Georgia's Last Words

Chapter Three

    “So that’s how you properly greet an old friend?” His grin is smug and sarcastic.

    “Cooper, what are you doing here?” My mouth is agape and eyes wide saucers.

    “Try again Skylar.” He laughs.

    I blink, hoping that this might just be a dream. “Um, hey Cooper, nice to see you,” my voice says the words like a question rather than a friendly greeting.

    “Much better Skylar! Now, give me a hug.” Cooper pushes himself off my bed and into me, giving me a huge bear hug.

    I feel myself fall into his arms and become enveloped in his body. Flashes from our last night together run through my mind. He makes me feel so safe with a single hug.

    I pull away and again ask, “Coop, what are you doing here?”

    He flops down on my bed, watching me. “Aren’t you glad to see me Sky?”

    “Yes, of course. I’m just a bit confused, I thought you were in, what was it, Washington?”

    Rolling his eyes at me, he chuckles. “Try Wyoming and I was supposed to go, but Columbia University had a student drop out last minute and I got off the waiting list. And who wouldn’t want to come spend four years with the greatest girl in the world?” He adds a wink to his comment, just for kicks.

    “Well, that’s nice. At least I somewhat know someone in this huge place.”

    Cooper scrunches his nose, which he does when he’s thinking hard, then solemnly asks, “You up for a walk?”

    I nod. “Haley, I’ll be back sometime, okay?”

    Haley gives me a look, she knows who this boy is and she knows that I was just out with another. “Yeah, be quiet when you come back, I’ll be asleep.”

    “Okay, night Haley.” I close the door behind Cooper and I.

    We walk through the semi quiet halls, past all the dorm room, and out the front wooden doors. The air outside seems chillier than it was half an hour ago. It’s almost eerie in a sense. No one is walking around, it’s dark, and you can’t see the stars here in the city. Suddenly, I’m missing Georgia nights. Though, I thinks it’s Cooper I’ve missed more.

    “So Haley told me you were out on a date. She didn’t know who I was at first, when I finally told her my name she just apologized. I guess you told her about us?”

    I look over to the boy whose arm is around me. His eyes bear down on me, and for a moment I get lost in the fields that resemble the color of his eyes. He looks almost devastated.

    “She doesn’t know anything except that we spent a summer together. You talked about girls and I served you lemonade.” My chest tightens and I feel tears settle in the corner of my eyes.

    “You seem tight with her, why not tell her?” Cooper pulls me a little closer to him.

    I pull away and face him. “Tell her what, Coop? That we spent a night in my bed sleeping with your arm wrapped around me. And when I woke up in the morning you were gone and you left me with a letter confessing that you had feelings for me, but did nothing about them? Seriously, what was there to tell her? We had a night together, and then nothing. I was gone that morning and I never said goodbye and then today you show up.”

    Cooper looks at me and then hangs his head, maybe with shame and guilt. “I’m sorry Sky.”

    “I know, that’s what makes this so hard.”