Chapter 2

It was only just the other day that Kara and her boyfriend of nearly a year and a half were sitting in the hall waiting for class to start. They decided back in high school that they wanted to try going to the same college, and it actually ended up working out for them. They both were able to get into programs that they wanted, and they even managed to set their schedule up so that they could have class together. The only bad thing was it was only one class and, with their respective fields of Brandon being in physical therapy and Kara being in the education field, it was hard for them to see each other with all of the field experience hours that were required. So they tried to take advantage of all the time they had together.

As they sat on the cold linoleum floor of the hallway that echoed in silence for only another minute, they waited for their Introduction to Chemistry class to start. They sat, huddled next to each other, and watched the other students walk through the halls as well as their fellow classmates entering the classroom.

“Ugh…damn it, baby. I don’t want to go to class,” Brandon stated matter-of-factly.

“I know, honey. You never want to,” Kara laughed. “Are you ready?”

“I suppose so. Let’s go”

They walked into class and sat down next to each other like they did every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And just like every other day of class, Brandon almost falls asleep, and Kara had to keep poking, kicking, and nudging him to keep him awake. It’s not that Brandon was a bad student - he actually kept a steady 3.43 grade point average - he just had a really hard time staying awake in that class; it’s possible for the reason that it was at 8:00 A.M.

Once class was over, Brandon waited outside the door for Kara. Kara always liked to talk to the professor after class to make sure she understood what he had gone over that day. She had found out that she did much better in classes in which she did this, plus she also liked having a personal relationship with her professors; it made coming in to ask questions much easier. It took her no more than fifteen minutes to talk to the professor, but this time just seemed to drag for Brandon as he paced back and forth in the hall.

Kara walked out of the class room and, to her utmost astonishment, Brandon wasn’t there. She looked to her left, then her right, and then behind here before turning back around the way she was originally facing.

“RA!!!” Brandon shouted at Kara and put his arms around her waist and held her into him tightly.

“Holy shit…what the f…?” Kara damn near jumped out of her pants.

“Aww…calm down, baby. It’s just me,” Brandon comforted.

“BRANDON, YOU ASS! You scared the shit out of me. Where were you?”

“Sorry, baby. I just got bored.” Brandon then kissed her on the forehead to try and calm her nerves.

“Wow, it’s ok, hunny, I just totally wasn’t ready for that. Let’s go get some breakfast, k?”

“Sure, sounds good to me.” They held each other in a tight hug before they made their way out of the building and to the corner store to get something to eat for breakfast.

It took them fifteen minutes to walk to the corner store, because they had to walk across a third of the campus plus an additional three blocks. It was a great walk though, and they both thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a few shops and stores along the road including a book store, a tattoo parlor, a tanning salon, and a laundry mat. Their favorite part, however, was the block before any of the shops. It was a full block designated specifically to be a park. It wasn’t just your everyday park with the slide, merry-go-round and basketball court. This was mainly just a block of nature, and it was beautiful. There were tall trees with the classic colors of orange, red, and yellow that you would expect for the autumn season. Every day they would come past this park, there would be some sort of bird singing or a squirrel trying to find a memorable place that he could bury his nuts. Kara loved coming here to feel the brisk wind run through her long blonde hair; Brandon liked it because it was a relaxing spot that he could relax and soak up everything that was happening in his life, using everything in his writing. As different as their passions were, they were still able to mesh together in an almost perfect harmony.

As they walked by the park with the scent of the leaves creeping into their nostrils, they realized that there fingers had become interlaced. This was not a rare occurrence, but once they noticed, they could only look at each other and smile. The love that illuminated could be seen in the sparkles shining from each of their eyes.

They finally made it to the corner store so they could get something to eat. The store was a small and somewhat run-down, but it in some way still managed to stay in business. The owners regularly joked with Brandon and Kara saying that they were the reason the store was still in business. For breakfast, Brandon bought a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant and a bottle of orange juice while Kara got a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit with a bottle of orange juice. Kara also purchased a blueberry bagel that they ended up sharing.

The trip back only took them around ten minutes, because they did not take their time through the park. They wanted to make sure that they got back in time for each of their next classes. Brandon walked Kara back to her dorm to make sure she got back safely. Kara was lucky enough to get her own room in college. Standing together in the doorway for a couple minutes, they began to say their good-byes for the day and gave each other a good-bye kiss. Before Brandon left, he was sure to give Kara a kiss on the forehead. He knew she absolutely loved that. Brandon turned and walked away, beginning his walk back to his dorm. Kara only did what she did every time he walked away - stood there in the doorway with only two feelings: content and love.