"I need space." Those were the words Jacky said to Ryan the night before they both left for separate colleges. Now, each of them will try to learn who they are without the other. Will their paths lead them back together?
"Rose totally let Jack die," Harper added from the couch, then savagely ripped a bit out of a pizza crust. Behind her, Charlie was massaging Harper's shoulders. Ryan felt a tiny stab of jealousy.
"She gets it," Van said pointedly.
Grimacing, Ryan said, "I don't think I've ever seen Titanic."
Everyone in the room cried out with disbelief.
"What?"
"Are you serious?"
"Did you grow up in a cave?"
"We're watching it. We're watching it right now."
Ryan managed to grab another slice of pizza before being dragged over to the couch. "How long is this movie?" Ryan asked.
"It's only, like, three hours," Jordan said, pressing play.
Ryan sighed.
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About three weeks in, the homesickness hit.
Jacky just wanted his own bed, at his own house, where it smelled normal and not like Billy's cologne mixed with old socks (which, to be fair, were probably from his own laundry basket). He wanted his mom to cook him some healthy vegetarian meal and have her overly concerned about his protein intake, instead of the queasy feeling he was getting now walking into the dining hall every morning, like he knew everything he was eating was terrible for him but was unable to pick anything that looked remotely healthy. He wanted Cody to randomly text him to go out to his camper and smoke weed.
He wanted to wake up with Ryan's arms around him.
Jacky called his mom, as he had been doing once a week. She asked him all kinds of questions about college life that let him avoid telling her about all the drinking he had been doing. "Two more weeks and you'll be back home for Columbus Day!" she trilled before hanging up. "I'm going to make your favorite – spinach lasagna!"
After hanging up, Jacky sat in the dimness of his dorm room, a soft orange glow from the twinkle lights Billy had put up on his side of the room. He tried calling Cody, but didn't get an answer. He supposed Cody was probably working. He didn't know who else to call. On social media, everyone seemed to be having a blast at college. Jacky hadn't posted anything. He didn't feel like he'd made a bunch of amazing new friends. His friendship with Braedyn was still so new and uncertain, and while the faces of the people in his hall were familiar, none of them felt like true friends just yet.
Ryan also hadn't posted anything, but Ryan was always private about his social media accounts. In high school Ryan had been terrified that someone was going to post a picture of him drunk and he'd lose any shot at a scholarship, or get consequences at the group home.
Jacky pulled up his last message to Ryan in Snapchat. That had been so long ago, and he'd been the last one to respond. He couldn't be the first one to respond this time.
