The Many Loves of Samantha Greene

18 | Andrew: Part Three

I had never experienced this before.

A relationship that was going so incredibly well, but was also moving at the pace of a snail.

I had been happily dating Andrew for a month. But we were just that...dating. We had no title, we had never had a real kiss. We were just two kids going out together every weekend.

I also didn't think I even knew Andrew's last name yet.

It was the beginning of October, the leaves were falling, and colors were everywhere. I had always had a particular love for fall, and not just because my birthday happened to be October 23rd. The beautiful colors everywhere, the people who always seemed to be loving life. The style choices became much better, and boots were finally socially acceptable to wear, despite the heat still being prevalent.

It was just a time for new beginnings.

Our new beginning had been a month ago, but it still felt like we had barely gotten anywhere in that time.

I was desperately hoping for something to happen, and had tried to emphasize that to Jess whenever we spoke, hoping against hope that she would pass the message along to her own boyfriend, who would then pass it along to mine.

On this particular Saturday morning I was lying in my bed, eyes closed against the harsh sunlight streaming in through my window. I had stayed up late the night before working on a research essay, as I had forgotten that it was in fact Friday and my essay wasn't due until Monday.

When I had finally gotten around to climbing into bed at 2:00 in the morning, I had been kept awake for another hour by the fighting going on just outside my room: my parents were arguing about one of my father's tour dates falling through due to my mother forgetting to double-check on the arena's booking. They had to refund thousands of tickets and my mother was receiving angry phone calls left and right from high-profile names who were set on advertising at the event.

So being woken up at 8:00 on a Saturday morning by the front door slamming had been the cherry on top of what was sure to be a terrible weekend.

I rolled out of bed after trying and failing to fall asleep and practically crawled downstairs to eat breakfast. I stumbled into the dimly lit kitchen to find my entire family sitting around the table, including both of my older siblings. They were whispering angrily, but stopped once they noticed my presence in the room.

"Good morning, Sam!" My brother jumped up from his chair and gave me a hug. "Long time no see!"

"Hey Jar." I grinned. I hardly ever saw my brother, since he was attending college in California and didn't come back to visit very often. "What's everyone doing here?"

"We're just discussing some options for your siblings' living arrangements this year." My mother replied. I looked over at the rest of the table and two things immediately caught my eye:

1. My parents were sitting on opposite ends of the table.

2. Vera was sporting a very understated but very visible black eye.

"What happened?" I asked Vera, unwittingly ignoring my mother's answer.

Vera shrugged.

"Nothing. I've just been a bit clumsy lately."

"That doesn't seem--"

"Drop it, Samantha." My father ordered, standing up from the counter to refill his coffee. "We're not discussing this. Get your breakfast."

I nodded silently and poured myself some coffee before going back up to my room, sensing that I was not wanted in the kitchen. I checked my phone once I got back in there, and noticed a missed call from Andrew.