EMMA's POV :
The first week of college was a rush of classes, people, names, places, and feelings.
After Ian went back to Georgia, it finally hit me, I was alone in this big, big world. Thankfully, Sophie and her brother Tristan were kind enough to keep me company everywhere I went. We attended days' worth of seminars, picnics, icebreaker games, tours, and parties during Welcome Weekend. Every day we were meeting new people and we heard every kind of advice available.
"Be careful of the freshman fifteen, it's real,"
"Make sure you eat and drink plenty of fluids, the clear kind,"
"Listen to your professors, they will change your life,"
"If you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it,"
And then, the advice I dreaded the most, "Your social life is just as important as your academic life. Make sure that nothing is holding you back and you're putting yourself out there,"
"What are some things that would hold me back?" I asked.
"Things like, feeling homesick, isolating yourself, or long distance relationships," they would reply.
I never knew that being in a long distance relationship was such a bad thing, especially in your freshman year of college. As soon as I told people about it, their reactions were pretty much the same:
"High school sweethearts? Aw, that's cute. But long distance relationships don't work, sweetie,"
Sometimes I felt like smacking these people in the face and saying, "You don't know my story! You don't know what Ian and I had been through! We're gonna make it!"
But I didn't wanna look like a lunatic, so I'd just nod politely and smile.
"Don't listen to these people. I think it's great that you and Ian are doing long distance. It's the test of true love," Sophie winked at me.
Sophie and I had just finished our first week as college freshmen, so we went out to celebrate at this college bar that everyone kept dishing about. It was a cool bar, it reminded me a lot of the bar in Emory where Ian and I first met. I got all sentimental every time I thought of Ian or heard someone mentioned his name. Quickly pushing the negative thoughts aside, I smiled at Sophie.
"Thanks, Soph, I think so too,"
"Trust me, they're just jealous of what you have. They wish they have someone that loves them and waits for them back home,"
Sophie was so sweet. I felt like I struck gold on the roommate front. She lifted her drink and we clinked glasses. I was smiling at her and she smiled back. We were having a sisterly moment, when Tristan decided to join us.
"Hey ladies, what are we talking about here?" he asked.
"Tampons," Sophie replied.
"Okay then," Tristan grabbed his drink and got up on his feet.
"Just kidding, sit down," Sophie laughed.
Sophie and Tristan were absolute sibling goals. They were so similar, yet so different. Sophie was outspoken while Tristan was soft-spoken. Sophie was a big extrovert while Tristan was more of an introvert. Sophie was good at math and numbers, while Tristan was more artistic and he liked literature. Sophie was a business major while Tristan studied English lit. Despite all the differences, it was clear that they loved each other and they were looking out for one another. As an only child, I couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
"So, who's older between the two of you?" I asked them.
"Me!" Sophie exclaimed proudly.
"By eight minutes and she refused to let me live that down,"
"I've learned so much in that eight minutes of my life, little brother, you have no idea," Sophie flipped her hair back dramatically.
"You see what I have to deal with?" Tristan turned to me.
"Oh! I see hot guys on the dance floor, let's dance!" Sophie squealed and pulled us both out of our seats before we could even protest.
I almost spilled my drink, but I sipped it down quickly and followed Sophie to the dance floor. The DJ was playing fun 90s disco music and it was impossible not to dance to that. The next thing I knew, the three of us were shredding the dance floor. Sophie was moving around everywhere and Tristan wasn't backing down. They weren't afraid to look goofy and have fun, and that made me open up as well.
We were all laughing and giggling, enjoying ourselves, when suddenly this drunk guy started grinding up behind Sophie.
"Yo, what's your problem?" Sophie snapped at him.
"Get away from her," Tristan pushed the guy back.
The guy staggered back and slurred, "I'm sorry, I don't want no trouble, man,"
"Yeah, that's right. Get outta here," Tristan stood tall in front of him.
Sophie and I were maybe 5'3 or 5'4, but Tristan was at least 6' feet tall. The drunk guy went away instantly as Sophie stuck her tongue out at him.
"You're welcome," Tristan turned to Sophie and she winked at him.
"This is why I keep him around, Emma, he's handy like that," Sophie linked one arm around Tristan and pulled me with her other hand.
We went back to laughing and dancing in no time. It was such a fun night. Sophie could drink like a tank and the more she drank, the funnier she got. At one point, she was dancing on a table and flirting with a speaker. Yes, she was flirting with a machine, don't ask me why.
As Tristan was busy trying to get Sophie to sober up and feeding water down her throat, I decided to go to the bathroom. After leaving the bathroom, I spotted Tristan and Sophie at our table and I was about to walk over there, when a guy stepped in front of my face.
"Hey there," said this tall guy who was wearing a University of Pennsylvania varsity jacket. He looked kinda like Devin Booker, and that was cute, but I was just annoyed that someone was blocking my way.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"I think I've seen you around. You're a freshman, right?"
"Yeah, and?"
"Well, I'm the student welcoming community. How about I buy you a drink and give you a warm welcome you to our campus,"
"That's very nice of you, but unfortunately I'm not interested. So, no, thank you," I replied. I was about to walk away when he stood in my way again.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. What's the rush?" he paused for a moment before continuing, "It's the Welcome Weekend,"
"Exactly," I agreed. "I've been to all the events and I've had enough to drink, so thank you, but no thank you,"
"Damn, you're feisty, huh?" He smirked like he was amused by what I was saying.
"Whatever,"
"Hey, slow down," he said. This guy was seriously getting on my nerves, and he had the audacity to grab my hand.
"Let me go," I warned.
"I just wanna talk,"
"She said she's not interested," a voice cut in between us, and I whipped my head around to see Tristan.
Tristan was glaring at the varsity jacket guy and he glared back at Tristan.
"You gonna let me go or am I gonna have to blow my rape whistle?" I said before the tension could rise any higher.
The varsity jacket guy released my hand in an instant and Tristan let out a laugh.
"Whatever," the guy rolled his eyes and left.
"That was a really good line, you need to teach Sophie that," Tristan smiled and gave me a high five.
My eyes darted around the room and I saw Sophie stumbling towards the speaker again. "Oh, Sophie," I sighed and Tristan noticed it too.
"Let's grab her," he said as we walked over to her.
"Sophie, honey?" I said as I peeled her off the speaker.
"I love this speaker, Emma. It's so loud," she slurred.
"Okay, I think it's time we go," Tristan put her arm around his neck, so her weight was on him.
"But I don't wanna go home," Sophie whined.
"You're so thrashed," he replied.
"I'm not, I'm just hungry," she paused for a second before exclaiming, "I know, let's go to Korea-town!"
Sophie started chanting the word 'K-town' as we walked her out of the bar. Tristan let out a chuckle and he gave me a look.
"I guess we can get some tofu soup. It'll sober you up. What do you say, Emma?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know if I could,"
Tofu soup in Korea-town sounded great. Sophie was telling me about how awesome the food in Korea-town was and I was excited to go. Still, the timing was off. I checked my phone and saw that it was 11.30 PM. I promised I was gonna Facetime Ian tonight after going to the bar. He told me we could always Facetime tomorrow, but I wanted to prove to him that he was still a priority in my life, so I insisted on talking tonight.
"Oh come on, roomie, this is tofu soup we're talking about! Let's go to K-town, pretty please with a cherry on top?" Sophie was giving me her best puppy dog eyes.
Before I could say anything else, I heard my phone chimed and I checked the screen. It was a message from Ian saying that it was getting late and we should Facetime tomorrow instead.
It was like the universe was throwing me a sign. Ian was right, it was late anyway. Even if I go home right now and get on Facetime, we'd probably only talk for a couple of minutes before falling asleep.
So, I sighed at the screen and said, "Alright, let's go to Korea-town,"
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Korea-town was a lot of fun. Sophie wasn't lying about the food either. I had never had spicy tofu soup and rice cake before, but those were delicious. After our food, Sophie sobered a little, but then she started ordering soju.
She ordered watermelon soju and that was delicious. She went right back to drunk Sophie mode in just a matter of seconds. After leaving the restaurant, we were standing outside trying to hail a cab when Sophie suddenly puked her guts out in the middle of the streets. I was holding her hair back and Tristan was filming everything, laughing maniacally.
Long story short, no cabs wanted to pick us up after that. We ended up taking the public bus back at 2 AM. Sophie had fallen asleep on my shoulder and her feet were up on Tristan's lap. It was an exhausting day and she just checked out.
I had to admit though, I was having a lot of fun. If this was what college was gonna be like, I had a feeling four years would be a breeze.
Although my first week of college went by so great, I still couldn't help but check my phone from time to time. I woke up thinking about him and I went to sleep dreaming about him. I was always missing Ian and I was always wondering how he was doing. Every time we got a chance to talk, we talked nonstop on the phone, but that wasn't the same thing as seeing him in person.
"Is that your boyfriend?" Tristan asked when he saw me playing with my phone. My lock screen was a picture of Ian's hand in mine.
"Yeah," I smiled at the picture.
"How's long distance treating you so far?"
"It's not the best experience, but we're doing our best,"
"That's cool," he nodded.
"You don't think it's stupid? Most people here would say that I'm just wasting my time,"
"Love is love," he shrugged. "You can't really choose who you fell in love with but you can choose to stay with them or not. You're making a tough and brave choice and I respect that,"
Apart from the announcement for free pizza for the freshman class, that was probably the greatest thing I'd heard all week.
"Thanks, Tristan," I smiled at him, pausing for a moment before asking, "How about you? Anyone special in your life?"
"Uh..." he trailed and got nervous all of a sudden.
"He's in love with Monique, everyone knows that," Sophie said suddenly. Her eyes were still closed, but apparently she was awake.
"Shut up," Tristan hissed.
"Who's Monique?" I asked.
"She's a girl that went to high school with us. She's also here in U Penn, but we're not close or anything," he answered.
"Poor boy's been pining over the same girl for years, Emma, for years," Sophie wailed her hands dramatically. "He doesn't wanna admit it, but she's totally stringing him along,"
"Shut up and go to sleep," Tristan threw her feet to the ground and Sophie giggled with her eyes still closed.
Throughout the next few blocks, Sophie went on to taunt Tristan about Monique and he was tuning her out completely. I felt like I was their mom, trying to separate my two kids from murdering each other.
After the bus ride, we walked a few blocks and arrived at our dorm. Tristan lived on the floor below us, but he walked all the way up with us to help me carry Sophie to our room. After putting her down on the bed, Tristan said good night and left.
Sophie was snoring as soon as her head hit the pillow. I let out a soft chuckle before hitting my own bed. It felt so good to be lying down after this long night we had.
It was almost 3 AM and I knew Ian was already asleep, but I still felt like sending him a text. I wrote to him: I miss you and a heart emoji. I figured he'd get the text in the morning and it would be a great way to start his day.
I put my phone away and I was trying to sleep, when suddenly I heard my phone buzzing. The screen read: Ian Calling.
"Hello?" I answered the phone quickly.
His face popped up on my little screen and my heart doubled in size.
"Hey, baby girl, I've missed you too," his voice sounded like heaven to my ears.
"Hey, why are you still awake?"
"I wasn't,"
"Did I wake you? I'm sorry -"
"No, it's okay. I wanted to hear from you. How was your first week?"
"It's not so bad. I really like my classes, especially Intro to Anthropology. I also met like, hundreds of people each day. My Facebook friends list just blew up. And there's a bunch of free food everywhere, I love it,"
"That sounds good, looks like you're having fun,"
"I am, but I still miss you like crazy, every single day,"
"Ah, me too,"
"It's great to see you. How are you? How's Georgia?"
"Boring as hell. This town's got nothing without you in it,"
"Aw, you're sweet," I pressed the screen to my forehead, wishing I were doing it to his face instead.
"And you're cute," he laughed, pressing his forehead to the screen, mimicking me.
"I can't wait to see you on Thanksgiving," I sighed.
"Me too,"
"It's gonna be great..."
I didn't remember much of what we talked about after that. I was so tired and Ian was tired too. We ended up falling asleep in front of each other's faces through the screen. It was such a sweet moment, not even Sophie's loud snoring was able to ruin it. Although it was only through the screen, our love was as real as ever.
I went to sleep smiling that night, knowing full well we made a great choice.
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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -