Two Thousand Miles Away

Chapter 21

Ella

"We should go out tonight," Rebecca stated as she grabbed the homework I was working on and threw it on my desk.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I was a mess, wearing old sweatpant that had stains on them and a t-shirt from my camp counselor job. "Becca, I have a ton of work to do tonight. Can't we just do this tomorrow?"

Rebecca flopped down on my bed and put her head in my lap. "El, how many times do I have to tell you? College is about more than just homework. Lets just go out to eat."

I pushed Rebecca off of me, rolling my eyes but very ready to give in. "Let me shower."

It took me fifteen minutes to shower and I randomly chose to dust on some makeup. I choose to put on a nice pair of jeans and a v-neck sweater that fit my shape well. I walked back into our room.

Rebecca, who was wearing a skirt and flowy top along with bright red lips and cat eyes. "Dam girl, you look hot. If that guy from the party saw you he'd have been falling all over himself."

"I'm hoping that's a compliment." I bounced once and clapped my hands together. "So, where are we going tonight."

"Just the local place." She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of room.

We walked downstairs and hopped onto the bus. The restaurant we were going to was actually called The Local Place. It was a semi cheap hangout for college students. After ordering and receiving our food, Becca started to talk through her mouthful of fries. She had been watching people come in through the door. "Dude, that guy is so hot," she said, drooling over a guy wearing a baseball jersey.

I laughed and picked up a fry before plopping it in my mouth. Becca quickly turned to me. "Hey, I never asked you. Did you have a boyfriend in high school?"

I chuckled again as I remembered Ben. "Yep I had one. He was an interesting little fellow."

Becca settled back into her seat, clearly ready to hear a story. "Really? Tell me everything."

I grabbed another fry, trying not to burst out laughing at her eagerness. "His name was Ben. He was the worst boyfriend ever. He was rude and condescending and was driven by his dick." As I said this I thought for the first time about how I felt about Ben. How had I let myself be treated that way by Ben? Was I really that weak? "I shouldn't have stayed with him as long as I did. I was just really lonely."

Becca's face changed as I said this. "No offense but didn't you have friends?"

I shrugged. "Not really. My two best friends slept with the same guy. He played them and broke up our little group." Then I remembered him and smiled. "But there was this one guy. I met him on an online pen pal project for school. His name was Jacob." I shook my head as my sadness somewhat returned. "He was probably the closest thing to a boyfriend I had."

"What happened?"

I shrugged again and scratched my forehead. "He stopped messaging me randomly."

Becca picked up her Coke and took a long sip, smiling to herself. "Let me guess, now you've sworn off dating?"

I'd been drinking my pop as she said this and started to laugh, which caused me to choke. "What? Hell no! That's so ridiculous. Who swears off dating other than people in romance movies? They're all like I'm never gonna date again. The next day, oh that guy is hot. Let's make out with him."

"So true." Becca grabbed my phone off the table and said, "Maybe we should just message this Jacob guy."

I shook my head and laughed nervously. "No." I attempted to grab my phone back but Becca pulled it away. "Come on Becca."
She held my phone away from me as she opened it and found the app. "You still have the app too. Wow." I squirmed in my seat as I saw her type something and hit the little send button.