When In Doubt - Freshman Year

Chapter 26

Eden

What was happening?

Their vacation was supposed to be fun, supposed to be exciting, and a huge relief from the stressful semester they'd all been having. They were supposed to come together without school or parental supervision, be able to enjoy a few days of freedom, like some backwards version of rehab. But there they all were; the first night, and already two major fights had broken out. Eden told herself there couldn't have been enough wine in the world to get through it any longer.

"Okay, seriously?! What the fuck is going on with you two?" Ali yell at the two of them.

Heather looked so incredibly hurt, so mortified, while Luke had glared at her from across their little circle around the coffee table in the living room. Everyone else shared similar looks of shock and discomfort. Eden resisted the urge to laugh; the awkwardness of the situation, but then, she usually laughed at those sorts of situations. It was her way of coping; she'd probably laugh at her father's funeral because it was her only way of dealing with it at the time.

Luke looked around, as if he'd just gotten out of a trance. His expression lightened slightly, and suddenly he'd looked as embarrassed as the rest. "You know what...I'm not okay, not okay at all," he'd muttered to the floor. "I'm calling it a night." He barely managed to get up, shove Matt's hand away when he'd tried to help, and went back to his room with the slam of a door.

Eden hadn't felt like laughing after that.

The Bryan's and Brayden all took long swigs of their drinks, Jenna looked drunkenly upset, but followed the boys and took another drink as well. Matt just looked defeated, and Ali turned to Heather, who'd still hadn't met anyone's gaze.

"I'm not feeling that well either," Heather mumbled. "I'm going to bed."

Heather stood up and practically sped upstairs to avoid any questions, her eyes were rapidly blinking. Ali had gotten up to try and follow, but stopped at the foot of the stairs. She huffed in a big sigh as she'd returned to the group.

Brayden shook his head. "What a shitty situation."

Eden couldn't take the negativity any longer. "You guys, c'mon, let's play a different game." She'd grabbed the unopened beer can from the middle of the table, and collected all the cards. "Let's go in a circle and talk about each person; what were our first impressions of them and what we love about them."

The others stared at her.

Eden smiled despite her exhaustion. "Okay, let's start with Matt." she'd gestured to him, like a model showing off a new car on a game show. "What were our first impressions of him?"

Jenna started. "I thought he was some big, intimidating jock like the ones that protect the quarterback."

"Huh, I could see it," Schmidt agreed. "Anderson, you'd probably do some damage as a lineman or something."

"I played a little bit," Matt blushed. "I wasn't all that into it, but it was something to get involved in, you know, for applications."

"I thought he was a jock too," Ali said. "But, the kind that never got to express himself, and was ready to show a different side of himself with a newfound sense of freedom."

Eden blinked. "Wow, that's pretty deep and insightful."

Ali shrugged. "I call it like I see it."

Matt laughed. "Well, she's not too far off," he'd cleared his throat. "I did come to Stout hoping for a bit of a reboot in a way. Plus, I was able to come to terms with a part of me that I'd kept hidden."