Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,38

going to be able to fix all of them.”

“Let’s worry about you first.”

At ten, Taylor told him that he needed to go home because tomorrow was a big day. She thanked him, gave his blanket back, and got out to walk in by herself. Everything in him hated the way she was hunched forward, her arms locked in front of her. Only when she was inside did he think again about the roommate situation, and knowing she was going to be frustrated with him, he debated about calling her.

He watched for a long time as other students streamed in and out of the place. Clearly no one else was calling it a night in preparation for classes the next morning. Finally, knowing he couldn’t just leave her there if she couldn’t even get into her room, he pulled out his phone and with a sigh, dialed the number. It rang twice.

Taylor wasn’t sure if she should yell at him or strangle him, but she pushed those down and away. He was only trying to help. That his help was sometimes overkill wasn’t his fault. “Hello?”

“Hey. I was just wanting to make sure you had somewhere to sleep tonight.”

“Greg…”

“What? I’m just checking.”

Going to her door, she checked the knob. It was hair-tie free. She tried it, and it opened. Inside, she found the room in its usual state of disarray, but there was no Hannah to be found. “She left.”

“She left?”

“Yeah. She’s gone. She’s not here.” Taylor sighed, knowing Hannah would probably show up at four in the morning, but she couldn’t think about that right now. “I’m fine, Greg. Really. Go home. Get some sleep. And good luck with everything tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He didn’t sound relieved only deflated. “You too.”

It was 10:15 when Greg walked in the door of the house. There hadn’t been many lights on when he pulled up, so he had assumed everyone was either gone or in bed. He was wrong.

Instead, two steps in, he found Nelson on the couch and Wes in the chair, clearly talking and obviously waiting for him. This would not be fun.

Carefully Greg turned, closed, and locked the door before gathering all of the calm he could still find within himself. When he turned back, they were both looking at him though neither gaze was steady or without worry.

“Did you go to Tay’s?” Nelson finally asked, and Greg heard a faint undercurrent of the blistering attack for his temerity just beneath the surface.

He lifted his chin in defiance. “Yeah. I did. Is that a problem?”

A breath and Nelson backed down. “No. It’s cool. How is she?”

It was a fair question although not an easy one to answer. Greg shrugged. “She says she’s fine. Said she understands why everyone hates her.”

“We don’t hate her,” Wes said as if that tasted sour.

“Yeah” was all Greg said. His gaze dropped to the floor as he nodded, ready to bug out of this conversation and head for bed.

Nelson glanced at Wes. “Listen… we know, man. We do. This has been hard on all of us.”

Still nodding, Greg said nothing in reply though it would’ve been far easier to rip into the two of them again.

“And,” Nelson continued, “you were right.” He glanced at Wes again, “… about me. When I went to Northwestern, I made some really, really dumb moves. I certainly wasn’t thinking about you guys or anybody else or even about what was best really. It took me a long time to get my head on straight.”

“I think this has taken some adjusting for all of us,” Wes said, sounding far more levelheaded and rational than he had before. “I thought I knew how it was all going to go when we got here, but…” He tipped his eyebrows. “Can’t say it’s turned out like I thought it would.”

“I guess it’s just way more complicated than any of us bargained for,” Nelson said. “This whole life thing. Classes, relationships, even trying to make sure there’s milk in the refrigerator has been a challenge. It’s like it’s all spinning all the same time, and you’re just trying not to drop anything.”

Well, that much Greg totally understood.

“So, is Tay okay?” Wes asked, and there was genuine concern in his voice.

“She says she is,” Greg said with a shrug. “But you know Tay. There’s always more to the story than she lets on.”

“She’s in the dorms?” Nelson asked, and Greg had the feeling that they both hadn’t realized her life should still be important to them until