I yawned, stretching my arms out as I turned onto my side, flickering one eye open to see long blonde hair lying across the pillow beside me. I groaned as I tossed the covers off, and walked out of my dorm room towards the bathroom. As soon as my eyes caught the light of the hallway, my head began to throb.

Clearly, I had more to drink last night than I had realized.

I pushed the bathroom door open, and walked straight towards the sink, splashing water on my face. As I was drying my face off, I heard the shower turn off in the stalls behind me. My eyes immediately shifted onto those of George. I immediately froze. Flashbacks of a few weeks ago, shot across my mind. I could feel my heart starting to race, as he walked slowly towards me, not taking those dark brown eyes of his off of me once.

I glanced down into the sink, trying my best to ignore him as he stood at the sink beside me. I silently debated whether I should leave or not. But I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. I wouldn’t let him intimidate me in my own dorm. He spat into the sink beside me, before he walked right out of the bathroom.

I sighed with relief as soon as the bathroom door swung shut behind him. I waited a few minutes, running my fingers through my hair, before I left the bathroom. I didn’t want to risk bumping into him again in the hallway.

I quickly punched my code into my door, opening it to see my blondie had just woken up.

“Good morning, blondie,” I muttered as I sat back on my bed. He groaned as his blue eyes flickered onto mine. His hair was all over the place. It was kind of cute actually.

“What time is it, Ryder?” he asked as he tossed my comforter off. Before I could answer, he picked up his cell phone off of my desk.

“It’s ten thirty already,” he practically shouted, as he quickly grabbed his boxers from off of the floor. “Fuck. Fuck. My flight is at noon, Ryder. You were supposed to wake me up.”

I shrugged. I did not remember ever saying I would do that. If I did  say that, it was probably when I was drunk. If that was the case, then it wasn’t my fault. I picked his shirt up off of the ground and tossed it to him, as he quickly pulled his pants on, shaking his head at me. 

“Don’t get mad at me,” I huffed. “I don’t remember you ever saying anything about a flight at noon, blondie.”

“Shut up, Ryder,” he growled as he tossed me my car keys. “Get dressed. You’re driving me to the airport.”

I folded my arms across my chest, as I shoved my keys into my pocket. He chewed on his lower lip as we stood there, staring at each other for a moment. He was beyond pissed at me. I could tell. He didn't have time for my foolishness. 

"Ryder, get the fuck out of the way," he huffed, practically unable to hold back his smile. He could never stay mad at me. 

“What’s the magic word?” I teased as he walked by me, and slammed my dorm room door shut behind him. I rolled my eyes as I followed him down the hall to his room. He punched the code in so quickly that I almost didn’t catch the door before it closed. 

"Thanks for holding the door," I retorted as he grabbed his suitcases from out of his closet. 

Well, it was a good thing that he had already packed yesterday. 

“Make yourself useful, and grab that,” he huffed as he pointed to one of the suitcases on top of his bed. I slung it off the bed, as he grabbed his other suitcase and pulled it out of his room. I could barely keep up with him. Boy, he could move fast.

“I’m parked in the B lot, by the way,” I muttered as he sighed, changing directions. 

After lugging all of his suitcases to the B lot, and shoving it into the back of my car in my pajamas, we finally hit the road to the airport around eleven. We were cutting it close, you could say.

Jeremy was going to get me pulled over with all of his shouting. He was telling me to run red lights and to cut other drivers off. At this rate, we would die before we made it to the airport.

After driving as fast as my Subaru could go, we made it to the airport around eleven forty five. His flight, however, was delayed – for two hours. I could kill him for getting me out of my bed in my pajama's and rushing me here. 

“Oh my fucking god,” he laughed as soon as he found out. “I can’t believe it. We broke almost every law trying to get here. We could have killed someone.”

I glared at him as we sat in the airport. I saw my life literally flash before my eyes and all he could do was laugh about it. His lips turned up into a smile as he ran his fingers across my thigh.

“I’m sorry,” he smirked. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Ry? I sincerely thought I was going to miss this flight. My parents would kill me if I missed my flight again.”

“That’s what happens when you lie,” I retorted as I folded my arms across my chest. Jeremy rolled his eyes, sighing.

“Come on! I lied so we could spend two extra days together before the summer,” Jeremy replied, squeezing my face. “Is it so wrong to want two extra days with my boyfriend?”

I rolled my eyes. “So, I’m your boyfriend now? I didn’t know we reached that milestone.”

“Don’t be a dick,” Jeremy chuckled. “This is a big deal to me. You’re technically my first.”

I feigned surprise. “Wow. I was you’re first. I didn’t know that. I would have been gentler last night.”

Jeremy punched me in the shoulder. “Come on. Could you at least pretend like you’re going to miss me a little bit?”

I raised an eyebrow, groaning. “Fine. You know I’m going to miss you. You’re going to be all the way in fucking Wyoming or wherever you live.”

“Wisconsin,” Jeremy corrected me. “I’ve told you a billion times. I’ll miss you too. You don’t have to stay, Ryder. Boarding is going to start soon. I don’t want you tearing up as I’m leaving.”

“Fuck you,” I whispered as Jeremy began to laugh. I ruffled his hair as he stood up, as his flight echoed across the loud speaker. I grabbed him and pulled him into my chest, hugging him until he got embarrassed. Just as I was about to pull away, he kissed me on the lips, catching me completely off guard.

“Jeremy,” I huffed my face turning beet red.

“No one was looking,” he winked as he walked towards boarding. I waved one last time, standing there like a complete dope until he out of sight.

I would miss my blondie.

When I arrived back to my dorm, I moved all of my things into my car. I couldn’t believe I had completed another year at state. I couldn’t believe that next year around this time, I would be graduating and so would Jeremy.

As I drove down the interstate, all I could think about was Jeremy. I was already missing him a little bit, so I popped in the CD he had made me. I made fun of him for making me a mixtape at first, but a part of me thought it was kind of, I dare say, adorable. I would never tell him that though. He’d only use it against me.

As soon as Sam Smith began, I quickly hit the radio button. I was already slightly emotional. I didn’t need Sam Smith making me feel even worse. Damn, Jeremy. Of course, he’d put Sam Smith on the mixtape.

Just as I pulled off my exit, my phone chimed. I picked it up to see my mother had texted me, asking me if I was on my way yet. She’d know the answer to that question soon enough.

I pulled onto Pear Street, not even ten minutes later. It felt good to be home especially after all the craziness of this past semester.

The street hadn’t changed at all. It was as if I had never left. I smirked as I pulled into my garage. I walked inside of the kitchen to see my mother standing there with Mrs. Tillman. They were probably having tea, and gossiping like usual.

As soon as my mother’s eyes flickered to mine, she rushed towards me and hugged me.

“Well, look who it is!” she grinned, as she kissed me on the forehead. “My national swimming champion!”

I groaned as she bragged about how I had gotten first place at nationals to Mrs. Tillman, whom I’m pretty sure didn’t care. She grinned at me, pretending as if she was really interested in my swimming career. My mother could go on for days about my accomplishments. I think she just liked rubbing it in people’s faces that I had the potential to make it to the Olympics.

Sure, I was an excellent swimmer, but I didn’t know if I wanted to go to the Olympics yet. I didn’t know if swimming was something I wanted to do professionally. I was already under a lot of pressure from my own coach. I could only imagine the pressure that came from swimming in the Olympics.

“I get it,” Mrs. Tillman chuckled. “Now come on! You’re supposed to help me pick out my wedding dress.”

“Wedding dress?” I asked curiously. “You’re getting married, Mrs. Tillman?”

“Why yes I am,” she announced proudly. “In July! Didn’t your mother tell you?”

“I didn’t have the time,” my mother huffed. “I’ve been helping you plan. Crap! I left the other magazine up stairs. I’ll run and grab it.”

I shook my head. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

Last time I had heard, Mrs. Tillman still had her sights set on Ian. I wish I could have been the one to rub it in her face that he was gay. I would have loved to wipe that smile clean off of her face.

“Patrick Shilling,” Mrs. Tillman boasted. “He moved into Mrs. Bloom’s old place after she was put into that nursing home. He’s your neighbor actually.”

“So you gave up on Ian?” I retorted as she flipped through her bridal magazine, circling dresses with her pen. She groaned as soon as I mentioned his name. I took that a yes.

“Let’s not talk about him,” Mrs. Tillman laughed. “Let’s just say that he’s a hopeless case.”

A hopeless case? I prodded further. “What do you mean?”

Mrs. Tillman glanced up from her magazine, sucking her teeth. “Don’t tell your mother I told you this, but Ian is pitching for the opposing team. I wish I would have known sooner. I would have given up a long time ago. What a waste of a perfectly fine man!”

“Wow! I would have never guessed,” I retorted pretending as if I was just as surprised as she was.

She nodded in understanding. “I know. He’s good at hiding at it.”

“Ryder,” my mother called out to me, before I could reply. “Could you by any chance go out to the gas station and grab me a gallon of milk please? We’re out.”

“Why can’t John do it?” I asked. “He’s coming by here, anyways.”

“Because I asked you,” she snapped. “Now go do it.”

John was my mother’s new boyfriend. He was some guy she met online I think. I’m not too sure. One minute, my mother was pining over some jerk named Ted and then he was no longer. Now, she and this guy named John had been dating for six months now. Apparently, they were serious.

I was supposed to meet him tonight. I wasn’t too thrilled about it.

It only took five minutes to grab a gallon of milk from the gas station. As soon as I got out of my car, I heard something racing towards me. I turned around only to get nearly tackled down by Hercules, who was much bigger than I had remembered. He licked me until someone whistled for him back.

“Hercules,” someone shouted. I petted Hercules as a tall figure in workout clothes walked towards me. As he got closer, I could easily make out his features. He looked like he was in his early thirties. I had never seen him before, but from what I could see, he was extremely good-looking. He had short jet black hair, grey eyes, and a body even I was envious of, and I was most likely in better shape than he was.

But the bigger question was who was this guy? And why was he walking Ian’s dog?

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized, flashing his pearly whites at me. “He usually doesn’t do this. I am so sorry. He kind of destroyed your milk.”

“It’s no problem,” I explained, trying to ignore the fact that he just said usually. That meant he walked Hercules often. “I used to walk Hercules.”

“Oh,” he nodded sighing with relief. “That explains it. Well, can I at least give you another gallon of milk? I just went shopping today. It’s unopened. I owe you.”

“No! Don’t worry about it,” I replied trying to explain to him that it was no big deal. But of course, he insisted. He wouldn’t let up until I walked with him over to Ian’s place. A part of me didn’t want to see Ian. Although I was with Jeremy, it would still hurt seeing Ian especially with another guy. I mean he was my first, after all, and we didn’t exactly end things the way I would have liked to.

I wasn’t ready to see him yet. I hadn’t prepared myself.