Precaution

Chapter 22

I rushed out of the shower, and got dressed. I didn't want to make them late, so I rushed myself. Make-up in a hurry is a skill you master when dealing with Nyla and being in College. Fully dressed and ready to walk out the door, I received a text from Nyla asking if I was ready. I touched my bare shoulders, and remembered that my lost sweater was the piece de resistance of my outfit. In that moment, I knew that I was definitely going to be late.

"No, give me a few minutes." I texted Nyla.

"Yeah sure." She replied.

I tore my room upside down looking for the black sweater. I was going to make them late to the party, I began to like those now, the music they played here, the new people, just the epiphanic idea of fun for just a night. I looked under, over and in between creases in my room and the sweater was no where to be found. In the corner of my room, I saw the unpacked box and looked through it. The sweater wasn't there, but something else was. I picked it, astonished and sat on my bed.

   It had been two years since high school. Two years since I've been raped, and I have been two years strong, and two years fine. It was nice, being in an ivy league school, with a scholarship, just chasing the stars that are your dreams. Brown brought great relationships, and reparations. It brought more knowledge and insight, and happiness. But though I was two years different, I still could remember Landon and I's conversation on graduation day.

"We're leaving in five minutes." Carmen said.

"Okay, I'll be there." I smirked.

"I take it you told them." He smirked.

"No, I wouldn't do that to you, they're just good at assuming." I laughed.

"Yeah." He agreed awkwardly.

"So, where to?" He asked.

"Uhm, lunch?" I said unsure of his question.

"I mean in your new chapter, you nut." He chuckled.

"Oh, uh Brown University."

"Wow, you got in, that's great!"

"Yeah a few days ago. Hopefully my S.A.T scores are better this year, so I can apply for a scholarship."

"Yeah." Things went awkward again.

"So, what's next for you?" I asked him.

"Erm . . . I think I'll spend a year or two working, to help Ma with the bills and . . . maybe go to community college or something."

"What are you going to study?" I asked.

". . . . Art." He simply said, as if ashamed.

"You will make a great artist! " I smiled at him, looking up at the painting on my dorm wall.

"What are you going to study?"

"Literature, English . . . I want to be a writer." I told him.

"You'll make a superb one." He smirked.

" You're making some great decisions."

I was proud of him taking these steps, or at least saying he would.

"Well, I've learnt that life isn't all fun and games."

"And, I've learnt that life is worthless if you don't live it."

"Pointless." He corrected me jokingly.

We laughed together for no reason.

"I'm gonna miss you." He smiled.

"I'm gonna miss you too." I entered his warm embrace.

"I love you." I whispered in a gulp.

"I love you always." He said as his words muffled in my hair.

"See you later." He smiled.

"See ya later." I reciprocated going to the car.

As I clutched my beloved plush toy, my mind took me back. All the way back to every kiss, every thrust, every word, every place we had been, everything we had seen. I felt all of the emotions from anger to pain and hatred to love. The day he saved me, the days he taunted me, the time I actually got to know him, our official and unofficial dates, our highs and lows, our first time, my forceful second time, our first kiss, first I love you's, Our last kiss, the day he scowled me in class, and our goodbye. I remembered it all, and I never wanted to forget, nor was I going to. Life had been good to me, and allowed me to have and keep all I need. I let a tear fall from my face as my phone blew up and I flipped to the first page.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us," I read aloud, remembering how I went in to borrow a book, and watched him leave.

My dorm room door flew open, "You ready, we'll be late." They said. I wiped the tears on my face, resting the book down and grabbed my sweater sitting right on my pillow.

"Yeah, let's go!" I smiled getting up to meet them.