I had planned a day to go back to my old college so I can hang out with my old college friends. I left back in March due to a personal matter. Turns out, this personal matter would be brought back up not once, not twice, but five times during the six hours I was there. Let's start the day.
I had school earlier that day starting at 8 am. My first class was canceled due to all History professors having to do something that week, and since I am a history major, that is all but two of my classes. So, that made my day actually start at 9:25 am. Well, I got to campus at 8:30, for I am one of those students who want to be punctual for EVERYTHING. I also drive to school, so I have to be early just in case. I was sitting in the parking lot, planning on what I had to do for the day because I had to spend another 2 and a half hours driving north after class is over when I get an email from my professor that my economics class was canceled due to the storms. I am sitting probably 30 feet from her office and could storm right inside to scream at her because we hadn't had the class for half of the semester and I am failing because I am an on-site learner. But I don't, because this means I have an extra two hours to get to Jackson and take a nap there.
I text my friend John telling him I am heading up there earlier than expected, and that I will be there around 11:30 am. So, I head off to my old campus, making it there right when I said I would. John SKIPS his only class of the day to hang out with me for two hours, while all I wanted was a nap before picking up my friend Ana for lunch. We hang out in the commons for a bit after getting coffee. You see, John is the guy that I have been chatting with for almost a year now and I really want to be on his good side, aka a relationship with him. So, I set up today as a try out date day. Well, that never happened. Let me continue as to why in a second. We hung out, helping each other on homework, even if we both didn't know what we were doing when Ana finally comes out of her class at 1:15. I hug the life out of Ana and say bye to John as we head out to eat.
You see, only a few people know that I left college. John knows because he helped me move out of my dorm. He was mad that I was leaving, and when I told him the reason why, he offered to break the guy's nose for me. Ana was one of the people who knew I left but didn't know why. So, this is when the story actually starts with the personal matter. We get to our destination for lunch, and we talk about what we missed. She got a new boyfriend, we are both failing classes, new jobs, etc. etc. She then asked how my ex and I was doing. Turns out, even with the essay I posted on Facebook the week after finals in May, not many people read it to find out why I left college two months before, in March. Like I said, Ana knew, but only because I saw her on the way out of the dorms as I was heading off from campus for the last time that semester.
I told her a condensed version of what had happened, and she said that she saw red and told me her story about being locked in a car forcefully by him because he wanted a kiss from her. It was from April, about two weeks after I left. I was astounded. I felt guilty because I could have stopped this earlier in the semester by telling people instead of running away. I told her that I was sorry and she said it wasn't my fault that he was a douche. But, what struck me was that she had to ask. I asked her why she asked about him and me, and she told me this: he hadn't been at the campus. I asked her if she had seen him, and she said no. Maybe he was just a shut-in since he is that type. We continued with the meal, I'm thinking in my mind that I thought I knew that he was here. This began the return of my anxiety.
We got back to campus and I was starting to look all around just to see him in the travelling crowd of students. I wanted to prove that he was here. Ana had to pull me away just to meet her roommate and to get her school bag so we can study in the commons and talk to some of our other friends who hadn't seen me. We got stopped in the lobby by Maggie. She was a friend of mine from my psychology classes when I was a psych major (I am now a psychology minor). She didn't know that I left, and the last thing she knew was that I was trying to be in a relationship with my now ex. She came up to me as I was waiting on Ana and hugged me, asked me how I was doing, where I was, and how was my semester. I told her honestly, and then she asked the question. "How are you and X?"
