Page 79 of Drew
“It won’t take me too long. I’ve worked on it between classes so if Ifocus, I should be able to knock it out sooner.”
My lips turn up at her blatant hint. “Okay. I’ll be ready when you’re done. My paper isn’t due until next week. Chop, chop,” I tease. “Get to work, lady, so we can grab some dinner.”
It isn’t even an hour later, and we’re walking into Abby’s quiet apartment. I’d managed to get a few pages written, but my concentration was complete shit. Every move Abby made, I was acutely aware.
Once inside, she walks to her bedroom to put her bag away, while I stay out in the living room. It takes me all of thirty seconds to see a big envelope propped up on the kitchen table with Abby’s name written on a blue sticky note. The moment I recognize what it might be, I call out to Abby. “Hey, Abs, there’s something out here you might want to look at.”
God, I hope this is what I think it is. If not, our plans for the evening are about to change.
Within seconds, she’s by my side. “What is it?” Curiosity evident in her voice.
I point to the large white envelope on the table. “It looks like you have some mail.”
It doesn’t look too thin, so this is a good thing, right? Please let it be good for Abby’s sake. She deserves this.
Abby gasps and lunges for the mail. It takes her less than three seconds to carefully open the envelope and reveal its contents. I wait expectantly as she pulls out a couple of sheets of paper and begins to read them.
Suddenly, she looks to me wide-eyed and screams, “Ohmigod! Ohmigod! Ohmigod! I can’t believe it.”
Not being able to contain my excitement for her, I pull her in for a hug. Abby climbs me like a tree and wraps her legs around me in the biggest full-body bear hug I’ve ever received. Then she shouts in my ear, “Ohmigod! Ohmigod!”
“I take it congratulations are in order?” I look expectantly at the letter when she releases the hold around my neck to look me in the eye.
“I got in! I can’t believe it, Drew. I fucking got in!”
I proudly grin as I squeeze her once more. “I knew you could do it.”
After kissing the hell out of Abby, I set her down, and she does the most adorable happy dance I’ve ever seen. It’s a combination between running in place, like she’s on speed, and pumping her fists into the air. Her enthusiasm’s so infectious I break out into a happy dance of my own to celebrate with her. Of course, this makes her burst into a fit of laughter.
After a few moments, she takes a deep calming breath. “Drew, I got into Stanford. I freaking got into Stanford. It’s not my first choice, but I’d be happy as hell to go there for med school.”
“You and me both, Angel. I’m so proud of you. You’ve worked your ass off, and you deserve this.”
“Wait.” She stops abruptly. “Have you heard back from any of the schools you’ve applied to?”
“Nope, not yet.” I shrug dismissively. “But I’m sure I will soon.”
Abby chews on her bottom lip for a moment, and I reach out to free it from her teeth with my thumb. “Why the face?”
“I shouldn’t be celebrating if you haven’t heard yet.”
“Uh, I didn’t apply to Stanford. But we most certainly should be celebrating. I’m sure we’ll hear back from other schools in the coming weeks. Come on,” I say as I pull her into the kitchen. “Let’s make dinner then I can show you how excited I am for you.”
Between the two of us, Abby and I make dinner quickly. Since we have her apartment all to ourselves for a few more hours, we celebrate by watching a movie on the couch. I offer to take her out somewhere, but Abby insists she’d rather stay in and have a brainless night of fun. Just as the opening credits roll, the front door to the apartment flies open, and Sydney comes bursting into the living room and slams the door.
Anger rolls off her in waves. Her breathing’s ragged, and her fists are balled at her sides. When she spots us on the couch, she takes a deep breath to calm herself. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m so pissed right now, I could scream.”
“What’s wrong?” Abby bolts up from the couch to comfort her friend.
Sydney looks from Abby to me and back again. Shaking her head, she says, “I don’t want to ruin your evening. I’ll just go hang out in my room.”
Clearly something’s happened. Sydney’s usually calm and carefree. Over the past few weeks, I’d like to think we were all friends. Abby had mentioned she’d been on a date earlier… what if something happened to her?
“That’s not necessary,” I point out as I reach for the remote to turn off the TV. “You’re not interrupting anything. What’s going on, Syd? Are you okay?”
Sydney takes in a deep breath and holds it for a while before slowly letting it out. I can see her visibly relax, which makes me less on edge. Though I won’t dismiss this completely until I know some asshole didn’t hurt her.
“Ohmigod! You aren’t going to believe what happened…” Sydney shrugs as she plops down in the oversized chair next to the couch, Abby returns to her place next to me.
