Page 1 of Lucky Sucker

1. WREN

Going back to college as a sophomore was supposed to be great, I was finally going to be taking on the assignments I wanted for the college paper, and I was getting to live off-campus near town where I could make friends with people—instead of more stuffies.

I drove from my mom’s house in Pennsylvania almost all day into the evening, my thoughts consumed with the idea that this year was going to be better, but there was always that niggle in the back of my mind that I would probably just stay in my shell, retreated and trying to avoid everyone. I hugged my crocheted amigurumi orca that I’d made, it was right between my thighs because I was a safe driver, and I was trying not to get distracted on some of the winding roads it took to get to Maplehaven where Caldwell College was situated.

The Maple Street townhomes, where I would spend the next three semesters living. In the late August evening with the streetlamps turning on and the smell of that soon-to-be crisp autumn in the air, I kind of felt like I was home, or at least, independently living.

I’d gotten my room last minute after seeing someone ask if they needed accommodation for the upcoming year. Something about one of their friends dropping out. It was cheaper than going for one of the cabins they had set up called The Pines, I knew a lot of students loved living in those places, but I wasn’t that introverted.

Parked on the curbside, a girl with a high ponytail raced out of the house to meet me. As I climbed out of the car, my crochet orca, Bloo, fell from my lap.

“You must be Wren,” she said, picking Bloo up from the ground. “Oh my gosh, so adorable.”

“Thanks, hi, yes, I’m Wren, I’m sorry I’m late, I—”

She chuckled with a big friendly smile, handing me Bloo back. “You’re not late at all, you said you’d be here around eight, and it’s—” she looked at her wristwatch. “Eight-oh-nine. So, how was the drive?”

“It’s fine,” I lied, I’d been full of panic, and she was a lot of sounds happening in my face all at once. “I’m exhausted though.”

She placed a hand on my arm. I knew she was trying to be nice, but I was panicking even more now. “I’ll show you where you’ll be staying, everyone else is here, and we do not have parking, but there are places you can park.”

“That’s just a rental,” I blurted, pulling my arm away, hoping she didn’t feel like I was yanking away. “I need to go take it to the rental place nearby. But yeah, my stuff is in the trunk, so I’m gonna unpack that and then I’ll take it. If that’s ok. Is it—is it ok?”

“Sure,” she said. “Oh my god, I’m Donna, by the way.”

“Hi,” I mumbled again, my fingers nearly choking poor Bloo in my hand.

“Let me get the others, do you have a lot of stuff?” she asked.

I shook my head. I had a suitcase and two boxes, mostly filled with yarn, but I didn’t have a lot. “I’ll be fine bringing it in.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, tilting her head.

Not a question I knew how to answer. I wasn’t sure of much right now, except that I wanted to settle in, find somewhere to grab a snack, and then maybe had a long night of sleep. I was desperate to nap, and not to meet four—now, three, new people.

It was two guys and two girls. Donna, Tara, Elliot, and Sam. I’d spoke to Tara and Donna through texts. Guys kinda scared me, I wasn’t a guy’s guy at all, except for the whole being gay thing, I kinda avoided being around guys.

Donna helped me take my suitcase and boxes inside the townhouse. It was nice, clean, spacious, and very unlived in. I knew that wouldn’t be the case for long. My room was on the second floor towards the back of the house. A smaller box room I’d already seen pictures of an agreed to. It had a desk, a bed, and a window out into the very small garden, but we were in Vermont, nestled inside the Green Mountains, everywhere was a garden.

I briefly met Tara before excusing myself with Bloo tucked inside my jacket now, hidden, so I could go drop the car off at the rental place. I was glad Maplehaven had a car rental place nearby, they rented a lot of winter sports equipment gear too when it was the season. It was obviously closed when I arrived, but that was to be expected. I dropped the car off in the bay designated and the keys in the return slot. Half of me wondered if I should’ve waited until the morning when an actual person could’ve seen me return it, but through the panic, I saw the security cameras.

Maplehaven was probably my favorite place in the world, which wasn’t that good of an opinion from me since I hadn’t traveled the world, but it was better than a lot of places I looked at when I was picking where to go for college.

Walking back from the rental place, it reminded me of another reason I loved this place so much. It was so walkable. I could walk to campus from the house, or I could even get a bike. On my walk back, I’d spotted a diner, mostly empty with a couple of tables. Jimmy’s Diner was somewhere I’d always seen students come to and full out the tables. It was rare to see it empty, and I was starving.

Staring inside, the bright white luminous menu on the backwall filled with pictures of big beef burgers and giant strawberry milkshakes. My mouth was collecting saliva. “What do you think, Bloo?” I asked, looking inside my thin jacket to see Bloo’s big black button eyes. “I agree. I need to eat.”

Two tables were occupied with loud and quite annoying sports guys. I knew they were from the ice hockey team because of the few games I’d seen last year, and I didn’t expect less from a division one sports college. I was lucky this place wasn’t overrun with them.

“Good evening,” an older man greeted me as I walked up to the counter. “Here’s a menu, or you can look behind me at the specials on the board.”

“Thanks.” I took the laminated menu and glanced over it, but my focus was split between the guys in the corner of the diner who I’d convinced were staring at me. I was always convinced someone was staring. I’d been on anti-anxiety medication for most of my teen years, but the last couple of years, I had been engaging in crochet and talk therapy. I didn’t like the cloud of haze that rumbled over my mind when I was on those meds.They’re not looking at you, Wren. Just don’t look at them. Breathe.

“Are you student?” the man asked.

“Yeah. What gave it away?”

“Freshman?”

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