Ring, Ring

"Fuck this." Julia sighs, flipping page after page of her chemistry book. She slams the book shut, and reaches for the telephone. "Julia Moore speaking."

"Julia?"

"Andy?"

"Hey."

"Goddammit Andy. You promised you wouldn't call."

"What a grouch. I just missed you. A lot."

"Get back to work, asshole." She hangs up the phone, her face showing the slightest hint of a smile.

It's easy to be alone. I'm used to it. The silence, the space. Familiar, comforting.

She stares at the stack of papers on her desk, the laptop screen filled with nothing. Her hands rested on the keyboard, willing it to make up the words she never thought to say.

Just let me get this over with. I have a thesis to write, fucking shit.

It was hell week for the college seniors. Papers, reports, and exams piled up on every student's desks. Countless cups of coffee and energy drinks were consumed. Every coffee shop near the campus was filled with frantic students trying to cram their papers overnight. Julia Moore was no exception.

She made it through the last 3 years of college with one thing on her mind: getting that prestigious magna cum laude award on her graduation day.

Ever since she was 10, she never felt the need to depend on anyone but herself. Her parents made sure she would always get the best, the only problem was, with their mindset, they never seemed to make sure she got the one thing she lacked. Attention.

But that never bothered her. In fact, it was one of her motivations. She was self-sufficient back then, and until now, that still didn't change. She was used to the monotony of her life, the nights spent inside her bedroom, and days spent in the classroom. An average day in the average life of an average girl. Nothing changed, not even when she went to college.

She got her own apartment, and she'd have to leave all the familiar faces back home. This was probably the biggest change she had to go through in her life so far.

Eventually, She became used to this new routine: to read up for a recitation the next day, to write up a report for a presentation, to read 150-paged readings for a topic that may or not be covered the next meeting. More importantly, she was always used to doing it alone.

It was the only thing that kept her sane, the monotony of her routine. She always thought that this would be as good as it gets. This was comfortable, this was familiar, and more importantly, this worked.

BANG

Julia almost fell off her chair. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" She was shouting. It was 3 AM, she was completely alone and someone was banging on her door.

BANG BANG BANG

She took a baseball bat in her hand and walked out of her bedroom. Her heart was pounding. She didn't know what to expect. This never happened to her. Ever.

She opened the door, ready to swing the bat, but the voice interrupted her.

"Hi Jules. No need to harm anyone tonight."

"ANDY? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" The bat fell out of her hand.

"You know, for someone who's really good at writing academic papers, you really do like to swear a lot. I thought you had a far larger vocabulary than fuck and shit." He was smirking.

"Andy, it's 3AM. Why are you here? Don't you have something to do?"

"I do. I wanted to keep you company."

"You know I don't like company."

"You don't. You love it. You crave it. You don't like it."

"Asshat." She rolled her eyes, and made her way back to her bedroom.

He gripped her arm, enough to make her stand still. She turned around to face him.

"Julie." As he said her name, he held her closer and gently placed a kiss on her lips. She kissed him back, passionately, fervently, as if she were afraid it was going to end too soon.

A momentary break in her almost perfect routine. A simple crack in her schedule. Something totally unexpected, unusual. Something exciting. Something that made her feel that she wasn't alone.

Something that made her believe that it might actually get better.

That was the thought that kept her sane.