Finding Finley ✔

2

Monday morning I wake up to the sound of my alarm blaring at six a.m. I had forgotten to turn it off last night, and now here I am, ruining my chance to sleep in on the first official day of spring break. Luckily, Parker went to Fort Lauderdale with a bunch of our friends for the week, so I don't have to worry about him waking up and throwing anything at me or my phone. However, I should probably worry about all the day drinking and girls he will be doing while at the beach. I can't go to the free clinic with him again, I just can't.

I reach for my phone and slide my finger across the screen, silencing the alarm. I see a text from Ellie and open the message to see the image of a chocolate cake covered in ice cream and chocolate syrup. The message she sent with the picture read: Sucks that you're not here and I can't steal this from you. I had to pay for it myself. :(

For the past two years, I have not been able to eat a meal in peace around Ellie, especially dessert. I have no idea why she does it or when it really started, but she is always stealing food from me. She thinks it's funny, and so does everyone else, but to me it's a form of abuse.

You should make a habit of buying your own desserts. I send back before sitting my phone back on the table and pulling the blankets over my head so that I can get a few more ours of sleep.

I'm still half awake thirty minutes later when someone starts pounding their fists on my door. "What the hell?" I mumble to myself as I reach out from under the blankets to check the time on my phone. Most of the people that live in the dorms have either gone home for break or went on vacation like Parker, so I have no idea who could be at my door. I grab a pair of my shorts off the floor and put them on before picking up a shirt from my desk and doing the same. Groggily, I go to answer the door, pulling it open and coming face to face with the angry stranger on the other side.

The stranger turns out to be a girl in flannel pajama shorts and a Pink Floyd t shirt, her fist in the air mid knock, "Whoa, don't hit me."

Her expression doesn't change as she lowers her hand and stares at me as if I'm the one that was just banging on her door for the past five minutes, "Are you Parker?"

I run a hand through my hair and squint at the bright lights in the hall, "Ew, no. I'm Finn. Who are you?"

Completely ignoring my question, she looks past me and into my dorm, "Is Bethany here?"

"Who's Bethany? Who are you?" She crosses her arms over her chest as she seems to get even more annoyed. She's tiny, and I don't just mean she's short, every bit of her is petite and slender. If Ellie were here, she would tell this girl that her cheekbones are to die for. Although she is small, it's obvious that her attitude is large - so large that I'm a little afraid of the her glaring brown eyes, though I'm also a little intrigued by the flecks of green mixed in with the dark brown.

Instead of telling me her name or telling me who Bethany is, she lets out a huff and turns on her heel, stomping down the hall towards the elevators. Her brown hair sways back and forth with the momentum of her aggravated stomping and though she's a little rude and seems a slight bit crazy, I can't help but think she's cute.

"It was nice meeting you too!" I call after her.

She stops before turning the corner that leads to the elevators and slowly turns to me. I stand in the doorway and wait for her to say something but she doesn't. Instead she raises her hand as if she's about to wave, and she does, but it's a one finger wave. I laugh loud enough to get what I think is a small smile from her before she's out of sight.

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Five hours later, after I finally got a couple more hours of sleep and a hot shower, I pull my jeep into the employee parking section at the mall. Kit kept our Dodge Charger after graduation and I used my graduation money to buy a used Jeep Wrangler. I probably could have bought something that was easier on gas, or that didn't cost $2,000 additional dollars for repairs, but I really wanted this jeep.