I need space. Those were the words Jacky said to Ryan the night before they both left for separate colleges. Now, each of them will try to learn who they are without the other. Will their paths lead them back together?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Jacky
"Ugh, I can't eat any more pizza," Jacky sighed, looking at the cafeteria selections.
"Really?" Braedyn asked, taking a greasy slice and plopping it onto his plate. "I never get sick of pizza."
Jacky shook his head. The cafeteria had many options, and he felt sick of them all. "I don't know what I want."
Unhelpfully, Braedyn rattled off everything in front of them. "Tacos? Chinese food? Salad? A bagel?"
"I guess I'll have tacos again." But he didn't move.
It was weird to be here without Billy, who had said he'd meet them fifteen minutes ago. Every topic of conversation Jacky could think of to have with Braedyn felt impersonal and intensely awkward.
"You don't have to eat if you're not hungry," Braedyn said, sliding down and taking French fries, chicken tenders, and after careful consideration, sliced cucumbers from the salad bar.
With Braedyn gone, Jacky took in all his options and eventually decided on the salad bar. Once his plate was heaped high with lettuce, veggies, feta cheese, chicken, and doused with dressing, he made his way over to where Braedyn was sitting. He'd barely sat down when Liliana ran up to the table.
"GUYS! You'll never guess what's happening this weekend!"
Jacky and Braedyn looked at each other. Neither kept up with campus events and happenings. Jacky supposed that, if he had, he might have made more friends than his roommate and a few people who lived in his hall.
"A football game?" Braedyn asked.
Deciding to join in, Jacky asked, "A frat party?"
"A student protest?"
"A fundraiser?"
Liliana's head bopped back and forth through their suggestions like she thought they might actually guess. But they had very quickly run out of steam, and after a moment of silence, Liliana's eyes grew wide and her smile wider. "They're having an ice skating night at the hockey rink! We're going ice skating!"
Instinctively, Jacky grimaced.
"What, you don't like ice skating?" Liliana nudged him over into the seat beside where he was sitting so she could sit down.
Jacky stabbed at his salad, already regretting his choice. "A., it's cold, and two, ice hurts when you fall."
"It's not that bad," Braedyn said.
With someone on her side, Liliana's excitement grew. "Yeah, ice skating is fun! I took a class for a while when I was a kid but I got bored when we didn't learn how to do a triple axel."
"Oh, so you're good," Jacky said.
"I'm not that good," Liliana protested.
Billy arrived, along with some guy Jacky vaguely recognized from one of the LGBTQ events. "Did you tell them?" he asked Liliana.
