Jourdan Mathews has a secret, and she knows she needs to take this one to the grave.
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Her life was never complicated: a college student with a close family, good friends, and a plan for her future as a doctor. Had that night had never happened...
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the present // the past
~
Monday morning is usually pretty painful, but it's made even more so by the excessive line in front of our campus café, The Laughing Goat, that I am currently waiting in before my 10 am class. I just want a cup of their daily brew with a splash of almond milk, but right now, that's easier said than done.
As the line moves forward, I pause my music, taking one earphone out and preparing to order from the tall, surfer-vibes looking dude at the cash register. That's when I hear it.
"I know she's not even that pretty in person." It's a hushed female voice, the sounds of a whisper just a few feet behind me. The heat I suddenly feel in my cheeks and the drop in my stomach makes me pray that they're not talking about me.
"Asher said he'd like to show her a thing or two," Another voice joins the conversation, this one more high-pitched. "Even if she is a psychopath."
"Guys are so fucking stupid," The first voice muses. "It doesn't matter to them what's going on in our brains, they only care about what they can see."
"Well, we know how that turned out."
Hushed laughter follows, and I turn my head, arching one eyebrow as I make eye contact with two sorority girls behind me. One of them, a tall brunette with a pinched face, sees that I've heard them and immediately clamps her mouth shut, elbowing her platinum blonde friend.
"I thought she had headphones in." I hear one of them squeal as I turn back around and roll my eyes. I take a long breath, trying to stay focused on how well my day had been going before this. On how well the weekend had gone after the party Saturday night.
Sunday when we all woke up, Lars made an omelet and then we drove up to Chautauqua park to hammock and smoke a joint. Ryder and I had shared a hammock, both of us having discovered our own little world in there, laughing so hard about jokes that only we found funny, it felt like he and I had been best friends for years.
Luckily, just then the line moves up and I step up to the counter ready to order.
"Hey." Says the guy at the register casually, nodding at me. "What can I get started for you?"
"Hi." I smile, glancing at the menu only to remember I already know what I want. "Could I get a cup of the daily brew with a shot of hazelnut and some almond milk?"
"Definitely." He nods, grinning and pressing a few things on the iPad in front of him. "Anything else?"
"Nope, that's it."
"Sick, your total today is gonna be 3.84." He says, whipping the iPad around so I could see the numbers on the screen. I nod, taking my credit card out of the phone wallet on the back of my iPhone and swiping it through the reader. I add a tip, signing the screen and then the guy flips the pad back, grinning.
