“You know you’re the only one I’ve ever wanted.”
“I know.” He pushed my top down and out of the way. “I feel exactly the same way.” His mouth closed around my breast.
“Mary Anne!”
My eyes flew open as someone pounded on the door to my dorm room. I blinked a few times, trying to hold on to the remnants of my dream.
“Mary Anne!” The voice yelled louder.
I grudgingly dragged myself across the room and opened the door. I wasn’t surprised to see Genevieve standing there.
“Finally!” She pushed into the room. I closed the door and cut her off before she could sit on my bed. I needed to make it first. I pulled back my jersey knit lime green sheets and navy blue comforter. As soon as I smoothed out the comforter, she took a seat.
I sat in my desk chair and watched her. “As lovely as it is to see you, I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re here?”
“Aren’t you a little grouchy this morning?” Suddenly her glossy lips twisted up into a smile. “Wait….you were dreaming about him again.”
“Why do you have to say it like it’s a bad thing? Most women have some sort of sexual dreams. It isn’t at all abnormal.” I ran my fingers through my long red hair to get out the tangles.
“Mary Anne, I’m only saying this because I’m a friend and I care about you, but you’re obsessed.” She crossed her legs. “Most women may have sex dreams, but they’re about celebrities, not a guy they actually know. Plus, the frequency is the crazy part.”
“There’s nothing wrong with dreaming about Gage.”
“There is. If you want him so bad, just get with him. It’s not like he’d say no. He’s gotten with half the girls on this campus already.”
I groaned. “That’s not entirely true. I admit he has a reputation, but he doesn’t actually sleep with everyone. Plus, I can’t just sleep with him. We have a history. We’re from the same town.” Maybe claiming we had a history was a bit of an overstatement, but I had known him practically my entire life.
“Is he still driving you home for break?” She leaned back on her hands.
“Of course. Why would that change?”
“I thought you might have considered taking Roy up on his offer to drop you off on his way home.” She raised an eyebrow.
“Gage and I are going to the same place. It makes sense to have him drive me. Plus, my parents know him.”
“Mary Anne.” Genevieve was in the habit of saying my name far more often than necessary. She was the best friend I had at Eastern U, so I didn’t remind her of how annoying the practice was. “You know what you’re doing, right?”
“Are we still discussing my plans to get a ride home with Gage?”
“More specifically we’re discussing your decision to say no to Roy’s offer. You’re chicken. You’re afraid of accepting an overture from a guy who you actually have a chance with. A guy who is really interested in you.”
“I wonder why you want me to give Roy another shot?” I bit back the smile that was ready to come out. “This would have nothing to do with his best friend, would it?” I’d gone out on one date with Roy, and although there was nothing particularly wrong with it, I had no intention of seeing him again.
“What?” She put a hand on her chest. “Of course not.”
“Oh? It wouldn’t be convenient for you if I were dating Roy?”
“Sure, it would be convenient to have an excuse to spend time with Tony, but that’s not why I want you to give Roy another chance. He’s a nice guy.”
“He is nice. He’s also intelligent and cute, but that doesn’t mean I want to spend four hours in a car with him.”
“Not when you can spend the same amount of time in a car with Gage.”
“Gage drives a truck.”
Genevieve sighed. “Same thing. My point is that you have no excuse to be sitting around pining over a guy when you have real, good options knocking down your door.”
I didn’t take the bait. I was too stressed out to get into a fight about my love life. “I’m taking a shower.” I walked over to my closet and pulled down my favorite pair of worn in jeans. I took a purple thermal shirt from my dresser. December in Boston was cold.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a cold shower.” Genevieve made no move to leave my room.
“I hadn’t even gotten to the good part in my dream, so a hot shower will be perfectly fine.”
“I’ll wait here.” She lay back on my bed. “We can walk over to the exam together.”
I hesitated with my hand on the door knob. “That sounds great, but please no more overanalyzing my choice of men. I need to keep my mind focused on the test.”
“You’re going to ace it. You know this stuff inside and out.”
“Let’s hope. I refuse to become the first member of my family not to get the Youngston Fellowship, and I need to ace calculus to get it.”
“You’ll ace it, but so what if you don’t get the fellowship? You’ll still get into grad school, and you’ll be able to do exactly what you want anyway.”
“You don’t know my parents.”
She sat up. “I’ve met them.”
“Meeting them is different than knowing them.”
“Yeah, but you said they wouldn’t mind you getting a ride home with Gage. That makes me question their sanity.” She laughed. “Ok, take that shower. We don’t have much time.”
“I wonder why not.”
“Don’t start. Your alarm would just be going off.”
As if to prove her point, the dinging of my alarm started. Genevieve turned it off, and I headed down the hall to the bathroom. Four hours in the car with Gage. I could hardly wait.
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The Space Between
by Kristie Cook
Chapter 1
LENI
If I could take the form of a bird and fly high above the roofs of the village and soar over the fields, it would feel like this. With me balanced on his hands, Alberto spun across the stage, my arms and legs spread like a bird’s wings. After he gave me a push up into the air, I tucked my limbs in and twisted in a perfect spiral. My stomach dropped and my body followed as I slid down him and became a graceful heap at his feet just as the music came to its tragic end.
The audience exploded into applause, followed by a standing ovation. The thunderous noise reverberated into my bones, and my chest swelled as I took a bow for the very last time. When the audience showered me with white roses and Alberto and the troupe brought me a bottle of vino, I gave a heartfelt grin that hopefully hid the sadness battling within me. A dream come true . . . but I’ll never dance on stage again. My heart knew this truth. Tomorrow I would fly home, and this would all be nothing more than a memory.
But tonight was still mine.
I hadn’t been the real star of the show, not by far, but everyone made me feel like I’d been tonight. After the curtain fell, backstage became as loud as the audience as we all congratulated each other on a great show. I glided on air as everyone gave me farewell hugs and shouts of “Bravo!” and “Eccelenté!” Tomorrow, the dance company would move on to the next town, and the professional dancer who I’d been filling in for would join them. I, on the other hand, would be headed back to reality.
“Move on, move on! Take it to Alonzo’s,” the stage manager finally ordered in Italian. The lights over the stage went dark to emphasize his point. The theater owner was ready to shut down for the night. We all scurried to our dressing rooms.