Cabin Tales

Chapter 6

Marley: Present Day

I felt so silly standing in front of his apartment door waiting while his roommate brought him back. There should've been some sort of rule that if you've known each other for almost your whole life, you can just barge in without question. But we were nothing more than strangers now – friends of the past. Walking into his apartment, intruding on a life I barely knew would be a major red flag (and followed by a possible restraining order).

Beneath my feet was a doormat that read, Please knock so we have time to clean up. It was the tackiest thing I had ever seen. The door opened, giving me a start and forcing me back a step. 

"Sorry," the boy who opened the door earlier – Alex – said. "Give him a minute."

"Okay," I replied, still standing awkwardly in the hallway.

With a hip jutted out, I pretended to play around on my phone while Alex stood in front of me. I looked up and noticed that he was staring at me. When we made eye contact, his cheeks flushed slightly but he didn't look away.

I was about to say something to break the awkwardness, but he ended up doing it for me. "What sorority are you in?"

I was a bit taken aback by the question. It wasn't rude by any means, but it was a random assumption to make about me. I raised an eyebrow at him. I wanted to say: Me? In a sorority? Hah! Of course, I didn't say that to his face. It came out more like: "HUH?" Maybe that was not the politest response, but it was my immediate reaction to his question.

"Sorry, I just thought..." Alex shrugged at me and then looked over his shoulder as if anticipating Daniel's presence.

"Are you not going to let me in?" I finally asked.

"Please tell me you're not here to evict us. I swear we're good people. We tried to keep our volume low last night to not wake up the neighbors." That was what he thought I was here for? Did he think I worked for his apartment? I was literally wearing sweatpants. Also, it was 10 p.m.

"What makes you think I work here?"

He let out a noise – something between an exhale and a snort. "That's why I was so confused. I've never seen you in my life, but I know most of the people who work in this building." He nervously raked his fingers through his hair.

Finally, I saw someone approaching behind him. His figure was different from what I remembered, but it had to have been Daniel. When he got closer, I sucked in a sharp breath. The dreaded butterflies fluttered in my gut, eating my insides like they had always taken up residence there. Such a normal feeling, and yet, the butterflies should've died years ago. It felt as if time never kept going, and we were still teens.

But we weren't eighteen anymore.

"You didn't let her in?" Daniel asked from right behind his roommate. As soon as he appeared, his eyes never left mine. Two puzzle pieces, that's what Mom used to call us. Now we were just the missing pieces from a box of hundreds. I should've turned around and run.

My feet stayed planted on the floor. I couldn't help but look him over once or ten times. He was so different from how he looked in my memory. His freckles had faded since I last saw him, mostly noticeable on his nose and cheeks but not the rest of his face. Apparently, he had another growth spurt because I could've sworn, he wasn't this tall before. His hair was also a darker brown, almost black in the indoor lighting. The curls stuck up in a few different directions, and I couldn't help but smile at the idea that he still had the same messy hair he had when I knew him at camp.

Alex moved out of his way, never answering his question. Now Daniel was right in front of me. Him being right in front of me was so overwhelming, I started to feel lightheaded as I took him in. Earlier today, when I found out he was in my class and went to my school, I was so in shock I refused to believe it was real. Flat out convinced myself that my tired mind had made up the entire thing, that he was just another random boy from class. I had not seen the guy since we just finished our senior year of high school, and now we were seniors in college. It felt surreal.