Between You & Me

Chapter Eight

“Wakey, wakey!” I awake to a kiss on the lips from Dex, who sits beside me on my bed. I almost forgot he was here, thinking it was all a magnificent dream. And the dream continues! His hair is all over the place, but he still seems to look good in it. I slowly rise, taking the brush off the end table and stroking through the knots and gnarls in my own hair and then brushing out Dex’s, making him laugh.

“I need to go take a shower. You can stay here if you want or go to the guy’s dorm to take a shower.” I suggest.

“Nah. I was gonna head back to the hotel room and get changed,” he confesses.

“All right then,” I smile and hug him. “See you later?”

“Of course,” he kisses my cheek and starts down the stairs with me following.

My showering supplies are placed in the closet, which I take and start toward the girl’s bathroom. A few of the showers are running, leaving only one left. I strip my clothes off and start scrubbing my hair with the shampoo, rinsing the suds out and starting the conditioner.

The whole time I have a gigantic smile taped to my face. Dex is here! Dex is here! I have the urge to do a little happy dance at the thought of him being here.

My still damp hair falls down my back, soaking my T-shirt through, but I don’t really care. Looking at myself in the mirror, I realize that today is the start of Christmas break, meaning two weeks of carefree mayhem on campus. Mostly everyone will be out on vacation and visiting his or her family, or maybe working on a photo shoot or filming some scene in Brazil. I really don’t know. But I’m one of the few people hanging back. Ash promised me he’d still be here, since I wanted at least one of my friends to stay. Dakota is off to her parents for break, coming back the day before classes start up again.

Waiting out in the lobby for me is Ash. His Eastwind jacket covers his upper body, along with a winter hat and snow boots. “It looks like you’re going skiing today,” I comment.

“Snowboarding, actually,” he corrects me.

“Really? Can I come?” I ask hopefully.

“You don’t have a snowboard,” he laughs.

“I can get one. I still have Philip’s money to spend,” I point out.

“What about Dex? I thought he was here,” he points out.

“I can always text him to meet up later,” I reassure him.

“Then shall we?” He holds up his arm for me, and I laugh, accepting.

A car is already waiting in the parking lot with Ash’s snowboarding gear in the back seat. He takes the driver’s seat, and I plop down in the passenger’s side. To be honest, I totally forgot about snowboarding, otherwise I would have brought my snowboard. Our family used to take trips to Colorado when I was little, but that all stopped when I realized Philip doesn’t snowboard or ski. All the fun activities our family did seemed to die off after mom met him. Stupid Philip.

“Brad and Mason are meeting us there,” he tells me.

“Really? I thought you didn’t like Mason,” I confess.

“It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s just that…” he trails off, and I figure it’s just because he hates the Cubs.

“Whatever,” I roll my eyes and look out the window.

“Don’t you need a jacket?” He asks me.

“I should, but I shouldn’t. I forgot to bring my snowboarding jacket so this is all I have,” I motion to the rather thin jacket with a slippery cover that makes noises when I move. “I’ll be fine.”