Jude follows my line of sight and smiles. “Happens every year. You should know that.”
“I know, but I forgot about it. We used to have so much fun at it.” We slowly walk by the big sign and my heart jumps with excitement. The festival is tomorrow. “Do they still have the funnel cakes I love?”
“Yep,” Jude says with a laugh. “I get one every year.” Then he looks over at me. “Want to go? It’ll be fun.”
Yes. Yes. Yes.
“I’d love to,” I say, trying not to sound overly enthusiastic.
When we get to the parking lot, he follows me over to my car. “Do you want me to pick you up or meet you there?” he asks.
Never before have I been nervous around him, but I am now. It’s the butterflies in the stomach kind of feeling. It’s strange because I’ve never had those types of feelings for Jude before.
“You can pick me up if you want. I’ll text you my address.”
We exchange numbers and he pockets his phone, his eyes searching mine. I’ve known him a long time and I can tell he wants to say something, but instead, he takes a step back. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow.” He smiles once more, and I watch him get into a black Jeep and drive away. Once he’s gone, I pull out my phone and call my sister.
“Hey, sis,” she answers. “How did your first day go?”
I get in my car and laugh. “Let’s just say it was a blast from the past. You’ll never guess who’s one of my professors.”
A few seconds pass and she giggles. “I have no freaking clue. Who? You got me curious.”
I let a few more seconds pass in suspense. “Jude Daniels. Can you believe it?”
She squeals so loud it hurts my ears. “Holy shit, that’s insane! What are the odds of that?”
“Exactly. It felt so good seeing him again.”
“It should,” she exclaims. “I’ve always told you what I thought about him.”
“And what was that?” I already know the answer, and I’ve thought about it millions of times over the years.
She snorts. “Duh. That he’s the one you were supposed to be with. Now you can make it right.”
Closing my eyes, I let that sink in. Maybe it’s time we do make things right.4JudeI wake panting, completely out of breath. The continuous whoosh of the ceiling fan keeps rhythm with each inhale and exhale I take and give. It takes me a moment to gather my bearings. My hand slides across to the empty side of my queen-sized mattress. It’s cold and vacant, despite what my dream and memories are telling me.
It’s been years since I’ve dreamed of Laura… like that or in any way, really. At first, after she cut off all communication, I used to have nightmares about her, and us. We’d be running through the forest, side by side, until I couldn’t see her anymore. I’d search for her but to no avail and when I woke, I’d be much like I am now, out of breath. The only exception this time is, I’m rock hard, there wasn’t a forest, and I have very detailed and graphic images of her in my mind, straddling my lap.
My hand reaches under my blankets and into the waistband of my shorts, confirming what I already know. For the first time since probably the seventh or eighth grade, I’ve had a wet dream.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter as I throw the covers back and set my bare feet on the hardwood floor. I lean toward the lamp on my nightstand and twist the little black dial to illuminate my room. A quick glance over my shoulder confirms everything—the sticky shit I felt on my dick has definitely left a giant wet spot on my sheets. I have no choice but to strip my bed. I do this quickly and fling my boxers onto the pile and carry the items to my washer and throw them in. My next stop—the shower.
After I turn on the water, I step in, not caring if the water is warm or not. I need to wake-up even though it’s three in the morning. There is no way I’m going back to sleep. Laura is at the forefront of my mind and I’d rather spend as much time as I can thinking about her before we spend time together today.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I asked her to stay after class. At first, I wanted to be a total prick and tell her to transfer, tell her that if she stayed, I’d flunk her. But as I watched her approach me, every bad thought I had disappeared. Before me, was the one I let get away. I put our friendship first and thought we were building a foundation. And then the summer of our sophomore year in college came, and so did Shawn. I could tell immediately she was into him. I welcomed him, treated him like a friend. I had no idea he was going take my best friend away from me.