Hold the Forevers

“She sold them to a newspaper,” I groaned, dragging her deeper into the dorm.

“I know! That’s so Josie.”

“Isn’t it?”

We hurried back upstairs, chatting animatedly about everything and nothing.

I’d known Marley since second grade when we were both in Mrs. Jackson’s class. Marley complimented my Lisa Frank shirt, I gushed over her scrunchie, and then we promptly got in trouble for talking too much. We’d been inseparable ever since.

After we both got dressed, I texted Cole to let him know we were on our way and then took my beat-up Hyundai north of the dorms to the light-blue house where Cole lived with his two roommates. I knocked twice on the front door and then let myself inside. The party wouldn’t start for another hour and wouldn’t really get going until later, but already, there were a handful of people present, sitting around, watching TV, and pregaming with beers.

I pulled Marley in behind me. We hurried past one of Cole’s roommates, Barry, and continued into the kitchen. Cole turned at our presence, and a smile split his face.

“Finally,” he said, scooping me up and kissing me.

“I did text you.”

He patted his pockets. “I don’t know where my phone is.”

“You’re always losing it.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now. You’re here.” He turned to my best friend. “And you must be Marley.”

“I am,” she said, extending her hand for him to shake.

He took it. “So good to finally meet you. Lila talks about you nonstop.”

“Funny. I was going to say the same thing about you.”

He grinned as his gaze shifted back to me. “You talk about me nonstop?”

“You’re my new, shiny toy,” I told him with a wink.

“And what does that say about me?” Marley asked.

“You’re the Woody to his Buzz Lightyear.”

“I don’t know whether or not to be offended by that.”

“You’re forever, babe,” I told her, slinging an arm over her shoulders. “Now, we have two birthdays to celebrate.”

“Yes, what can I get you?” Cole said. “Beer, wine, margaritas?”

“Margaritas,” Marley and I said in unison.

Cole blended together the drinks, and we took them into the living room to watch SportsCenter. I’d seen the baseball highlight plays already. Apparently, it was a casualty of spending a lot of time with Cole. More and more sports.

“So,” Marley said as she sank into a chair. She tucked her legs up underneath her and looked at Cole.

“Oh no,” I said into my margarita.

Cole glanced at me. “What?”

“Here it comes.”

“Tell me everything about you,” Marley said. “What’s your major? What do you want to be when you grow up? What do your parents do?”

“Mars,” I grumbled. “We talked about this.”

She looked sheepish. “I know you told me to stagger my questions, but this is who I am.”

Cole just chuckled. “It’s fine. I don’t mind the third degree from your best friend.”

Cole’s other roommate patted him on the back. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks, Tony,” Cole said with an eye roll.

Tony leaned forward. “I’ve known him since high school. Trust me, he’s not that interesting.”

Marley and I laughed as Cole punched him in the shoulder.

“Dick,” Cole grumbled. “My major is sports management and marketing. I don’t ever want to grow up. And my dad is a football coach. My mom is a middle school teacher.”

“Okay, okay,” Marley said, holding her hands up. “I don’t understand what sports management even is.”

“It’s someone who wants to work with sports,” I told her.

“Yeah, but … what do you do with that?”

“Ignore her,” I said. “You don’t have to submit to this interrogation. She’s a science person, and she wants to, like, cure cancer.”

“Dementia,” Marley corrected.

“Interrogation already accepted,” Cole said with that same smile. His blue eyes bright as they rested on my best friend. “Sports management could be anything from professional sports to running a rec league. Personally, I’d like to be a talent scout for a professional football team, but I’m also interested in marketing and PR. Which is why I’m a double major.”

“I’m surprised you have time with football.”

Tony chuckled. “He thrives most when he’s swamped. You should have seen him in high school. He played football, ran track, held down a job with his dad, volunteered at a nursing home, and kept a 4.0.”

My eyes widened. Thanks, Marley. Somehow, I was learning more about my own boyfriend through this conversation. I’d known he was a double major. He’d schooled me about that on our second date. But all the rest, I wasn’t aware.

“Yeah, fine,” Cole said, “I like to keep busy. Nothing wrong with that.”

“You were salutatorian without trying. You had to turn down an academic scholarship,” Tony said, crossing his arms. “You’re a monster.”

“You turned down an academic scholarship?” I asked.

Cole shrugged. “I had to. I was offered a football scholarship, too, and there are all these weird NCAA rules. The academic scholarship could go to someone else.”

“Whoa,” I muttered.