Crossing Boundaries (closed)

[saedo]

Closed for JazmynMarie26

I hefted the last bag into the rear compartment and tried to shut the trunk. It stopped half an inch short. Sighing, I gave the lid a heavy shove. The lock finally engaged with a metallic clunk.

I surveyed the results. What appeared to be the entire contents of an entire apartment filled the rear compartment and most of the back seat. Perhaps a quarter of it was mine. The rest belonged to my passenger for the next week.

I looked over to where she was engaged in a teary goodbye on the sidewalk with her mother. I'd gone through the same thing four years ago with my own family when I headed off to college. I kept my distance till they'd finished; I knew how emotional moms got.

The two separated at last. Mrs. Harris called to me as her daughter walked to the car. "Jacob, you be careful on the road. You've got my baby on board."

"Yes, ma'am," I responded. "I'll take good care of her." I waved goodbye over the roof of the car and then sat down in the driver's seat.

I didn't know my passenger, Marie Harris, all that well. Her brother, Calvin, and I had been buddies since middle school, but the four year difference between us and Marie reduced her to annoying little sister status for our formative years. Consequently, I'd been a little surprised to when Cal informed me that she was now old for college.

Marie was starting an undergraduate program at the same California university where I would be completing my master's degree. Since Marie had to transport a dorm room's worth of stuff cross-country and I was headed the same way in a semi-spacious SUV, Cal figured we could kill two birds with one stone. I certainly couldn't complain about getting half my costs paid for. So I'd agreed.

The passenger door opened and Marie slipped inside. I found myself again marveling at the changes four years could bring. The Marie I vaguely remembered from my high school days had been a somewhat skinny, lanky,awkward thing with big brown eyes. The woman who slid into my front seat was still long-limbed - easily 5'8" or 9" I'd guess, with coffee-hued legs that stretched for days. The awkwardness, however, had disappeared; she moved with a grace that almost suggested she was floating.

Skinny was also not a word that readily applied. Marie had an almost ridiculously tiny waist, but above and below her body flared into curves that could probably stop traffic. I was glad the University T-shirt she wore fit close to her neck; I don't think my gaze could have climbed out of cleavage that deep on our first meeting.

I turned my head as I watched her pull the shoulder strap across her magnificent chest. It'd been weeks since I'd last seen my girlfriend, so my libido didn't need additional temptation. Besides, I was pretty sure that admiring the rack of your best friend's baby sister was a major Bro Code violation.

I waited for the click of the buckle and glanced over at her, keeping my blue eyes on her browns. "Ready to roll?" I inquired.

 

[JazmynMarie26]

I sat in the car, buckled in, nervous as ever. This would be my first time away from home, from my parents, from my older brother, Calvin, and in a car with Jacob, who is my brother's best friend.

"Ready to go," I heard him ask me as I was looking out the window. "Yeah, as reay as I can be," i said back with a small smile and slight tears in my eyes.

I never knew Jacob that well. I just saw him as another one of my brother's jock friends, so I never really said anything to him. Yes, I thought he was extremely cute, but he'd never look at me that way. I was 4 years younger than him and his best friend's sister, so that already made me off limits.

"Thanks for driving me there," i said to him, still looking out the window. I refused to let him see me cry right now. I had finally grown up, and hoped he would see me that way

 

[saedo]

I could see that Marie was taking her departure pretty hard. She kept her head turned towards the right window to obstruct my view, but I could see the occasional reflection in the glass. Two slim tracks of tears would occasionally glitter down her lovely cheeks.

"Hey," I said softly. "It's okay to be a bit emotional about it. Just because you're 18 and supposed to be an adult doesn't mean that you can't be upset about leaving your home to go off to college."

"After all, it's really not all that different from that first day of kindergarten." I chuckled at the memory. "I was so scared about that when I was 5. Mom practically had to peel me off her leg when she dropped me off at Mrs. Talbot's classroom.

"But you know what? By the time lunch rolled around, I'd met your brother and we'd discovered during recess our mutual fondness for the swings. So when Mom came to pick me up that afternoon, I told her how much fun I had."

I glanced over at her and smiled. "Same thing will happen in college. It'll be a bit weird and strange at first, but you'll make friends and discover you like some of these new things. In no time at all, you'll be calling your Mom to tell her how much fun you're having, too."

"Besides, the University won't be totally strange to you because you've got me for a tour guide. I can tell you where to get good pizza, which professors to avoid, the quickest shortcuts across campus, which campus groups throw the best parties - all sorts of fun facts. For example...."

I launched into a description of some of my own experiences on campus - including a couple of anecdotes that made her giggle. We talked about University life for a long while as we cruised down the highway.

 

[JazmynMarie26]

As i listen to Jacob talk more and more about University life, I slowly started to relax. He nailed it when he said I was sad about leaving my home. I may be 18, but still. My brother, my father, and especially my mother had been my support system for 18 years.

"I know I have a lot to look forward to. It's just....you know that feeling of just transferring into a school, and everyone staring at you and judging you? That's why at I feel and it's a terrifying feeling," i say to him as we continue to drive down the road.

I saw him smiling, reassuring me that everything would be fine and he would be there for me if I ever needed him. His smile, one of the things that attracted me to him when we were growing up. Plus, he got cuter and cuter every year. But I knew he'd never looked at me like that.

He told me more stories of University as I listened, still being nervous. Not about school, but about spending the next week with Jacob, knowing how I feel about hi,

 

[saedo]

As the sun started to dip towards the horizon, we stopped for gas and a bite to eat. Afterwards, I advised that we push on. "There's a decent motel up the road about an hour," I explained. "Not much on frills, but it's clean and the parking lot is well lit. Should be a good place for us to stay tonight."

It was a couple hours past sunset when we pulled into the parking lot. I found one of the handful of empty slots and went in to deal with the clerk. I returned a few minutes later.

"I figure since we're both poor students, there's no point splurging on two rooms. I did get us two beds, though." I suppressed a smile at the thought of the alternative. In the right circumstances, sharing a bed with Marie might be a lot of fun. But I was here to look after her, so I couldn't let my mind drift that direction.

I carried our bags up to the room and let Marie decide which bed she preferred. I stretched my arms. "Wow, all that driving really wears you out. I'll definitely let you take a turn tomorrow." I yawned. "I think I'll take a shower before bed. If you want one too, I'll let you go first."