The Space Between Us

Chapter 9 ~ Crush

---Holly's POV---

I finished my morning class, got my lunch, and went straight to the science rooftop. I needed to decompress and see my friends again.

James was there, and Alice hadn't arrived yet. Perfect.

"James!" I greeted, sitting across from him on the picnic table.

He smiled. His curly brown hair looked extra cute today. "Hey, Holly." He sipped his water.

"Do you like Alice?"

James choked and had to cough a few times. Should I have been less blunt?

"What?"

"Do you like Alice?"

James glanced around with wide eyes as though Alice was going to pop out of the flower bush.

"...How did you know?"

"I wish I had noticed before," I said with a shrug. "You get so happy to be around her, and you got jealous when she went on about her crush on River."

"Yeah..." he said awkwardly, though he gave a small smile. "I wonder if she feels the same..."

"Don't worry. If she doesn't yet, I'll make sure she does," I said.

"What?!"

Alice came stomping up the stairs at that second, so I couldn't explain myself, but I was determined to get my friends together. If Alice wanted to, of course.

"Hey guys!" said Alice, sitting next to me with her usual smile on her face. James's face grew red, and I knew he was thinking of our conversation.

"You're cheery today," I commented.

"Yeah, it's the middle of the week! So how is sleeping at your new place? Is it weird to be alone?"

Alone... I wished. "I had to get used to all the new white noises of the place, but it was fine. I brought home some baked goods, so I was happy."

"Ooh, yum. Maybe we can come over later today after classes?"

I froze. My mind was made up at that moment: I couldn't tell them about River. At least, not yet. I couldn't quite explain why they couldn't know, but maybe the less they knew, the better.

"A-actually, I have a lot of homework and a project to do..." I said sheepishly. I had to get better at lying if I wanted to keep this up.

"No problem! But I do wanna visit," said Alice, taking up on my lie.

"And I haven't been yet, so I'd love to see it, too," said James.

"Yeah, maybe this weekend," I offered.

If I put away River's stuff, maybe they could come over when he had a game... Were his games even on Saturday? I guess I needed his schedule.

The rest of the lunch passed smoothly, and all mentions of River were avoided. James talked more than usual, and I definitely saw the signs of his crush on Alice. Why hadn't I seen it before? Sometimes I was so oblivious to certain things that it troubled me.

Wednesday moved right along. I had never cared about the soccer players before, but now that I was living with one, I saw them everywhere: in the cafeteria, in the hallways in a group, and even wandering on the lawn after classes.

Thankfully, I didn't see River, and it wasn't like I had to interact with any of his teammates. I didn't before, so I wouldn't now; nothing had changed.

Except that I lived with their star player.

I was walking across the lawn with Alice after our classes when I heard my name.

"Holly Turner?"

I turned and saw the lovely face of Mrs. Yale, the head of the art department and one of my favorite people on campus. She had a pencil behind her ear and pink hair today.

"Hi Mrs. Yale," I greeted.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Mrs. Yale.

Alice gave me a look that said ooh, you're busted and left to give us space.

Mrs. Yale cleared her throat.

"I'm glad I caught you here. I sent you an email but you must not have seen it..."

"You're scaring me," I said, half-joking.

"It appears that you never took Digital Art I."

My jaw dropped. "W-what? The freshman class?"

"Yes. I was looking at your DCP today, and you skipped to Digital Art II during your freshman year," explained Mrs. Yale carefully. "To graduate, you need to take Digital Art I. I believe you can fit it into your schedule easily this semester, but that would bring you to 18 credits, if you're okay with that."

"I have to though, right? To graduate?" I asked. I bit my lip. What else could go wrong this year?

"Yes, I'm afraid so," said Mrs. Yale, studying my face with a sad expression of her own. "I can sign you up since Professor Kindler's class has a few spots open. I already checked; it fits into your schedule."

"When would it be?"

"Mondays and Fridays at 10 a.m."

I nodded. "Okay, that works." I took a deep breath. "Thank you for helping me with this."

"I'm glad I caught it," said Mrs. Yale. "I'll sign you up and send you the details so that you can show up at the right place tomorrow. You've only missed one class so far, so that's a good thing!"

"Right..." I said, trying and failing to hide my misery.

"Sorry again. At least it will be an easy class!"

"You're right. Thank you."

"Of course." And with that, Mrs. Yale left me standing alone on the lawn.

Alice approached me slowly, carefully, after lurking a few feet away.

"So... what was that about? Because you do not look good right now."

I stared at the art building in the distance, still half in shock.

"I have to take Digital Art I to graduate."

"What?!" cried Alice, properly freaking out dramatically for me. "That's insane! You're about to graduate, and they want you to take a freshman class?"

I sighed, fully accepting my fate at this point. "It can't be helped. I'm just glad that Mrs. Yale saw that I apparently skipped it freshman year. It'll be easy, at least."

"True. Plus, you'll be the best artist in the class since you have an additional two years of art classes ahead of them," said Alice with a sneaky grin.

I smiled a bit. "Yeah, I suppose. They've only had one class, so it won't be too awkward when I start on Friday."

"You'll be fine," agreed Alice. "Now, how about we get some milkshakes to end this day on a good note?"

My smile widened. "I'd love to."

"Great!"

Alice and I went to a small ice cream food truck near campus as the sun began to set. The permanent ice cream trailer was a popular spot for college students, but on this early Wednesday evening, we were only accompanied by a few other small groups of students. We both liked it that way. The fewer crowds, the better. It let me relax and talk more freely to Alice than if I had to worry about the people around me.

And, it let me forget River Alves for a bit.