How far we came

begning 2

Since we stopped to eat before moving me in, there aren't many other families still moving their students in when we get to my dorm building. Pulling into a parking spot, I already spot Jack sitting on a bench outside the entrance, talking to a petite brunette girl. She's laughing at something he said. He's shirtless, of course, with a pair of black basketball shorts and athletic shoes on.

When we get out of the car, Jack immediately stands up and walks over to my dad after saying goodbye to the girl. "Thanks for helping out," Dad says, clapping him on the shoulder in a fatherly fashion. Jack shines his golden, million-watt smile and says it's no problem. Then he hugs my mom and sister. Over his shoulder, Dani flashes me a look, pretending as if she's melting against him.

Jack looks around for his best friend. My mom notices as she hands him his quesaclillas. "Archer drove up in his and Scarlett's car. He'll be here in a few minutes."

He thanks my morn with another hug and turns to me, smiling that easy smile of his, I hate the way my palms start sweating. "Hey, Jack," I say casually, cutting him off from hugging me. "Run out of clean shirts?"

"He doesn't need a shirt," Dani says, already helping Morn and Dad unload my boxes from the trunk. Dad gives her a pointed look, though none of us are surprised by this comment.

Jack shakes his head at my question, a smirk playing on his lips. "It's 91 degrees today, Scar. Cut me a break," he explains, holding up his hands in mock defense. "Besides, you still owe me a shirt from when I gave you mine on the camping trip."

I shake my head in disbelief. "You mean after you tipped mine and Dani's canoe over? Oh yes, thank you for the charitable donation of your dry shirt after I was plunged into 60-degree water."

Jack laughs at my heated response, crossing his arms across his bare chest. "Yeah, that time. You never gave it back. It was one of my favorites."

I'm about to say something snarky in return when my mom cuts in from behind the car. "Scar, honey, can you go unlock the door to your dorm before we start carrying the boxes up? You have the keys, right?"

I dig into my backpack's front pocket, searching. "Yeah, I have them," I say, turning to walk toward the entrance. I'm only half surprised to hear footsteps jogging after me.

"I'll go with you," Jack calls from behind me. I scoff, trying to ignore my quickened heartbeat.

As we walk down the hallway, searching for dorm #23, I refuse to look at him. "You've only been here a few days and I see you already have a lady friend," I say curtly, remembering the girl he was talking to when we pulled up.

I hate how jealous I sound.

Jack looks backward as if trying to remember who I'm talking about. "Oh, Jenny? She's just a friend. Not a ... lady friend, whatever that means," he says, leaning his shoulder against the wall as I try to unlock the door to room #23.

"Lucky her," I say, wiggling the key in the lock to no avail. They're always just 'friends'. I think back to all the 'friends' I saw him with his arm draped around at school, then those same girls crying to their friends the very next week. It all just seems like a game to him.

He always flirts with every girl like it's nothing, and it's moments like these where I realize how foolish I would be to ever have feelings for him.

I know he cares for me as Archer's sister. But I'd be beyond stupid to ever think that he actually liked me as anything more. I don't know if he's even capable of liking a girl as anything more than a 'friend'.

He leans back, surprised by my response. His smile returns, but it's not as easy as the one earlier. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," I say quickly, getting angry with the lock in front of me. The key feels stuck now. "It's none of my business."

And it really isn't. I'll have to keep reminding myself of that fact. Hey, maybe the brunette really was just a 'friend.' And maybe hell will freeze over tomorrow.

He doesn't reply. Without me even asking, Jack moves closer to my side, taking the key into his own hands. After a few swift movements, the lock clicks open and the key slides out effortlessly. I twist the handle and walk inside the room.

Jack flicks on the lightswitch as if nothing happened. "It's nice, Scar," he says, looking

into his own hands. After a few swift movements, the lock clicks open and the key slides out effortlessly. I twist the handle and walk inside the room.

Jack flicks on the lightswitch as if nothing happened. "It's nice, Scar," he says, looking around. He notices the single bed. "Just you in here? Couldn't find anyone who wanted to live with you?" He teases.

I sit on the bare mattress, taking in the space that I'll be living in for the next nine months. "I just wanted a room to myself. Mom and Dad said I could," I explain. I notice the sunlight that streams in from the two windows, feeling the whole space grow on me. I can see the sidewalk from where I'm sitting. "I get to have my own bathroom."

The mattress dips as he sits beside me, only a few inches away. "Ah, I noticed. You know, having my own bathroom is one thing I've missed the most in college. Sharing a bathroom with that brother of yours ... " His voice trails off as he makes a disgusted face. I laugh loudly.

Jack smiles, watching me laugh. He elaborates, although we both already know what he means. "God, his poops are lethal. Like mini atomic bombs," he says. "I swear we run through at least five cans of Febreeze a month. Sometimes seven."

I laugh harder until my ribs hurt, thinking about how I shared a bathroom with Archer long before Jack had to, and he laughs along with me. I can't deny how natural it feels.

When we both quiet down, no longer able to use Archer's lethal bathroom tendencies to fill the silence, he looks at me. I try not to look at him, staring ahead at the wooden desk pressed against the wall.

"So where's your boyfriend? Too busy with lacrosse to help you move into your dorm?" Jack asks, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees. "Brian, right?"

He knows that isn't his name. He met Bryce several times while over at our house and, although Jack was never exactly courteous toward him, they definitely knew each other by name. I shake my head. "I broke up with Bryce right before graduation. We both knew long-distance would be hard, and I don't think either of us thought it was worth the trouble. We're still friends, though."

Jack sits back up, looking at me again. "No surprise there. It was only a matter of time."

I raise my eyebrow, not sure if I should take the bait. "What do you mean?"

He smiles again, softly this time. It's just a quirk of the corner of his mouth, lacking the calculated charisma and perfection of his usual Golden Boy smile. Looking at the captivated expression on his handsome face, I know that whatever he says next will only draw me in further into his magnetic orbit.

"I always knew you were too good for him." His words make me aware of my heart pumping wildly in my chest. Jack has always had a way of making me feel like I'm at the center of his attention --the most important person in the world at that second.

But he's probably done this --this smile, these words, those eyes -to hundreds of girls when I wasn't around, just testing his abilities on people he had no intention of staying with.

I break eye contact with him and stand up, clearly not doing what he expected me to do. "Good to know," I say casually, brushing lint off from my pants.

Then I walk out, leaving him sitting alone in the room.