Melissa laughed. “Are they alike at all?”
“They have a lot of the same features. But they’re very different personality wise. James is always so reserved. But Rob just says whatever comes into his head and is really open and friendly.”
“So, he’s super sexy too?”
I laughed. “He’s good looking, yes.”
“Where are they tonight?”
“I don’t really know. James said they had some things to do or something. He was kind of secretive about it.”
“Weird. What do you think he’s doing?”
“I have no idea.”
“Maybe it’s something romantic.”
“I don’t know why he would have taken Rob and Brendan with him instead of me then.”
“Wait, Brendan, Brendan? The guy you made out with while you were stalking James? Why are they hanging out? That’s so awkward.”
“Yeah. Rob befriended him. I thought it would be weird. But the three of them seem to get along really well.”
“I think I want to start hanging out at your new place more often,” Melissa said. “It’s like an eligible bachelor sausage fest.” She got off my bed and began to do her makeup.
I laughed. “Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”
“That sounds ominous. Are you actually here to just get the rest of your stuff?” She smiled at me.
“No. That’s not it. It’s just been a lot harder than I thought around campus.”
“Yeah, I know.” She paused in her mascara application “There are a lot of rumors going around. Whenever I hear someone say anything, I always defend you. I’ve started to hate girls in general.”
I laughed. “Me too. But it’s more than that. It’s my professors too. They… well they’re… it’s just really hard.” I didn’t need anyone else beating up Professor McCarty.
“I’m sorry, Penny. I did kind of warn you that would happen though.”
“I know.” Melissa loved being right. But she wasn’t going to like what I told her next. “But it’s just too much. I think I’m going to take the rest of the semester off.”
“What? But the semester’s halfway over already. Last time we talked you said you were going to finish. You even said you’d finish Comm, which I thought was crazy. Lucky for you, you just get an automatic A for shagging the professor.”
I laughed. “I didn’t get an A. I had to withdraw from Comm.”
“I thought everyone was getting an A in James’ classes?”
“Everyone except for me. It was my fault too.”
“Sorry, Penny. That really sucks. But you can take it again next semester. There’s no reason to drop all your classes. That’s insane. Why would you want to just retake all the same things next semester?”
“I’m actually not sure I want to take classes here next semester either.”
Melissa put down her eyeliner. “What are you talking about?”
“I can’t handle all of this…”
“Penny, you can’t just drop out of college. You don’t want to be a college drop out! You don’t want to be one of those girls who finds her dream guy and just forgets how to have her own life. You’re being ridiculous. This isn’t the sixties.”
“I’m not going to drop out of college. I’m just going to transfer to a different one.”
Melissa looked even more upset. “You can’t leave.”
“I’m thinking about going to NYCU. It’s only two and a half hours away. We can still visit each other all the time.”
“You’re moving to New York? Penny, I’m sorry, I can’t just say nothing about this. You barely even know James. You can’t just up and move because he wants to.”
“It was my idea.”
“But why? Just because a few people are saying stupid stuff? Who cares. Just ignore them. You shouldn’t run away and hide from your problems.”
“It’s not just a few people. It’s everyone. The whole campus hates me.”
“That’s not true. I’m sure the people who weren’t doing well in James’ classes love you.”
“I can’t go to class anymore. I just can’t do it.”
“Why? I don’t understand. Austin made you feel like shit for months and you handled that. These people don’t even know you. I know you’re stronger than that. If James is pressuring you to move then…”
“It’s not James, okay?! My intro to marketing professor hit on me.”
“What?”
“He basically said he’d give me an A if I had sex with him. He grabbed my ass.”
“So we’ll get him fired. He’s the one that shouldn’t be allowed to come to campus anymore, not you. Have you told the dean?”
“No. My professor said if I told the dean he’d say I was the one that came onto him. Melissa, I don’t want to have to deal with stuff like this for two more years. James and I need a fresh start. We need to go somewhere where people don’t see us a student and a professor.”
“It’ll blow over. I’ll report your professor myself. We can figure this out.”
“I need this, Melissa. It’s what I want to do.”
“But I don’t want you to move.” She ran over to my bed and hugged me. “What am I supposed to do without you?”
“I told you, we can still hang out all the time. Every weekend if you want. And you have Josh.”
“But he’s graduating next semester. I don’t want to be here all alone for two years. You’re the only friend I’ve really made. You’re right, everyone else here sucks.” Melissa laughed. Her phone started buzzing and she released me from her hug. “You made me smudge my makeup.” She lightly pushed my shoulder and grabbed her phone off the dresser. “It’s James.” She looked back at me.
“My James?” I looked down at my phone. I didn’t have any missed calls or texts from him.
“What other James do I know? Does he know you were telling me that he’s stealing you away? Is he calling to convince me that I shouldn’t be mad at him?”
“I have no idea why he’s calling you.”
“Should I answer it?”
“Umm… yes.” Why is he calling Melissa? Is something wrong?
Melissa put her cell phone to her ear. “I heard you were kidnapping my best friend and taking her to New York.”
Silence.
“No, that’s not how she worded it.” Melissa smiled at me.
Silence.
“Yeah, she’s right next to me.”
Silence.
“Yeah, I guess. Hold on one sec.” Melissa pulled the phone away from her ear and put her hand over the speaker. “He says he needs to talk to me in private.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He said it was important. I’m going to go out in the hall.”
“Wait, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” Melissa left the room, closing the door behind her.
I tapped my knee impatiently. What were they possibly talking about? It was a long time before Melissa came back into the room. She didn’t say anything. She just walked to the mirror and began to finish doing her makeup.
“What was he calling about?”
“We talked about a lot of things.”
“Why are you torturing me? We both know that you’re going to tell me. Just spit it out.”
“We actually had a very nice talk. He’s starting to wear me down.”
“So he just called you to chat?”
“Kind of. He told me he punched your professor in the face. Several times.”
“I’m not thrilled that he did that.”
“It’s kind of sweet though. He was defending you. He’s like your knight in shining armor. With a violent side.”
“He just wanted to talk to you about my creepy professor?”
“No, not really.” Melissa frowned and then turned to me. “I think you’re right. Maybe a fresh start would be good. I think James really does love you. Moving seems fast and crazy, but your whole relationship has been fast and crazy.”
“So you’re okay with me moving?”
“I mean, I’m upset that you’re abandoning me. But I want you to be happy. And after my conversation with James, I think that maybe I’ve been too hard on him.”