Take My Breath Away – Second Chance Babies

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” I asked as I waited for him to speak. You never knew what you’d get with him.

“Good evening, Sterling. How are you?” He sounded friendly enough tonight.

“I’m good. Just having some dinner in the cafeteria. What’s up?” I asked in a light tone, leaning back to drink some soda.

“We were wondering if you wanted to come for Sunday dinner this weekend.” I groaned inwardly, cursing the fact that I went to college so close to home. We did this dinner a couple times a month, and I always tried to go. It was nice seeing the whole family and everything, but it was draining.

“Yeah. I’ll be there.” I wanted to ask to bring Rosie but being that they were always fighting in business, Dad wasn’t that open to our friendship. He’s prefer for me to hook up with a daughter of one of his partners, so we could just build on the family investment company. He’d arrange it if that were a tradition with us. “Everyone else?”

“Yes, your siblings will be there as well as their families.” I had a couple of siblings that were married with young kids that I had a blast with. They were active enough to play with and their enthusiasm made me happy.

“Awesome. I haven’t seen Caleb and Brinna for a while.”

“We’ll see you at four. Dinner is at five,” he reminded me as I nodded.

“I’ll be there.” I killed the call and hung up, setting the phone down. I felt like he had something to say but there was no point in worrying about it right now. I finished my dinner and chose to walk over to the house since it was just a few blocks away. I did that to walk girls home that lived in the cluster of dorm buildings, mostly just to be polite. It worked out to more a lot of the time, but It wasn’t my reasoning behind the act.

CHAPTER THREE: Rosalind

I let Violet convince me to go to the frat party against my better wishes. I was much more of an introvert that she was, but we had a long week. We deserved to relax a bit. I chose jeans and a button up flannel shirt in red and white layered over a black cami. Small boots finished the outfit, and I tugged my hair into a ponytail before applying some clear gloss.

I walked into the living room to see Violet dressed in black leather leggings and a button up white shirt. She looked great, and I walked forward to grab the ends of her purple hair. She giggled and looked at me impishly, making her eyes crinkle.

“You look great,” I told her as she smiled her thanks. Her lips were a deep purple, and she had her eyes done with some shimmer. “I look like I’m going hiking.”

“I can take you to my girl for highlights any time you want. A nice red underneath the dark would be gorgeous.” Violet gushed as I stared at her. “Too much?”

“I’ll let you do the vibrant thing, okay? I am good with my casual style, Vi. My mother would have a heart attack if I came home with bright hair like that.” I laughed at the image of her expression seeing me like that. I looked a lot like my mom apart from having my dad’s larger frame and nose. They were both conservative and loved the fact that I was as well. They had never said anything bad about Vi, but I knew they thought that she was over the top.

“She would. I remember the deer in the headlights look that she gave me when we met over dinner that first year.” I laughed at the memory and glanced around.

“Are we ready for a fun party?” I asked her as she raised an eyebrow at me. “Yay… fun?”

“It will be. I got us an Uber to get there so we’re not walking in the dark. I’ll get one to bring us home as well. You can enjoy some drinks and let the stress of this week fade away.” Violet placed her hand over her heart dramatically as I burst out laughing.

“You’re insane, Vi.” She grabbed our key, and I slipped it into my pocket securely after locking the door. We walked downstairs, and I saw a blue compact car sitting at the curb. Violet checked her phone and nodded.

“That’s it.” She opened the back door, and we slipped inside. Violet gave her the address, and the girl looked back at us.

“Great idea. You’re getting a car home as well?” The raven-haired goth girl asked as we both nodded. She let us buckle in and pulled away to merge with the traffic leaving the parking lot, headed towards the row of places that housed fraternity and sorority groups. I sat back nervously and gazed outside. I told myself that this would be fun. I could drink just a little, being careful in the process. I didn’t want to end up a statistic.