Two is Company

Andrea

The beach was our favorite hang out spot. We always made an effort to go every Saturday – our promise of a break from the busy schedule during the week. Since only one week had passed and no serious studying was going on, the following week we even decided to go to the beach on Friday again. Like the week before, there were a few other students from other programs who'd had the same idea as them, so there was company, particularly, Eli.

I often felt isolated since I lived off-campus and everyone else lived on. A lot of times everyone else knew other people that I didn't, or they would have inside stories. A lot of my time was spent observing rather than interacting. I mean I did occasionally study on campus to try to get more connected, but a larger part of me liked going home after class.

For instance, one day this week, Ryan, Andrea, Holly, Cris, and Lydia had decided to have a movie night in Andrea and Lydia's room. They'd pushed their beds together, propped one of their laptops up, and watched a scary movie. I saw the picture on all of their social medias. I felt a little left out, but I knew I sort of secluded myself at times.

Plus, I spent most of my on-campus time with Carla and she was pretty quiet herself. I always played catch up though when I was with Ryan, Holly, and Andrea. This day in particular, I got to watch Andrea and her potential suitor.

Andrea stood near the water's edge where the sand was firmer due to the waves occasional brushing over. She was tossing a football back and forth to the guy Eli. He wasn't tall but wasn't anywhere close to being short either. Similarly, he wasn't stocky, but wasn't slim either. He looked like one of the guys that made sure not to gain weight, but wasn't a gym junkie either. He was just average. His hair was blonde and fine, but he kept it cut short. He had a blond, fuzzy beard and a lot of body hair – also blonde. His eyes were silver and he always had a smile on his face.

Eli was probably the friendliest of the handful of guys in the vet's foundation program. Sure, the medical program was a bit larger so there were more options there, but Andrea had chosen this Eli guy anyways. Eli apparently was a hot commodity. He got along with everyone just being chill. He had some kind of charm that apparently was invisible to me.

Andrea was pretty – Eli was the lucky one here. In my opinion, there was nothing striking about Andrea. She was pretty – don't get me wrong. Maybe this was my Latina infatuation bias stepping in, but she was. She was average height, slim, had long and dark wavy hair, and was always up for fun. Like most, she'd dated a few people by now in her mid-twenties; but she, like Ryan, was anti-relationship. She just wanted to have fun and mess around with who she wanted to. Maybe I needed to take notes.

She was Puerto Rican, which I think I mentioned before. She didn't have a strong Spanish accent, but when she talked, her voice told you that another language lingered under her English tone. Not to mention in conversation, she would say things like Ay, puta, and in text would always say ja-ja instead of ha-ha. She carried a little Puerto Rican flag around with her all the time; and a Puerto Rican lanyard; and a Puerto Rican patch was sewn onto her book bag. She had pride for her country despite living in the states most of her life. She told everyone that Puerto Rico was her home, which technically, I guess it was.

We were pretty cool. One evening I had gotten dinner with her outside of campus and admitted how much I hated going out but was making an effort to. "If its not your thing, don't force it," she told me as she munched on a fry dipped in mayonnaise. She loved mayo on literally everything – fries, chicken nuggets, even her spaghetti!

"I know, I know. But, I feel like if I don't I won't make friends. Like everyone here is so new. Back home, my friends knew I didn't go out, but that's how it'd always been. I didn't have to worry about losing them as friends," I explained. "Here, I don't want people to mistake my disinterest in going out as not wanting to hang out with them."