Vanilla [DISCONTINUED]

2| Oh, Jess

Mariah's POV

"I don't know what the big deal is, Lucas! Just try and understand where I'm coming from!" I was woken up by the loud voice of my best friend, Jess. After reading the letter, I stressed myself out to sleep with the fact that I would never be able to look Scorpio in the eye ever again. "Grrr!" Jess walked into the room looking like a rabid dog and plopped onto my bed.

"What's wrong?" I sat up and started stroking her hair. My best friend needed someone right now. "Is it Lucas?"

Jess has been my best friend for the longest time ever. Since we were in pre-school, we were inseparable. We did everything together, even though we are polar opposites. While I was more of a goody-two-shoes, Jess was the definition of badass. She's done everything first. Drank first, smoked first, kissed first, lost her virginity first. I haven't done anything. Nope. My mother raised me to know that if I ever did anything I wasn't supposed to, she would beat my ass.

Now, Jess and I were part of a trio. The third person was Jess's boyfriend, Lucas. Oh, Lucas. Lucas was the first boy I ever loved. Back in my teen years, I followed the boy around like a lovesick puppy but I never showed my true feelings. That backfired for me because the very next year, Jess and Lucas got together and have been dating ever since. 5. Freaking. Years. But I got over it. There were many other boys to keep me company.

Anyway, back to Jess. "Yes. Look... this isn't the way I wanted to tell you but I'm moving."

"What?" I was caught off guard. "Why are you doing that?"

"I got a scholarship in Wales and I've gotta take it." She was crying. "You know I have to take it." I do know. Jess hadn't come from the best place. Her mother struggled to make ends meet because her rich father left them to fend for themselves. A scholarship was a once in a lifetime opportunity for her.

"I know."

"And I've gotta break up with Lucas."

Okay, is it bad that there's a deep, dark part of me that got happy, right now? "Oh."

She started ranting at me, getting off the bed. "He doesn't understand, Mariah. He doesn't. He's blaming me for breaking his heart. How could he?!"

"When are you leaving?" I asked in a soft voice.

Why did she look so guilty? "This weekend. Saturday night."

I gasped at this information. The one person other than my Mom who had been here for me all my life was now leaving. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Mariah. But I have to." She said.

"I'm gonna miss you but... okay."

"Let's just enjoy the rest of the time I've got left here, yeah?" She gave a hopeful smile.

I returned one back and got up to go shower. "Yeah. I'm gonna go shower now."

"That's a good idea. I stink too."

Since our university thought we were so comfortable with each other, we had to shower in a public bathroom. Yeah, I know. At least it was classy. All the fancy shmancy stuff made up for your gonads almost being in plain sight. It's a good thing the boys' side was separated from the girls' side by a wall, although a few immature ones tried to sneak a peek into our section. Why the board of the Uni thought having a unisex establishment was a good idea, I don't know? But not a lot of lines have been overstepped, making the arrangement somewhat peaceful. Other than the sleepless nights I had from the banging of the walls. I wonder what it is, really.

We went to the showers to find that the shower curtains had been taken out. Huh? "Now, how are we supposed to shower?" Jess voiced my thoughts with one hand on her hip.