Breaking Mr. Cane (Cane 2)

“Lots of them admire you,” she went on. “Especially the other freshman! As a matter of fact, you’re sharing a dorm with the girl who was just talking about your pitching record. She’s super excited to meet you, but I won’t tell you her name—it’s best if roommates meet each other and form their own introductions first, you know?”

“Sure,” I said with a soft smile. “Makes sense.”

“That’s a really good thing to do,” Mom noted. “It’ll give you someone to hang out with, hopefully. You know, I remember when I was in college. It was a while ago, but I had a roommate who loved to party.”

“Seriously?” Henley squealed—literally squealed. She had a high-pitched voice and normally I would have found voices like hers annoying, but it wasn’t at all. She had a welcoming, comforting tone to hers—a genuine one that made you feel like a friend. I realized now why she’d become an RA.

“Yep. She was such a fun girl. Really sweet too,” Mom responded. “We hit it off as soon as we met each other, became inseparable, but then we graduated and life got in the way. She got married right after graduation and moved to New Mexico with her husband. We still keep in touch here and there.”

“Wow, that is so cool,” Henley sighed. “Well, at least we know that your mom won’t mind you getting down and partying every once in a while, Kandy!” Henley nudged my arm with her elbow and a small wink.

“I guess not,” I laughed.

We collected the smaller items first, and then took the elevator up two floors. It wasn’t a long walk down the hallway before Henley beat us to the door to open it. It was vacant, but one of the beds was already made up, swathed in a pink and purple polka-dotted comforter, as well as decorative pillows.

I was glad whomever my roommate was had taken the bed by the wall. I loved being by the window. The room was pretty spacious for a dorm. There was even a two-seater sofa between the beds, pressed against the north wall. I’d seen one of the example rooms a few months ago, but it was slightly smaller than this.

“Wow, this is really nice!” Mom exclaimed.

She wasn’t kidding. Though the walls were ivory and the beds combined were half the size of my bed back at home, it was a quaint, comfortable size. The floors were covered in clean blue carpet and it actually looked new. Whoever my roommate was, she had a nice setup on her end. Even her laptop had a purple and pink case. I had a feeling we were going to get along just great. I mean, she loved purple. That sealed the deal.

It took us three more trips up and down the elevator before we could start unpacking. Henley left us to it, and went to help the other student athletes check in and unpack, and when she was gone, all Mom could talk about was how she loved the dorm and hoped I would love it here too. She also talked about how sweet Henley was and was glad I’d made a friend already. I wouldn’t have called Henley a friend just yet, welcoming us was her duty, but she was nice.

With every step closer to finishing, my heart began to race. I realized I wouldn’t see Mom or Dad again, probably until Thanksgiving. For four whole months, I would be away from my family…and that frightened me in more ways than one. I had never been away from them for more than a week, and even with that timespan, I always missed them.

We wrapped up on fixing my bed. It looked dull in comparison to my roommate’s. My comforter was white and teal. My pillows all white. She even had fuzzy purple pillows. It truly put mine to shame.

When we finished, Mom and I decided to grab some lunch at a pizzeria on campus.

After devouring the slices, our stroll back to the dorm was leisurely. We knew our time was limited. Even though Mom was staying the night in a hotel and would only be a short drive away, this was going to be our last walk together for a while. Honestly, our last of anything for a while.

“I have a question, Kandy, and I want you to be completely honest with me.” Mom’s face had turned serious, her pace slowing.

I avoided drawing my brows together. “What is it?” I already knew what she was going to bring up though. Cane. We hadn’t spoken much of him in the car. While she drove, I slept and vice versa.

“How long was it going on? What you and Cane were doing?”

I snatched my eyes away. “Mom, I really don’t want to talk about that right now.”

“I know, I know, but, I can’t help wondering, sweetie. Was it before you turned eighteen?”