Jourdan Mathews has a secret, and she knows she needs to take this one to the grave.
* * *
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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Campus is always pretty busy on Monday's. Students running to class, studying on Norlin quad or playing spike ball on Farrand Field. The number of students on campus dwindles significantly as the week goes on, especially after Thursday nights when most people are too hungover to go to class Friday morning. But not today, in fact, my economics lecture was so crowded this morning, Lars and I barely got seats.
And the swarm leaving the building when class ends, is almost overwhelming, people shoving their ear buds back in and shouldering their way through the crowd.
"I love fall here," Lars muses next to me as we walk out the doors of Eaton Humanities and step into the pleasant midday air. It's not too cold yet, which means I'm only wearing jeans and a large black sweatshirt. I nod, sliding my other arm through the strap of my backpack as we cross the quad.
"I'm looking forward to the snow," I agree. "And snowboarding season."
"Oh dude," Lars nods, finishing the rest of his iced coffee before tossing it in a trashcan as we stroll towards the library for some studying before I have practice and he has his next class. "Same, I'm thinking I'm gonna get the Icon pass. What about you?"
"Probably the same," I reply. "We should check with everyone else though and make sure we get the same passes, that way we can go on another ski trip this year."
I think of our trips in the past, which had become a bit of a tradition ever since we went and stayed in Vail together our freshmen year. Tristan's parents share a condo up there with their extended family, so we always have a place to stay if it's not already spoken for by his younger cousins.
"Good idea," he nods as we open the door to Norlin Library and head inside. We're just passing through the double doors into the quiet study area when I hear hurried footsteps, glancing to my right where I see a flash of blonde hair.
I realize it's Jourdan just as she passes us, large sunglasses over her eyes as she rushes down the stairs in the entry way and steps quickly to the entrance. She clearly doesn't see us, seeming to be distracted and in a hurry, so I barely have time to wave to her before she's out the doors. I shake my head, stopping mid-hand raise as we keep walking into the study area.
"What was that?" Lars asks, voice lowered and I shrug.
"Just saw Jourdan," I tell him. "But she didn't see us, seemed like she had somewhere to be."
"Oh," he nods, and then we both spot an empty table, which he points to as we walk towards it. I set my backpack down then, pulling out my laptop and notebook before getting to work on the homework we were just assigned in my economics class. Lars does the same, both of us knowing that with everyone else around us either studying, reading, or in the case of the obvious frat dude a couple seats from us, taking a well-deserved nap, we had to keep quiet and not chat.
I skim my notes then, pulling up the online workbook we fill out for the class and work for the next twenty minutes without interruption. My mind wanders a bit, unable to help thinking about Jourdan and then wondering where she'd been rushing off to. She'd been on my mind a lot recently, and this along with that feeling I still get in my chest whenever she's around is confusing me.
