Chapter 7 (continued)

An hour or so later Allison was walking back to her dorm from the parking lot, feeling like she was stepping back into life. The sweater she wore, a loose, itchy one with an ugly striped pattern was her only physical tie to her night at Sedgewick's. His pants didn't look like they'd fit and it wasn't like her clothes were toxic. But she wore the sweater because she could.

She had classes to get to that afternoon, but she hadn't decided yet if classes were something she could handle. She planned to get back to her dorm and taste a bit of reality, see if it was anything she might be able to stomach.

She unlocked the front door and took the elevator up to third floor. Her room was at the end of the hall, in the corner. It was just before lunch, and she hoped the place would be quiet and empty. Everyone knew about her mom, and there was that quiet awkwardness in the air.

"Allison?" she turned to see her roommate, coming in from the stairwell behind her.

"Hi, Kallie." She stopped and waited for her roommate to catch up, and they continued down the hall together.

"How are you doing?" The question came slowly, and not immediately either. They were almost in their room when it came out, and Allison was grateful for the restraint. She knew Kallie hated to ask the question, but it need to be ask.

"I'm okay… I think."

"Where were you last night? Did you spend the night at home?" Kallie was genuinely concerned, and Allison appreciated that. She smiled as she told the story, telling Kallie how she didn't want to come home and spent the night at Sedgewick's house.

"Sedgewick? Is he the guy you saw at the grocery store?" Allison nodded. "The one you ran off to introduce yourself to yesterday at breakfast?" Allison nodded again. "No way."

"I know." Allison flopped down on her bed, grateful that they'd opted against lofting their beds. It made for a tight room, with furniture circling the room, but it also meant she could throw herself onto her bed. It worked for long days of class, over dramatic Friday nights, and for times like this.

"You spent the night with him?"

''Well not with him, but at his house."

"Where was he?"

"He slept on the couch."

"Wow, a gentleman?"

"I guess, yeah."

"And what happened this morning?" Allison dropped her gaze to her shoes.

"I don't know. He took off early. I had breakfast with his grandma, which was actually… she's a pretty amazing woman."

Kallie couldn't take this. She pulled out a chair and sat down herself.

"He lives with his grandmother? And he left you to have breakfast alone with her?" Kallie shook her head. "Allison, who is this guy and what fairy tale did you find him in?"

"I know, though it feels more like a tragedy than a fairy tale. Something out of Shakespeare."

Kallie grew quiet, then asked softly, "Because of your mom?"

Allison sighed and tried to wrap her brain around it.

"In some ways, yeah, but Sedgewick was tragic long before I came around." She told her friend what she knew, or the extent of it, which was that Sedgewick's mom had abandoned the family, that his father and brother both died, and he grew up with his grandparents. His grandfather also died when he was fairly young, and he'd been living with his grandmother since.

"Well, talk about meeting the right guy on the right day."

"I know. How many first dates do you have that will cry with you?"

"Oh, Allison."

"The funny things is I don't know where to go from here. What's next when you spend your first day crying in each other's arms and sleeping over? What kind of second date does that make for?"

The two sat in silence for a few minutes.

"His grandma said something about love this morning, something about love not following a script, and I can't help but wonder if this really is love. He's been an amazing friend through an awful time, but he's a friend I hardly know. Can you love someone you don't know?"

"Does it kind of feel like a movie?"

"Yeah, like the Hollywood plot where I cry on his shoulder and the weepy music plays and we get through it together and go on to get married and have lots and lots of babies to make up for our pain."

"Lots and lots of babies?" Kallie asked, and two broke into giggles.

"Oh, Kallie, I don’t know what I'm doing."

"Do we ever?" Kallie stood up and pulled a few books from her bag, swapping them with other books for the afternoon. She pulled out a binder and sat down at her desk to finish up some last minute assignment.

Allison rolled over and picked up the dorm phone to check her messages. Her dad and called, and the R.A., and her dad again, and a couple girls from down the hall, and her coach, and a couple professors. Word had apparently traveled fast. Thankfully her R.A. had called most of her professors and took care of some of the time and emotion heavy contact work, which would effectively excuse Allison from classes for the week if she wanted. She didn't know if that would help or not, but the choice meant something to her.

"Are you heading to class soon?" Allison asked.

"Yeah, I just came back to swap books. Do you need anything?"

"I should probably call my dad back."

"Oh, no problem. Do you want me to go? Or do you want me to stay here for after? Or…"

"Well, it'd probably be easier if you weren't here when I talked to him. But thanks."

"Whatever you need." Kallie packed up her stuff and headed for the door.

"Thank you." Kallie stopped at the door and nodded, giving her friend as much reassurance and support as she could.

Allison sighed and picked up the phone to call her dad.

"Hi daddy."