Many Mistakes, No Regrets

Chapter 30: No Hope, No Love, No Glory, No Happy Ending

Chapter 30: No Hope, No Love, No Glory, No Happy Ending

Rikki’s POV

            “Rikki, are you okay?” Looking up, I see my roommate, Kerri, standing next to me.

            “Uh, yeah. I’m just trying to focus.” Trying, but failing. Tomorrow is Halloween and Jake and everyone else is coming up to visit. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen any of them in person since I came here. And I don’t know what they’ll say. I’ve changed things up a little. I’m not exactly a partier so I study and then get bored out of my mind. And let me say, boredom and I do not get along.

            “Anyway, see you Monday.”

            Uh? What just happened? And now my pocket is vibrating.

            “Hello?” I really don’t have time for this. I need to finish this stupid paper before Jake-

            “Hey there.” I don’t even need to see his face to know he’s smirking at my annoyed tone.

            “Hi, Jake.” Alright, I guess I do have time for this.

            “You should go outside and look at the moon.”

            “What?”

            “Please. Trust me.” Slowly, I rise from the desk and look out the window at the moon. “No, don’t go to the window. Go outside.”

            “How did you know I went to the window?”

            “I know you. I’m sure I interrupted you writing some paper but this won’t take long.”

            “Jake, just tell me what is going on.”

            “Not until you are outside.” I open the door and enter the quiet hallway. Everyone is over at some party, like every other Friday night. But outside there are noises. The double doors refuse to budge for a minute but finally give in to me and swing open. As I step into the crisp night, I regret not grabbing my sweatshirt. How stupid can I be? It was right on the back of my chair.

            “Surprise!” Four people jump on to me. And one plants a kiss on my forehead.

            “What are you guys doing here?”

            “Surprising you of course!” Liz pulls me away from the others and into another hug. Quietly, she says “And a certain someone couldn’t stop talking about you.”

            Before the others could rejoin us, I responded sarcastically “I wonder who that could be.”

            “Sorry, but I think Rikki has somewhere else to be right now.” Jake pulls me out of her arms and into his.

            “And where could that be?” I say as I spin in his arms so I’m facing him.

            “Right. Here.” His head lowered until his lips touched mine.

            “Alright, I think we are going to go now.” Vaguely, I see the others walking away from us.

            We continue to stand in the same spot and he picks my feet off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist. A gust of wind comes and causes me to shiver even with Jake’s body warming me up. “Come on, let’s get inside before you freeze.”

            When he stops to open the door, I drop to the ground and pull out my key. “Why did you guys come down today?”

            “They had heard about some party and wanted to go to it and I wanted some more time with you.” he reaches out and taps his finger on my nose. He sits on my bed while I sit down at my desk and look at the beginnings of my paper. I really should work on it. But… “Write your paper. I don’t mind.”