Late Nights & City Lights (Connor Franta / O2L)

Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

My feet pounded against the hard surface of the gym’s track.  I rounded the last corner and the imaginary finish line came into view.  Shakira blasted through the gym’s speakers as I crossed the line.  I slowed myself down and came to a full stop, doubling over to catch my breath.

“You’re out of shape,” Taylor teased me as she completed her extra lap.

“Out of practice,” I corrected her, “not out of shape.”

“All right, whatever you say, lazy ass.”  Taylor rolled her eyes.

“Shut up.”  Grinning, I whipped my towel at her.  I opened my water bottle and took a long drink as Taylor pulled out her phone.

“Oh, didn’t you have that Skype date today?”

I smacked my forehead.  “I almost forgot about that!  Thanks for reminding me!”

“What time did you want to go back?” she asked.

“What time is it?”

“Almost four.”

“Shit,” I said.  “We’d better go.”

The two of us packed up our things and left the gym.  As we walked back across campus, the cool October breeze picked up, fallen leaves dancing around our feet.  We arrived at Sheldon Court and entered into the sparsely-furnished lobby and headed up the stairs to the third floor where we lived.

Several doors along our hallway were open as we passed.  The corridor was filled with music, laughter, and random bangs that didn’t sound pleasant.  My room was at the very end of the hall and I unlocked the door and headed inside.  Taylor darted across the hall to her room to drop off her things and change.

While she was gone, I quickly took my hair out of its ponytail and ran my fingers through it, hoping to tame the wildness.  I ran down the hall to the bathroom and washed my face, my cheeks bright red from my workout.  My curls were frizzy and my baby hairs stuck out in odd places.  Grumbling, I wet down the strands, hoping to improve my appearance slightly for my Skype date.

“Allison?”  I heard Taylor’s voice from the hall.

“Coming!” I called back.  Figuring it wouldn’t get any better than this, I turned off the tap and hurried back to my room.  Taylor was laying on my bed, her feet up on the wall.  I sat at my desk and opened my laptop, waiting eagerly for a call to come in.

“I can’t believe you almost forgot about this,” Taylor remarked as she scrolled through her Twitter newsfeed on her phone.  “Literally, this boy is all you’ve been able to talk about since you got back from California.  He had better be as cute as you said he is.”

“He is, don’t worry.”  I nervously played with my hair again, hoping it would flatten a bit.  This was the first time I was going to see his face in over two months…

A popup appeared on my screen with an incoming call and I screamed, the ringtone scaring me.  Taylor screamed in reaction to my scream.

“Answer it!”

I clicked the green accept button and my face broke out into a huge grin as the video chat kicked in.

“Hey, Allison!  It’s been forever!”

“Tell me about it!  You look great.”

“Let me see his face,” Taylor demanded.  She pushed me aside and perched herself on the edge of my chair.  “Ooh, he is a cutie!”