TKB - The Time Apart

Chapter 3 - Elle POV

Author's Note: Depending on how things work out in my head, my goal was to flip between Elle & Noah for each chapter. But, Elle has so much going on, that I thought she deserved at least another chapter before sharing with Noah.

I'm getting ready to move into my dorm in next month, but its time for Lee and Elle to have a fabulous adventure at Berkeley. I just jumped in my car, and I'm headed up to Lee's, and after a few days up there, he's going to head back home with me for winter break. So, the next few weeks are bound to be a fun time!

Lee's roommate is a guy named Steve. He seems like a nice guy. He is from Philadelphia, and definitely has a strange accent and a passion for cheesesteaks. His girlfriend is back home, and unlike Lee, they've been trying to stay together. I think that was really hard for Lee at first, but they've gotten to know each other pretty well, and they really get along. I'm really glad he's in town this weekend so I get to meet him.

Fortunately, (or unfortunately, since I won't get to meet them), some of Lee's friends have already left for the semester. Also, that since I wasn't allowed to stay in Lee's all-boy dorm, he'd made arrangements for me to stay in one of the girl dorms. I was bummed to not stay with Lee, considering we'd had sleepovers for years, but rules were rules, right? I was going to stay with his friend Carly, whose roommate Amanda had already left for break. Carly, Amanda, Steve and Lee had become pretty close, so it's nice to know that Lee's got a support system up here.

I got to campus around 5pm on Friday evening, in time for dinner with the group. Unlike my fancy dinner out with Noah's friends (you know, where I met Chloe), Lee and his friends were taking me to the dining hall on campus. This way, I got to see a little bit of what I was missing. The food was OK – it was kinda like food court style, with a few different options to choose from. Lee paid for my food with his campus card, since he was on a meal plan that he didn't really want anyway.

We were sitting and eating our food, and Carly was telling us this story about how Lee locked himself out of his dorm room one weekend night while Steve was away, and how he had to sleep in the dorm study lobby. And while she's telling this story, I can't help but notice that Lee has checked out of the conversation and is staring across the dining hall.  

I whispered to Carly asking if she knows who he's staring at, and she tells me that this is Lee's new trend.  He intentionally picks this table every time they're here, to stare at this mystery girl.  She doesn't know much about her, except for the fact that she's in Lee's psychology lecture class.  Lee refuses to talk to her, and doesn't even know her name. So... Maybe Lee IS trying to move on from Rachel. I wondered if there was anything I could do during my visit to help speed this along. 

I decided to take the long route to the trash cans to toss my food. That long route happened to pass by our mystery girl and her friends. I could hear them talking about a party they were headed to that night. Sounds like we have a party to go to ourselves now!

Carly and I got ready together, which was lots of fun.  She wasn't really a girly girl either, but she knew how to dress up.  She was asking me lots of questions about Lee, and Lee and Rachel, and if I thought they were done for good.  I said the same thing I told June, Lee needs to grow up  a little bit, and explore the world.  I'd be thrilled if they got back together, but for now, I want Lee to enjoy college life. Carly told me that theirbfriend group was trying to keep him busy and not to thin about Rachel. I have to say, it was fun getting all dressed up for a party.  It has been such a long time since I've done my hair and makeup for a party.  It was also nice to have another person my age to talk to other than Lee.

The party was downstairs at a restaurant that rented out the basement for college parties.  It was nothing fancy, but you actually needed a password to get in.  Fortunately, once Carly heard about the party, she was able to ask around and get enough details to get us in.  We met Lee and Steve on the corner outside, and went in together.  It was pretty dimly lit, but we could see there were two bars, a dancefloor and a small stage where a few drunk girls were singing karaoke.   Lee looked at me, and I knew that look - he was getting me on stage tonight regardless of what I said.  So, the 4 of us headed to the bar and grabbed a few beers (that fake ID I used in Boston still seems to be working for me!) and headed to the dancefloor.  

I hadn't talked to Lee much since dinner, so I hadn't pressed him too hard, but the girl he was checking out earlier walked in a few minutes after us.  I had hoped Lee had enough liquid courage to finally talk to her, but instead, he dragged me on stage to sing "Shut Up and Dance With Me" - which I finally had gotten out of my head from so much flash mob practice!  It was fun, sure, but I was ready for a break.  I sat down at the bar, intentionally next to Lee's new crush.  Carly and Steve were on the dance floor, and Lee went to use the rest room, so I was by myself for a few minutes.  

Thinking quickly, I turned to mystery girl, and said "Hey, are you in my Econ 101 class?"  (really hoping that the school had an Econ 101, and that she really WASN'T in it).  She responded saying that she wasn't, but she did recognize my friend from her psych class.  YAY - so she recognized Lee, this was a good start.  (Maybe not my lying, but hey, it seems to have done the trick).  She said she remembered him because he always sat in the front of the class doodling.  Uh oh - that might not be a good sign.  When Lee was in HS, he used to sit and doodle drawings of him and Rachel - I'm really hoping that he's not still doing that!  She followed that by saying that she caught him drawing pictures of buildings, and some looked really good, so she wondered if he was going into architecture.  She actually seemed really impressed by him.  I learned her name was Lisa, and she's from San Francisco, and since she lives so close to school, she actually commutes.  So, this was one of the few times she went to a party on campus.  

It turns out that she was a really sweet girl, actually seemed kinda similar in demeanor to Rachel.  Lee came back to find me, and I asked Lisa if she wanted to join us on the dance floor.  I properly introduced her and Lee, and promptly became a 5th wheel on the dancefloor - which was FINE with me.  I was just happy that Lee was happy.  

Lee asked Lisa for her number, and I was so proud of him.  They agreed that they'd try to get together after break, since Lee was headed home in just a few days, and Lisa was going out of town for the break.  I was glad that it seemed that Lee was moving on, and happy that I was able to be a part of it.  He promised me that he'd actually call her, and he kept his word.  

Hanging out with Lee and his friends for the next few days was tons of fun.  Even though the soccer season was over, Lee was able to get me a tour of the stadium that the team played at.  It was really cool to see the locker room and behind the scenes.  I hadn't really considered playing soccer in college, but maybe I would see if there were intramural teams once I started school.  That might be fun.  I really liked hanging out Carly and Steve too, and I was looking forward to meeting Carly's roommate Amanda. Carly doesn't live too far from us at home, so we're hoping to get together over their winter break.  

Lee had two finals left, and then we were headed back home.  I helped him study a bit, but he was more than prepared - however a little distracted now that he had Lisa's phone number in his phone.  I'm just glad I'm the one driving home...because Lee's head is definitely in the clouds!