Crowds and crowds of unfamiliar faces until I spot only two that I know. My roommate and an additional friend that I met on the tour back in the summer. Clearly the stature of freshmen; smaller and innocent-looking unlike the rest of them. The only time that we would all be together as a class until our graduation was the induction ceremony. A welcoming ceremony, if you will, of the incoming freshmen class.
"Welcome, freshmen, to Williams College," the president announced as a dismissal for all of us dressed finely, to disperse and become college students.
The same college that I fell in love with and saw myself going to. I took it all in, I got accepted and I admitted to the college of my dreams. When December approached I was beginning to understand a little bit more about the beauty of Massachusetts. It had pretty colleges especially in the snow. On days that I had classes, I bundled up and walked 5-10 minutes from dorm to class and back to dorm. Despite how freezing I became on those travels, hot coffee and the warm heater in my dorm made up for it.
My first semester went better than I expected. Some classes like those stupid pre-reqs that I had no comprehension of were... tolerable but most of my classes I actually liked. I wondered whether or not I liked them specifically because they were more centered around the career path I was interested in. Ever since I was little I wanted to be a teacher and once I became more involved in school, I understood that I wanted to be an English teacher. English was one of my favorite topics and on top of that I loved writing. College was my stepping stone towards becoming both a teacher and writer.
When I received my first semester classes filled mostly with English and Comprehension classes on top of my teaching class and creative writing class the only things I struggled with were math and science which, clearly I would have problems with since I haven't understood those classes since they were first taught in elementary school.
After my first finals week of college, my new friends - mainly the girls that lived on my floor - and I all headed out to celebrate a hard stress-filled week consisting of studying for finals that we had no clue how we might be able to pass. Luckily we did. Some of us, just barely, but we did it. On our low budgets as broke college students we tried celebrating at a nearby restaurant in the smalltown of Williamstown.
"OMG that is such a cute dress! Where did you get it?" I heard Taylor, my roommate, tell one of the other girls behind me.
Taylor was shorter than me with long black straight hair that flowed past her shoulders. Her pale skin made certain color aesthetics she wore look flawless on her. She always had the most stunning outfits on in comparison to me. Slowly but surely she was turning me into a fashionista. Like me she was an English major for education but she wanted to teach literature while I was more fond of language and comprehension because of my desire to write. We still got along really well.
I wore some of the nicest clothes that I brought with me from home which included a nice pair of flair jeans and a sweater. Thanks to my parents they got me a nice winter jacket to keep me warm even though I despised jackets because of my love of the warmth.
As we walked through the campus, the girls spotted a group of guys that they were desperate to walk past since well sometimes we craved that attention from them. We laughed and giggled as we approached them as they watched all us, hopefully pretty in their eyes, girls. I recognized one of them as a guy in my English class that I met. I only knew it was him because of the little wave and smile he offered when we passed by. In the class, Hudson was really smart, smarter than me, especially about textual evidence and meanings of the work as a whole. There were plenty of times where he corrected my egotistical mindset thinking I knew everything - he proved me wrong.
He was the type of guy that had tanned skin and always wore tight t-shirts everywhere he went. One of his arms was covered in tattoos so he presented himself as a tough guy with a big ego except he was a big teddy bear. How he managed to befriend me out of all the other girls there had been in the freshman class despite him being a sophomore, it beats me. But we only really talk to each other in class which doesn't say much.
My mistake was when I looked back at the boys. I was in the middle of the small group and still managed to weave my eye contact around them to see someone else.
I couldn't breathe. It was him. I spotted him. He spotted me. And just like that, the world completely shifted beneath my feet. I never felt an earthquake before but I had a strong, strong feeling that this is what it felt like. Tornado, I felt the rumble of the earth when a tornado approached because there was one in Tornado Alley only a few miles away from us and the wind rocked the earth. But this was so much more intense. I wish I knew what to compare the feeling to. I knew how deadly an earthquake could be, and I wish I felt one so I could describe how the earth completely shook when I saw him.
It froze. Then it shook. Like a crack was about to fall underneath my feet. I saw him and then he approached. Closer and closer. He came and pushed through his friends to meet me on the same level, the same trembling ground that I was standing on because of him. He stood right in front of me and without thinking he embraced me. It was the type of embrace that showed how much he missed me. Like he needed that hug. Like it was going to be the last hug he would receive on Earth. It was so tight and desperate and I hugged him back with the same amount of passion. I needed that hug. I felt like it was going to be the last hug I would receive on Earth. I hugged him so tight and desperate.
We didn't say anything except for the millions of words that were spoken through that hug. When he pulled away to look at my wide eyes and matching mouth, I was in complete shock and I had no idea what I was going to do. There were thousands of questions that I wanted to ask him but not a single phrase could be conducted in my head. I just wanted him. I just needed him.
He looked at me with glassy eyes that were surrounded by puffiness and a red nose. Just like when Larissa broke up with him but different, worse even.
"W-w-what are you doing here? D-do you go to school here?" I finally managed to inquire.
All he does is nod his head in response until he admits, "I didn't know you were here. I wouldn't want to see you sooner. I missed you, Del."
"I missed you too."
After a second of awkwardness my friends are ushering me to leave so he points out that I should go. I leave but look back so many times just to keep looking at him in his presence, the one that made me go crazy.
My intrusive friends in the rest of the walk to the restaurant were trying to make me break and confess everything that happened between him and I from our past. They wanted to know our story and everything that I felt for him. I wasn't going to tell them about the way he makes me feel or my obsession with his smile. Or his eyes. Man, I love his eyes. I wasn't going to tell them about the way our conversations seem never ending and so significant while at the same time short and stupid. There was absolutely no way in hell I would tell them any of that. Which is why I kept everything to myself - except I really couldn't help the besotted look or the reddening of my face.
He was back in my life, again. My sweet JD Fischer was back.
YOU ARE READING
Never Set In Stone
Romans**I release on Tuesdays and Thursdays** Best Friends. They're caring. They're exciting. They're supportive. Until they're not. Until they stab you in the back and destroy your life. Until they make all your happiness disappear. How else could the ha...
