Holding Onto Nothing

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Ronnie!” A high pitched squeal comes from behind me.

I spin around to see Kelly smiling brightly at me. She runs up to me and squeezes me tightly in her arms, “Hey, Kel!”

She let me go and I smile at her. “I can’t believe it! We’re finally here!” She squeaks.

“Yeah,” I look at the giant college. It looks so grand. I feel excitement and fear rushing through my body. I wonder how Kelly feels. “Isn’t it scary?”

“Well…” She looks at the building too. “Sort of, but also in an exciting way. I’m so eager to start.”

“I’m not. I want as much free time with Reagan as I can possibly get.” I shake my head.

“Oh, yeah, I wanna spend time with Matt, too.” She agrees.

I look away from the college, towards the entrance and exit. Matt is walking towards us.

“Speak of the devil.” I laugh as he approaches.

“What?” He places a hand over his heart, “Where?” He looks around as if expecting to see the devil.

“You know what she meant.” Kelly grabs his hand and squeezes it. “We were talking about you.”

“Yeah, I know. What were you saying?” He asks.

“Just that I wanted to spend time with you and she wants to spend time with Reagan.” Kelly shrugs.

“Yeah, I wanna spend time with you, too, baby.” He smiles at her. She giggles.

“Now I see how awkward it must be for people around Reagan and me.” I smile.

“Oh, trust me,” Kelly looks into my eyes. “You and Reagan are much, MUCH, worse.”

I laugh, “Sure.”

“It’s true.” She grins.

“I know.” I hang my head. “But I’m not ashamed.” I lift my chin back up.

“Ronnie!” I hear Nat’s voice call my name. I look around for him and he approaches quickly.

“Who’s this?” Kelly looks Nat over.

“This is Nat. I just met him today.” I introduce him. “Did you find your dorm?”

“Yeah, Reagan and I are roommates.” He nods.

“Oh, that’s cool. So I can see you every time I go to see him.” I smile. “Less work for me, I like it.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll see you.” Nat walks away.

“I hope you and I are sharing a dorm.” Kelly cuts back into the conversation.

“Yeah, me too,” I agree.

“What’s your dorm number?” She asks me.

“Uh,” I pull the key from my pocket and look at the number engraved on it, “Dorm #317.”

“Oh, I have dorm #315.” She sighs, disappointed.

Matt chuckles softly. “I’m gonna go see about my dorm.”

“Okay,” Kelly and I reply simultaneously.

He walks away. “Well we can go see our dorms.”

“Let’s,” I agree.

…

We walk into Kelly’s dorm. Her bedroom walls are covered with pink and white stripes that go all around. Her comforter, sheets and pillows are all pink, but the pillows have white polka dots or stripes on them. Her room is perfect for her, but I can’t stand all this pink.