And it was. An hour and twenty minutes to be exact, but the time flew by. We were all in, and with this being our last night together, nothing was going to stop us. The tattoo artist laughed at our idea, but we didn’t explain the meaning. No one needs to know but us.
I leave tomorrow, and I know both of our parents are going to flip their lids, but we don’t care. Instead of going home when we pulled back into town, we found a spot by the lake, laid out a blanket, and spent the night lost in each other.
For one last night, one last kiss, one last love, I gave her my all. My everything. I pray that the love we shared tonight will be enough. Enough for her to wait for me because I know there’s no way I could ever live without her. I just need to make it through what’s ahead of me. My scholarship only pays for me to be in the dorms. So until then, I’ll study my ass off so I can get my degree to one day be able to afford for her to come to Los Angeles with me.
* * *
Every dayaway from her has been hard, but I’m trying to see the bigger picture and my end goal through all of this. I tend to stare at my tattoo for probably longer than I should, but right now, it’s the only thing getting me through the day.
It’s been a month since I left. We spoke daily at first, multiple times a day actually, but it was killing us both. Anytime I heard her voice it would take every ounce of my control not to quit school and fly back home just to be with her.
I made the mistake of telling her one lonely night, and ever since then, she cut me off, saying we needed to cut the cord, really draw the line and separate from each other completely. I fought it, but deep down I knew it was what needed to happen. Doesn’t mean it makes it any easier, though.
Chris, my dorm roommate, is finally dragging my ass out for the night. He knows all about Evangeline and keeps reminding me it’s time to live again. I’m afraid I don’t know how.
He’s a sophomore, so he’s already a member of a fraternity and brings me along to hang out at their frat house. When we walk in, wall-to-wall bodies bounce in the air as loud music thumps through my ears, bringing my senses to life. Every corner I turn there are ten more girls dancing provocatively with each other and putting on a show for every guy to enjoy.
“What’s up, bro?” A guy walks up to Chris, slapping his hand in the air and looking in my direction. “Who’s this guy?”
“What up, Sean? This is Carter, my roommate.”
“Hey.” I nod.
“Any friend of Chris’ is welcome in this house. Let me get you a beer.”
Two seconds later, I’m handed a red solo cup as Sean is pulled onto the makeshift dance floor in the middle of what I assume to be their dining room.
Someone calls Chris from the kitchen and before he leaves he looks over at me, asking, “You good?”
I nod just as a pretty blonde with short shorts and an even shorter top walks up and answers for me, “Yeah, he’s good.”
I smirk, still not sure if I want this attention or not. I look her up and down with a slight tilt pulling on my lips the farther down my eyes travel. When they meet with her eyes again, I bring my beer to my lips, swallowing the pain I feel inside and trying to move on one step at a time.
“I’m Lucy,” she says close to my ear so I can hear her over the music, but I know by the way she pushes her chest out, it was to show off her body more than anything else.
“Carter,” is all I respond before I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. When I glance down, I see an eight-hundred number, so I silence it, having no idea why an eight-hundred number would be calling me right now. I wouldn’t be able to hear the person anyway with the music blasting, so I slide it back into my pocket.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” Lucy asks.
“Yup, how about you?”
“I’m a Junior. Psyche major, halfway there, thank God,” she over embellishes.
“Well, I’m on the first leg of med school, so I won’t be saying that for a long time.”
“Oh.” She comes up close, leaving no room in between my body and hers. “You want to be a doctor, huh?”
“That’s the goal,” I say, trying to pull away a little from her by bringing my beer up to my lips. I know I need to move on but not like this. Not this fast.
Her friend walks up right as my phone rings again. I pull it out of my pocket right as she pulls it from my hands, noticing the eight-hundred number as well.
She answers, “Sorry, there’s nothing you can sell this hottie tonight. He’s already got his hands full with Lucy and me.” She laughs, hanging up the phone and handing it back to me. “I thought sales calls aren’t allowed to call your cell phone?” she questions, and I agree with her statement.
They both stay and talk to me for a while, but I try to make sure they know I’m not interested, at least not right now. More friends come and join in on our conversation, and instantly my nerves relax. The group atmosphere gives me some relief so I can get my feet wet before jumping in completely.
The beers flow more easily as the night progresses, and I get to know a few different guys and even more girls. Every single one of them shows a little more interest when they realize I’m pre-med, which instantly puts up even more red flags. People warned me, but it’s shocking to see there really are gold diggers who just want to bag a doctor.
At two in the morning, Chris and I stumble back to our dorm; him with a female on his arm and me knowing it’s going to be a long night. I could have had my pick of a few girls, but there was no way I was going to have a one-night fling when my heart was still back home.
