Forever With You (Silver State Series)
“asks Aiden. I look at him, trying to piece together what he could be referring to. I vaguely recall Milly mentioning something about a group from our class going out for dinner this evening, but I was too distracted at the time to absorb the details.“Umm…yeah, maybe. Where did she say it is again?”“Kildare’s. Six forty-five. So you think you can make it?”“Probably,” I say with a shrug as we approach the corner where Aiden and I normally go our separate ways.“Okay, hopefully see ya there th...en,” he says, throwing me a friendly smile before turning to head east in the direction of his apartment building.I take my time walking back to Argenta. I pull out my phone to turn the volume back up, and I’m a bit sad when I see there aren’t any text messages waiting for me. Kyle and I have kept in touch on and off this week via text – he’s called me a few times, but I’m ashamed to say I’ve been screening his calls, preferring to rely on more detached methods of communication. I’ve thrown out a couple of semi-cogent excuses for never being able to answer the phone, but I fear Kyle’s interest is waning, since the number of messages he’s left me has dwindled markedly since sometime yesterday. I know I should call him, but I’ve legitimately needed my space to sift through the thoughts rattling around my brain. Putting some distance between us has been my primary goal this week.When I get back to my room, I can hear water running in the bathroom, indicating Beatrix is in the shower. Harumi is gone, of course, because she has a class that runs late on Friday afternoons. I drop my backpack and iPod on my bed, then lie down and face the wall, thankful for the few minutes of solitude.It isn’t until later I realize I must have fallen asleep; my arm is numb from lying on it, and there’s a small wet spot on my pillow where I’ve drooled. I blink a few times as I try to regain my bearings. The lights are out, and the room is quiet. I twist around to look at the alarm clock on my nightstand, and I’m shocked when I see it’s already 6:30 – that means I slept for over two hours! And it’s already time to start walking to dinner.I roll off the bed and rise slowly to keep from feeling faint. I glance down at my jeans and four-button crewneck t-shirt, then at my closet, considering whether I should change clothes. Ultimately I decide against it. It isn’t as if I’m trying to impress anyone.Pushing my shirtsleeves up to my elbows, I walk into the bathroom and flip on the lights over the sink. I let my hair down out of its ponytail and comb my fingers through it, then twirl it into a bun, securing it at the nape of my neck with a few hairpins. Finally I stuff my feet into a pair of Birkenstock clogs and shrug back into my red windbreaker.I trudge along North Virginia toward Kildare’s, a restaurant that serves Irish pub fare and features live music on Friday and Saturday nights. When I get there seven of my classmates, including Milly and Aiden, are already huddled around a large rectangular table in the back, while a man with a long beard strums an acoustic guitar at the front of the restaurant. Aiden’s face lights up when he sees me; he stands and begins scooting chairs around to make space for me along the back wall. I drop into my seat, still feeling groggy from my late nap. A waitress brings me a menu and begins taking orders from the rest of the group.While the others carry on a conversation about the spring semester trip to Istanbul, Aiden leans closer to me. He rests one arm on the table and places his other hand behind me on the back of my chair. “So what are you doing this weekend?”MoreLess
Read book Forever With You (Silver State Series) for free
Write Review:
User Reviews: