In fact, if you put the four of us together, Jane would seem like the odd man out, with her shorter bob haircut and eclectic style of dress.
But it was me who was the outlier of our foursome. Through no planning on my part. Just a fluke that I was the one who’d had to cut things short while they’d moved on with the start of the rest of their lives.
“Hmm. A do-over of freshman year,” Lily mused. She looked from Jane to Syd. “What would you do differently if you had a do-over?”
“Besides not having to leave school due to a parent dying?” Jane said.
Lily and Syd did the eye roll and sigh again, this time reversed. I might have been hurt, or pissed, but Jane’s blunt words pulled forth a laugh from somewhere deep inside me.
“See? Megan gets it. So yeah, what would I do differently…”
“Right. Any pearls of wisdom you want to pass on to someone who is about to start it all over again?” I asked. When none of them mentioned anything, I tried a different tack. “Places to go. Places to avoid. Profs to make sure I get. Or avoid.”
They all looked at each other, small smiles appearing on each of their faces.
“Definitely get Montrose,” Jane said. “But don’t try to sleep with him. Syd frowns upon that.”
I knew the bare bones about my former roommate and her former prof, Billy Montrose, now being a couple. I was sure the story was much more complicated than I knew. He’d mentioned her when he’d done the promo blitz for his latest book. He’d taken quite a bit of shit about being older (though notthatmuch older) and the power dynamic being so slanted (though because he no longer was her instructor and she no longer worked for him, that didn’t seem to matter so much), but they seemed to have weathered the storm. And he was back here teaching this year.
“What’s he teach?” I asked.
“Intro to Creative Writing,” Syd said.
“I don’t have it this semester. My Humanities class is American Lit. Maybe I’ll take it second semester.”
“What’s your major, again?” Lily asked. I couldn’t remember if we’d talked about what we had planned on studying in the short time I was here last year. But my answer then would have been the same as now.
“I’m not sure yet. For now, I’m just getting those gen-ed requirements out of the way, you know?” I said, and all three of them nodded. They knew the drill.
“As far as other sage advice, I’ll text you the best pizza, burger, and ice cream in Schoolport,” Lily said.
“Those are definitely the building blocks of my food pyramid,” I said. “Thanks.”
“Where are you living?” Syd asked.
“I’m actually back in Creyts. Only two suites down from the one we had last year,” I said. It had blown my mind when I first realized it.
“That’s nuts,” Jane said. “Well, maybe not—it’s notthatbig of a school. Still.”
“I know, right?” I said. Bribury was an elite college—though not Ivy League, it was often pointed out by others—located in Schoolport, Maryland, a smallish town halfway between Baltimore and DC.
“Would you like us to text you when we’re doing a night in or something?” Lily asked. “I mean, you’d be welcome, but maybe you’ll want to hang with your new roommates instead. Build those bonds?”
I wanted to hang with these girls. The ones I was supposed to have built bonds with last year. But I also knew that they had already created those bonds. Without me.
The year that never was.
The year I spent making sure my younger sibs were okay.
“Sure. But you’re right. I’ll probably want to do stuff with my new roommates. I’m going to be living with them all year, so might as well get tight, if possible.”
Jane was nodding. “Good call. And you’re not missing much. These days we’re mostly out with our boyfriends or jobs or—”
“Campaigning,” Syd said, pointing to Jane mostly, but also a little to Lily.
Jane’s father was running for governor of Maryland. Jane had stumped for him throughout the state for most of the summer, I’d seen from her socials. “Thank God classes start soon and I could get back here,” she said.
Lily nodded her agreement. Her father was also involved in politics but I wasn’t sure in what capacity. A behind-the-scenes operator.
