College Girl

Chapter 28

Trey
I avoid Krissy the rest of the night by sitting my butt down on a chair in the corner of the living room. People come up to me and make small talk, but that's really it. I'm usually lively during this party, but I feel dead.

My mom came to lecture me about my demeanor, but I just nodded my head and blocked her out. I have so much shxt on my mind right now that I can't focus.

My pops looks at me from time to time with the "We need to talk later" look. I check my phone often, and I'm so tempted to text Liberty every time. I should text her "Merry Christmas." A harmless "Merry Christmas."

I find my finger tapping her name and typing the overused phrase, "Merry Christmas." Should I add emojis? That would be too much. Maybe just a Santa Claus. I swipe through the emojis until I finally find Santa. Okay. This is it. I tap the send button then quickly put my phone into my pocket.

She probably won't answer. It's about 11:45. She should still be awake. If I keep thinking about it, I'll stress myself out even more.

I notice how the party died down. There's only a couple of people left in the house. Krissy is gone. I don't know when she left, and I don't really care.

I watch my mom and pops slow dance in the middle of the living room to an old school Christmas love song. I smile as I watch my mom lay her head on my dad's chest.

I hope to have that one day. A wife, kids. Happiness and love.

Once the last guest leaves, it's 12:20am. As Christmas tradition, everyone gets to open one gift before dawn breaks. Forrest gets to go first because he's the youngest. He opens one of the gifts I got him which is the latest AMadden 2K15.

"Thank you, bro." He says while we give each other a brotherly hug.

"No problem. Just helping you add to your collection." I reply.

"Your turn, Trey." Rachel says.

I walk around the Christmas tree until I find a box that looks just about right. Not too big, but not too small. It's from my dad. Everyone watches me as I open the package. It's the shirt cuff links he wore when he married my mother. They're pretty dope.

"One day when you get married, maybe you can wear them." My father says as I pick up the cuff links to inspect them.

"That's if I get married, but thank you." I say.

Is this some message from my parents to get married? I hug my pops then return to my seats. Once everyone opens their gifts, we all retire to our rooms.

"Tremaine, I'd like to speak to you." My father says calling me back to the living room.

I turn around and return to the living room where my father is sitting in his recliner. Older folks always tell me that I look just like my father when he was my age. He's 55 now but he looks 40. I've seen the photos of him in his youth and we do sorta look alike.

I sit on the couch opposite of him.

"Yeah, pops?" I ask.

"Who's the girl that caused you to be antisocial tonight?" He asks right off the bat.

My father can just smell situations.

"Just a woman I met back in Howard. We messed around, but something happened and she hates me now."

"You said a woman and not a girl. She must be pretty special then. Tell me about her." He says while leaning forward in his chair.

"Well, she's a Christian, very beautiful, goofy, intelligent and, goal-oriented. She's also...one of my students." I say letting the last part come out awkwardly.

My father scrunched his eyebrows and looks at me like I have three heads.

"Are you nuts? How old is she?" He asks.

"She's 21, pops, going on 22 next month. It's not like I set us up." I reason.

"What's her name?" He asks.

"Liberty."

"You loved her, son?" He asks.

I look up from my hands. Is this love that I feel for Liberty?

"Yes, I did, but I never really did anything to show her that I felt that way about her."

He chuckles and shakes his head.

"What?" I ask.

"You remind me of me when I was your age with your mother. We messed around for months before I finally realized how I felt about her. Enough of the childish games, Tremaine."

"We both were playing games for those two months. She lived with me, pops, and we never talked about us."

"I'm gonna act like you didn't say the last sentence, but you need to either find a way to get over her or fix this mess up."

I nod my head.

"It's time to man up, son, and get serious. Life is too short to always play games."

"Yeah. You're right. I'll see if I can contact her tomorrow." I reply.

We both stand up, and my father comes over to pat my back.

"You've made your mother and I so proud. Graduated so early and becoming a college professor." He says for the millionth time as we walk down the hallway to the staircase.

"I wasn't playing games then." I say with a chuckle.
------
Liberty
Jeremiah and I didn't have séx. It's not that he backed out because he was ready to put it in me. I was the one who stopped him. I just couldn't do it.

My body count is already two. I'm not tryna add a third one unless most necessary. Plus it was 11:45 and my parents were gonna be home soon. I had to get Jeremiah out.

We only made out on my bed and he fingered me till I came. He wanted to eat me out, but there was no time. I feel like such a teenager with him. Lol. There's always next time.

Once I get Jeremiah out the door, I check my phone. I have a lot of texts from friends and family wishing me a Merry Christmas. The name that I least expect appears on my phone. Trey.

It's a Merry Christmas from like an hour ago, then a "I miss you. Can we talk?"

My mind is telling me to type "I miss you too. Call me now.", but my fingers do the complete opposite by not responding and shutting the screen. I'm trying to find my happiness in life.
-------------