Red Hot Love

Why Did I Even Go to This University

"I don't see why I should have to go to counseling since I can't go to classes," Sunny growled.

"Classes are mentally exhausting. Counseling, maybe, will help to alleviate instead of adding stress," Jem suggested.

"Counseling isn't easy," Sunny frowned. "I already have shitty focus. When my estrogen levels drop, everything is downright undoable."

"Please, Sunny?"

Sometimes I hate just how much influence she has over me, Sunny sighed to herself and slumped over the air mattress.

Regardless, she continued to drag herself out of bed and made her way across the room, through the dorm hall, and out the front door.

The wet asphalt was slippery with small puddles of leaf-filled water. Everywhere, soggy leaves, pinecones and pine needles littered the ground, which was already covered in crusty browning autumn leaves. The winds, which used to be so weak that Sunny didn't bother wearing gloves, now whipped at her hair and almost threw her over. She didn't dare run, for fear of tripping and being pushed down by the abnormally strong breeze.

Then, rain began to fall again. Droplets stung her eyes and began to moisten her coat. Sunny groaned and shook her sleeve off, to no avail.

I have to walk to the counselor's office still, Sunny groaned. I don't…I can't…

"Oh, come on, maybe if you tried focusing for once you could actually do something," her mother's voice suggested.

Sunny covered her face in her hands and could feel tears coming on. What the hell? She had been just fine earlier. Sniffling, she wiped her wet face with her even wetter sleeve, and tugged on her hood. It didn't even cover her entire head. She groaned.

The campus seemed to stretch for infinite miles away from her, riddled with dirty water puddles and vengeful winds and liquefied grass lawns. It's just going to take fifteen minutes, Sunny reminded herself, but even fifteen minutes sounded like an unfair stretch. If only someone could just teleport her across, put her on a cloud and push her away, or hail a taxi…

"Hey, Sunny!" A voice exclaimed.

Sunny frowned and squinted through the falling rain.

Carson, sitting on a bike and wearing a backpack.

"Hey," Sunny said, looking at the bike enviously. She'd never learned how to bike, had she? Pathetic.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Carson asked, looking concerned. Sunny sniffed and wiped her face with her arm, forgetting about her drenched sleeve.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered. "Just…really tired. And grumpy." Once more, she tried to yank the hood over her head. It stubbornly refused to go.

"Oh." Carson said. "Are you headed anywhere?"

"To get some counseling," Sunny muttered. "Except I don't want to walk there, so I'm pretty much screwed."

"Sorry to hear that...Hey! You could ride on the back of the bike, if you want," Carson suggested enthusiastically.

Sunny shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, but I don't think I could stand it." Weird. I've only met him twice and already we're talking like we know each other.

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Sunny shivered and wrapped her coat around herself a little tighter, wincing at the way her wet, cold sleeves clung to her. "I think I'll just…turn back, I guess. I'm tired. I'll just make up something to tell Jem later." Something stirred her curiosity. "Have you ever had anyone else ride with you?"

"No," Carson admitted.

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"So, where are you headed?" She found herself asking.

"Glad you asked!" Carson grinned. "Just came back from my job."

"You…have a job?" Sunny asked weakly.

"Of course he does. Everyone but you does," her mother's voice replied.

"Yeah," Carson replied. "I deliver pizza."

"Oh."

Carson just nodded. Sunny raised an eyebrow. A few moments passed as they stood in the rain, not saying anything, just getting more and more damp.

"I'm going to go grab lunch now," he added. "You wanna come?"

Sunny's stomach growled quietly. She hadn't really eaten any breakfast since she had been feeling too bloated in the early morning. "Sure," she acquiesced. "I guess I could go for something." Anyways, the dining hall was closer than the counselor's office. The dining hall would mean shelter. Shelter from this stupid goddamn rain.

Carson got off his bike and cheerily hummed as he fixed it to a bike lock. He then unzipped the backpack and took out a compact umbrella, which he opened and held above Sunny's head. She did not say anything, but was grateful to no longer have water fall on her.