The Distance Between Us

Page 5

Maya led Elena toward the parking garage, talking almost the entire way.

Not in an annoying way.

At least, Elena hadn't decided that yet.

It was more as though Maya had spent the entire forty-minute wait collecting things she needed to tell her and had finally found someone willing to listen.

"So, before we get to campus, I need to warn you about a few things."

Elena adjusted the strap of her carry-on.

"Warn me?"

"Yes."

"About what?"

"Westbridge."

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Is it dangerous?"

Maya laughed.

"No. Well... not usually."

"Usually?"

"I'm kidding."

"You don't sound like you're kidding."

Maya glanced over her shoulder with a grin.

"Okay, first rule: don't believe everything students tell you during your first week."

"Why?"

"Because everyone suddenly becomes an expert on everything."

Elena smiled.

"That sounds familiar."

"You'll see. Someone will tell you there's a secret tunnel underneath the library. Someone else will tell you a professor lives inside the chemistry building. Then you'll hear that there's a party somewhere every Thursday night and somehow nobody knows where it is."

"Does the secret tunnel exist?"

Maya stopped walking.

She looked at Elena seriously.

"I have no idea."

"Then why did you mention it?"

"Because now you want to find it."

Elena laughed.

Maya pointed at her.

"See? You're already getting it."

They reached the car.

It was a small silver SUV with a Westbridge parking sticker on the rear window.

Maya opened the trunk.

"Put the suitcase in."

Elena lifted it in.

Maya watched.

"Okay. You're stronger than you look."

Elena turned.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"It is now."

Elena smiled and walked around to the passenger side.

As she climbed in, she noticed several things scattered across the back seat.

A sweatshirt.

Two textbooks.

An empty water bottle.

A pair of sunglasses.

A volleyball.

And what appeared to be half a sandwich wrapped in a napkin.

Elena stared at it.

Maya followed her gaze.

"Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking something."

"I was thinking that your car is messy."

Maya sighed.

"I knew I liked you too quickly."

Elena laughed as she closed the door.

Maya started the engine, connected her phone to the car, and adjusted the air conditioning.

"So," she said, pulling out of the parking space, "tell me something."

"What?"

"What are you studying?"

"Political science."

Maya looked impressed.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"That's actually impressive."

"Why?"

"I don't know. You just look like someone who studies political science."

Elena frowned.

"What does that look like?"

"Like you have opinions about things."

"I have opinions."

"I knew it."

Maya turned onto the exit road.

"And I'm guessing you actually study."

"I try."

"How often?"

"Every day."

Maya gave her a horrified look.

"Every day?"

"Usually."

"Okay. We need to work on that."

"Work on what?"

"Your relationship with fun."

Elena smiled.

"I have fun."

"Name one fun thing you did last week."

Elena thought about it.

Maya glanced at her.

"Exactly."

"I watched a movie."

"Which movie?"

"I don't remember."

Maya laughed so hard she had to grip the steering wheel with both hands.

"Elena!"

"What?"

"You cannot say that."

"Why?"

"Because you just proved my entire argument."

Elena looked out the window, smiling.

Maybe Maya wasn't what she had expected.

She had imagined her roommate being polite.

Friendly, perhaps.

Instead, Maya seemed determined to drag her into a life Elena wasn't sure she had ever wanted.

And strangely enough...

She didn't hate the idea.

The city slowly changed outside the windows as they left the airport behind.

Buildings gave way to wider roads, trees, shopping centers, restaurants, and signs Elena didn't recognize.

Maya pointed toward the road ahead.

"That's one thing you'll learn quickly."

"What?"

"Everything is far away."

Elena looked at her.

"Everything?"

"Pretty much."

Maya laughed.

"In France, you can walk to a bakery and accidentally end up somewhere interesting. Here, sometimes you need a car just to get coffee."

Elena looked through the window at the sprawling roads.

"I noticed."

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it."

Elena nodded.

She wasn't sure whether she would.

But as the road carried them toward Westbridge University, she felt something unfamiliar beginning to replace the nervousness she'd carried since leaving Lyon.

Curiosity.

She leaned closer to the window.

"Curiosity is good," Maya said, keeping her eyes on the road. "You're going to need plenty of it here."

"Why?"

"Because Westbridge is huge."

"I saw pictures."

"Pictures lie."

Elena turned toward her.

"About a university?"

"About everything."

Maya pointed ahead.

"You'll think you understand the campus from the website. Then you'll get there and realize the website was basically showing you three buildings from their best angles."

Elena smiled.

"Is it really that big?"

"Big enough that I got lost during my first week."

"You've been there already?"

"Yeah. I came almost two weeks before classes started."

"Why so early?"

"I wanted to settle in before everyone arrived."

"And?"

Maya laughed.

"I got settled. Then I got bored."

"How?"

"There's only so much unpacking a person can do before you start reorganizing things that were already organized."

Elena looked at her.

"You organized your room twice?"

"Three times."

"Why?"

"Because I have standards."

"Or you're bored."

"Both can be true."

Elena smiled.

Maya glanced at her.

"You know, you're much quieter in person."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. Just different."

"From what you expected?"

"Kind of."

"What did you expect?"

Maya thought about it.

"I don't know. Someone who would be nervous and ask me a hundred questions."

"I am nervous."

"I know."

"But I'm not going to ask you a hundred questions."

"That's fine. I'll ask them for both of us."

Elena laughed.

"That seems accurate."

Maya smiled and turned the music down slightly.

"So, what made you choose Westbridge?"

Elena looked through the window again.

That question was easier than she expected.

"The program."

"Only the program?"

"Mostly."

Maya gave her a sideways glance.

"You're telling me you crossed the Atlantic because of a program?"

"And the scholarship."

"You got a scholarship?"

"Partial."

"Still."

Elena shrugged.

"It was a good opportunity."

Maya nodded.

"That's what my parents said when I told them I wanted to come here."

"Your parents live in North Carolina?"

"Yeah. About two hours away."

"So you're not too far from home."

"No. But I wanted to live on campus."

"Why?"

Maya smiled.

"Because I wanted the college experience."

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"What does that mean?"

Maya's smile grew.

"You're about to find out."

Elena narrowed her eyes.

"That sounds dangerous."

"It's not dangerous."

Maya paused.

"Usually."

Elena laughed.

"You keep saying that."

"Because college has a way of making perfectly normal decisions seem questionable."

"Such as?"

"Going out at midnight because your friend says there's food."

"That's not questionable."

"You haven't met Noah."

"Who's Noah?"

Maya grinned.

"Nobody you need to worry about."

"That sounds like somebody I should worry about."

"Noah is harmless."

"Then why did you say—"

"Because he's Noah."

Elena laughed.

"That doesn't explain anything."

"I know."

Maya turned onto a wider road lined with tall trees.

The buildings became fewer, replaced by long stretches of greenery.

Elena watched the landscape change.

"So what is Westbridge like?"

Maya took a moment before answering.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"It's a little bit of everything."

"That doesn't sound very specific."

"Okay."

Maya began counting on her fingers.

"Some people come here and disappear into the library for four years. Some people practically live at parties. Some join sports teams. Some join Greek life. Some spend every weekend doing something completely random. And some people somehow manage to do all of it."

"And where do you fit?"

Maya smiled.

"I'm still figuring that out."

Elena nodded.

She understood that.

Maybe college wasn't about knowing exactly who you were.

Maybe it was about finding out.

Maya suddenly pointed through the windshield.

"There."

Elena followed her finger.

Beyond the trees, a large stone entrance appeared.

Two tall pillars stood on either side of the road, each bearing the same name in dark lettering.

WESTBRIDGE UNIVERSITY.

Maya smiled.

"Welcome to your new home."