My mom heard her and rolled her eyes. Heartly Rose is not a fan of Treasure Grove.
I yawn, and my eyelids grow heavy. I pull the covers up to my neck and turn on to my side.
Bling-bling-bling-bling-bling,my cellphone chimes. That’s the alert that says I have a text message. I stop myself from dozing off, roll over, and see who’s reaching out to me.
Heard about your speech. They said it was good. Just wanted to say goodbye. Hope to see you in Massachusetts. Forever, Hercules.
I sit up against my headboard and read what he wrote over and over again.Forever, Hercules?I ponder whether I should respond but finally shake my head and set my phone back on the nightstand.
Will fate be so unkind to me? Will she dangle Hercules in my path like forbidden fruit?
Sinking back under the covers and pulling the sheet and quilt up to my neck, I whisper, “I hope not.”
I’m content with leaving Hercules Valentine in my past.
Three Years Later
Chapter Ten
Serendipity
Paisley Grove
The alarm on my cellphone chimes, but I’m already up, dressed for my sunrise run, and ready to walk out of my room. I barely slept a wink last night. I have so many things on my mind these days that it’s hard to relax. Dandi—short for Dandelion—and Eden, my two roommates, are still asleep. A foghorn could blow through our three-bedroom suite and they wouldn’t stir. It's only six o’clock in the morning, and they were out on the town way beyond midnight. Even though they’re mostly irresponsible, the three of us have become friends. So many times, they’ve tried to wrangle me over to the dark side, but I refuse to go. Actually, I'm unable to go.
I first met my roommates the summer after graduating from high school. They were Treasure’s gift to me, and she presented them during our month-long vacation in the Greek Isles. We were at another crowded pool party with a DJ blasting the worst techno music ever. Nearly naked girls on platforms throughout the snake-shaped swimming pool humped poles and twisted their hips. Skimpy bikinis, nut-hugging speedos, and topless women were the norm, and I’d gotten used to them by then. I’d just closed my eyes as I lay back on my chaise longue beach chair before they showed up. The sun felt smooth as its warm rays shimmered across my skin. And despite the noise and the raucous energy, I was at peace and on the verge of falling asleep.
“Hey,” Treasure said, slapping me on my thigh.
Irritated, I opened an eye.
“They’re here.”
“Who’s here?” I groused.
Two girls wearing string bikinis appeared. The brunette with duck lips, obviously made possible by fillers, and sparkling blue eyes gave Treasure a peck on the mouth before sitting on the edge of her chaise longue. The other one, blond and super skinny with spectacular brown doe-eyes, gave Treasure the same kind of kiss before sitting on the foot of my chaise longue without asking.
“These are your new dorm mates,” Treasure said, pointing her hands at them as if she was presenting them on a royal platter. She said their job was to keep my social life from becoming a dry bag of bones.
“You two are going to AIT?” I asked.
“Not everybody at AIT is a poindexter, Pais,” Treasure said before taking my future roommates by the hand and leading them to one of the platforms to dance for attention.
For the most part, Dandi, the brunette, and Eden, the blonde, have done an okay job of making sure I have a semblance of a social life. I’ve allowed them to drag me to several parties, and they’ve never let me be a wallflower. I’ve learned from Dandi that if I find myself getting bored, I should hit the dance floor and shake my ass. That’s how I met Boyles Bellingham, my boyfriend. At a party seven months ago, he appeared out of nowhere and started dancing with me. Two weeks later, after many lunch and dinner dates, he became my first-ever boyfriend. Boyles is the reason why I couldn’t sleep last night. Something he said yesterday has me wondering if we’re on the verge of breaking up.
After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I creep out of our building under the veil of a purple morning sky. My feet hit the sidewalk, and then I’m off. I force myself to think about anything except my last interaction with Boyles. Max’s face comes to mind, probably because he sent me a text message last week asking if I’d made any progress on the TRANSPORT software. I haven’t responded yet. I can’t even think about extracurricular coding these days. Ever since I started going out with Boyles, I lost the ability to balance my classwork with trying to make the impossible possible with TRANSPORT.
The day after graduation, Max stopped by my bedroom to ask if I wanted to go for a run with him.
“Is this your way of saying I’m fat and I need to exercise?” I asked. I was half joking but wholly offended.
“It’s my way of asking if you want to come running with me,” he replied, unfazed by my bout of insecurity. “I want you to meet somebody.”
My spirit lit up. “You want to introduce me to your girlfriend?”
I’ll never forget seeing my brother blush for the first time ever as he said, “Yeah. So come join me.”
I was definitely not going to turn down the opportunity to meet Max’s girlfriend without my parents present. I would have her all to myself. I wanted to know everything about her. What sort of girl lands the man so many girls have tried to catch?
