Across The Hall (16 page)

bowling. When Kai brought up the shirt the night before we went, I tried to get out of it. I told her I may be late getting out of the library and to just start

without me. Kai insisted that no one goes to the library on a Friday night. I contended that I did. She said, “That may be but Sylvia doesn’t.” When

she left I vowed that I absolutely would not go after that. I tried to discourage them from thinking that I wanted to get back together with Sylvia. I

didn’t, I just wanted to be friends again. I figured I would let Kai think I was coming and then text Sloane once they were al there and tel him that I

wouldn’t be able to make it. But it’s funny how just a smile can change your whole day.

I was locking my door that Friday morning as Sylvia came out of her apartment. We had been doing this little morning routine since the first

Wednesday after classes started. I had left early that first morning. I wanted to stop for some coffee before my first class.

I attempted a “hel o” that first morning, not knowing what reaction I would get. I had never seen the side of Sylvia that came out that Sunday

morning. We had never real y argued in high school. There was never a need to. Of course we had disagreements, every couple does, but they

were always smal ones. Most of them were about her absolute stubbornness when it came to me spending money on her. She didn’t like gifts or

going out to expensive places. She just didn’t get that I wanted to do those things, not because I could, but because I wanted to. I wanted to share

those experiences with her or give her things to make her smile or make her life easier. I would have done anything for her. It didn’t matter if it cost

my whole savings account or nothing at al . I just wanted her smile and her love.

She was so independent when it came to such things. I respected and admired that about her, yet I stil wanted to take care of her, too. She took

care of me in so many ways that I never felt as if I showed her just how much I appreciated al she did for me. I just wanted to be able to give

something back in return. Whenever I tried she would tel me that if she couldn’t afford it she didn’t need it. She would tel me in no uncertain terms

when I was doing something that bugged her, but she never went off on me like she had that morning. Even though I was upset with myself for

causing her to be so angry, I couldn’t help but think about how beautiful she had been. Al the clichéd phrases about tempests and wild animals

came to mind, but she was more than that. Just thinking of it again had me hard. I knew it was wrong, but God she something else.

Once I’d seen the bruises, I just wanted to go out and pound him. I tried to make her realize that he was an ass for leaving those marks but she

wouldn’t hear it. She shoved me out the door and that was that. I debated on tel ing Reed and Sloane about it. I’m sure they wouldn’t have approved

of Beau hurting her. In the end, I decided not to say anything to them. Sylvia made it very clear that she wanted to make her own decisions. Tel ing

them would just be meddling in her affairs, which she was absolutely correct about. I’d given up the right to do that. It didn’t mean that I would stand

aside and let her get hurt though. I planned to keep a close eye on Beau, and didn’t ever want to see marks on her like that again.

So that first day when we met in the hal on our way out I looked her over. I didn’t think he had been by in the past couple days after that, but I stil

wanted to be sure. Sylvia didn’t respond to my hel o and she didn’t appear to be hurt anywhere. She just locked her door and walked away like I

wasn’t even there. I fol owed her down the steps and halfway across campus before she turned into a building. I realized that she must have class

then, and decided that if I left at that time every morning I would be able to catch her coming out of her apartment. It would let me check on her

without her realizing that I was doing it.

It turned out she only left at that time three days a week. At least I had those three days. I greeted her every morning. Eventual y, she started

coming around. At first it was just a greeting back. After the last time we had been at Reed’s for games night we even talked about the weather. I

had sincerely hoped that she would talk to me again that morning. She came out of her apartment al smiles. I didn’t know what had her in such a

good mood but I had hoped to work it to my advantage. I told her hel o and she responded with a good morning. This time I went down the steps

first, but I waited outside until she caught up with me. I walked alongside her al the way to her turnoff point. We never said a word to each other, but

she smiled at me once more when she turned to go up to the steps of the building.

I walked away whistling. I decided then that bowling might not be so bad if she was going to be there. I had been encouraged by her smile and

cheerful good morning. I hoped the friendliness would carry over through the evening.

Of course it didn’t. I tried very hard to keep smiling, even though it was obvious that Sylvia wanted to be anywhere but there. I caught her several

times looking at me. I would have given anything to know what she was thinking. After one particularly good round I turned around and found her

staring at me. I gave her the grin she always accused me of using to ‘get into her pants’. She blushed a deep scarlet before taking off for the

bathroom.

I knew Sylvia hated bowling, probably even more then I did. When she wanted to leave and no one wanted to take her, I volunteered. I wanted to

talk to her. I didn’t real y have anything to say. I just wanted to have a nice, easy conversation with her. One like we use to have. She waited out by

my car while I said my goodbyes. I opened the door for her, purely out of habit. Once in the car I glanced over at her and al my thoughts of

conversing with her left me. She was so tense. I hated that I was the one who had caused her to be like this. She should be able to go out and enjoy

her time with her friends. I realized for that to happen I wouldn’t be able to join them, but I liked spending time with them. Kai radiated so much

energy and life that I was just drawn to her. Sloane’s quiet, introspective demeanor always made me feel comfortable. Reed’s humor made me

smile, even on the worst of days. Kerrington was stil cold to me but she was coming around. I kind of liked that she was loyal to Sylvia and wasn’t

as trusting of me as the others were. Not that I had any intention of causing Sylvia any trouble. There had to be a way for Sylvia and me to coexist

without al the tension. I was determined to make that happen, no matter what it took.

It was a quiet ride home. Neither of us said a word. When we pul ed into the lot outside our apartment building, I real y wanted again to tel her that

I was sorry. I was so sorry for it al . I stared straight ahead of me. I was trying to find the words. I was too late. She thanked me for the ride before

she got out of the car. After the door shut, I let my head fal against the steering wheel. One more chance at fixing this, once again lost. I sat there

like that for awhile. Her scent stil lingered behind, and I just couldn’t bring myself to leave it.

I stayed in the rest of that weekend. Mom and Dad came for a visit on Sunday. Mom hadn’t been to see the apartment since I’d moved in and she

wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. I think she real y wanted to go see Sylvia, but it was too soon for that. She settled for meeting Kai

and Sloane. Kai and Mom real y hit it off. At one point, Kai pul ed her down to her apartment to show her something she had designed. They were

down there over an hour. Mom and Dad left after that, but I overheard Mom and Kai making plans to meet up for lunch.

With my concentration total y shot, I had no choice but to go along with Reed when he came up to tel me that it was Tequila Tuesday at their

place. Kerrington had had a bad day, and Reed had decided that she needed a good drunk night. So he got everyone together for a completely

inebriated games night. Even though we al had classes the next day, we stil joined in.

Everyone was there when I got there. From the looks of it they had already started on the tequila. Even Sylvia seemed more relaxed and cheerful.

Kai handed me a margarita and asked me what game I wanted to play. I real y didn’t care, so I told her whatever was fine with me. Kai wanted to

play Yahtzee for shots. She explained the rules. “It’s simple. Whoever has the lowest score after each round does a shot.” I was up for that.

It was funny how Kai always had the highest scores after each round. I don’t think she ever took a shot. Which is probably just as wel , because I

couldn’t imagine her little body could handle much. The rest of us evened out fairly wel . We were al pretty close with our final scores, and we were

al pretty buzzed. We were al laughing and enjoying the night. Sylvia even talked to me a little. She asked about Mom and Dad and told me to tel

them hi, and that she missed them. I smiled and told her they missed her too and that Mom would like to see her sometime. She looked wistful and

said maybe someday.

Kerrington picked the next game. It was some card game I had never played before. It required partners and Kai was adamant about having

Sloane as her partner and there was no way Kerrington was going to give up Reed. I looked over at Sylvia, ready to offer to sit it out and wait for

them to be done, but Sylvia surprised me with, “So partner, are you feeling lucky tonight?”

Hel , yes! After that I felt as if everything was going to go my way. I gave her my best smile, which this time she returned. We al rearranged

around the table so that partners weren’t sitting next to each other. Sylvia and Sloane explained the rules to me as Kai and Kerrington made more

margaritas and Reed found the cards.

We al chose our cards and passed them off according to the rules. I was given three red threes off the bat. It seemed like a sign. I knew I could

close them, and Sylvia and I would be able to win. When I laid them out, she glared at me. It must not have bothered her too badly, though, because

she stil laughed and joked with the group. When we didn’t close the book that first hand, Sylvia pretended to be mad about it. I knew she was only

kidding, though. So the next round I did it again. I knew it was just a matter of time before we closed one.

We al kept drinking steadily. The conversations got more and more ridiculous. Reed regaled us al with nasty sex stories and jokes, each cruder

than the last. He told us about a ‘friend’ who’d had anal sex only to wake up in the morning to find a ‘present’ in the bed. Kerrington choked on her

drink, and I had a feeling that Reed was a dead man. After that, he toned them down but didn’t stop completely. Sloane joined him with a couple,

but I had none to share so I just laughed along with everyone else. Sylvia shocked the hel out of me when she shared the story about one time when

we had sex outside in her backyard. It was dark and we didn’t exactly check out the ground before we did it. After, we realized that we had rol ed

into cat shit, and it was al over our shirts. I was more surprised at the fact that she had acknowledged us as once having been together than that

she shared that story.

Sylvia and I were way behind on our last round. I had attempted a book of red threes every round. If I hadn’t we would have been far out in front of

everyone else. Reed was giving me shit about it. I shut him up when I winked at Sylvia and said “I’l get lucky one of these times.” She blushed a

deep, dark red, but didn’t say anything. When we lost that round, too, she threw her cards at me playful y and said next time she wanted Sloane for a

partner. I knew she wasn’t real y mad. Her face gave her away. She was so much more at ease that night. She laughed along with everyone else.

She only shared the one story, but she did make witty comments after some of the others.

After cards, we moved on to Pictionary. Sylvia and I ruled at it. It was amazing how we just clicked. It was like old times. We knew exactly what the

other was trying to convey. Sylvia was not the best at drawing, but it didn’t matter. I felt so in tune with her that I was able to get every one of them

right. It was the same way when we moved on to charades. Drunken charades was an entirely new experience for me. The rest had played it

several times. Kerrington insisted that it was the only way to play it.

We were al fairly wasted by the time we started playing. Sylvia could barely stand when it was her turn. It was yet another side of Sylvia I hadn’t

seen before. We didn’t real y ever drink in high school, and the few times we did had been nothing close to this much. She was adorable in her

drunken clumsiness. Several times I had to catch her or steady her. I loved being able to touch her, even if it as just briefly. Kai seemed to be having

the most trouble. Sloane had drawn the word minivan. Kai quickly got the van part but just couldn’t think of the word for mini. She said smal , tiny,

little, even compact but not mini.

Sylvia was sitting on the couch in front of me, rocking back and forth with laughter over it. She kept brushing against my leg. I wanted to pul her

onto my lap and hold her, but I knew that I couldn’t do that. I had to be happy with the fact that at least we were getting along. It started to feel like old

times between us. We were slowly slipping back into a friendship role, and that was more than I had hoped for this soon. I didn’t want the night to

end. Of course, it had to. We al had classes the next day.

We cal ed it a night when Kai passed out against Sloane on the couch. Sloane carried her back to their place, and Sylvia and I left at the same