After my meeting with Tre, I decided to stay at the library for two more hours finding some more articles to use and brainstorming some thoughts I had about the project. When I got back to my room, I didn't tell Sam that I had met with Tre. I don't think she would like hearing about how I think of him right now. I mean, she said he was a nice guy, but he didn't seem very nice to me. She said he was really smart but he didn't even do any of the work either. Maybe Sam has some bias in her assumptions because he's one of Latrell's best friends.
She asked me after dinner if I wanted to go out to another party with her and I easily declined. I'm not going to anymore parties for the rest of my college time. That last one was enough for me. I have enough smoke inhalation to last me a lifetime. If the parties are going to be all about getting drunk, smoking, and dancing in a hot and crowded room, I don't want to be a part of it. Drinking until I get sick does not sound like a fun time to me. So I'm not going to be going to any parties any time soon.
"You really should come with us Eva," Sam says as she puts in some gold hoop earrings. She does a double take in front of the mirror before going to Latrell's side.
"No thanks," I say as I look up from my notebook. I'm trying to write down some more ideas for this project.
"Oh come on Eva!" Reina says from beside me and nudges my shoulder. "We'll have more fun if you come."
I chuckle. "I doubt it. You guys know I'll just be standing in the corner anyways while you guys get drunk."
"Hey you can be the friend who makes sure everyone gets home okay." Latrell says from Sam's bed with a smirk.
"I'm not being a babysitter either. If one of you pukes anywhere near me, I will start puking too. So nope. I think I'm gonna keep my dinner in my stomach for tonight."
We all share a laugh and then Sam and Reina put the final touches on their outfits and makeup and then they are off.
"Okay well I'm probably gonna stay over at Trell's place after the party's over. Just to let you know." Sam says and grabs her small purse.
"Okay," I smile. "You guys have fun and be safe."
"Alright Mom," Latrell remarks and I chuckle as I watch them leave the room.
Once the door shuts, I sigh. It'll be a nice and quiet night to catch up on some of my readings. Sam can be loud at times since she goes to bed usually later than I do and the floor can get pretty loud with music, so I don't have a lot of quiet time to myself. It's nice to not have to put headphones in to do my homework. I turn on my small radio I just got and listen to 89.5 Christian Contemporary. The soft tunes float through the quiet room and I resume my notebook writing. I have found a lot more ideas in what to add to the project with Tre. Since we're doing the humanity aspect of how to live, there's a lot of information from different philosophers and texts. Aristotle believed that to live a good life, you must have a goal and a purpose to achieve that goal. And the plans you make must align with your ultimate ending goal. Plato believed that in order to to achieve an excellent life, you must act rightly and practice your ability to live rightly. In the Bible, the most important thing to remember about living is to love God and love people. Even if you do not follow everything, if you live a life of love to those around you and to God, you already starting to live a good life.
I put down my pen and stretch my fingers out from getting cramped up. I look to the digital clock on my desk and it reads 11:39. I pull my fuzzy blanket off of me and I put away my notebook and folders back into my backpack. I plug in my MacBook to its charger, stopping to make sure the yellow charging light comes on, and then head to my closet to pick out my pajamas. I decide on my polka dot fuzzy pants and a t-shirt I got on my church mission trip to Botswana last summer. We spent two weeks living in one of the small villages and worked with a children's charity to help build a school and plant more trees. It was a life changing trip and it made me realize how much I want to help people with medical needs when I become a doctor.
If I can make one difference in someone's life, I'd die a happy girl.
~*~
"You should have seen her last night Eva. She was all over him." Sam takes a drink from her Dr. Pepper bottle and continues her story.
"I mean she was like draped around him and trying to grind her skinny ass on him like she actually had an ass that he'd want. Like what the hell is wrong with you?"
I listen intently to the conversation that Sam is recounting to Reina. If she talked any louder the entire cafeteria would be able to hear her, although, I don't think Sam would mind if anybody else here at brunch heard what she had to say. She's a firecracker who doesn't care if it goes off in someone's face. If she has a thought, she'll tell you how it is.
I admire her will to not care what others think. Easier said than done for me.
"Obviously she couldn't take the hint that Tre didn't want her around him."
I can't help but roll my eyes at the mention of Tre and it definitely didn't go by unnoticed.
"What'd you roll your eyes for Eva?" Sam asks in the middle of her sentence.
"Nothing," I quickly say and smile to act like nothing is wrong.
"Do you not like Tre or something?" She asks.
Yes.
I sigh and look at anywhere but her curious eyes. "He was just rude to me the last time I saw him. He thinks he so cool and smart but he didn't help me at all when we were working on our class project and then ditched me when he got bored."
I want to go crawl in a hole for all the stuff I didn't mean to reveal.
"Damn Eva just keep on roasting everyone then," Reina teases and takes another spoonful of her Mac n cheese.
"I'm sorry," I say directly to Sam. "I know he's your friend."
"It's okay Eva," she chuckles. "Tre can be very difficult sometimes."
"All the time," I retort.
"He's very headstrong and he is really cocky I'll give him that." Sam gets up to get more food and Reina leans in closer.
"I think you like him," she coos teasingly.
"Reina," I shake my head and try to back out of the conversation.
"You like him and you know it," she states. "He's cute but mysterious at the same time." She crosses her arms and places them on the table. "I can see why you'd like him."
"I don't like him," I state for her and myself. Maybe if I say it enough times this little feeling I have when I hear his name finally goes away. I want it to go away.
"Yeah and I don't like Mac n cheese but here I am eating it," she shoves another spoonful of the cheese noodles into her mouth and I internally think how that did not make any sense.
I keep my thought to myself and go back to eating my soggy salad that I accidentally put too much dressing on. I'd throw it away, but I can already hear my mother telling me to go my room for wasting food.
"It's okay to have a crush you know. There's this one guy in my Intro to Chemistry class that's so hot! Oh my fucking god you have to see this guy some time Eva because he is so sexy." She gushes. Her eyes lighten up as she thinks about this guy and she playfully fans herself.
"I'd like to show him how much chemistry we can have together."
I bust out laughing at her corny line and we're both laughing hard when Sam comes back with two more plates of food. "What'd I miss?" She asks as she sits down and Reina and I share a teasing look.
"She wants to marry this hot guy in her Chemistry class."
"Oh get it girl!" Sam says and we all share a laugh again before Sam starts grilling Reina about this new guy. I am thankful that the spotlight is not on me and Tre anymore.
I can't even think of him without getting hot and bothered by his rudeness and egotistical personality. He's going to annoy the heck out of me for the rest of the semester and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to take of him. Maybe I should ask Professor Garrett if I can have a new partner or do this project by myself?
I make a mental note to speak to him after Monday's class and go back to listening about Reina's big crush that she wants to talk to in their next class on Monday.
~*~
"That'll be $8.69 please."
I hand the barista a ten and she gives me my change before placing my green tea smoothie and raspberry cheesecake bite on the counter. I shove the change into my wallet and drop a few quarters into the tip jar before grabbing a straw and a napkin.
"Thank you very much," I call over my shoulder and walk back out into the hot 81 degree weather. I'm glad I wore my light sundress because I would have been sweating otherwise. This dress my parents didn't allow me to wear a lot without a cardigan besides at home because the back had a big cut out and "showed off too much skin." The high sun beats down on my bare back and I hope I'm not going to catch a sunburn while I'm walking out here. I put some sun screen on before I left the dorm so I should be alright if I don't stay out here too long.
The streets are pretty busy for a Sunday morning. I would have thought that more people would be going to Sunday services at church rather than walking around downtown. I called my parents after I woke up early this morning and we chatted for a few minutes before they left for service. They said they were happy to know that I still read my bible and pray every day. They were hopeful that college life wouldn't "taint my faith." I reassured them that they had nothing to worry about. My faith is too strong within myself to ever be tainted.
I enjoy the slight breeze that blows my hair back from my face and walk across the crosswalk, eating my cheesecake bite, and head towards an antique store that I looked up on the internet. It's a quaint little shop called "Marcy's Antiques" and is right next to an old record store. When I open the front door, a bell rings out and a warmth of comfiness and peace. The walls are painted a light sage green except for the register wall that is a light sky blue. There are multiple shelves on the outer walls and a few smaller ones in the middle of the room. There's three comfy looking chairs that are scattered throughout and the shelves are filled with all kinds of vintage relics.
"Good morning!" The older woman behind the register counter greets.
"Good morning," I smile back and make my way around the shop, looking at each shelf intently and sipping on my smoothie. There's a lot of plates, bowls, and jars with colorful designs on them, but there's also lamps that look like they were painted with dust and clocks that probably date back 100 years. I poke one of the clocks that's in between figurines and the clock rings, signaling 12:00. I smile and then off in the corner, a lone shelf catches my eye. I make my back to the back of the store and am overtaken with the items on the shelf. There's multiple angel figurines with wings and some hanging crosses that have scripture on them. There's two photos of Jesus in frames and I pick up a leather encased bible. The leather is worn from years of use and feels rough in my hands.
I look over the shelf and decide to buy one of the angels that has large wings and has her hands in a prayer. She looks like the most powerful one out of them all, but she also looks peaceful and tranquil. She's beautiful and I'll give it to my parents when I visit back home for break. They'll probably put it in the dining room with our other angel figures we have sitting on a cabinet by the window.
I walk out of the store proud with the gift bag in my hand and I can't wait to bring it back to home. I go back the way I went from the coffee shop and start to head back towards campus. I'm passing by the coffee shop when I see Tre walking on the other side of the street. I double take to make sure it's him and it is. Latrell is on his right side and they're walking past the antique shop I was just in. They both put their hoods up at the same time and before I know it, I'm turning around and walking in their direction. They don't notice me on the other side of the street and I walk slower so they won't see me. I want to force myself to turn back and go to campus, but I'm just curious to see where they're going. I've never seen them outside before besides class and my dorm room. I stop and scold myself to turn back and stop following them, until they take a right away from the hustle and bustle of the city. That's strange to me that they are going out of the city when there's not a whole lot elsewhere besides neighborhoods. I make sure there are no cars in the street and then cross it and continue to follow them at a slower pace.
They turn into an alleyway and when I get there, they've disappeared. I slowly walk in further and I hear faint voices from the side of a building. I slowly poke my head out and see Tre hand a small plastic bag with white powder to another man with his hood up. All of the group of men that surround Tre and Latrell have their hoods up and hands in their pockets.
I should have minded my own business.
"Go back now Evangeline." I tell myself and I slowly turn around and run away from whatever exchange I just witnessed. Fear creeps up on me and I knew I shouldn't have followed, especially now that I am in unfamiliar territory and don't know my way back to campus. I stop and look in all directions. I think I took a wrong turn when I ran away. I start to walk towards the city buildings I can see and I am still nervous about what I just saw. I don't know what exactly it is I saw but I know it probably wasn't good. I pass by another alley and I stop once again. Twinkling light strands hang across the alley between both buildings and I walk closer to the bright colors that are splattered on the side of the building. I gasp at the painted bricks that are painted every color and each brick looks different than the next. I haven't ever seen graffiti on the side of a building before. I know it's illegal to do, but this looks like a piece of artwork that should be put in a museum.
I'm too busy staring at the bricks and taking in their beauty to notice footsteps behind me.
"What are you doing?"
I gasp and turn around, facing Tre and Latrell. I'm wide eyed and my mouth is stumbling to get words out.
"I got lost," I stumble out and my stomach drops.
"You shouldn't be back this way. You shouldn't ever be over here Eva." Latrell looks more concerned than Tre does and I cast my eyes to the concrete, not wanting to meet their eyes.
"I'm sorry," I say defeatedly. I feel like how when my parents always scolded me for doing something wrong.
"Stay away from here, you hear?" Tre deeply grumbles and I nod silently.
I shouldn't have ever left my path back to campus.
"Do you need help getting back to campus?" Latrell asks.
I shake my head quickly. "No I think I got it."
I walk away embarrassed with my tail tucked between my legs. I still can't believe what I just saw. As I make my way back through downtown, the right way this time, and towards campus, I try to convince myself to give them both the benefit of the doubt. I've always gotten to know people before I judge them and Latrell has been nothing but nice and respectful to me since we first met. But Tre, on the other hand, he's a completely different story that I would rather not ever read.
~
Thanks so much for reading and voting! Please comment and keep voting. I appreciate all the love. ~Bekah