The Freshman (College Years 1)

“We’ve got liquor,” Caleb says. “Come over to our place and hang out.”

Gracie sniffs again. “Okay.” She meets my gaze. “Let’s go.”

Well. I certainly didn’t expect her to say that.

Seventeen

Tony

Twenty minutes later and all four of us are walking into the condo to find Diego, Jocelyn, their baby girl Gigi, Eli and Ava all crowded into the living room, the girls chatting away. Diego holds his baby girl above his head, baby talking to her while she coos and smiles, her lower lip shiny with drool.

He’s gonna get drool on his face if he doesn’t watch it.

Gracie comes to an abrupt stop, a smile breaking out across her face. “Aw, a baby.”

“You get to meet a Callahan right now,” I murmur close to Hayden’s ear. I raise my voice. “Ava. What the hell are you doing here on a school night?”

Ava glances over her shoulder to smile at me. “Did you forget? It’s October break. We don’t have school this week.”

I only graduated in June, yet I’m forgetting all about our October break. A break we’ve had since I was in kindergarten. “Oh right.”

“How easy they forget,” she teases before she leans in and drops a lingering kiss on her boyfriend’s lips. “I’ve been spending as much time with this guy as possible.”

Eli waves at us.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, my question for Diego. Yes, he technically lives at the condo, but he rarely comes over anymore. He’s pretty much moved in with Jocelyn, which makes sense.

“We were bored. I thought you guys would be here, but when I showed up, the place was empty. Then Eli texted me saying he couldn’t find Jackson anywhere, and Ava and Ellie were with him, so we all decided to hang out here,” Diego says with a shrug. Jocelyn walks over to pluck the baby from his hands, snuggling her close. “But Jackson wasn’t here either.”

“Ha! I can tell you where Jackson was tonight.” Caleb rubs his hands together, and I know he’s relishing this moment.

I glance around, not spotting Ellie anywhere. Then I hear a toilet flush and water start to run. “Hold on,” I tell Caleb. “Ellie should hear this too. Maybe she already knows and can give us information.”

“Ellie is Ava’s best friend and she’s got a thing for Jackson,” I explain to Hayden.

“Who are your friends?” Ava asks curiously.

“I’m Hayden.” She waves at Ava, who waves in return. “And this is my best friend, Gracie.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ava.”

“Callahan?” Hayden asks.

Ava nods. “Yeah.”

Hayden smiles. “Tony was just telling us about you.”

“All nice things, I hope,” Ava says with a laugh.

Ellie walks out of the bathroom, stopping short when she sees us standing in the living room. “Hey guys. Is, uh, Jackson with you?”

“Nope, but we saw him earlier.” Caleb launches into the story of going to Strummers. The crowd of teenage girls waiting in line outside. The guy coming out on stage. The shock we felt when we realized it was Jackson. How he performed and the girls went crazy for him the entire time.

“Where is he now?” Diego asks when Caleb finishes.

“I don’t know. I texted him asking where he went, but he never responded,” Caleb says. His gaze swings to Ellie. “Did you know about this?”

Ellie slowly shakes her head, obvious shock written all over her face. “No, I didn’t.”