Page 3 of Trusting You
“You’re engaged?!” I squealed. “Did Brock ask you to marry him?”
“Yes!” she scrambled onto the bed beside me. “Oh, Mel. It was so romantic. He asked my parents and everything. They have this huge party every year at Christmas time. All our friends and family were there. He pulled me under the mistletoe and proposed,” she was trembling she was so excited. “It’s going to take forever for graduation to get here now.”
“You really think you can wait that long?” I smiled.
“I have to. Mom and Dad would not be ok with me quitting school. I don’t think Brock would either,” she shrugged as she picked at my comforter. “I have to tell you something though,” she nibbled her lip.
“Ok,” I waited, knowing this had to have something to do with the one person I wished I could stop thinking about.
“Aaron was asking about you. He wanted your number,” she cringed when she said the last part.
“Did you give it to him?” I sighed.
“No,” she flopped back as I sighed again. “Did you want me to?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I don’t know what I want with him. One minute he’s nice, the next he’s a complete douche. After last summer I thought I wanted nothing to do with him, but there’s something there,” I grumbled as I flicked the screen on my phone to check my messages. I was expecting a call from my mom and I hadn’t gotten it yet.
“I told you then that my cousin is a complete player. I stopped introducing him to my friends years ago because they wouldn’t come around after he’d gotten his hands on them,” she stood and moved to her bed. “Find a nice guy around here and forget him. Let him have his sorority sluts,” she rolled her eyes but soon smiled when her phone screen lit up with a Facetime request.
“Answer it,” I laughed. “You know you want to.”
“Hello,” she giggled as she clicked accept.
“Hey, baby. How’s my fiancée doing today?” Brock’s chipper voice sounded through the room as his disheveled appearance filled the screen.
“Weight training going well,” I giggled as I began packing my things for my afternoon classes.
“Yeah. Hey, Mel,” he waved as I waved back.
“I’m going to give you guys some privacy,” I called as I headed for the door. “I’ll meet you in the dining hall for dinner, Em.” I gave one more wave over my shoulder as I slipped out the door.
I had two afternoon classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. When I stepped out of Maple Hall, my phone began buzzing in my pocket. I assumed it was my mother. She always called me around this time of day to touch base, but when I glanced at the screen I didn’t recognize the number. I clicked ignore, and pulled my coat tighter as I stuffed it back in my pocket. The dining hall was only a short walk away, and a Starbuck’s coffee was calling my name.
When I stepped inside, I was assaulted with the smell of fried food. There was a small pizza counter off to the side, and the Starbuck’s booth was in the far corner. Depending on what day it was you could always find a menagerie of fast foods. Subs, burgers, tacos, you name it, we had it. I weaved through the crowd of students until I made my way to the Starbuck’s counter, and quickly searched for my dining card as my eyes scanned the tables looking for Emma.
“Mel!” I heard her before I saw her. Emma always had a loud voice. I think it was probably from the years of playing sports. Emma used to be on the lacrosse team, and her dad was the football coach for Wilmington University. “What took you so long?” she sipped at her own coffee while she picked at a scone in front of her.
“What are you talking about? I just got finished with classes,” I sighed as I slid down into the chair across from her. “What did Brock have to say?” I grinned as I watched her blush.
“Just that he loves me, and he might come up here for the holiday weekend in a couple of weeks,” she smiled dreamily as she stared at her diamond ring.
“That’s a unique ring,” I tipped my head to the side as I appraised it.
“It was my grandmother’s. My mom gave it to him to propose,” she tilted her hand from side to side, letting the light in the room reflect off the stone.
“Where are you guys going to stay when he comes? There’s not much room in the dorms,” I laughed as Emma pressed her lips together in thought.
“I was thinking he’d just stay with us. We could squeeze on a twin. I don’t mind being pressed together,” she giggled before sipping her coffee.
“I’m sure you don’t,” I rolled my eyes. “I, for one, don’t want to hear whatever that’s going to sound like, though.”
“Mel!” she scoffed. “I would not do that with you in the room.”
“Sure you wouldn’t,” I reached across the table and broke off a piece of her pastry. “I know exactly what would happen. You and Brock will start making out, and you’ll forget all about the fact that I’m over on my bed. Before you know it, I’ll hear the two of you going at it. No offense, but that’s not on my bucket list.”
“We’ll get a room,” she waved her hands in air. “I wouldn’t want to put you out. Besides,” she giggled, “what if that guy from the library comes over?”
“What guy?” I played dumb. I sucked at it, but I was hoping that she’d let it go. I should’ve known better, though. Emma never lets things go, and she wasn’t about to start now.
