I'm entering my first class, luckily, I'm not late. My phone rings with a message, so I grab it to put it on silent mode. That's when I realize I have unread messages from Mason, and I become curious to read them. I check the time and there are a few minutes left before the professor arrives. I open WhatsApp and see that I have many messages.
"Hey, let me explain who she is."
"It's not what you think, please let me talk to you."
"Can I come see you?"
"She's just a childhood friend who's always called me that. Don't think things that aren't true."
Stickers, more messages where he asks me to listen to him, to accept his call, that I never knew what he was doing to me. The last message is from today.
"Good morning, I hope you have a fantastic first day of classes, at least this semester. Kisses."
I shake my head and put the phone away just as I see the class instructor enter the room. I focus on my studies as I have always done and forget about everything else.
After the fourth class, I head to the bathroom before going back to the room. Classes are over for today. Riley won't be in the room because she has a class later than mine, so she'll arrive later. With the exhaustion in my body, I'll go straight to sleep, even if it's just for the hour and a half that my roommate's class lasts. We agreed to have dinner together to share what we learned in our classes.
As soon as I enter the room, I flop onto the bed face-first and close my eyes, hugging my pillow. I don't even remember if I closed the door properly; I just want to sleep.
I feel a gentle touch on my cheek, which makes me open my eyes. Riley wouldn't wake me up like that; in fact, she would shout at me or jump on me. As I open my eyes, the first thing I see is Mason's blue eyes looking at me.
"Good afternoon, sleepyhead," he says with a smile.
"How long have you been here?" I ask, trying to tidy up my hair a bit.
"Quite a while," he replies nonchalantly.
"What time is it?" I ask again.
"It's 6 p.m. I assume you haven't had dinner," he says, referring to both me and Riley, who is sleeping on his bed. I guess he arrived and, seeing me asleep, did the same.
"No, we haven't had dinner," I say, getting up from the bed.
"Well, I brought Chinese food. I figured neither of you would want to go out, so I brought enough for all three of us," he says, pointing to the bags of Chinese food.
"You didn't have to go through the trouble, but thank you," I reply with a smile.
"It's no trouble at all. Now, wake up that girl before she drools all over her pillow, ha ha ha," he says, laughing as he sees Riley with her mouth wide open.
"I'll give it a try," I say, trying to move forward, but Mason stops me.
"I think I have a way," he says, taking the food containers and opening one to wave it under Riley's nose. It doesn't take her more than a minute to open her eyes and sit up in bed.
I can't help but laugh at that. Now I know how to wake her up without getting frustrated. After waking her up, she thanks Mason multiple times for bringing dinner.
We have dinner amidst laughter, and we tell Mason about the party. He tells us that it's okay to enjoy our college years because it's not the same once we start working. He laughs when I recount all the effort it took to get Riley to bed, but she denies it and claims she was just pretending, that she didn't drink much. According to her, she has a high alcohol tolerance, but that's not what I saw last night.
After dinner, Mason says goodbye as he needs to work the next day, and we need to get some sleep again. I walk him to the building's entrance, where I see his car parked. We walk hand in hand, and when we reach his car, he hugs me and whispers in my ear,
"Riley is looking out the window. From this side, it looks like I'm kissing you, so I hugged you," he says, placing his hands on my waist.
I nod like those bobblehead dogs on car dashboards, and we part ways. But as he gets into his car, he asks me,
"Are we okay?"
I don't understand what he means by the question until I remember what happened yesterday.
"Of course, everything is fine. Goodnight."
I return to my room to prepare everything for tomorrow.
……………………………………………………………………………..
Days later...
New day, new classes, new learning.
Several days have passed since I started my classes. My mother has been calling me a lot lately, but I don't answer because she always calls when I'm in class. During lunch, I receive a call from my father. I answer.
"Hello," I say, serious.
"Hello, my dear. When are you going to come and visit us? We have a lot of things to organize," he says as if he knows what he's talking about.
"What things?" I ask.
"Your wedding, sweetheart. Remember that it's coming up soon. It will be a small wedding due to lack of time. That's why your mother has been calling you so much these days," he clarifies.
I forgot about the wedding date. Maybe I'll go home tomorrow, I think.
"Alright, it's better if I come with Mason. Mom wants to discuss some wedding details with him," he asks me as a favor.
"I'm not sure if he can come, Dad. I'll try," I say, ending the call.
It annoys me that my mother only calls me to discuss wedding details that I don't want. On the other hand, my father hasn't called me to ask how I'm doing, if I started classes, or if I'm still living with Mason. It's funny how things change in such a short time. When I was little, my father used to be so attentive to me, but now that I'm about to get married, he seems to have forgotten I exist.
Things change so quickly. Since they informed me about the wedding, it's as if it's no longer his responsibility. If I confront my father about this, he'll probably say that he gives me a monthly allowance that should be enough for me not to complain. That happened when I turned 16 and asked for some time as a birthday gift. He never gave it to me.
I send a message to Mason telling him that my mother wants to see him regarding wedding matters. He replies right away, saying he'll pick me up after he finishes work. I let him know I'll be waiting and then return to my classes. Tonight, won't be pleasant. I can already hear my mother's words:
"Why study so much if you're getting married? You don't need to continue your education."
I know, I don't understand that mindset either, especially coming from a mother to her daughter. But well, not everyone thinks the same way.