How To Save A Life

How to Save a Life (41)

Christmas break was too short. Two weeks with Oliver, with the boys, my family, wasn't enough. Going back to school after hit hard for both of us, hurting more than it did the first time. It felt like I was crying, even just a little bit, at least once every night.

~*~

January passed. I talked to Oliver every night. They were in Korea, and one of us always fell asleep in the middle of our conversations. It wasn't fun.

~*~

February was hard. I was close now with Tanner, America, and Drake, but as hard as they tried, they weren't Oliver and they weren't AJ. They were good friends, but they weren't what I needed.

~*~

March sucked. Courtney and Jayden broke up, if it was really a relationship in the first place. They didn't talk very much before. Maybe they were better as friends.

~*~

April passed. Nothing important happened.

~*~

May. Finals were starting, and I found myself skipping out on conversations with Oliver to study. I hated that.

~*~

June.

"Courtney?" I called, covering the circles under my eyes with concealer. Studying was, quite literally, exhausting me. I was staying up late to study, and last night I was with Tanner, trying to teach him biology in a late-night cram session. At the moment, he was passed out on my living room floor, oblivious to the woken world around him.

"What?" she called back as I brushed my hair then headed out of my bedroom. I walked towards the kitchen, dodging Tanner's sleeping body, where she was perched on the counter. "Have you seen my blue notebook?" I asked. She yawned, brushing her newly cut bangs back from her tired blue eyes. She pointed at Tanner, and I saw that he was cuddling it like a teddy bear. I rolled my eyes, walking to him and crouching down.

"Tan, I need that," I told him when he clinched on tighter as I tried to pull it out of his tattooed arms. He didn't let go until I pulled them apart and Courtney grabbed it for me, replacing it with a pillow. He didn't seem to notice, going straight back to hugging it, and my lips twitched into an amused grin as I sat on the counter, opening my study notes.

Our final exam was today. I was absolutely terrified, but since it was one of the easier professors, I thought maybe it might be a bit easier. Hopefully so.

~*~

I was dead wrong. Absolutely and completely wrong. As I, my brain exhausted, trudged up the steps, the sun beating down on the skin my tank top bared, I continued complaining to America and Courtney about how stupid it was. They both agreed vehemently, though they had finished their final exam yesterday. They were both majoring in Criminal Justice, which meant they both had a partner to study with, while I was on my own.

Personally, I thought it was because university hated me.

And the world.

I opened the door exhaustedly and walked straight to the couch, falling onto it face first and not bothering to move. I heard a laugh and then a hand was patting the top of my head. "You're done," Drake comforted. "Done with all of this sh*t."

"So done," I agreed with a groan. "Get me a drink."

He laughed. "I can do that!"

He reappeared a few moments later with a bottle of wine in each hand, America carrying the glasses. I didn't bother to wait, opening the bottle and taking a swig from the neck. Courtney laughed. "Emily is so done with the world," she teased.