Page 190 of Finding Us

“I’m eating lunch with my wife.” He turns my face toward his and kisses me. “So stop trying to get rid of me.”

“I’m not. I’d love to have lunch with you. I just don’t have much time. There’s a place to eat in the student union. We could go there, and we’ll try your coffee shop tomorrow. Maybe I’ll go there after class while I’m waiting for yours to end. By then I’ll need more coffee. I’m really tired.”

“Didn’t you sleep last night?”

“I did, but I kept waking up thinking someone was trying to break in. I woke up every time I heard a noise.”

“Jade, I need to ask you something.”

“What?”

“What do you think about us getting a gun?”

“No way. Forget it. I don’t want one in our home. It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s dangerousnotto have one. I’ll teach you how to use it. We’ll find a shooting range and you can practice.”

“Practice killing someone? No, thanks.”

“Jade, it’s just a precaution. Criminals have guns. Iftheyhave them, we should, too. It only makes sense.”

“I don’t want a gun. We already have a security system. That’s all we need.”

“My dad’s house in Connecticut has the most sophisticated security system available. It cost a fortune. He also has security guys guarding the house. But did any of that stop your father?”

I don’t like Royce being called my father. I try to pretend he’s not. But I know Garret’s saying that because he doesn’t want to say Royce’s name. He always avoids saying it, like he thinks someone’s listening to us.

“Fine, but that was a special circumstance. It’s not like that’s going to happen again.”

“You never know what’s going to happen. That’s why you need to be prepared. Just think about it, okay?”

“I don’t need to. I don’t want us to have a gun. I think it’s a bad idea.” I check my watch as I stand up. “Class starts soon. I should walk over there.”

Garret gets up. “Are you mad at me now?”

“No. As soon as that cop told us about the robbery, I knew you’d bug me about getting a gun.” I reach up and kiss him. “I’ll see you at lunch. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

As I walk to class I think more about the gun. I’m not as opposed to it as I was last year but I’m still not ready to agree to it. Guns scare me, and the thought of having one sitting in a closet or in a drawer or under our bed totally freaks me out.

I go inside the social sciences building and stop at the vending machine to get a Coke. I already finished my coffee and I need more caffeine to make it through my next class, which is developmental psychology. It was one of the few electives that was still available since I enrolled so late. I took psych 101 last year and found it interesting, so I’m hoping this class will be, too. It’s about how your mind and behavior change over your lifetime, starting from when you’re a baby and going until old age. Even if it’s not that interesting, it’ll be an easy class—much easier than my science classes.

I go in the classroom and sit next to a girl with red hair, wearing ripped jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt. This school is very expensive so the students come from wealthy families, but from the way they dress you wouldn’t know it. Some of them look like they just rolled out of bed. It’s totally different than Moorhurst where people showed up to class wearing designer clothes and looking like they spent hours getting ready.

Camsburg is known for academics, not sports or partying or whatever else schools are known for. Moorhurst was known for academics, too, but the students here seem way more serious about their classes. In my organic chemistry class this morning, some of the people had already read the first three chapters of our book even though it wasn’t assigned. And they were already asking questions about the material they read. I felt like an idiot. I had no idea what they were talking about.

If that wasn’t bad enough, I decided to try to make friends in that class and my first attempt went horribly. After the lecture, I asked my new lab partner, who was assigned to me by the professor, if she wanted to get coffee after class and she completely ignored me like she didn’t hear me. I asked her again and she informed me that being her lab partner does not mean we’re friends and that I should stop trying.

I didn’t tell Garret that because it would piss him off, and knowing him he’d probably go yell at the girl.

She seemed like kind of a loner so maybe she just doesn’t like people. I was that way in high school after my mom died so I understand.

After I get my laptop set up, I turn to the red-headed girl next to me. “Hi, I’m Jade.”

She was staring straight ahead, but she turns a little and says, “Hi.”

It wasn’t an enthusiastic ‘hi’ and she didn’t give me her name.

---