Before Her Eyes

Chapter 13

"You know you could apply?" Hunter said as she closed her textbook.

She had asked me to come to her school library with her study and I agreed so I could get out of the house for a little while. Since visiting she's been doing most of her studying in Las Fort because it was pointless to drive an hour just for a study session, but today she wanted a change of scenery.

"Apply?"

"Here, at ECU."

I knew what she meant, I just never thought about applying. Like I said, I didn't think college was in my cards. Dana always told me that college would be pointless because she had enough money saved up for us to live comfortably and always reiterated that fact that she didn't like the idea of me leaving. Somewhere along the line, I accepted what she said even if I didn't agree. I guess I was afraid of leaving her even though I wanted to get away so often.

If I had the chance, I think I'd probably study psychology. It wasn't simple, it was complex and hard to understand, yet fascinating and rewarding when you were able to piece together a few pieces out of the thousands of other ones that you'd most likely be able to never put together because soon you'd find out there were dozens more.

I always wanted to understand how things led from one point of another, why our brains were able to do things without us realizing, or how we could just erase things from our memory as if it never happened. I also found myself deep into psychological topics such as nature vs. nurture when I wasn't watching horror movies. The mind reminded me much of the ocean. Beautiful, dark, and seemingly endless in depth.

"I wish....." I shook my head.

"It doesn't hurt to try. Just apply if that's what you really want," she shrugged.

"Can we change the subject?" I asked. Hunter furrowed her eyebrows but nodded in agreement.

I didn't want to sound rude, but I didn't like to think too much about the stuff I knew I'd never be able to do. I've already accepted the fact that I'd probably be in Las Fort, living with Dana for the rest of my life, sneaking out every now and then to do something I actually enjoyed.

"So....." She trailed off, and I rolled my eyes. What is she up to now?

"I was invited to hang out on a yacht...." She said and then looked away and broke into a small smile.

"A WHAT?!" I said loudly, which earned me a few shushes and a few glares from the students that were trying to study in the library.

"Sorry," I whispered, quickly darting my eyes to everyone, and smiled apologetically. I returned my attention back towards Hunter, only to find her unable to catch her breath from behind her textbook.

"Are you ok?" I furrowed my brows. She nodded her head and finally let out the end of her laugh. Now, we were both laughing uncontrollably. Even more glares were sent after our hysterical laughing contest.

Once we caught our breaths, I repeated, "A yacht?" Only this time, softer.

"Mhm, River invited me," She trailed off, looking away from me and began to suddenly find the table more interesting.

"River? As in the obnoxious best friend River?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. One day, she said she found him annoying, and now she's blushing like crazy. If she's happy, I'm happy, but I was definitely missing some pieces to this puzzle.

"That's the one," She slowly nodded and gave me a small smile.

"I thought you didn't like him and found him annoying," I poked at her.

"I don't, and he is."

"So you're not going?" I furrowed my brows.

"I am."