Lend Me Your Heart
Sixty-Eight
I decided to skip graduation to save you guys the heartbreak, so sorry if this chapter catches you off guard. I just wanted to let you know what was going through my head. (:

One and a half years later

“But Layne,” my best friend JJ whined, “You promised me you’d hook me up with some of you lady friends if I hooked you up with some of my guy friends.”
He was standing in my doorframe wearing nothing but a towel and a frown, water dripping off his big, curly head of hair.
“I know,” I sighed while folding clothes and putting them back in my drawers. “But I’m just not sure if I want to go to a party tonight or not.”
“Why not? You’ve never even been to a college party and we’re halfway through the first semester. How do you even know you don’t like them?”
“You sound like my mother when she’s trying to convince me to eat something I’ve never tried before.”
“Layne. Stay on topic.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“The party? Lady friends? Please, Layne. All of my guy friends want to get with you. You’re just oblivious.”
“I’m not oblivious,” I shrugged. “Just not interested.”
“Because you’re still waiting for Prince Charming to come and love you again? Well, guess what? That’s not going to happen, Layne. Let’s be real here,” he said.
Don’t get me wrong, JJ was my best friend, but could be really hurtful at times because he was always brutally honest.
“S-Sorry,” he stuttered, his eyes widening after he realized what he just said.
I bit my lip and sat on the edge of my bed, facing my window instead of him so he wouldn’t see my eyes water.
I could always cry in front of Joey, but JJ was different.
I’d only known him for a few months and he always made fun of me.
I know, he probably sounds like a really terrible best friend, but he’s not.
We kind of revolve around each other.
We help each other out…sort of like siblings.
He’s there for me and I’m there for him; we’ve been like that since the beginning of the year.
When we both moved onto campus and didn’t know anyone, we met because we were in the same dorm, and ever since then we’ve been inseparable.
Unlike Clearwater Creak, the boys’ dorms were on the complete opposite side of the building at Harvard.
“Layne,” he said, sitting on the edge of my bed and slinging his wet arm around my shoulders. “Please, please, please, please, please, please come tonight.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Well, that’s better than a no!” he said, jumping up from my bed and walking towards the door.
“Still not a yes,” I muttered, getting up with him.
“I can feel it, Layne,” he said. “If you come tonight, great things are going to happen. We’re going to make history. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Okay, JJ. I said I’d think about it.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later, Layne.”
“James Joseph!” I yelled, using his full name to embarrass him.
“I won’t take no for an answer,” he sang, glaring at me before slamming my door shut.
Great, now I had to go through a miserable night of sitting around a bunch of jerky college boys who thought I wanted to hook up with them.
The only problem was, none of them compared to him, so I’d never be able to move on.
I was an absolute train wreck.
I was too hopeful, and you know what they say about getting your hopes up.
A year and seven months had passed since we went our separate ways, but I still thought about him all the time, especially now, considering we were both in the same city.
He went to Boston University on a football scholarship.
Sarah and Matt were both at Columbia.
Joey was at Providence University on a football scholarship.
Casey was still in Vermont all by herself, poor thing.
I mean, anything could happen!
See what I mean?
I am way too hopeful.
I felt like everybody had moved on except for myself.
What was I going to do?

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