Page 67 of The Interns

Reed hit the unleaded button and the pump jerked in his hand as the gas started flowing through the line and into the tank of his truck. The back and forth from home to school to the city for work had him burning through at least two tanks a week which was hell on his bank account. Thank God Al had given him a raise. Mentally, physically, and emotionally he’d also been running on empty for the last two weeks. His work and school schedule was rough, but Maya’s absence from his life was hell.

The rear tire caught his eye, looking a little low. Too tired to grab the air gauge from his glove compartment, he stubbed the toe of his boot in the tire wall and met satisfactory resistance. A layer of red clay coated the sides of his truck. It sorely needed a wash, but he had neither the time nor desire to do it today. He looked at the customer filling up across from him whose red ball cap with a white cursive P brought a small smile to his face.

“You from Philly?” Reed called out.

The man looked up from the cell phone in his hand, confused for a moment before he tipped the bill of his hat. “No, but I went to school there.”

“Nice. I’ve got a good friend who goes to school up there.” He cursed himself for the silly overshare, but he couldn’t help that Maya was always at the top of his mind, and this weak connection was the closest he’d felt to her since she’d left.

“Oh really?” the man asked. “Where?”

“University of Pennsylvania.”

The man chuckled at the mention of the Ivy League school. “Must be a smartie.”

She is Reed thought as he started to grin.

“Penn State,” the man offered as he pointed to himself humbly.

“Ah.” Before he could make a joke about being a state schooler himself, the pump made a clunking noise and jerked in his hand signaling that his tank was full. “Well, have a good one.”

“Yeah, you too,” the man said with a friendly wave.

35

Maya

Knock, knock.

Maya finished the sentence she was reading, then shifted her eyes from the textbook resting on her lap to the door. “Come in.”

“Hey.” Her roommate peeked around the door. “You wanna order in for dinner?”

It was only five o’clock, but outside her window, it was pitch black and small flecks of snow fell steadily in the soft glow of the street light. She had no desire to leave the house, in fact, she had little desire to leave her bedroom over the past month save for class and the gym.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Thai today?”

She froze as a feeling of deja vu washed over her. Only it wasn’t her old office and Reed wasn’t in the room laughing at their inside joke.

“What?” her roommate asked self-consciously from the doorway.

“Nothing.” Maya shook her head to clear the fog. “It’s nothing. Can we do Chinese instead?”

“Yeah, whatever,” she agreed. “Veggie lo mein and an egg roll for you?”

“Yeah, I’ll Venmo you my share.”

“Cool.” She turned and shut the door to her room leaving Maya alone again.

She looked at the page she had bookmarked with her finger and stared at it for a moment and another and another…

Shit.

She closed the book and laid it flat on her stomach. These weren’t the usual post-vacation, winter blues that eased as the temperatures began to rise. She looked up at the ceiling like it was a blank screen for her to project the memories now running through her mind. Last summer and winter break in Atlanta had been some of the greatest times in her life with her family, friends, and the addition of Reed. The memories were so warm, happy, and vibrant. A sharp contrast to her current situation in Philadelphia. It was no wonder she kept revisiting them.

36

---