Stories Based On Taylor Swift Songs

SPEAK NOW: 54. Ours

54. Ours (11/1/20)

On Friday, Jenna was working on campus at the copy shop, playing with paper clips. She stood behind the register, bending the clips so they were entangled together. Parallel to her was the front of the store, which was a wall covered in windows. She could see the parking lot, specifically her co-worker's car. Her shift was almost finished.

Max walked in, waving before joining her behind the counter. He pulled a bag of chips out of his backpack and began chowing down. With his mouth full, he placed his elbows and the bag of chips on the counter and sighed.

"This job makes me lose brain cells," he said, running his fingers through his hair. "Literally no one needs to copy anything."

"Oh, but don't you worry, Max," Jenna said with a sarcastic grin, "We'll be booked next Thursday night. Professor Smith assigned all the freshmen papers for Friday."

Max glanced up at her. "How do you even know that?"

Jenna shrugged. "Eavesdropping. I'm also taking that Intro to Comm. class this year because I couldn't fit it in last year. Swear I was not as bratty as a freshman."

Max and Jenna had met during their freshman year of college working at the copy shop. They bonded over their tendency to procrastinate, specifically when it came to finding a job on campus through the work scholarship program. If they would have acted sooner, they would've been serving coffees to sleep-deprived students or shelving books at the library. But Max couldn't keep his life together even if he tried, and time always seemed to slip away from Jenna, so the only job left for the two of them was the copy center. The only reason it wasn't as popular was because the printers at the library were more convenient. On occasion, they would get students who needed to copy papers for peer editing or group projects.

"I think you were," Max replied, continuing the conversation. "You were always late to shifts. You made me miss that date with the guy in my engineering class!"

Jenna played dumb. "I don't recall. But I do remember covering for you when you were swamped with homework."

Max chuckled, struggling to think of a comeback. Instead, he stuffed his face with potato chips and glanced at the clock. "Okay, you're free to go."

"Thank you, oh holy one." Jenna pretended to bow before grabbing her bag and walking to the other side of the front counter.

"Do you have plans tonight?" Max asked, shifting towards the register so it would appear as if he were working.

Jenna couldn't help but smile. "Will is free tonight, so I think we're gonna spend some time together."

Mark almost choked on his chips, either from laughter or shock. "Will? As in, Will Rogers?"

Jenna rolled her eyes; she always seemed to receive this kind of reaction whenever she mentioned Will's name. It wasn't like Will was famous or anything. He went to the same college as her, and they lived in the same dorm building. Will just had a bit of a reputation around campus. He was known for sleeping around with girls, but Jenna knew this wasn't true, at least not anymore. Will had been quite the player his freshman year, then he was caught sleeping with a girl at his father's wedding, and was sent to therapy and got his car taken away. Jenna was fortunate enough to meet Will during sophomore year, after everything had happened. But there were still rumors about him around campus.

"Yes, Will Rogers." Jenna hated explaining herself to anyone who found out who her boyfriend was. Will was not a bad person by any means. He had a rough freshman year, most likely influenced by his father's uncontrollable urge to leave his wife and sleep with any women he met - at least that's what Will's therapist said. Now that people knew Jenna and Will were dating, they tried to meet together during the week when other people on campus wouldn't see. But Jenna knew she could trust Max with the truth.

"I don't know if you two fit together," Max said, his voice dripping with honesty. "You're so organized and put together, and he's, well...not."

"Have you even met him?" Jenna asked, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Well, no." Max blushed slightly. "Doesn't he have that killer sleeve of tattoos?"

Jenna nodded. "Yes. I'm leaving now."

With a wave goodbye, Jenna walked out of the copy shop and searched for her car in the campus parking lot. She saw a group of girls huddled around a red car, and she realized a bit too late that the car was hers.

"Hey!" She screamed, storming towards the girls. As her voice echoed throughout the parking lot, the girls scattered, revealing the damage to the car. Across the back window they had written "SLUT" in large, bold letters. Jenna stood, mouth agape, in front of the car.

She tried to find the girls, but they had dashed away, either into the copy shop or a getaway car. Jenna leaned over the back of the car and tried to smudge the writing, but it was no use. The ink was permanent.

Later that night, Jenna met Will at the library. He had booked them a private study room, promising to order food and wine for them. Jenna was looking forward to it, even though the image of the words on her car was imprinted in the back of her mind.

She walked into the library at quarter to seven and searched for study room seven. When she found the room, she was happy to find that it didn't have windows like the other study rooms. Will had made the right decision.

"Hey," Jenna said, walking inside to greet Will. He was sitting at the one table, two bags of takeout and a bottle of wine in front of him.

"How was your day?" Will asked, gesturing to the open chair next to him. When Jenna sat down, he started pulling out boxes of food. "Fettuccine Alfredo for you, chicken Parmesan for me."

Jenna smiled; she loved Italian food. "It was alright. I had classes this morning, then worked at the copy shop until Max came." She opened up her box of food, debating if she should tell Will about her car. "I...I need to tell you something."

"What? Did they mess up your order?" He leaned over to look at her dish, and Jenna giggled.

"No, my food is fine. It's just..." she paused. "When I left the copy shop, this group of girls were surrounding my car. I must've scared them away, but they had written something on my back window."

Will had started eating his food, but his eyes were serious. "What was it?"

Jenna flushed, her mind suddenly numb. "Uh, 'Slut.'"

The room fell quiet. Will nearly dropped his fork before taking her by the hand. "Jenna, I'm so sorry. Do you have any idea who did it?"

She shook her head. "The girls left before I could see who they were."

Will let out a sigh. "Probably my ex-girlfriends from freshman year." He turned in his chair so he was facing Jenna. "Jenna, I want you to know how sorry I am. They were not trying to target you, they were targeting me."

Jenna couldn't help but think about her earlier conversation with Max, and how he said he didn't think her and Will fit. She absentmindedly glanced at his armful of tattoos.

"I'm so sorry this happened," Will said, looking her in the eye. "Most likely, they wanted to get back at me. I'm not embarrassed of my past, but I know I need to work to overcome my actions."

Jenna gave him a wry smile before wrapping him in a hug. His whole body was warm, and his presence only reminded her of how happy she was to be with him.