A flashlight in the shadows.

chapter 49: Moving.

Before any questions are asked, let me explain myself. They encourage freshmen at Harvard to move into their dorms ASAP so that we can get to know the campus before classes begin. I wasn't going to stay at dads for the entire summer, so Bennett was going to help me move.
We were currently packing suitcases full of things for me to take with me. Jane was helping us while dad was talking in my ear.
"I can't believe it. My little girl is all grown up." A few tears left his eyes. I sniffled and hugged him.
"Its ok dad, I'll be ok." He nodded and pulled away.
"I know you will, baby." He told me. I smiled and kissed his cheek. We set the final bags in Bennett's car and started down the street. Bennett sighed.
"I didn't know there was that much stuff in your room." He said. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, shut up. I bet you have more stuff than me."
"Nu-uh!"
"Ahuh."
"Nope, I sure don't!" I punched his arm lightly and sighed.
"How long until we get there?" I asked him. He smirked and replied,
"About three hours." I groaned and hit my head on the back of my seat.
"What do we do for three hours?!?" I exclaimed. He shrugged and sighed.
"What side job are you going to get?" He asked. I thought for a few moments and then said,
"I guess I'll be a waitress." He groaned.
"Thats too cliche. Do something else." He told me. I smirked and flipped some hair from my face.
"Well, what do you suggest?" He bit his lip and smirked wide.
"Exotic dancing." I broke out laughing and shook my head.
"Hell no!"
"Why not?!" He asked, laughing. I rolled my eyes and patted my stomach.
"Because I jiggle." I pouted and looked at my fat. He rolled his eyes.
"No you don't. I mean, your breasts, maybe." My eyes widened and I punched him hard in the arm. He laughed and then yelled when I hit him.
"Oww! What was that for?!?"
"Your being a perv, that's what!" I laughed at him. He laughed.
"At least I'm a funny perv." He smiled over at me. I rolled my eyes.
"What are you gonna do for a side job?" I questioned. He smiled and said,
"I think I want to be a bartender."
"Dont you have to be 21 for that?" I asked. He shook his head.
"No, you just have to be good with people." I pretended to be mad and stated,
"I bet you'll take advantage of some drunk girl that goes to your bar." I pouted. He frowned and chuckled.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be just itching to hook up with some random STD ridden girl with slobber and throw up everywhere."
"Maybe," I joked. He laughed and shook his head. Then he told me,
"Thats nothing. I bet some smart dude will tip you extra and scribble his number on the receipt for you to take. The next thing I know, you'll call me and break up because some fritzy guy is into you." He smiled. I frowned.
"Fritzy, Bennett?" He shrugged.
"Hey, I tried." We laughed and talked about college and our expectations until we passed the sign; 'Cambridge.' A silence over came us as we pulled into a parking lot that sat in front of the administration building. It was a brick building with beautiful windows and architecture. Bennett got out of the car and we walked inside together. The room was smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still very nice. Victorian style furniture adorned the room while natural light let itself in. A big woman with a long nose sat behind the desk, typing on a computer. I walked up and greeted her.
"Hello." She looked up and smiled with openness.
"Hello, May I help you?" Her voice was high pitch. I smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I'm Sarah Appleton. I called a few days ago to confirm that I was moving into a dormitory?" She looked on the computer and typed through the files.
"Appleton....Sarah...yes, I have your room number and keys right here." She pulled out a big metal key and gave it to me.
"Here you are, is there anything else?" I shook my head.
"No ma'am, thank you."
"You are quite welcome." She went back to her typing. Bennett and I looked at my paper.
"Ok, where is it?" I looked.
"Hmm....building c12, room 126." We hopped back in the car and drove to the various buildings.
"C12, c12, c12..."
"Over there!" Bennett called out, pulling up to a small brown brick building. Students sat on the steps and around the building, socializing. Bennett turned off the ignition and popped the trunk, walking to my side of the car and opening it for me. I giggled and got out.
"Thank you squire."
"Mmm, you're quite welcome, m'lady." He said in a weird accent. I rolled my eyes and went to the trunk.
"Grab some shit and let's go."
"Yes, madam." He said, smiling and grabbing one of five suitcases. We walked into the dormitory and were greeted by a long empty hallway. We looked at all the doors until we found mine on the second floor on the end of the hall. I opened the door and we walked into a room the size of a master bedroom that had a bathroom and two beds with bedtables next to them. The walls were plain, and the carpet was tan. I smiled and sighed.
"Ahh...college life."
"I'm glad I'm getting an apartment," Bennett stated. I turned around and jabbed him in the shoulder.
"Shut up and let's start unpacking." We brought all of my suit cases to the dorm and threw them on the bed. Once they were all in the dorm room, we went back down to the car. We had decided to buy a dresser once we got to Cambridge and then bring it to the dorm. We started off to the nearest furniture store, which was called 'Comfort.' We walked to the dresser section and looked around.
"What about this one?" Bennett asked, pointing to an oak vanity. I shook my head.
"No, we need something smaller."
"This one?"
"No! That's not going to fit in the room!" He rolled his eyes.
"Ok....how about this one?" He pointed to a white dresser that was tall and had eight drawers. I smiled.
"Perfect. How much?"
"$50." He replied. I nodded,
"Ok." We bought it and tried lifting it on our own. I grabbed it from the bottom while he tried the top.
"Oh my god. This is freaking heavy."
"Ugh, how are we gonna get this up the stairs?" He asked me. We got it to the door before somebody offered to help us. Once it was in the car, we hopped in and Bennett asked,
"So, hungry?"
"Yes." I replied. He nodded and we started off.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked me. I chewed on my lip.
"Somewhere with food."
"Wow, that narrows it down." He laughed. I rolled my eyes,
"Fine, let's go to Taco bell." I exclaimed. He smiled,
"Book thief, you know how tacos make you gassy." He looked over for my reaction. I rolled my eyes and retorted,
"Bennett, you know how tacos make your dick smaller."
"Ouch," then he smirked and replied, "how would you know?" I punched his arm and giggled. We parked the car and headed inside. A small girl with pink cheeks and freckles smiled at us.
"Hello, what would you like?" I ordered my food first.
"I'd like two tacos and those potatoes things, please."
"Sour cream?"
"No thank you." She typed it on the register. After she'd finished that, she smiled at Bennett.
"And you sir?" He smiled at me and spoke his order in French. She frowned.
"Um, I'm sorry, what would he like?" She looked at me. I elbowed him in the ribs.
"Bennett, cut the crap and order." He spoke again in French. I looked at him,
"Dont mess with me, I'm hungry." He spoke it again in French. She smiled patiently.
"What would he like?" I turned to her and smiled.
"He'd like a salad with no meat." Bennett stopped smiling and pushed me a little. She clicked it on the register,
"That'll be $7.98 please." I paid and we stood to the side, waiting. He looked down at me,
"You're a cruel, cruel woman." I smirked.
"That's what you get for not ordering in English. Now you get to eat a salad while I eat tacos and potato thingys." I laughed at him. He frowned,
"Potato thingys?" I shrugged and giggled. They called our order and we went to a booth in the corner by a big window. It started sprinkling a little bit.
"I love the rain." I stated, taking a bite of my potatoes. He smiled.
"I loved staring at the rain in France. It made everything more majestic." He smiled and took a grudging bite of salad. I smiled and looked at him.
"Your memories make the best story starters." I handed him one of my tacos. He smiled and took it.
"Thanks." I frowned.
"What, that's it?" I asked. He frowned.
"What?" I smiled and said,
"I love two things, food and sleep. If I give you my food or stay up to talk with you, then you mean a lot to me." I took another bite of my potatoes. He smiled.
"Ok, book thief. Thanks for the taco." He took a bite and sighed. I sat up and asked,
"Did you ever end up reading that book?" He swallowed and nodded.
"Yes, I did." He replied. I leaned on my elbows and asked,
"What did you think of the story overall?" I ate some of my delicious taco. He stopped eating and thought for a moment.
"It was a well balanced book, I think." I nodded. That was definitely an accurate description. He smiled and said,
"I have to use the bathroom, I'll be right back."
"Yeah, like you're going to climb out the window and leave me here." He got up and shrugged.
"Maybe, you'll just have to see." He walked to the bathroom, leaving me alone at the table. A group of college aged boys came in, laughing and shouting.
"And then she was all like, 'holy shit, how does one person poses that-"
"Hey!" One of the boys socked the one who was talking in the chest, silencing him. All the others stopped and frowned at him,
"What?" He smiled at them and nodded in my direction. They all looked over and smirked at me. My heart rate quickened, but I didn't make eye contact, I pretended to be doing something on my phone. That didn't stop them from walking over and introducing themselves. The one who had hit the one guy in the chest smiled and sat down across from me.
"Hi, I'm Jim." I looked up from my phone and frowned at him.
"Hi."
"These are my friends, Fred, Garrett, Tim and Joey." I looked up at them.
"Hi." They all laughed slightly. They all sat down in the booth. Two on Jim's side and two on mine. They squished me against the window. I sighed,
"What are you doing?"
"What's your name?" The guy who'd been hit in the chest asked. He sat right next to me and he smelled like someone had sprayed him with five gallons of axe. I suppressed the urge to cough and replied,
"Sarah." Jim smiled greasily at me and repeated.
"Sarah, that's a nice name." All the smiling I was getting from them was beginning to scare me. It was like being surrounded by five Cheshire cats. I gave them a small smile.
"Thanks, I guess?" They all laughed and the guy at Jim's side asked,
"You ain't from around here, are ya?" Even though he was across the table from me, I could tell he was drunk. I shook my head.
"No, I'm not." Jim smirked.
"Well, we got a car outside, we can show you around," the guy sitting next to me slipped a hand on my lap and squeezed a little. I squirmed.
"Uh, no thanks, I'm good." I batted his hand away. Jim chuckled,
"Why not? Got a boyfriend?"
"Yes, she does." I heard Bennett say. They all turned to see where the voice had come from. When they all saw Bennett leaning up against the nearby pole, they all chuckled and got up. Jim walked in front of them towards Bennett.
"You're her boyfriend?" He smirked cockily at Bennett, who kept his serious expression.
"That's what I said, isn't it?" He stated. Jim took another step closer,
"Oh, smart guy, huh?" All the guys crowded around him, scaring me out of my wits. Bennett smirked and replied,
"What, can't you speak english? Apparently not, so let me spell it out for you in French..." He spoke fluent French for two minutes. Now, French didn't teach me that much, but it taught me enough to know that he was not saying nice words. After he finished, he smirked at them.
"Do you get it?" Jim nodded.
"I get it. You don't know what's going to happen, here. Ok, let me tell you. We're going to beat the shit outta you. And while you're in the hospital, we'll be having a good ole' time with your bitch, back there." Bennett's face got red with rage and he got in Jim's face.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me-"
"No, say it again, c'mon." I was terrified along with the staff at this point. Jim smirked.
"I said, we'll be having a good ole time with your bitc-" put he didn't finished the word before Bennett had used his leg to swipe all of their legs from under them and sending them all flying to the ground. He kicked one guy in the balls and punched Jim in the nose, creating a loud SNAP! He then took a nearby mop and whapped three of them in the face, knocking one of them out. He kicked the other two on the arm and made more loud SNAPS! All of them were crying in pain. Bennett took Jim by the hair and picked him up so he could whisper in his ear,
"You can talk about me any way you'd like, but say one more thing about her, and I'll kill you." He then pushed Jim's face into the ground and came over to me, helping me up.
"Cmom, we have to go." I nodded and we walked past the stunned staff to the car. Once we had drove to the dorm, we were laughing.
"Oh-oh my god, that was awesome!" He laughed. Once we had calmed down enough, we started bringing the dresser up the stairs to the dorm. We set it at the end of my bed and sat down to take a breather.
"Holy crap that thing weighs a ton," I stated, out of breath.
"Yeah, but it's nice." He replied. I giggled and laid my head on his shoulder.
"I'm really going to miss you." He laid his head on mine and intertwined our fingers.
"I'll miss you more." He stated. I smirked and closed my eyes.
"I'm gonna miss your smart remarks." He chuckled.
"I'll miss you laughing to them."
"I'll miss your face when you write poetry."
"I'll miss your homework face," he laughed. Then, I smiled and said,
"I'll miss your kiss."
"Hey, that rhymed!" He exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and punched his arm.
"Stupid." He chuckled slightly and smiled at me.
"How about one for the road, then?" He asked. I smiled and leaned in, kissing him gently on the lips. He kissed back, holding my cheek in one hand like he always does. He made my spine tingle and I smiled in the kiss. When he pulled away, he leaned his head on my forehead.
"I'll miss you." Then, he got up and left me in my dorm, at Harvard.

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Enjoy the next chapter because it's the last one, bye!!!:3