Four letter word

34. The break.

It had been two weeks after the talk between Lindsey and AJ. Finals were starting after the weekend and no one had time to think about anything else. Except Lindsey, who had practically started stalking Riley. Eyeing her in the dining room at nights or in the hallways and even in their dorm. They weren't talking much anymore, which was highly unsettling for Lindsey. Although Riley seemed completely oblivious to what was going on and was continuing her life as if nothing had happened. She was spending most of the time with Dana as the girl had insisted on studying together. No one knew if they actually meant studying or 'studying'.

AJ seemed normal too... well... as normal as it got for AJ. She was still running out of the dorm with a bag full of books and coming back with even more books and her side of the room was messier than usual. Notes everywhere and pieces of papers taped to the walls, filled with more noted. She was too occupied to worry about anything else, and she hadn't noticed the energy between her and Lindsey shift.

The only person who felt awkward about the whole situation was in fact Lindsey. Everyone else seemed completely normal and it wasn't making things easier for her. She felt so out of place. She didn't know how to act anymore. And everyone else was so busy... too busy. No one had time to even glance at her and it was driving her insane. She felt completely alone and she wished someone would notice, but there was no one there.

So she tried to do what AJ was doing and drowned herself in distractions. Practicing even more, going on more runs, working out whenever she got the chance, even opening a book to study and get ready for the finals. She didn't know if she could ask AJ for help with studying. She didn't know what the terms of their new relationship or friendship was. AJ hadn't been very clear about that. All she knew was that she had to figure out how she felt about Riley. And the fact that Riley was nowhere to be seen most of the time wasn't really making things easier.

Currently, Lindsey was running down the hall, her shoes tapping on the stone ground as she hurried to make it to the early morning lecture. ...she was already late when her phone started ringing and she tried to grab it from her backpack, not looking where she was going and BAM!

She crushed into someone, making them drop their notebooks and a pen.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry!" Lindsey said and dropped to the ground, starting to pick up the notebooks. The other person didn't kneel down and just waiting for Lindsey to hand her her stuff.

"You know, running's a lot easier when you're looking at the road in front of you" the girl said with a bored and slightly annoyed tone. Lindsey recognised that voice. Damn it.

"Hey, Dana" she said as she looked up at the girl. Dana sighed and waved at her, looking even more annoyed.

"Look, I'm sorry. My phone started ringing and I was trying to find it in my backpack and then I crushed into you" Lindsey explained and stood up, handing Dana her stuff. Her phone had stopped ringing and Lin thought it was best to check who it was later.

"Lucky me" she rolled her eyes, "where were you going?"

"Oh, I have an early lecture in Mr. White's class" she answered.

"Great. That's where I was headed. Though now I might need to go to the nurse's office instead" Dana spoke in a dry tone. Lindsey sighed,

"Don't be dramatic. You're fine. You wanna walk to class together?" She offered.

"If you carry my books, sure" Dana said and shoved all of her books and notebooks into Lindsey arms before the girl could answer and turned towards were the lecture hall was located, storming off. Lindsey hurried behind her, trying to carry the heavy pile of books along with her backpack. Her phone started ringing again, but there was no way she could answer it now, so she decided to see who it was in class.