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“No, I had two drinks at prom and accidentally told Keisha Holder that her boyfriend shoved his tongue down Ashley Reyes’s throat in gym class.”
“Oh, snap!” Kennedy chuckles. “I remember hearing about that.”
“And do you remember both Keisha and Ashley harassing me for two weeks straight afterwards?”
“I knew Ashley did but Keisha too?”
“She sure did,” I assure her. I was terrified and pledged to the universe or whoever was up there listening that I wouldn’t drink again if he or she would just get her to stop.
“But those two are still dating to this day.”
“Exactly, so I opened my big mouth for nothing.”
“Do you ever see anyone from high school?” Kennedy asks. “I haven’t been back home in a long time. I spend my holidays and summers here.”
“No, I haven’t lived in Pennsylvania in a year, since my mom died.”
“Oh, okay.”
“But there is someone I’m seeing back home.”
“Like a long distance kind of thing?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s that working out?” she asks skeptically.
“It’s been cool so far. Elijah was there for me when my mom passed and I wasn’t just going to dump him because I was moving here.”
“Um, that’s kind of a very good reason to break up with someone.”
“College is just a moment in time. When I finish, I’ll go back east, where I belong and Elijah and I can pick up where we left off.”
“Oh,” she says doubtfully.
“Is there any specific reason you never visit home?” I ask her.
“Not really,” she replies, but a look in her eyes tells me that there may be something that she’s holding back. Something that is probably none of my business, so I just leave it there.
“I guess I’ll unpack tonight and maybe order in tonight? Any good sandwich spots around here?”
“Uh, no, and there’ll be no unpacking tonight,” Kennedy says with firm resolution.
“Why?”
“It’s Santa Fest this weekend and we’re going.”
“Santa Fest?”
A ball forms in the pit of my stomach. I realize what time of year it is, but I don’t want to attend anything over-the-top Christmas-y. It all reminds me of last year and it’s just too painful. It’s part of the reason why I moved in with Kennedy now instead of after the holidays. While the commercialism of the holiday makes it really difficult to ignore, I just want to pretend it isn’t happening if at all possible.
“It’s a Valencia City tradition. There will be local bands playing, lots of food, and, of course, there’s the exhibition game.”
“What kind of game? I’m not really a big sports person.”
Kennedy stares a hole through my head like I don’t have any brains in between my ears.
“A hockey game. You realize where you’ve transferred to, right? The VCU Suns are legendary. Everybody who’s anybody will be at that game and so will we.”
