Eleanor
Eleanor stared out the car window. She watched the view as her uncle drove. Eleanor shuffled her hands and tapped her foot to a steady beat. Tap. Tap. Tap. She kept straightening out her clothes as if they weren't already straight. She was so anxious and...excited. She was anxiously excited.
Eleanor decided that she was going to go to college and it just so happened she found one. Luckily, there were still spots available. Eleanor planned on studying English. It was her best subject in high-school and she liked to read and write. Eleanor wondered what college would be like. Professors, parties, people, and ...Park, she thought.
"You good?" her uncle asked.
"Yes," she said suddenly. She said it out loud as if someone had woken her up with a bucket of cold water. Her uncle probably thought she had to go to the bathroom because now her legs were shaking. Nice.
Park
He made a right turn. He was almost there. Soon, Park would start learning about legal writing, property contracts, and civil procedures. Call it whatever you want, he was going to study law. Soon, he was going to have his own place - his parents had gotten him apartment just across the college. Soon, he was going to see Eleanor.
Eleanor and Park spent months writing. Heck, they even talked on the phone! Eleanor decided that she would go to college. Eventually, they both applied to the same college in Omaha. At first, Park didn't want to go, but Eleanor wanted him to; so he did. Because apparently, he was compelled to do whatever Eleanor asked of him, like he was hypnotized by her oh-so pretty eyes and her fire-red hair. Because whenever Park made her happy, she smiled. And whenever Park made her smile, it felt better than anything she could ever ask of him.
. . .
Park pushed his key in the lock, turned it, and swung the door open. It was bigger than he'd imagine. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. It was fully furnished and complete. Completely incomplete, until Eleanor got here. He told his parents that Eleanor was going to live with him because there were no rooms left. They weren't too thrilled about the idea but they didn't seem to mind.
He set his things on one of the bedrooms. Park didn't feel like unpacking but he did it anyway. Anything to kill time. Park opened his suitcase, emptied it, and laid his things on his bed. Park found an unfamiliar brown paper bag in between one of his shirts. Huh. He didn't remember putting it there. Heck, Park didn't even know he owned a brown paper bag. He grabbed the bag and opened it. It was from his dad. In it was a box of condoms and a note. Park swallowed hard. Try not to get anybody pregnant, the note read. His dad was unbelievable. He was glad Eleanor wasn't here for this or she would've been out the door.
Eleanor
"Hey, Eleanor?" Her uncle said as he shook her shoulders as an attempt to wake her up.
Eleanor had fallen asleep. She was so tired. For the past two weeks, she's managed to stay awake thanks to caffeine and two and a half hours of sleep. The only bad part about this day was that all the nights leading up to it, were long and filled with tosses and turns. She was so excited for this day. And because whenever she did try to sleep, she dreamt about Park touching her. And that was the worst because she would just wake up realizing what she thought happened, didn't. Eleanor didn't know just how tired she was.
"Eleanor..." Her uncle repeated. This time, he shook her shoulders harder - enough to wake her up.
"Oh!" Eleanor exclaimed as she bolted up, just realizing that she'd fallen asleep.
"We're here," his uncle said.
"Oh, thanks, for driving me," she said.
"Oh, uh, no problem," her uncle said. "Do you need help getting your stuff to your room?"
"I think I'll manage." Eleanor said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "And uh, I mean, thanks...for everything." She quickly got off the car, not waiting for her uncle's response. She grabbed her suitcase from the trunk and waved goodbye.
She didn't tell her uncle that she hadn't gotten a dorm. That instead, she would live with Park in his apartment. Eleanor didn't want to push it. She sat around campus and waited twenty minutes to make sure that her uncle was gone. Then, she started walking.
Park's apartment was just across but it felt like she was walking across the Atlantic. She was excited and it wasn't the kind of excited you feel on Christmas morning. It was like she was hungry for something that she can't eat. Eleanor's mind kept thinking about Park. After five minutes, she hadn't even notice that she was coming up his apartment.
Eleanor tried to knock but she stopped midway. She waited a minute, took a deep breath, and she knocked.
