clothes you got. And for most girls it was to show off the tan they got, which meant wearing as little clothing as they could.

  I leafed through some of the clothes I had in my closet. Everything I saw I didn’t like. Usually I wasn’t that picky about my outfit, but what if there were cute guys in my classes? I mean, I wasn’t looking to date anyone, except Ethan of course, but it didn’t hurt to look good. You never knew who might be around.

  Huffing, I moved to my chest of drawers after not finding anything. I kept moving back and forth between outfits when Macey walked into my room clad in a robe. Not saying a word she headed for my closet, grabbed a shirt, then went to grab a pair of pants. Once she had what she wanted, she threw it at me before leaving to her own room.

  “Thank you!” I yelled after her, glancing at the stuff in my hands. I was so thankful Macey was so much like Aunt Kay in the fashion department. Not second-guessing her, I stripped out of my PJs. Macey picked out a pair of tan skinny jeans, and a teal blouse-like shirt that had black lace at the top. Once I had wiggled myself into the jeans, I put the blouse on. Macey definitely knew her clothes.

  She got that from Aunt Kay, who even let Macey design a few clothes for her shop. Although Mace was good at that, she didn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps, so she decided she wanted to be a chemical engineer instead. It helped that she got a thirty-two out of thirty-six on the ACT. Which was impossible if you ask me!

  Once I was dressed, I headed back into the bathroom to finish up my hair and makeup. I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard, so I was going to go with simply curling my hair and put
ting on a little makeup. With the curling wand heating up, I started on my makeup. When I was halfway through, Mace walked in looking more awake now.

  “How did you sleep?” I asked, putting the finishing touch of my lipstick.

  “Okay until you came screeching into my room,” she muttered. I rolled my eyes at her. I moved out of her way to curl my hair while she did her own makeup.

  “So you have math first, right?”

  “Sadly, yes, then I have chemistry.” She got excited when she talked about chemistry. I knew she didn’t really mind having math because she was so good at it; the only big deal was it was at eight. She was literally the only person I knew who was excited about science. Don’t get me wrong, I liked science, but not as much as her. That was why I intended on taking multiple art and photography courses.

  “When do you have a break for lunch?” I asked. I should know this but after agonizing over my own schedule, I forgot about hers. When we both got in and went to apply for classes, we made sure to have at least one class together, which was psychology on Wednesday. But other than that, we didn’t have the same because our majors were different.

  “I think I have from 12:30 to 1:30 or so,” she commented. I continued on curling my hair, something I had gotten really good at and didn’t need a mirror for. That was practically my only talent in the fashion beauty world.

  “I’m free from 1:00 to 2:00. Well, at least we can see each other for half an hour.” I shrugged, slightly sad about that.

  “Yeah, and the game is at eight, so we have plenty of time to get dinner and get ready.”

  “Luke and I are probably meeting up around four for our ritual, then we can go get dinner while he gets ready.” I smiled, thinking of our ritual. We couldn’t stop doing it now; it’d been a tradition since high school. I made a mental reminder to text him in just a little bit to make sure we were on.

  “That sounds good.” We quickly finished up what we were doing. Standing next to Mace’s short frame, I looked at my curled hair. I looked good, as good as I was going to get anyways. Macey’s short light brown hair was naturally slightly wavy and framed her face. Her makeup was like mine, but I had on only a little to make it look like I tried.

  “Want to go grab a coffee before class?” I asked. We still had about forty-five minutes and that was if we wanted to be early, so we had plenty of time.

  “Sure.” We left the bathroom and headed to our own rooms. “Wear those black booties!” she yelled over her shoulder at me. Following her advice I grabbed the semi-new black-heeled booties I bought a little bit ago. Lacing them on, I went over to my full-length mirror. Mace definitely did good with my outfit. I looked cute yet casual.

  Happy with my appearance, I moved around my room gathering all the stuff I needed. I had my bag and a backpack I was going to carry today. I knew backpacks were more high school than college, but it would hold everything I would need for class. It was the first day. I would figure out if it worked or if I needed something better later on.

  Yesterday, when we got back from dinner with Amy, I put everything I needed in my backpack. I didn’t want to do it this morning and forget something. In it were three notebooks, multiple pencils and pens, some folders, another notebook that was for my drawings as well as my drawing kit, and of course the required textbook for my English class. I was maybe a little over prepared, but as my dad always said, “Better to be over prepared than under.” I checked that and my bag to make sure I had money, lipstick, gum, and keys. Grabbing my phone, I took one last glance around my room before meeting Macey by the front door.

  As we left the dorm building and made our way to 95 Degrees, I noticed there were a lot of students already making their way to classes. There are plenty of classes that started earlier, but I was lucky enough to be able to sleep a few extra hours. I probably wouldn’t get up as early as I did today, but I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time.

  Last night while we ate dinner with Amy, she told us her schedule. She wanted to be a marine biologist, so we didn’t have the same classes. But we promised we would make sure to see each other. We definitely would tonight at the football game. It was the first game of the season, and I bet it was going to be packed. Thanks to Luke and Ethan, though, and maybe my father, we were able to get tickets to every home game and in the front row.

  Walking to the café, I quickly sent Luke a text reminding him about our ritual today, and sent ones to both of my parents telling them I was heading to class and I would call them later. They were both up by now and I bet were already biting at the bit to text me.

  When we reached 95 Degrees and walked in, I was glad we decided to come here now. The line wasn’t terribly long, but enough to make us wait a little bit. The seats were slowly filling up. This place definitely did great business.

  “Damn, this must be the place to come,” Macey whispered by my side.

  “It is. I haven’t seen another coffee place, and they make good food.”

  “I have a feeling we are going to be here a lot.” I grinned over at her.

  “Not going to lie. Probably will. But promise to me we won’t gain the freshman fifteen?”

  “Definitely. If I see some on you, I will force you to go run a few miles,” she said.

  “What about you?”

  “Me gain weight? I don’t think so.”

  “So just me? Making only me work out?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Car, life isn’t fair. I thought I taught you this in high school.” She turned to me with a grin. I laughed softly at her.

  A few minutes later, it was finally our turn to order. Since I paid yesterday for all the coffees, Macey got mine for me. Even though I knew I should get something to eat, I was too nervous at the moment. But I did grab an apple to put in my bag for later.

  “So how about we meet up here around one? Sound good?” Mace asked as we moved to the side to wait for our drinks.

  “Sounds good to me. Although we probably should look for another place here on campus to eat. They will get sick of us here,” I said as I watched more people come in. “So, when is Amy’s ‘lunch break’?”

  “She has a break between noon and one, which sucks,” Mace answered, looking down at her phone. It was only the first day, but I could tell our schedules were going to suck when we tried to meet up with one another.

  When we finally got our coffees, it was time to head toward our classes. We still had fifteen minutes, but I wasn’t quite sure where my class was, and I would rather be early then late.

  “Meet here at one, ‘kay?” Mace said again as we stood outside the café.

  “I will. Good luck with your first classes. Text me in between.” Feeling the need to hug her, I grabbed her and pulled her toward me. It was going to be weird not having any classes with her until Thursday.

  “Good luck to you too. Don’t go drooling over any hot guys.” She smirked, pulling away. I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Don’t you know me at all!?” I gasped, clenching my chest. It was her turn now to roll her eyes.

  “See you later, Car.” With a wave to one another we both headed in opposite directions. Holding onto my warm coffee in one hand and taking out my class schedule I printed off at home with the other, I headed toward my first class as a freshman.

  ***

  After trying to find the right building for ten minutes, I finally did. Following a few other students into the room, I noticed the professor wasn’t even here yet. Same with most of the class. But with another ten minutes until class started, I figured everyone was making their way here. The room was pretty big and had plenty of seats available. I stood off to one side of the entrance, looking for the perfect seat. I knew that wherever I sat I would sit for the rest of the semester. It was like an unconscious thing among students. Wherever you sit the first day was where you always sat throughout the class. Don’t ask me why.

  With a few more students coming in, I headed for a seat k
ind of in the back, where I could still see. Plopping into one that was a few in front of the outside seat, I started taking out my things. Now, being in the classroom, I was starting to get nervous for some reason. Hearing my phone chirp, I quickly grabbed it to reply before the teacher got here. Seeing a text from both my brother and Ethan, I grinned. They were both wishing me luck, and Luke answered back about our ritual.

  While I replied to them more people came in, as well as the professor. He wasn’t a bad-looking teacher actually. Setting my phone down, I looked at him fully. The professor looked to be in his semi-early forties. He had dark brown hair, and I couldn’t see the color of his eyes from here. All in all, he wasn’t the worst-looking teacher I’d ever had.

  “Hello, class. I am Mr. Waite, and you are in English 243,” he said loudly, setting things on the desk at the front of the classroom. “I hope everyone is here.” Just as he said that, someone quickly walked through the doorway. My eyes, as well as everyone else’s, snapped toward the figure. Instantly I recognized the hoodie that was pulled over the person’s head—Gage.

  “Glad you could make it,” Mr. Waite said, but he didn’t sound angry. I watched as Gage made his way up the stairs toward me. I scooted down in my seat and ducked my head, trying to make myself invisible. I wasn’t really expecting to see him again, let alone so soon. Yes, internally I wanted to see him again because something about him drew me in, but I hadn’t really thought he would have a class with me.

  As luck would have it, Gage walked all the way to my row and dropped down into the seat at the edge right by the aisle, three chairs away from me. He still had the hood over his head blocking his face, and he stared straight ahead. The only thing he took out of his bag was a notebook and a pen. I sat there staring at him like a weirdo, not really knowing what to do. Should I say hi? Should I just ignore him? Before I could even think of a response the professor’s voice broke me out of my thoughts. Dragging my head away from Gage’s direction, I looked forward.