Page 2 of Bear In Mind

Friday

Bryn

The moment I stepped out of the classroom, my phone buzzed in my bag.Stopping in the hallway, I dug my hand around in my well-abused messenger tote for the device, snagging it one second too late.

Phone in hand, I unlocked the screen to see who had called.Before I could go to my missed calls, the phone began vibrating again.Seeing her name, I rolled my eyes, swiping my finger across the screen to answer the call.“What if I was still taking my exam?”

“Then you wouldn’t have answered,” she quipped, not hesitating in the slightest.Tiffany was always ready with a quick comeback.She was petite but fiery, and, as my best friend, she was one of the few people I could trust in this world.

I chuckled, working my way through the throngs of stragglers in the school halls.“True.”

She sucked in a breath, and I knew the parade of questions was coming.“Talk to me, Bryn!How did you do?How do you think you did?Did you knock it out of the fucking park?Do you think that was the last test you’ll ever have to take in your life?”Her words were a single, run-on interrogation.

Biting back a smile, I shoved at the glass door, stepping outside of Building Three.Spinning, I looked back at the modern structure.It was fancy for the area, but certainly not in the upper couth of prestigious undergraduate schools.Rotterham Community College was the closest college across five counties.The closest university was a solid two hours one way, and beyond my budget.As it was, I would be graduating with nearly twenty thousand dollars in student loans, a number that made me lose my appetite just thinking about it.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic.Six years of my life had culminated to this moment, to this point in time.“I think I did as well as I could do.Some portions were harder than I expected and others easier, so I really can’t gage whether I passed or failed.I really hope today was the last day I ever have to attend class again, though.”

“Girl, you worked your ass off.I know you passed.I fucking know it.And that’s why I planned a night out.We need to celebrate.”It sounded like she was dancing around the room, which wouldn’t surprise me.My best friend was a tiny ball of endless energy who could eat any man under the table, and she was a solid hundred-and-fifteen pounds wet.“We are getting shit-faced drunk tonight, B!Uh-huh.Uh-huh.Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.”She sang the last part with zero shame, despite previously admitting to being tone deaf.

I groaned.Truthfully, all I wanted to do was to go home, take a long, hot bath, drink a bottle of cheap wine, order an extra-cheese pizza and binge watch my favorite crime drama TV show in my rattiest, most comfortable sweats.

But I couldn’t disappoint my best friend.If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have gotten through college.

My second year in, I met a man I thought was the love of my life.He swept me off my feet and into his bed faster than any other had.Initially, things were great, but then my mom got sick.Fucking cancer.He actually became jealous that I was spending more of my free time with her than with him.When her treatment stopped working, I quit school to make the most of the remaining time we had.I didn’t want to miss any more moments than I had to, and that only infuriated him more.The more I defied him, the more he tried to control me.The more I pushed him away, the angrier he became.

The day my mother passed away, he accused me of cheating on him.The day my mother passed away, I accused him of being a heartless bastard and broke up with him.

My mother didn’t have life insurance, and my dad left before I was even born.When I tried to ask about family, my mother would immediately shut me down.The best I could gather was that she had a bad falling out with them.I’d never felt more alone in my life than on that day.

Until Tiff showed up with a bottle of cheap wine, a large extra cheese pizza, a shoulder to cry on and her wits about her.She made all of the burial arrangements and even paid for half.She was the closest thing I had to a sister.She picked me back up and nagged me daily until I returned to school part time after getting hired atMugs.From the momentScrugs, as the kids called her in high school, walked into my life, nothing was ever the same.

Nor was I.

She injected me with confidence.She openly lusted after my curves, constantly declaring her jealousy as she fought to gain a pound.She shared her struggle in being underweight her entire life, despite her efforts not to be, and made me appreciate every pound of imperfection.She taught me to love my body, no matter its size, no matter whether I was trying to change it.“If you don’t love it now, you won’t love it then, because you only get one body and one set of organs, B.There’s no refunds or exchanges after your mama pops you out.”

She was right.She was always right, or so it seemed.And, bless her icy heart, she had no problem rubbing it in my face either.

But I loved her anyways.

And it was love alone that had me foregoing my own desires of a lazy night in to get dragged to the sleaziest honky tonk in town by the craziest person I knew.

Chapter Three

Bryn

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into wearing this.”I tugged down on the not-forgiving-enough white crop top for the millionth time, but only after jerking my dark wash skinny jeans up higher.Only a two inch strip of my stomach was visible, but it felt like I was prancing around in a teeny weeny bikini.Typically, I balanced my ensembles.If I wore tight pants, I donned a looser top, and vice versa, and I never showed anything more than a little cleavage.But, in my almost-a-college-graduate high, I made the mistake of letting Tiff dress me.Why, oh why, did I do that?

Glancing back over her shoulder, she rolled her eyes.“Shut up.You’re a total babe and you know it.”

“You’re my best friend.You’re supposed to say stuff like that.”

She stopped, spinning to glare at me.“Since when have I ever kissed your ass?I may be jealous of it.Hell, I may even wanna fondle it, but never have I ever kissed it.Got it, sister?”

Biting my lower lip, I snickered.“Fondle?Really?Who the heck says fondle anymore?”

Shrugging her shoulders, she smirked.“Me.Cause I’m a trend setter, baby.”She wriggled her hips and shoulders, shimmying sassily.

That single move had me relaxing into a laugh.“I think that bleach you insist on using on your hair is getting to you.”

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