The Graduation List

17 - A School Day

Anna

I stumble into class the next morning still half asleep, I take a seat before unzipping my bag to grab the necessary things for the lecture ahead. Sierra sits next to me minutes later still out of breath from running, "glad you could make it" she sticks her tongue out at me as she takes out her laptop to start taking notes. I move my gaze back to the professor at the front of the class writing notes as she talks her way through her slide show. Before I know it the lecture is over and the two of us are packing up our stuff before making our way out of the room. When we step into the hallway I smile when I see Eli waiting against a pillar across from the door, "see you later S" she waves and I bound over to my boyfriend. Eli presses a kiss to my lips when i'm close enough, my fingers dig into the fabric of his hoodie, with his hands cradling my face, I pull away seconds later smiling up at him. "How was class?" he asks while moving his hands down to my hips, "it wasn't anything special" I reply with a shrug, his hands move slightly under my shirt giving me  goosebumps, "that's a bummer" I nod while biting my lip. "Want to get out of here?" I nod and he brings his arm around my waist pulling me to his side as we walk to the lot where he parked. 

Eli parks in the lot of his dorm minutes later, I hop out of his Jeep grabbing my bag before meeting him at the front of the car. He takes my hand gently, interlacing our fingers as we walk into the building together. When Eli unlocks the door to his double room I take a running start before flopping onto his bed with a giggle. I turn my head to look at Eli who is smiling at me, "what?" I ask, he walks over sitting next to me, "nothing, i'm just so lucky to have you" I sit up with a smile, resting my chin on his shoulder as he places a hand on my thigh, "I think that we're lucky to have each other" I exclaim while bringing my hands up to gently massage his shoulders. I feel him relax into me as I continue moving my hands along his tense muscles, "that feels so good darling" I hum in acknowledgement, "I know that you've been stressed lately, figured you needed this" he nods. 

+

A few hours later I gently slide out of Eli's arms, making sure not to wake him as I grab my things for my next class. Before I leave his room I kiss his forehead gently, he smiles in his sleep making me bite my lip as I close the door quietly. I put on my shoes in the hall and make my way out of the building to walk over to campus. As I walk I text Eli to let him know where I am for when he wakes up wondering where I went. At my lecture hall I find a seat before unpacking my notebook and pen sitting down to wait for the professor to appear. A few minutes later my phone vibrates in my hoodie pocket, I slide out my phone to see that i've been tagged in one of Eli's Instagram posts. My gaze moves to the front of the class to make sure the lecture hasn't started before swiping to the app, opening it while biting my lip. I smile at the picture of us, i'm looking up at him, he's wearing a suit and i'm in my jersey, meaning one of my friends' must have taken the picture after one of Eli's games. My eyes move to the caption under the photo, 2 months with my darling ❤️, I like the post immediately before leaving a comment that consists of several heart emojis. The professor clears her throat loudly making me look up at her as I lock my phone, sliding it back into my pocket before picking up my pen ready to write notes.

Later as I'm packing up my bag my phone vibrates a few times, I grab it as I walk out of the room, I look down at the notifications to see that i'm getting mentioned in comments on Eli's post. I bite my lip as I open Instagram to look at the comments. First I see all of the nice comments from friends and Eli's teammates, but then I start to notice the mean comments from puck bunnies and other girls. My bottom lip trembles at some of the horrible things that are being said about me, I put my phone away not wanting to read anymore of the comments as I rush out of the building, making my way back to Eli's dorm. On the walk there I call him, when he answers after the first ring with a hey I smile sadly, "are you in your room?" I ask, "yeah" he replies, "perfect stay there please" he replies with an okay and I hang up before picking up my pace. 

+

I open the door of Eli's room to see him on his bed, the hockey player sits up looking at me, he must notice the difference of my mood because he stands up before walking over to me. My bottom lip trembles again as I look up at my boyfriend as a tear rolls down my cheek, he cradles my face gently wiping away the tear, "what happened Anna?" more tears fall from my eyes as I remember the comments, "these girls in your comments were not holding back" I say through my tears, his eyes widen as he gathers me into his arms, I start to sob as I hold onto his shirt falling into him. 

Eli lifts me in one movement before walking over to his bed gently laying me down before he joins me wrapping his arms around me kissing my head, "i'm so sorry darling, I caused this with my post" I rotate in his arms, "that's just it E, why should you not be able to post things because of stupid girls and puck bunnies with their comments that only aim to hurt people" he wipes away more of my tears before lowering his lips to my forehead. I close my eyes as I take a deep breath to slow my tears, "I wish it weren't that way, but our society sucks and some girls are jealous and let that influence their actions on the internet where no one can confront them about their actions" I sigh and wrap my arms around him, "I just want to love my boyfriend without getting hated on, is that too much to ask" I mumble into his chest. Eli brings his hands to my lower back pulling me flush against him, rubbing soothing circles onto my exposed skin. My body relaxes into his after a few minutes, "I love you" I say, Eli moves his head pressing a kiss to my forehead, letting his lips linger there for a few extra seconds, "I love you so much Anna" I smile as I move my cheek to rest on his chest. His fingers move to my hair gently running through the strands making me sleepy at the relaxing gesture, my eyes start to close, so I blink a few times to stay awake, "darling it's okay you can sleep" my arms tighten around Eli as I let my eyes close completely.