Page 91 of Shifted

“Hey...” I spoke awkwardly, as I just realized I didn’t remember her name. I felt like that was fair. It had been only about a month, and I didn’t even know the names of my classmates. So, how could I remember hers? She had the advantage of the embarrassing name tag on my door with a picture of a donkey from Shrek under it. Our floor theme was Shrek, which was embarrassing in itself. I wish I’d at least gotten Gingy.

“Me and a couple of my friends are headed to lunch downtown. We wondered if you’d like to join us.” Her friends? As I peeked out my door down the hall, I saw the two of them, not realizing we had company. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Don’t spend the long weekend alone?” she pouted. The girl down the hall, whom I barely knew, pouted.

“Well, I don’t know. I mean, I have an exam coming up and-”

“Please, we’ve been wanting to get to know you. We just never really see you around and want to keep you company. Freshman year is hard enough as it is; don’t do it alone.” But what she never considered was that I liked doing things alone. I had been doing things alone for some time now, and nothing was wrong with that. My parents trained me to be like that, the type who’d rather spend the rest of her life alone. Then, spend it with someone; it just wasn’t for me. But I knew if I didn’t give these girls one lunch of their time. They’d probably continue to nag me throughout the semester. They seemed like the type to do so, all preppy with their Ralph Lauren fall sweaters and blue jeans. I didn’t fit in with them, but maybe that’s what they liked about me.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me,” I mumbled and turned to grab a sweater in my room, but they gave me no time. Instead, the door shut behind me, and I was ushered forward beside the girl who knocked. So I’d be attending lunch in a blank tank top and blue lounge pants.

Her friends followed in pursuit, and for some odd reason, I felt more nervous than before. I mean, I shouldn’t have been. If needed, I could wipe all these girls out in a fight. But the better question is, why would we be in a fight?

“Cindy, where are we going for lunch?” One of the girls behind me said. But now I knew the girl's name—or, shall I say, my neighbor, Cindy.

I lost my train of thought as they rambled on about someplace on Newbury Street that had a great brunch. If you couldn’t tell, I wasn’t the brunch type of girl. I’d rather crawl out of bed at two, cram a study session, and order food delivery, avoiding the dining hall.

After a painful fifteen-minute T ride, the sight of the florals surrounding the outdoor seating didn’t surprise me; it was what I pictured: perfectly laced wicker white and blue chairs and the light chatter of people's Saturday mornings. I wondered what type of hell was brought to this place on Sunday mornings. But Cindy somehow knew the owner from a friend’s cousin’s mom or something; I don’t remember. But now we sat on wicker chairs around a circle table, one that I stuck out like a sore thumb in. They asked me questions about my life and my family, but I’d defer them by asking them about themselves. Something I’d noticed they really enjoyed, and that’s why they really started to like me because I would only ask about Cindy.

I think I was really going to enjoy college friendships. Especially the ones where there's no talking on your end, just listening. I started to wonder why they cherry-picked me as their choice on our floor. There was a bunch of others just like me who hid away in their dorms never leaving. I’d run into them in the bathrooms at 1 a.m. like there was some type of understanding between us. And that was that college seemed socially miserable and we’ve accepted that. I knew most of these new friendships would disband at some point; it was the early stages. I’d seen it unfold on a billion TV shows. But yet, here I was prior to the social death of these girls thick as thieves in a group.

“Have you met Brett Janson on the 3rd floor in Walker? He’s seriously the most beautiful man ever to walk the earth,” the girl in the yellow button-up said. I still didn’t know their names, which made this ten times worse.

“You seem to say that about every guy. Wasn’t it some guy named Elliot yesterday?” The truth about this was that the green-shirt girl was already picking at flaws, and the girl in the yellow-shirt didn’t like what the girl in green said. Yes, I’ve resorted to the color of their similar shirts as their names.

“I have Dr. Russel, and it’s a snooze fest. I think half the class is dead the second he opens his mouth…” As she trailed on, I focused on my surroundings. Boston was prettier in this light, though our campus was nice. It seemed tucked away from the heart of Boston. The common is just a seven-minute walk from here, and the view of the Prudential to my left and streets lined with brownstones to my right. The beauty of this city never failed to amaze me, especially in fall, with the leaves turning the hues of oranges, browns, and reds. It made me miss the Jones a little bit more. Their home had a big tree in the front of it where the yellow, orange, and brown leaves would leave a mess in the front yard. Hand-carved pumpkins would be on the neighbor's porches by now, and Maria’s apple cider donuts in the mornings. At least the city held the beauty of fall just like our small town did.

The street was loosely packed with people, which surprised me. But I knew around three o’clock this place would be some sort of maze. I liked staring at the flowers across the street at this little market. Hydrangeas and daisies were out of season. But they were on display, giving the last touch of summer to the street. The produce to the side was filled with apples, which drew people in. It seemed to be the city's version of apple picking. I looked to see a sign that said Honey Crisp, my favorite. But as I looked at the man holding two, he was staring right back at me, Theo.

I knew he was around Boston, but I doubted I’d see him. It was a fairly big city, and he’d been busy on his own with school. He didn’t even say goodbye before I left. He was out of the house all day, and I didn’t see him before I moved out. But now he was across the road, smiling at the sight of me.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I cut off Cindy while she talked about something I didn’t listen to. Man, I already was the world's worst friend to Cindy, yellow shirt and green shirt.

They nodded as I stood from the table, and they continued chatting about something wrong with the sixth-floor bathrooms. How they are allegedly the worst, but I didn’t care. I was interested in what Theo was doing at an apple stand. He was allergic to fruit, according to Bella. But there he was, looking for apples. I look both ways ignoring the crosswalk about nine feet away from me, and piss off a couple of cars making my way across the road.

“Man, I didn’t know you wanted to say hi so bad, even if it meant risking getting run over by a car. Have you seen the drivers in this city?” he questions me, and for the first time in over a month, I feel relieved by the sound of his voice.

“They’ve got nothing on New York drivers; the media has it wrong, I swear,” he laughs at me. As I step towards him, he unexpectedly brings me in for a tight hug. I let go slightly and looked at him, our faces inches apart.

“You’ve shaved your beard?” I note the one main change I’d seen in him.

“Weren’t you the one who said it looked too sophisticated for me?” he asks, and he was right—I was. But I didn’t expect him to think or take action about it. It just matured him. He looked in his early twenties; make no mistake about that. But his beard didn’t suit his age, though it did suit his face. I think he knows I’ve always had a little crush on him.

“When have you ever listened to my suggestions? You know I was hurt I didn’t get a goodbye from you. Thank you so much for helping me move in.” I expected him to laugh at my sarcasm, but instead, his face grew perplexed and then solemn.

“Well, I knew I would see you. So what’s the point of a big goodbye if I’m just right around the corner?” I felt the shameful blush heat my face in front of this man, and by the smile forming on his face, I wasn’t doing a great job hiding it.

“I haven’t seen you,” I note.

“Are we not speaking right now? You can see me, right?” He patted down his chest in fake worry as if he were invisible, and I playfully shoved him. Now we were both laughing. It was nice to see something familiar in my life after so much change.

“Don’t be a pain in the ass,” I warn, and he rose his hands. The wind blew in between us, and the apple stand seemed to be emptying, leaving just the two of us and the apples.

“But…” he starts, and his hand moves to my face, brushing a piece of my hair back, “I’d like to see more of you, Hope.” my stomach swirled as his words made me feel like I was delusional. I’d imagine myself with Theo sometimes, as one does with a crush. But I never expressed it to anyone; my only friends were Bella and Kendall. I couldn’t tell Bella, obviously and Kendall can’t keep a thing like that to herself. So, I decided to keep it to myself; it was better that way.

“I thought you’d be sick of me, Bella’s annoying best friend?” I didn't really see him much when I was living at his home. He was at school or out with friends, but once in a while, we’d end up in the kitchen late at night. It was always a deeper conversation between us like we were the only ones who could understand each other. But I figured he didn’t think much about them. Because in the morning at breakfast, when we’d try to avoid each other's gazes as if I hadn’t told the man my most mortifying secrets six hours prior, it was a reminder he was, in fact, just a crush.

“I could never be sick of you, and you aren’t Bella’s annoying best friend. You are Hope, my Hope,” he chuckles slightly, and it almost makes my heart stop. I want to start blinking to see if one of them will cause me to wake up or bring me back to that table across the street. Maybe that car really did hit me, and I had yet to realize it.

“Are you sure? Remember that time I accidentally used your toothbrush for a week and didn’t realize until I noticed your initials on the bottom?” Now, he looked confused.

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