Diving Into The Wreck

Holiday

"So what are you doing for winter break?" Joyce asked me one day over lunch. We were both in the dining hall, surrounded by our fellow students, and even though the semester was about to end, I had no idea what I was going to do during the break.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I had a family emergency right after Thanksgiving, so now I don't have enough money to go back to Cleveland and see my family for the holidays."

"Maybe you could come to Miami with me," Joyce suggested. "I'm sure that my family wouldn't mind having you around."

I didn't know how to respond. I thought that it was a little bit too early in the relationship for me to meet her parents, but how was I supposed to tell her that?

"I kind of want to spend some time working at the zoo," I said. "I'm getting paid extra for the whole week after Christmas." That much was true, but it was still a flimsy excuse.

"I understand," Joyce said. "I just want to spend some time together before the new semester starts. I'm taking American Poetry, and I've heard that the professor that I have is a tough grader."

"I'm taking three biology courses, and all of them have labs."

"Why would you do that to yourself?"

"I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. One of them is with Jonas though. He's teaching Aquatic Biology."

"That sounds neat."

"Yeah, I think it's going to be a good class."

"I still think that we should do something before school starts again," Joyce said. "We could spend a day at the beach after finals are over."

I considered Joyce's offer and then said, "I'd like that a lot."

"Great," Joyce said. "We'll go on a holiday together."

"That sounds great. By the way, I'm going to the garage after I'm done eating. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure," Joyce said. I finished the last few bites of my sandwich, and then the two of us walked to the parking lot, hand in hand. When we got into the car, Joyce plugged in her phone and started playing some avant-garde orchestral music that I didn't quite understand. I drove to the zoo, and when we got to the garage, we spent hours in there together, alternating between making out and actually studying for finals.

Near the end of our trip to the zoo, we went into the dolphin exhibit to visit McCoy, Spock, and Kirk. As soon as we walked in, McCoy chirped cheerfully, as if she was greeting the two of us.

"Hey McCoy," I responded. "How are you doing today?"

She chirped again, and Joyce went into the supply closet to grab a beach ball. The three of us tossed the ball around for a while, and eventually, Kirk joined in. Joyce and I both had smiles on our faces, but the dolphins soon became worn out. I tossed each of them a fish, and then Joyce and I headed out of the zoo.

Once we were back in the car, Joyce said, "Campus Safety finally got back to me about that creepy stalker."

"What did they say?" I asked.

"Apparently he isn't a student here," Joyce said. "He looked like he was our age, or maybe a little bit older, but he doesn't go to Egmont, so there's not a lot that Campus Safety can do."

"They have to do something, right?" I said.

"I don't know," Joyce said. "I don't feel like they're taking me seriously. It's like they don't believe me."

"I believe you," I said.

"Thanks, Dani," Joyce said. "I just wish that Campus Safety would help me. I haven't seen the guy with the shutter shades since then, but he seriously creeped me out."