Being back in Boston helped to keep Sam busy. Every morning he dragged himself out of bed. The one thing he did well was sleep. His roommates teased him, but they were too dense to understand.
Luke complained about his mood. The guy was too good looking, because he knew it more than Cole had back when he was a jerk. Sam had never minded jerky Luke, but suddenly the guy bugged him. He had blond hair and a tan from his summer working at Cape Cod, but he was cocky with girls. With his artistic abilities, he was a very talented illustrator. Slouched on the ratty sofa with a beer in his hand, he had the bad boy look with eyebrow and nose piercings and his colorful tattoos. His ripped jeans hung below his boxers all the time.
On Sam's first night back, Luke lowered his bottle from his mouth. "Last year, you were behind closed doors giving it to Rory, now you're moping for her."
"You're no f'ing fun." Theo joined in.
Theo was kinder than Luke who couldn't keep his drunk mouth shut. Luke and Theo were total opposites but had stuck together since being assigned as roommates their freshman year. Sam hooked up with them through Theo who was a photography major too. Rory called him 'cute little Theo'. The kid was only an inch or two taller than her. He had dark hair and eyes and fair skin. The two were total contrasts. Unlike Luke, he was clean cut and dressed like Sam in sports pants.
Luke slurred, "Your ex wife liked my post."
The girls who lived on the top floor of their three family dwelling were drinking in their basement apartment.
The one hanging on Luke looked like him, blonde and thin. She had a turned-up nose, which she looked down, and said, "You're divorced? How old are you?"
Sam glared at Luke. "Not divorce just taking a break."
He stood and walked to his room. He texted Rory about being back at the dump. His heart thumped when she called him. Hearing her voice smoothed over his tired heart. He worried if he would miss her more afterward. She was the one who didn't have friends, but he was used to having her by her side.
After their call, he forced himself to join the others. Theo looked at him with raised eyebrows. He shrugged. "She's doing good."
"What the, man, why are you talking to her?"
He looked from Luke to the three girls he hardly knew who were looking at him like he was a TV show on the CW, the kind with girl drama Keira liked to watch.
"She's my best friend."
"But she dumped you."
Shut the fuck up, Luke. "Only because of the distance." She still loves me.
Two of the three vied for his attention and wanted to make him feel better. The third was shyer. It was a shitshow since Theo and Luke liked the two girls who started hanging on him.
After a few minutes, he drained his beer and stood up. "I'm out." No one called him back as he walked from the bathroom to his bedroom.
When his alarm went off, Sam wanted to throw it across the room. He had survived a week of classes. Actually, they were exciting courses, senior thesis and senior seminar. He had waited a long time to make it that far. Why had he thought engineering was the right major? Oh right, for the money.
He groaned, but then he remembered it was Saturday and he was meeting Will Drake before his game. His friend from The Point was the star wide receiver for his Division 1 college, and Sam was documenting his season for his own senior project. It would be a combination of sports photography and video. Knowing the athlete opened doors for him with an all-access pass.
The guys were asleep after drinking all night. As he reached the first floor landing, the shy girl was descending from the second floor.
She smiled at him. "You're up early."
He shrugged, as he pushed his equipment bag up on his shoulder. "Gotta go."
Honestly, he couldn't remember her or her friend's names. With a wave he left, not wanting to be late.
He arrived at the athletic facility and flashed his pass to get past the guard. Will stood leaning against a wall looking at his phone. He looked up.
He smiled. "Hey!"
Sam asked, "Watcha looking at?"
"The kids are chasing seagulls. Liam's gonna catch one." Sam smiled, but the heaviness he carried kept his smile thin. "Hey, man, how are you?"
He shrugged. "I'm surviving."
Will smiled. "I see she made friends."
Sam shrugged. He hadn't talked to her since the night he arrived in Boston, but followed social media too.
Will said, "Yo, Sam. You okay?"
Sam frowned. "What? I don't know anything about her friends."
Will looked at him with a knitted brow. "But you're her boyfriend!"
Sam shook his head. "She asked me not to be."
Will's jaw dropped open. "What the...? Fuck! Dude, sorry."
"Yeah. What were you saying about her and friends?"
"Nothing, just she posted to her story something other than stupid pictures of nothing to keep her streaks going."
Sam didn't do streaks. He told Rory years ago when she got into it that his streak was days together with her. That one was definitely broken. Will motioned for Sam to walk and swiped his phone.
Handing the iPhone to Sam, he said, "Here."
Rory was holding up a colorful drink. Unlike Sam, her smile looked genuine. In another pose, her head was together with two girls in a selfie. His heart ached with memories of sitting next to her at bars around Boston.
He handed Will's phone back and looked away. They stepped into a training room. A trainer pointed to his watch. Will waved.
"I'm ready. Sam's going to film some."
Sam followed him through pregame conditioning including taping up the thumb he injured the week before. In the locker room, he put on his pads and the team gathered for a pregame meeting with the coach. Sam captured some images of Will in discussion, head to head with the quarterback. Both were seniors and had a good chance of being drafted.
He stood on the sideline during the game video graphing and taking stills of Will. By the time the game was over, he felt like he had played. Working weddings with Alison were less physical. Post game Will visited the trainer again and invited Sam to have dinner with the team.
Sam had no energy to be social. "I'll pass, but thanks. See you for your practice on Tuesday."
Sam had worked on his project over the summer. He took footage of Ryan throwing to Will on the beach and Will running. When they planned Sam's involvement, he thought it would be a fun way to keep himself busy between visits with Rory. Now it was his lifeline. He hadn't thought about Rory during the game.
He returned to his apartment with an Italian sub for dinner. His plan was to shower, eat, and edit. Uploading the video while he ate his sandwich, he ignored the noise beyond his bedroom door. It was louder than Chez Keller.
Inserting his ear buds, he cranked the music and began editing photographs. He thought about sending one of Will's awesome catches to Ryan. Will had a great game, but Ryan knew all about it. Will called him while he was waiting to see the trainer after the game. Ryan had watched it, but Will was excited as he spoke to his brother-in-law. Smiling, Sam captured Will's unbridled emotion on video.
Normally, he wouldn't think twice about sending Ryan a photo, but Rory had him second guessing all his relationships. In the summer, Ryan was Sam's next-door neighbor, but also Rory's uncle. She was living at Ryan's house.
Deep in thought, he jumped when his door flung open. "Yo, Kells join us for beers."
His video was still loading, so he nodded. He stepped out into their living room. Luke and Theo were each cozy with two of the girls and the third one looked at him smiling. He turned his head and stepped towards the fridge. There was more beer than food. He bought a case of Pumpkinhead in Maine and grabbed one.
He wanted to go back to his room, but sat at the table. They had one room for their kitchen and living space. The place wasn't big.
One girl said, "Hailey, sit with Kells, he's lonely." At least Sam learned her name.
"I'm not lonely. I was working."
Theo asked, "How was the game?"
"Great! Will was awesome."
He had sent the picture to Ryan and pulled out his phone to see if there was a response.
🗨Ryan: Great shot. My niece liked it. See you at the game next week.
He hadn't sent a text to Rory all day. He tapped one out.
🗨S: Game was great. I got some good footage. You liked the photo?
Every text he said he missed her, but he really meant he loved her. He sent it without either sentiment. Hailey sat watching him.
Her voice was meek. "You look sad."
"I was sending a text." He wasn't about to tell her, he was sad. He never used to be. Rory took away his sadness from losing his mother. She made him not regret leaving Turner, Ohio, population too small.
She tried again. "Where are you from?"
He held up his bottle. "Maine." His home was Maine. "But I lived in Ohio until high school."
She smiled. "I'm from near Buffalo. Ohio is only a few hours away."
He shook his head. "I don't live there anymore. I live on the coast of Maine."
"Why would you move there?"
Sam managed a half-hearted smile. The answers were for his father's job or online girlfriend. Sam liked fate because his future was there in the form of a blond haired beauty who shared his pain, but fate seemed obscure at the moment.
He picked the simplest option. "My dad decided to move, so we moved."
She wasn't letting up. "What's your major?"
"Film and photography. I'm in the middle of an edit. I should..."
He pointed to his room. His phone buzzed.
She smiled and touched him arm. He wanted to move away, as she said, "Kells, stay. Have some fun!"
He looked at his phone.
🗨Cole: Great shot of Will.
🗨S: Who sent it to you?
🗨C: Mike sent it to Anna. Coffeehouse tonight.
Sam shook his head and smiled. Ryan probably sent it to Lana and now the whole Point had seen it. Good thing he put a watermark on it.
She squeezed his arm. "Good news?"
He looked at her hand and picked it up and removed it. He let go of it and hoped she got his message. "Nope. Just a text from my brother."
He emptied his beer and stood up. "Screw it. I'll have another beer, but this is boring. Get the cards."
Luke sat up. "Blackjack! Ladies, go get some pennies."
They looked scared as they left to go upstairs. Rory killed at cards. Luke came to the table.
Sam said, "Who's your lap ornament?"
Luke smiled like a guy who planned to get lucky. "Madison."
"And the other one?" Theo had gone into the bathroom. "Ashley. Hailey's hot right."
Sam shook his head. "Haven't noticed. Not interested."
Theo sat at the table. "Hey, Sam, you holding up?"
"I'm surviving. I'll feel better after I strip those girls of their pennies."
Luke laughed. "Strip sounds like a plan."
Sam glared. "Luke, you're a pig."
Sam stood to get the cards and his penny jar. There were three other jars on the shelf. One was Rory's, he brought hers to his room. No way he was sharing with those girls. He liked it better when the three Pharmacy majors lived upstairs. They were guys and liked cards, but mostly studied.
He walked out of his room, and a girl had a stupid selfie stick. She hollered. "Come on, jump in." He stood on the end and tried to smile. "Move in." He squashed in next to Hailey.
Luke yelled, "Who farted?"
Sam laughed, it wasn't him, but it stunk. It was probably Luke.
She jumped around like a cheerleader. "Got it. I'll tag everyone."
Sam moved away. "Come on. Let's play or I'm going back to work. I'll deal."
He sat down. As he shuffled the cards, he thought of Rory. Maybe the beer would ease the loneliness in his chest.
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