Roommates | Daniel Seavey

twenty three

Thursday | 11:24 a.m.

Renée's P. O. V.

My 8am class just ended and I was walking out of the classroom. Zach and I have a class at the same time in the same building every Thursday. We usually go and get either a late breakfast or an early lunch afterwards.

Neither of us were worried about what happened Sunday night. I realized that I was caught up in the moment, and it wasn't worth it to go back to Zach. He repeatedly apologized Monday, but I told him it was nothing and we shouldn't worry about it. So there was no awkwardness as we walked to a cute bakery a couple blocks from the campus.

"You ready for finals?" He asked. I groaned.

"No. I just want this to be over so Daniel and I can leave."

"Oh right. You never told me where y'all are going," he said.

"Oh. It's a little complicated, let's wait 'till we're sitting down," I said.

"Okay. I talked to my mom and Reese and they're both super excited for me to come down for an extra week."

"Your family seems nice."

"Yeah, they're great. They really wanna meet you."

"You've talked about me?"

"Yeah, but not a ton." We laughed.

"Are you staying with them for New Years?"

"No, I figured the three of us would go to Daniel's parents, or stay in our studio and have our own little party."

"That's what I was thinking, too."

We walked into the bakery and ordered muffins and bagels. We went to a booth and sat across from each other.

"So, you and Daniel have told me all about your families, but I've never spoken about mine. And mostly because there's not much to tell. My mom left me when I was two," I spoke softly.

"This made my dad upset and he became an alcoholic. He hit me maybe once or twice, but it was mostly verbal or emotional abuse. Especially when his friends would come over and they'd say vulgar things." Zach reached across the table and held my hand. I absentmindedly smiled.

"It still hurts to think about, but I haven't talked to my dad since a few weeks before I left. I stayed with Haleigh the last week before I left. But yeah, my life hasn't been the best."

"I'm so sorry Renée," he said caressing my hand with his thumb.

"Thank you." It was silent for a moment, just him rubbing my hand.

"So what's this roadtrip?"

"You probably haven't heard of her, but my mom's a famous author, Michelle Baker. She's having a reading of her newest book in Boston, so Daniel and I are flying there so I can meet her. Daniel says I deserve to meet her and ask her all the questions I have."

"You do. That's great Renée."

"I'm just anxious. What if she doesn't wanna see me? Or doesn't even recognize me?"