A Drop In The Lake

through the branches

Cameron

I readjust my basketball shorts, taking Alessa's hand as we leave her dorm. Since I brought up the discussion of college to Alessa early, she's been a bit evasive with my touch.

"What's going on in there?" I prod, as we walk away from center campus and towards the track.

Alessa remains silent as we walk along the sidewalk that spans the side of the track. Before we head down the ramp to the completely glass athletic center, I nudge Alessa again, pulling her out of her trance.

"What, sorry?" She scrambles, looking over to me.

I maneuver us towards the left hand side of the athletic center, and repeat, "What're you thinking about?"

She lets out a slight sigh and then responds, "Where are you going to college?"

Slightly taken aback by the question, I stop, and Alessa's hand slips out of mine.

"I'm not sure yet. I applied to a bunch of schools and have offers to some, but I don't know yet." I clip, moving closer to Alessa.

Alessa narrows her eyes at me and accuses, "Yes you do. You've got an offer from Princeton for Christ sakes. Why would you choose anything else? And then there's me; no direction, no credentials, no offers, just a few hobbies that I could maybe turn into a living—"

"How do you know?" I  cut her off, moving to grab her hands from out of the air.

"Let go of me Cam—"

"No. Alessa, you have a dedication to living a life you love, no matter where it takes you, you know will do something you wholeheartedly enjoy... and. And even though I have an offer from a big name school, it doesn't mean I'm going to just leave you to live some idealistic life. I still love you Alessa and I don't see that changing anytime soon." At my words, Alessa stiffens and slides her hands out of mine.

"Cam. Can we please talk about th—"

"No," I interject, taking another step towards her. "Look at it this way. Princeton is about an hour and a half away from NYU, two hours if you use public transport. I've already got an offer to row for Princeton, and you've basically got one from NYU."

Alessa's eyes go wide and she opens her mouth as if to respond, but I cut her off.

"I talked to coach Middleton. I told her to check in with you because I was worried you were shutting yourself off from having a future because of what happened to Rhea." The words hang out of my mouth, reaching to burrow their way into Alessa's heart.

Alessa's eyes soften at my words, but her face morphs between hurt and confusion.

I remain silent, feeling as though I've taken too much power away from Alessa throughout the course of this conversation.

"Thank you," she breathes. "I. I still don't know what to do with all of this information, and in the back of my mind the question of whether or not I'll get into NYU, still bugs me, but at least you're willing to try." She steps closer, wrapping her arms around my neck before asking, "one more thing. Why haven't you left me?"

I stare back at her, confusion covering my face.

"What do you mean?"

She moves beside me and takes my hand. Cuddling into the side of my body she continues, "you probably think I'm crazy because of how insanely bad I'm taking this."

I hug her tighter, starting our walk up again, and whisper into her hair, "You're not crazy. College is hard, life is hard, and this shit with Max isn't making it any easier. I know it may seem untrue, but I'm freaking out about college too. If you didn't notice, it seems that everyone and their mother is interested in where I'm going to school, and if I'm going to continue to row. What's more is that in asking me all of these questions they make me wonder whether or not I'm doing what I really want to."

Alessa gives me a sympathetic grin as we round the back of the athletic center. We follow the cobble path that goes around the whole athletic center until we come to a slight opening in the trees behind the building. I help Alessa navigate through the branches and we both take a seat on the wooden frame that borders the bay and the island.

We sit there for a few hours, snuggling up in each other's arms and just enjoying the other's presence. We talk a bit more about college, planning out our ideal situation, and about whatever comes to mind.

At about ten o'clock I tug on Alessa's hand and we walk back towards the track and head to the dining hall to get brunch.

When we walk into the dining hall, Alessa drags me over to a table that Brooklyn and Anthony are sitting at.

"Hey Brook!" Greets Alessa, pulling me into the chair next to her.

"Hey guys," I greet, more enthralled by Alessa than anyone else's presence.

"Hi lovebirds." Teases Brooklyn.

Anthony remains silent, getting up from the table and moving towards the serving area. Even though my teammates have become more accommodating to my and Alessa's relationship, Anthony still seems to be hesitant. I don't know whether to feel touched or annoyed at this point though.

"You guys finished eating?" Asks Alessa.

"Nah. We just got here about ten minutes ago so I'm sure we'll be here for a little while longer." Replies Brooklyn, moving pieces of her waffles around her plate.

"We should go get food." Suggests Alessa, looking to me for confirmation.

"Lead the way babe." I reply, moving out of my chair and motioning in the direction of the servery.

"Have I mentioned you guys are so fucking cute it hurts?" Questions Brooklyn.

"Yes. About a hundred times, now let's go. I'm hungry." Demands Alessa, moving past me.

As we walk towards the survey, Brooklyn chuckles, relaxing the tense emotions Anthony's presence attempted to bring into our morning. The final thread of doubt slips away when I round the corner and see Alessa, smiling wide and holding out a tray for me to take.

    God I love this girl.

______________

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...

So I know I kept saying I was going to upload on my snapchat, but I really started not feeling well on Wednesday night and through Friday.

SO! Here's the chapter I wanted to upload on Wednesday, I hope you like it, and stay tuned for Wednesday's chapter cause things really pick up in that chapter.

Anyways, today's question is:

What do you do to feel better when you're not feeling well? Or what is your strongest memory of a time you were sick?

For me, I always lay on the floor. I would lay under my parents desk when I was sick and they picked me up from school. I know it's very specific, but something about it seems so nostalgic.