College, Girl ? COMPLETE

CHAPTER TEN: The Christmas Present

It was the last day of finals and most of the students had cleared the campus for Christmas break. The campus had that eerie, empty feeling. Andrea sat in her corner of the library on the third floor at a table right near a window overlooking the Quad. It was a dark grey winter's day which mirrored her overall mood. She was massaging her temples trying to study for her Weather final. Why she took Weather was beyond her comprehension, but she was close to getting a D and had to ace this final. This class could ruin her grade point average. 

Knowing that, she could take an incomplete for the class and make it up really didn't bring her that much relief. Then she'd be forced to take more hours another semester only increasing her work load. Her life was busy enough between work, school and her sorority commitments she had little time for much else. Or at least that is what she kept telling Nick. They had become inseparable since that night, but no one believed they were just friends. He only tried to kiss her once and when she rebuffed him, he never tried again.

"Hey, there you are," Nick said as he was standing over her with a package that he kept shifting back and forth in his hands nervously.

"Just trying to cram for my weather final. It's in two hours. I'm kinda freaking out," she told him as she took her ponytail out of her scrunchie. She started to shake her hair loose with her hands.

"Oh, then I won't keep you. I'm heading home. I have a flight to catch later this afternoon out of O'hare, but I wanted to give you this before I left," he said as he placed the package in front of her.

"Nick, you shouldn't have, I didn't get you anything," she said to him with a bit of guilt in her voice

"Don't worry about that. I found these and I knew you'd love them. Just open it," he ordered her.

She ripped open the wrapping paper to discover hard cover copies of all of Jane Austen's books. Not only were they hard covers, but they looked to be collectors editions.

"Nick," she coughed trying to chock back her tears, "This has to be the most thoughtful gift I have ever received. Thank you."

"It was nothing. Those paperbacks you have are falling apart. I thought you'd like these replacement copies. That's all."

"No truly, I am speechless. Thank you," she said as she got up to hug him.

"Okay, I got motor or I'll miss my flight to London and that'll piss off my mother beyond belief." He said trying to sound causal.

"These books look like collector's editions. Where did you find them?"

"My Dad works with a book dealer. He collects first editions. These aren't first editions, but they are pretty special limited editions printed in the nineteen fifties. I just thought the covers were cool."

"I just, can't believe, well, thank you again," she said as she eyed the pink leather covers. The edge of each page was lined with gold. There were illustrations in the book that looked as though they were done in the nineteen hundreds.

"You'll ace your final. I just know it. You take care of yourself and have a nice Christmas," he said as he rubbed her arm.

"Yeah, well, you don't want to miss your flight. Merry Christmas," she said. He gave her a quick hug and then turned and walked down the stairs. Through the window, she watched him walk out of the door of the library. Something inside her cracked and before she even realized it she started to chase after him. By the time she caught up to him, they were standing in the middle of the Quad. It had started to snow very lightly. They made two startling figures standing under the grey sky.

"Nick, wait," she called after him breathlessly. He slowly turned around and looked at her with a confused expression. She stood there with her hands on her thighs trying to catch her breath.

"Andrea, what's wrong?" He asked his voice filling with concern.

"Nothing is wrong, nothing at all," she responded as she grabbed him and planted a hard kiss on his lips. At first, he kissed her gently, and then he held onto her and pressed his body tightly into hers. He wouldn't let go of her, until finally she said, "Nick what about your flight?"

He responded breathlessly as he kissed her ear lobe, "Fuck my flight."

She looked up at him and said, "I think I love you."

He broke out into a large smile showcasing his dimples, as threw his head back and started laughing, "Andy, you are the one girl that I will never figure out."

He held her face in his hands as he said, "I know I love you." He then took her hand and walked her back to the library.