Tell Me What You Hate About Me

1: A Solid Investment

For the first time in my nineteen years, I had convinced one person to legitimately like me as a person, but if I was reading the signs correctly, it seemed that I put that achievement in jeopardy.

"All I'm asking is for you to be there. You were pretty much our first actual fan, so it really means a lot when you're there for us," Jack looked down at me. "Please?"

I had always assumed Jack was short for Lumberjack. Ever since I met him my freshman year at one of his gigs with his band, he towered over everyone else like a tree, had a wide Leprechaun beard that didn't suit his round face, and would have never been caught dead in anything besides a plaid flannel and jeans. But apparently, it was a nickname for John.

"I'm expecting something to come for me today. It's kind of important, and it will be occupying quite a bit of my time for the time being," I said.

"Is this about the money? Maybe it got lost in the mail, or maybe your parents just honestly forgot about it," Jack said.

I waved my hand. "Don't kid yourself, Jack. I know they're not happy with me, but I'm still their daughter. They're just trying to scare me a little, and we're three weeks into the semester, so how much longer are they going to make me suffer?"

He hesitated. "Well, there's a lot of things that are kind of upsetting about that statement, I'm not gonna lie."

We headed into our dorm building, where plants filled the hopeless void of a lobby. I never really spent much time in there, especially with how much people liked to strike up stupid conversations. No, I didn't care to hear about your new boyfriend, Emily. He was probably stupid and ugly anyway, and when you found out that he was cheating on you, I also didn't care.

"Lindsay, you have another package here for you," Debbie, the dorm supervisor said as Jack and I walked past. She handed me a box from Amazon over the counter. "Considering you're behind on your room and board payments, I really think you should stop buying so many things online."

"Look, that's not my fault. I'm waiting on a check from my parents, and then I'll pay it all. It can't be that much longer until the money is in my hands, and then it'll be in yours," I said.

Debbie shook her head but didn't say anything else. It wasn't the first time we had that conversation, and we both knew it wouldn't be the last.

Just another reason to avoid the lobby.

I smiled and picked the box up off the counter, but it was quite a bit heavier than I was expecting.

"What did you buy this time, Lindsay?" Jack asked.

"It's a metal detector. Isn't that super excellent?"

"Well, yeah, it's cool, but when are you going to use it? You're in class most of the time anyway."

"I'm not in class now, am I?" I smiled. "ASL sucks anyway. The real question is when am I ever going to use that?"

"Oh, I don't know, if you ever meet a person who's deaf."

Sure, but so far, I didn't know anyone.

"And besides, it only detects metal, but there are so many other cool things that you can find in the ground," Jack continued.

"What, like rocks?" I asked. I unlocked the door to my dorm, and the two of us headed inside.

He nodded. "Exactly. There are all sorts of different types here, and I think if you gave them a chance, you'd really enjoy it."

I chuckled to myself and set the box down on the floor. Fortunately, my roommate wasn't there; otherwise, she would have been upset that I even dared to put something on her half of the room, but what could she do besides whine to Debbie?