Until She Was Gone

Chapter 30 | the gift

Rebecca's PoV

My coffee is still steaming when Izzy comes back from her classes.

I am sitting at the usual cafe table we both always sit at. It gives us the view of the woods beyond the campus. We have both claimed it since the beginning of the year. It was always ours;  and Izzy drives away anyone else that would dare to sit on the table. 

By this time, word has traveled, Izzy and Rebecca own this table. No one else.

Izzy flings her small designer purse on the chair and flops down sighing. Putting her head in her arms she wails,

" I swear, if someone doesn't remove Professor Warner from the college, I will."

I sigh, knowing that it's her daily complaint and that there is nothing to do about it.

" What happened this time?" I ask.

And then she starts to babble on about her 'ridiculous' project she has to complete in a day.

" Wow." I mumble, almost playfully. She lifts her head for a second and glares. I grin.

" Imma sue him" she suddenly declares. I raise an eyebrow while putting a finger inside the cup to check its temperature.

" For giving you a hard project?"

" Yup."

" Ok. I'll let you try."

I sip my coffee now knowing that it is bearable and won't burn my tongue. I hate it when that happens.

When Izzy lifts her head to see me happily enjoying my coffee without paying her a head about her problems, she hisses at me. I shrug.

" Even if I did care - which I don't, we can't really do anything about it can we?"

" I don't care. I just wanna do something."

The sun is low on the ground by now, and its light creeps through the trees in our view. The blue-gray sky splattered with clouds looms over us, as if it has something prepared. 

It's like the sky is crackling.

I look at Izzy, who has now lifted her head. Her dark long hair is in a high ponytail, and damn- it looks good on her dark tan skin. It was always her style. Elegant, sexy, and attractive. Very attractive.

Her chocolate eyes, a little lighter than mine, seem to crawl with hidden energy. Bubbly excitement.

But somehow, there is a tinge of sadness in it. Some kind of hopeless feeling. I have no idea where it comes from. It has been there for months now, and I have no idea how to remove it, though I desperately want to.

Her face moves closer and in the half darkness, I see a few small freckles up her nose. I get that sudden urge to run my hands over them. Feel her entire face, cradle it, hold it--

" Becca" Izzy's voice snaps me out of cloud nine. Cloud 9?

I shake my head.

There is something wrong with me.

" Yeah?"

" Do you want to go up to your room later? I mean, I haven't hung out with Sylvia in a while either. It'll be nice, all three of us. We'll have a girls night." She pauses and then adds as if an afterthought, " Forget everything and just have fun."