An End To The Distance Page 8

  “Probably saw her family, like everyone else did.”

  Tegan thought about Mr. Dennings. Did Jasmine even have a family? Was her father the only family she had? Tegan hopped into the passenger seat of Kat’s car after setting her suitcase in the back and Kat drove to the mart that was closes to the school. Kat and Tegan mainly pushed an empty cart around the store and chatted rather than actually shopping.

  “Have you heard from Peyton?”

  Kat bit her lip and gazed at the many different brands of rice. She knew she sounded desperate but she just wanted to know something−anything about Peyton. She had sort of become an addiction.

  “No, I haven’t. But I’m sure if you ask her she would tell you.”

  Kat rolled her eyes and threw a bag of potato chips in the cart.

  “Tegan, it’s not that simple. Why don’t you get that?”

  “Kat it really is that simple. Peyton is obviously upset at you because you aren’t doing anything to repair you guys’ relationship.”

  “I am doing something.”

  “Like what?”

  “I asked if I could talk to her. She said no. I can’t help that.”

  “But you can try harder. You have not done anything to show her that you want her back. So what she said she didn’t want to talk to you. Try a little fucking harder. It’s not that complicated.”

  The two best friends walked down the aisle in complete silence. Tegan wanted to give Kat a chance to let her speech sink in and Kat wanted to soak it all in. Kat parted her lips several times, preparing to say something but she never spoke. She just continued to think a little more. Kat ended up putting her potato chips back and her and Tegan left the store empty handed after an hour of walking around and talking. Kat drove Tegan to the campus so she could get settled back into her dorm and prepare for classes the next day. Tegan began rolling her suitcase to her dorm but when she looked back and saw that Kat was still sitting in her car with it running, she walked back and knocked on the window. Kat rolled down her window and gave Tegan a look.

  “What?”

  “You aren’t even going to help me carry all this shit upstairs?”

  “Uh, no…you got it.”

  “Kat!”

  “Okay, I don’t wanna see Peyton.”

  “What did I just tell you about you needing to start growing some balls?”

  “Well can I start growing them tomorrow?”

  “Pathetic. Finland has made you weak. If you don’t talk to Peyton tomorrow, I will make you and I’m not joking.”

  “Yeah yeah. Tomorrow. Promise. Love you.”

  Kat grinned at Tegan who just stuck her tongue out at her before rolling her suitcase inside. Tegan knocked on the door since she left her key on her nightstand for break. Peyton popped her head behind the door to her and Tegan’s room and tried to peek behind Tegan.

  “Hey Teegs, you alone?”

  “If by that do you mean is Kat not behind me then no, she is.”

  “Shit.”

  Tegan giggled and pushed Peyton aside.

  “I’m just joshing with you. Move.”

  Tegan rolled her suitcase inside of her and Peyton’s room and began to unpack.

  “How is the Kennedy fam doing? Did you tell them I said hi?”

  “Actually no I didn’t. I had like a mental breakdown and didn’t really talk to them.”

  “That’s funny.”

  Tegan blurted out.

  “What?”

  Tegan hung up a shirt in her side of the closet and shook her head even though her back was facing Peyton.

  “Nothing. Continue.”

  “No, what is funny about me having a mental breakdown?”

  “Nothing’s funny, it’s just Kat told me the same thing.”

  “She had a mental breakdown? Really?”

  “Yep.”

  “Oh.”

  Peyton sat back on her bed and watched as Tegan hung up her clothes.

  “Why aren’t you talking to her, again?”

  “Because Teegs. When someone hurts you, you don’t just go fleeing back into their arms.”

  “You don’t refuse to resolve the conflict with them either.”

  Peyton thought about it. She didn’t know what to do. Peyton wasn’t going to just forgive Kat and start a relationship. Deep down she wished she could just forgive her and do that and pretend that nothing ever happened between them but it did and it affected Peyton deeply. How are you supposed to go back to the person that hurt you the most? Kat was Peyton’s first girlfriend. They were young and awkward and didn’t know how things worked in a relationship but as they grew, they grew together and formed that special bond that Peyton missed dearly. She wanted Kat back but she just didn’t know how to get her back.

  “I guess you’re right. Maybe I’ll listen to what she has to say. It can’t hurt…I hope.”

  “Finally! Now help me with a cute outfit to wear. I want to look sexy for Jasmine when I go back tomorrow.”

  “In that case we need to go shopping.”

  Peyton grinned as Tegan nudged her shoulder.

  “My clothes aren’t even that bad.”

  “Teegs, you coordinate your sweat pants by color!”

  “So?”

  “I don’t even think you own jeans.”

  “Because they aren’t comfortable.”

  “But they make you look nice and womanly, unlike sweats. Come on, I’m sure there are some Black Friday sales still going on at the mall.”

  Peyton wasn’t really into dressing up, or looking decent. When it came to clothing, her motto was: as long as I feel good. But Peyton was excellent at dressing other people. She drove Tegan to a department store and took her upstairs to a sweater section. Tegan shook her head as she scanned the selection of clothes quickly.

  “I said make me look sexy, not eighty. Is this even my section?”

  “Chill. You will look sexy.”

  Peyton pursed her lips and squinted her eyes as she concentrated hard on finding the correct sweater that had just the right material and color. That was key. Tegan followed behind her and just watched as Peyton went through several many different sweaters. The selection of sweaters was large and Tegan stopped looking when she got through with all the cream colored sweaters.

  “Yes!”

  Tegan looked up to find Peyton holding a sweater in the air with a satisfied grin on her face.

  “This is the one.”

  The sweater was a dark Christmas green. Peyton stressed that it would pull out the freckles in Tegan’s face as well as make her eyes pop. Tegan couldn’t picture herself looking decent in the sweater but Peyton told her to hold on until she saw it on her with the necessary items. The two best friends took the escalator down to the jean section.

  “The wash of a pair of jeans makes the outfit.”

  Peyton told Tegan as she skimmed through light washes, dark washes, medium washes, and so on. Tegan shook her head at her best friend with a raised brow. Who the hell did Peyton think she was? Donatella Versace?

  “What size are you again? It’s been so long since we’ve been jean shopping, I’m just getting use to a sweats size small.”

  “Funny.”

  Peyton grinned to herself as she continued took look for the perfect pair of jeans that she knew she would find. She easily spotted them. They were a dark wash. Almost a black but it had a navy hue you almost couldn’t tell the difference.

  “Peyt how are you getting so excited about a pair of jeans?”

  “I don’t know, I like shopping.”

  “But you dress like you are homeless.”

  Peyton shrugged her shoulders agreeing with Tegan’s statement before heading to the register to pay for Tegan’s pants.

  “You’re so sweet paying for me.”

  “Well I want you to look nice for Jasmine. I want one of us to at least be happy.”

  Tegan gave Peyton a knowing look.

  “Sorry. Let’s continue. To the shoe section.” />
  Tegan and Peyton took the escalator back up to the shoe floor.

  “Peyton I’m not really into shoes. I can just wear my ru--”

  “Teegs, your running shoes aren’t the answer to all of your outfits. And certainly not this one.”

  “Whatever. Just find me a pair of shoes.”

  Peyton told Tegan to sit down and slid the pair of boots on her tiny feet.

  “You see how the outfit is coming together?”

  Tegan excitedly nodded thinking about tomorrow. She never dressed up because there was no reason to but now that there was a reason behind it and that reason was Jasmine, Tegan could not contain herself. She wiggled her toes as Peyton felt around the tip of the boot.

  “Nice fit.”

  “You know me too well.”

  The helpful shoe salesman helped the two young women bag up the shoes and they left the mall some two hours later after buying Tegan some stud earrings that Tegan insisted she didn’t need but Peyton thought otherwise, telling her it was the little things that stand out.

  “Okay, so what were you thinking about doing for your hair?”

  Tegan dropped her bags on the floor in her closet and walked over to her bed thinking about the question.

  “I don’t really know. I didn’t think about it until now. Maybe a ponytail or something.”

  Peyton tilted her head to stare at Tegan.

  “Nah, that will look awful. You should wear down. And straighten it please.”

  “Sure, whatever. I just better impress Jasmine!”

  “You will. Just don’t get all weird.”

  “Weird like how?”

  “I don’t know. Just don’t be yourself.”

  Tegan threw a pillow at Peyton that Peyton easily dodged from so much practice and laughed.

  “I’m just joking. Jasmine will love you.”

  Tegan blushed, taking the word love to heart just a little.

  “Let’s Jasmine.”

  Tegan cut off the light and smiled into the darkness at her homonym joke that Peyton clearly didn’t catch.

  ELEVEN

  TEGAN smiled when her alarm went off. This was a first. She usually rolled her eyes at it and scoffed at the moon creeping outside of her window that was too bright for her liking. She could make out Peyton across the room through the darkness sleeping in her bed in a fetal position, snoring softly. Tegan jumped out of the bed and snuck out of her room making way for the shower room down the hall. She took her time showering. It was five thirty in the morning. She had all the time in the world. No one was in the shower room except for Tegan and she found herself humming a mindless tune as she showered. It had been twelve days since Tegan last saw Jasmine. They ended on a good note---a great note actually---and Tegan couldn’t wait to continue on that. When Tegan got out of the shower some half hour later, she went back to her room to straighten her hair which was the very reason she kept it in messy bun most of the time. She didn’t have the patience, time, or effort to straighten her hair like most girls did. But today was an exception. Tegan cut the small light on in the mirror in her room to keep from waking Peyton. Peyton didn’t have a class until mid noon and Tegan didn’t want to disturb her. Tegan was on a fourth of her hair when her arm began to go numb and hurt. Shit this was hard.

  “Did you need some help?”

  Tegan heard Peyton call in a muzzily voice.

  “No, I’m fine. You go back to sleep.”

  Of course Peyton ignored Tegan’s orders and stumbled out of bed, rubbing her eyes as she walked over to Tegan.

  “Here, give it to me.”

  Peyton straightened Tegan’s hair with ease and finished in less than twenty minutes. After Tegan thanked her, Peyton crawled back into her bed and went back to sleep. Tegan smiled and put on her earrings. She dug through Peyton’s belongings to find some mascara and eyeliner to put on and then put on her outfit. It was casual but pretty. Peyton did a good job, Tegan thought, as she looked herself over in the mirror. She grabbed the book on her nightstand that she was expected to read over break as well as take two tests and write a paper for Jasmine’s class and took the elevator down to the ground floor. The sky was a light blue with hints of purple still showing from the early sunrise as it was seven thirty. The wind was blowing briefly, stirring up colorful leaves around Tegan as she walked to her favorite café. The bell went off when Tegan pushed the door open and a smile cascaded on her face. The smell of sweet coffee filled her nostrils and Tegan felt a spark inside of her. She couldn’t wait to see Jasmine; she was getting ready to explode. Tegan stood in line behind two people, too thrilled to care that the man in front of her was taking too long to make a decision on whether to purchase a jelly croissant or plain.

  “Tegan?”

  A second cashier came up behind the counter and Tegan immediately darted her eyes to him. The man motioned for her to step forward.

  “Hi, I’m Nate. We’ve noticed that you come in here just about every day and get your order of one sweet latte and one plain chamomile tea and the manager wanted to tell you how much we appreciate your service so much and that we are going to make you a Pro Member.”

  “Cool?”

  Tegan smiled at the guy. What the hell was a Pro Member?

  “You will get your latte and tea discounted of 10% from now on. Just bring this card every time you purchase it just in case someone has a problem.”

  The guy handed Tegan a gold membership card with the café’s logo in the corner of it and Tegan’s name at the bottom with her university's name above it.

  “Thank you I really appreciate it. This is very kind of you to do this. I’m kind of honored. You guys have like the best coffee.”

  “So we’ve been told. My father owns this shop, I’m a freshman here at school and I just work here part time, this is actually my first day but I know that everyone here tries to serve their customers in tip-top shape.”

  “Well you guys do.”

  “Thank you so much. I’ll get started on that latte and tea now.”

  Nate went in the back to go make Tegan’s order.

  “Shoot.”

  “What?”

  Tegan peeked over behind the counter to see what the problem was.

  “Latte machine is messing up. It’ll take just a sec. I’ll go make your tea while we're waiting.”

  Nate went into the back to make Jasmine’s tea. Tegan looked at the vintage clock hanging up in the café to see that it was 8:05. Class started five minutes ago. Damn. Now she couldn’t have her one-on-one talk she usually did in the mornings with Jasmine.

  “Here you go.”

  Nate slid the cup of hot tea to Tegan along with a napkin and turned his back to work on the latte machine.

  “Um, Kate do you know how to work this?”

  Nate whispered to the cash register girl who normally took Tegan’s orders.

  “No what’s wrong with it?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  Tegan’s eyes rolled back to the clock hanging up on the wall. 8:10. She wasn’t worried at the fact that she was late, she was more concerned that she would have to wait the entire class period just to speak to Jasmine alone and that just irritated her. All of that shopping, and hair straightening...a waste.

  “You know what Nate? It’s okay. I’ll get my latte another time…”

  “You sure?”

  The young boy turned around to look at Tegan with a hopeful look.

  “Yes, positive. Thank you anyway.”

  Tegan gripped a hold of Jasmine’s tea and walked briskly to Jasmine’s classroom, arriving there at 8:16. When Tegan opened the door, her classmates had their heads buried into their books reading while simultaneously writing and Jasmine was sitting at her desk doing the same. Tegan sat Jasmine’s tea in front of Jasmine’s computer on her desk and whispered a brief ‘good morning’ to her before taking her seat. Jasmine didn’t respond and didn’t look up either. Maybe she didn’t want it to look weird that Tegan brought Jasmi
ne tea. Tegan shrugged it off and opened her book to chapter fourteen and began taking notes. Jasmine stayed seated, she didn't really interact with the class like usual. By this time Jasmine would've been discussing her thoughts on the latest chapter of the book they were reading and why she felt that way but Jasmine just remained seated. The entire class. Obviously too interested in the screen on her laptop. What felt like years, class ended around ten and Tegan stayed planted in her seat waiting until the rest of her class exited.

  “Good morning. Sorry I was late. Some new guy works at the café now.”

  Tegan walked up to Jasmine’s desk. Jasmine didn’t acknowledge Tegan’s appearance. She kept her head down, continuing to look at whatever she was looking at on her laptop.

  “Professor?”

  Jasmine slid a paper across her desk in front of Tegan before continuing back to writing. Tegan looked down and saw a picture of an all too familiar face with writing above it.

  In Loving Memory of Jeffrey Dennings

  Tegan gasped inwardly before speaking.

  “Jasmine I’m so sorry.”

  “I told him to stop smoking all those damn cigarettes.”

  Jasmine laughed pathetically, ignoring Tegan’s apology. Jasmine continued busying herself on her computer and didn’t utter another word. Tegan couldn’t make out what vibe she was getting from Jasmine. She just stood there dumbly, waiting for Jasmine to say something. Anything.

  “You can come if you want.”

  Tegan grabbed the piece of delicate paper and held onto it like her life depended on it. Jasmine stood up and walked out of the classroom, before she made it fully out, she took a couple of steps back into the classroom and smiled weakly at Tegan.

  “You look really pretty today.”

  With that, Jasmine left her classroom and Tegan stood there for five minutes, processing everything that had just happened. She grabbed the invitation and angrily walked out of her classroom. Tegan’s tears flew at an angle as the wind outside caught them and she wiped them roughly with her hands whenever it got too blurry to see. Tegan stormed back to her dorm room where Peyton was just getting dressed.

  “Hey, hey. What happened?”

  Tegan slammed the paper down on her nightstand and began pacing her room with her lips pouted and her eyes dark.