K. Robinson: Twisted Ties

She laughed. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that, too. You have a bit of an accent, too…or maybe it’s a lack of an accent. It’s strange hearing all of these different dialects after growing up in Tennessee and then coming here.”

“I’m still trying to adjust to the dialect here, too. I’m the odd one out.”

“Not at all. I’ve heard a few different accents around here. You’ll fit right in, except you’re a bit more tan than most of the people I’ve seen.”

“My friend Andy and I pretty much lived on the beach all summer. We both like to surf.”

“That’s so cool. I’ve only been to the ocean one time, but I loved it. I hope I can go back sometime.”

This girl was so sweet. Between her personality and her tiny appearance, I wanted to pick her up and hug her.

Preparing for class, I pulled my book and a notebook from my bag. Once I had everything out, I turned in my seat and searched the sea of faces behind me. After a week with no sign of Jesse, I didn’t expect to see him, so I wasn’t disappointed when I didn’t. I sighed in defeat as I turned back to face the front, and I slouched down into my seat.

I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointment each time I looked for him and found nothing. From the beginning, I knew that there was a good chance he wouldn’t be here. West Virginia was a small state, but he could be at any college.

The professor walked in and greeted us. The room was so large that he had to speak into a microphone clipped to his suit jacket. One thing was for sure—if I were looking for a one-on-one education, I definitely wasn’t going to find it in this class.

After introducing himself as Professor Vernon, he handed out a stack of papers to each person on the bottom row and had them pass the papers back to the rest of us. Once I got it, I saw it was our class syllabus. I flipped through it quickly, skimming over the rules and going straight to the assignments we would have for the rest of the semester.

I wanted to groan out loud when I saw that almost our entire grade would be based on three twenty-page papers and our final. I didn’t mind writing, but twenty pages seemed a bit extreme. What happened to those damn worksheets we did in high school that made us circle the noun? I liked those.

We spent the next ninety minutes going over the syllabus from front to back. It was obvious that I was going to hate this class. Once we were dismissed, I packed my papers and book into my backpack, and then I followed everyone up the stairs and back outside. I didn’t realize that Abby was still beside me until she spoke up.

“What’s your next class?”

“History with Professor Cale.”

“Me, too. Is it okay if I walk with you?” she asked.

“Nope,” I joked.

“Oh…okay. I’ll see you later,” Abby said quietly as she hurried ahead of me.

“Abby! Abby, wait! I was kidding!” I yelled as I raced to catch up with her.

She looked surprised. “I’m sorry. I thought you were serious.”

I laughed. “No, I was just messing with you.”

I found it strange that she would flee like that, but I didn’t ask questions. Something told me that she’d been picked on before. She was timid, like most kids who had been bullied.

We walked the rest of the way to our next class in silence. I was afraid to say anything else to her. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

Our history class was smaller but not by much. We found seats a few rows from the back and sat down. I waited until most of the seats were filled before scanning the room for Jesse. Again, he was nowhere to be found. I sighed in defeat, causing Abby to look over at me.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, just looking for my friend. I haven’t seen him in a long time, but I thought he might be at this school.”

She nodded. “I see. Well, this campus is huge, so he might be here, and you just haven’t crossed paths yet.”

“I hope that’s what it is,” I said as I pulled out my book.

The professor entered the room and introduced herself. The class went exactly like the last. I groaned again as I realized I would have to write at least one paper for this class, too. I better learn to type fast, or I’m gonna be screwed.

Abby invited me to sit with her at lunch, but I declined. She seemed sad until I told her that I had plans with my friend to eat off-campus. After I promised to eat with her on Wednesday, she perked right back up. I waved good-bye, and then I walked back across campus to where my car was parked.

After fighting the lunch traffic, I finally pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot. I didn’t spot Andy when I walked in, but after searching the room a few times, I finally noticed him in the back corner. Once I spotted him, I was shocked that it had taken me so long to find him. While most of the residents were tan, they had nothing on Andy. With his darkened skin and sun-kissed hair, he stood out from everyone else.

If things had been different from the beginning, I wouldn’t have thought twice about crushing on him. Instead, all I could see when I looked at him was Jesse. They were so much alike, both in how they acted and how they looked.

“What are you doing all the way back here?” I asked.

“There weren’t any other tables when I came in. It’s actually kind of nice to be away from everyone else.” He said through a mouthful of food. How polite, Andy.

“I guess so.” I sat down and picked up a menu. I still had a few nerves leftover from this morning, so I wasn’t really hungry.

When the waitress came over, I ordered a grilled cheese and an iced coffee. It wasn’t the most appealing mix, but I didn’t care. Grilled cheese was the only thing that looked even remotely appetizing. The waitress gave me a strange look, but she said nothing as she took my order and left.

“So, how was school?” Andy asked.

“It was okay. I’m not looking forward to all the papers I’m going to have to write this semester though, and I’m sure it’ll be worse once I get through my classes tomorrow. I have a laptop, but I need to get a printer, so I don’t have to constantly run to the library to print stuff.”

“Then, go get one, moneybags.”

I stuck out my tongue. “You’re hilarious. When do you start your new job?”

“Tomorrow. The guy I talked to seemed pretty nice. He had me draw a few things, and he was pretty impressed. I think I’m going to like it there.”

“I’m glad,” I said as the waitress put my food down in front of me.

I’d learned that Andy was as talented as Jesse when it came to drawing. He just wasn’t interested in tattooing, like Jesse was. Instead, Andy used his skills to design custom surfboards for some of the surf shops back home. Obviously, West Virginia wasn’t a surfing kind of place, but Andy had managed to snag a job at a local skateboard shop. Neither of us had expected him to find anything even close to his old job. When he’d called me to tell me that he’d found this job, we’d both been ecstatic.

I started nibbling on my grilled cheese as Andy talked about some of the guys he’d met at the shop. It took me a minute to realize that he’d stopped talking. I looked up to see his mouth hanging open in shock.

“Andy? What’s wrong?” I asked.

He just shook his head as he continued to stare over my shoulder. I was terrified to look behind me, but I did anyway. My mouth dropped open in shock as well. There was no way she could be here, yet there she was. Ally. She had just walked through the door, and she was making her way to the counter. I sat, frozen, as she walked behind the counter and continued into the back room. It appeared that she was not only here, but she worked here as well.