Unbound (4 page)

“Hello, Ms. Tessa.  Is Dani home?”  It was Kenna, Dani’s best friend and partner in crime.

“Come on in Kenna, Dani is finishing up breakfast.”  Tessa directed her toward the kitchen.

It was going to be hard for them to say goodbye.  They shared the kind of closeness that means you use the bathroom when she’s there, change your clothes in front of her, and dig through each other’s purse to look for gum or pads without asking.

Kenna and Tessa entered the room together and Dani thought Kenna could pass for her mom’s daughter.  They had the same color hair but Kenna’s eyes were a darker blue and she was several inches taller than Tessa’s five foot four inch stature.

“You’re so lazy,” Kenna scolded her.  “I’m dressed, packed and out the door.  You look like you just rolled out of bed and stop pouring sugar on your cereal or I’ll be able to see your ass from South Carolina.”  Busted.  Dani put down the sugar spoon.

Kenna sat across from her and tossed a box across the table, which she caught just before it hit her face.

“What’s this?  We said we were not going to make a big deal of this Kenna.  It’s not like we won’t see each other again.”  Dani reminded her.

“Whatever.  It’s no big deal.  I gotta go now.”  Both girls stood and Kenna walked around the table and hugged Dani so tight she couldn’t get a good breath.  She whispered, “Love you.”  Then she released her and ran from the room.

Dani yelled after her, “I love you too you big sissy.”

Kenna snapped back just before the front door closed behind her, “Bite me!”

Man, she was really going to miss her.  Kenna was going to school down south and Dani would be up north.  They weren’t the sappy sort of girls.  Brutal honesty had always worked best for them.  They had never been shy about calling each other out for their bullshit.  Like thinking about stayin
g home to go to college because
your boyfriend has to stay home for college.  There were too many expletives in that conversation to repeat.

Dani washed her breakfast dishes and just made it to her bedroom when there was another knock at the front door.  Lucas.  The hits just keep on coming.  Last night’s craziness followed by Kenna a few minutes ago, now she would say goodbye to Lucas, and later she would have to say goodbye to her mom.  Ugh….

Lucas tapped on her bedroom door.  She took a deep breath and tried to force a smile but as soon as the door opened a crack he barreled through and tackled her onto the bed.  Dani shrieked and laughed. 

Her mom shouted up the stairs, “All right you two.  Leave that door open.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”  Lucas had to answer because she was too busy trying to escape the grasp of the infamous Tickle Monster of Perry Hall.  He stopped the monster abruptly after a moment and held her close to him, kissing her softly in a way that washed away all her hurt feeling from the night before.  The kiss said everything they needed to say without the words.
I’m sorry.
I love you.

Lucas helped her load the car before she walked him to his truck but they didn’t speak.  They slumped against each other on the tailgate of his pick-up, just holding hands for a while until he stood and wrapped his arms around her waist.  Lucas held her against his chest, nuzzling her neck and whispering over and over, “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Finally, he lifted her and gently deposited her on the sidewalk, placing little kisses all over her face until he reached her lips to invade her mouth one more time.  Dani’s heart felt wrung out when she opened her eyes to find tears tracking down his face.  He backed away slowly to his truck and drove away without another word.

The thought of leaving her mom alone in the little house she worked so hard to make a home for the two of them was also causing great tidal waves of guilt.  Tessa on the other hand was prancing around like the most proud peacock at the zoo, overjoyed at Dani’s accomplishments.  Thankfully there was no tearful parting with her mother due to her joy at seeing Dani have experiences she hadn’t been afforded.  She gave Dani some cash, a credit card for emergencies, a big hug and a little white box.  Tessa smiled widely and instructed Dani to open the box later.  Then Dani was off on a five-hour drive to school.  That’s a lot of time alone to think.  She pondered the past and dreamt of the future.  She worried about Lucas and decided to call him as soon as she got settled.  Mostly she thought of the night before.  She remembered the hunger she’d suffered and the shock of seeing her eyes in Lucas’s memory.  She thought about how insane it sounded to think you could see another person’s memories.  Was she going crazy?  She couldn’t worry about that yet.  First, she had to focus on school.  Insanity would have to wait until she had more time to deal with it.

TWO~

Dani arrived on campus amidst a flurry of incoming students and their parents.  There were people everywhere carrying boxes and suitcases to their dorm rooms.  Parents were bidding farewell to their aspiring scholars with an equal mix of smiles and tears.  She found her building and made her way through the first floor common room.  It was a large room with scattered seating areas and a large wall mounted flat screen TV in each corner.  There were restrooms and a canteen with vending machines, microwaves and dining tables on that floor also.  The crowded halls were almost impassable given all the students, parents, and luggage.  Dani ran a gauntlet to reach her assigned room.  She pushed open the door to see a petite Hispanic girl staring at the beds.  Her dark hair was cut in a short slanted bob and her deep brown almond shaped eyes almost lent her features an Asian look.  When Dani entered, the girl turned and smiled as if they were already friends and she’d been waiting for her to arrive.

“Well it’s about time.  Which bed do you want?  I didn’t wanna pick one without you.  I kinda like the bed by the window. What do you think?” she chirped.

Dani was going to like this girl.  Most people wouldn’t wait for their roommate to stake their claim.

“I think finders keepers.  The other side of the room looks good to me.”  She held out her hand in greeting, “I’m Dani.  It’s nice to meet you.”

“Where are my manners?” the girl blushed.  “My Mom would be ashamed of me.  I’m Olivia.”

She took Dani’s hand into both of hers in a nervous greeting.

“I don’t know about you but I’m kind of freaked out.”  Dani moved her suitcases to the bed farthest from the window.

With that Olivia seemed to sag with relief, “I was afraid it was just me being a sissy about moving away from home.  I know I should be excited, and I am but this is a big deal.  I’ve never been away from my family.  Having a roommate will be new for me also.  I have three brothers and no sisters so I’ve always had my own room.”

“I’m an only child so I know what you mean.”  Dani surveyed the rest of the room.  It was clean and not what she would call spacious for two people but the closets where big enough and there were small desks on either side of the room.  She hadn’t brought much with her anyway.  The door opened again and several boys that looked like male versions of Olivia carried in boxes, suitcases and a mini refrigerator.

“Get out of the way, Stripes!” the tallest one barked at her, “This thing is heavy!”

“Excuse me.”  She moved out of the walkway.  Here we go again. She had been on campus for twenty minutes and already she was getting cracked on for her hair.  It was a new record.

A brunette woman with ivory skin and an attitude followed the boys.  She smacked the boy in the back of the head and said, “Liam, you better apologize before I give you something to be sorry for, boy.”

The youngest looking boy snickered.  The woman eyed him harshly, “You will be next, Patrick.”  Then she turned to the third boy said, “Reilly, go grab the last box from the truck.”

“I’m sorry you were in my way, Stripes.”  Liam teased as he ran from the room before the woman could catch him.  She looked at Dani apologetically while Olivia stood by the window looking mortified.

“Hello, I’m Olivia’s mother, Kelly.  Sorry about my boys, they’re a little rambunctious to say the least.”  She greeted Dani with a motherly hug.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Kelly.  I’m Danielle Vaughn and honestly I’ve been teased about my hair my whole life so it’s really no big deal.”  She hoped Ms. Kelly wouldn’t be too hard on the kid.  She looked like she could back up her threats.

“How embarrassing is this?”  Olivia moaned from the corner.

“Walk me out, Olivia.  We’ll go and let you girls get settled.”  Ms. Kelly put her arm around Olivia and the look on her face telegraphed the tears that were about to flow. 

“I just can’t believe I’m leaving my baby girl here to fend for herself.  Are you very sure you don’t want to go to school closer to home?”  She sniffled.

“Please don’t cry, Mom.  We’ve had this discussion a hundred times now.  Let’s go before the boys make this day worse.”  Olivia wrapped an arm around her mother and ushered her out to the hall, mouthing apologizes to Dani on the way out.

So, Dani’s roommate was a pleasant Asian looking Hispanic-Irish girl with three crazy brothers.  Cool.  Dani hoped her new roommate would be so used to sharing she’d give her some space in the fridge.

Running out to grab another box from the car Dani remembered the little white gift box from her mom.  She jumped in the front seat to open it and found a delicate gold chain with an intricate sunburst charm shimmering in the mid-day light.  Removing it from the box, she noticed the back of the charm had an inscription reading,
“The center of my universe.”

It looked like an antique and she loved it.  Whipping out her cell, she called her mom.  Tessa answered on the first ring, “Oh thank goodness you made it safely.  How is it?  Did you find your room yet?  Did you meet your
room
mate?”  She fired off questions so rapidly Dani couldn’t get a word in at all.

“Wow.  I’m beginning to think your calm behavior this morning was all a show.”

“I knew saying goodbye to Lucas and Kenna had been hard on you sweetheart.  I figured I could take one for the team and keep myself composed.”  She admitted.

“Thank you for the necklace, Mom.  It’s beautiful and I love it.”

“I knew you would like that old thing.  It’s about time somebody got some use out of it.”

“How old is it?  Where’d you get it?”  Dani was curious.

“You answer my questions first.”  She said after an oddly long pause.

“Okay.  My room is nice but small.  My roommate seems friendly.  Her family was there so we didn’t really talk but she did wait for me to pick a bed.  I thought that was nice.  She has three little brothers so the room was crowded for a few minutes.  She’s Hispanic but her mom isn’t and all her brothers have Irish names.”  She spilled all of the details.

“That all sounds very encouraging.  I wish I had come with you.  What are you doing now?”

“I’m about to carry in the rest of my stuff.  There are so many people here roaming around.  It’s hard to imagine what it will be like after the parents leave.”  Dani watched the masses of people crossing the courtyard and parking lot on their way to the dorms.

“Why don’t you give me a call later after you’re all settled?  I’ll be work on turning your bedroom into a lounge for all the wild parties I’m going to have now that you’re gone,
” she
teased.

“Alright Mom, you do that while I go hang out at a frat party with some of these hot guys.”  Dani teased back.

“That is so not funny!  That’s it.  I’m coming to get you.  I wonder if I could find a program for college home schooling.”  They both laughed aloud.

“I love you, Mom.”

“Love you more, Dani.  Call me later.”

“Talk to you then.”  They hung up and Dani realized she’d forgotten to ask about the necklace.  She clasped it around her neck and checked her reflection in the rearview mirror.  It was beautiful.  The etching in the gold made it shimmer like the sun itself.  After grabbing a box from the trunk, Dani crossed the courtyard with an exhilarated rush of hope at this new beginning.

The first week of school went by quickly. Adjusting to the schedules, teachers and the workload had been kind of tough, not to mention missing her mom and Lucas so much.  Dani called them both every night. Lucas was enjoying his classes too.  She wanted to tell him everything but the tension in his voice when she spoke to him about new friends and study groups made her wary. She began to edit some of the information she gave him.  Not that she was doing anything wrong but she didn’t see the sense in causing him undo stress. The separation has been hard on them both and Lucas really regretted their last night together and promised to replace that memory with a happier one over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Dani thought Lucas was feeling insecure about their relationship after his rejection of her.  She really didn’t know what to think about that night. She didn’t know what had happened but it hadn’t happened again. Maybe it was just a trick of the light out there in the field.  That didn’t explain how she was feeling or what she’d done to Lucas, but he obviously didn’t remember that part the evening’s activities.

Dani talked to Kenna earlier that day and thanked her for the picture of the two them she gave Dani the morning they left for school. She was doing great and had already been to several parties.  It figured, while Dani slaved away Kenna was partying.  It had always been that way.  Kenna would get straight A’s without trying and she got pissed at Dani when she couldn’t go to the mall because she had to study for days to get B’s.