Dorm Rooms

The Promise

CeCe slept through her alarm, waking up late. It was nearly 11am when she finally rolled over and peeked at the clock. 

CeCe was sort of  known for being late. 

She scrambled out of bed. Slipping on the clothes from the day before, she ruffled her curls and stepped out the door. 

The 11am bus was leaving right as she got there. Sweaty from the run there, she sat in the back. 

She arrived just in time, 11:20am, as Sebastian was pushing the front glass door open. 

He was leaving. 

She shouted at him from across the street, but he didn't hear her over the bustle of cars and bikes.

She ran across the street, not waiting for the light to go green. A car honked at her, drawing his attention to her.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. I had a late night last night" She was breathing hard by the time she reached him.

"I figured, with those guys and everything. How many were there? Three?" CeCe could hear the tenseness under his voice. He was obviously irritated with her.

He opened the door into the coffee shop wide for her. "Ladies first." He said sarcastically as she walked in front of him.

CeCe ordered a coffee while Sebastian waited. He had already gotten a cup, when he was waiting the twenty minutes for her to get here. 

She apologized over and over again but she doubted it would make a difference.

"So," He started as she sat across the booth from him. "I've rehearsed"

"What?"

"I've rehearsed this whole speech. I was nervous. But, at this point, I've realized it was absolute shit. Maybe it was good you were late." He let a small smile slip and CeCe grinned into her cup, so he couldn't see.

"It's okay, I think I remember why you are so familiar." CeCe said and she could see as his face visibly relaxed. 

"Really?" He was skeptical. 

She nodded. "A few years ago when I came down to visit colleges."

He sat back in the chair, his shoulders relaxing. Silence brewed between the duo for a few moments before he began to reminisce. "You were staying at that hotel I was working at, I was barely a freshman.

"You were playing volleyball before you came over with two others, ordering drinks so confidently. I asked for your ID and you said you'd left it at the hotel. I refused to serve you.

"I turned my back for what I thought was two seconds. But, when I turned back to you, you were different. You were giggly and clumsy, messy with your limbs, brushing your hair back behind your ear. You were drunk and I had no idea how you'd swiped some from under my nose.

"The day continued on, your two friends got up and left, leaving you there. You were staring out at the beach, your back turned to me. Your friends had spent the past hour flirting with me, but you never did. You just sat beside them, listening and watching and laughing when appropriate. 

"You told me you were going to come to Santa Barbara, and I figured as much. It wasn't until moments before you left that I saw that one scar on your arm. I knew that shape all too well from when Chris got bullied in school.

"A cigarette butt, burned out on your wrist. I wondered where else they were hidden on your body. I didn't know where you got it from, of course, but I sympathized with the young girl sitting across from me.