A Failing Grade in Cross-Country

Story Submitted by Kaitlin:

Roy was a childhood friend of mine with whom I grew up. We went to the same high school but separate colleges, although we stayed in touch on a pretty regular basis.

One day, I returned from class to find him in my room. He said, "Surprise! Your roommate let me in."

I hugged him and asked what he was doing at my school. "You're not just here to see me, I hope," I said, "It's great to see you, but I have a week full of classes."

He said, "I am just here to see you. Take the week off!"

I asked him, "Are you on some sort of break? How did you get a whole week off?"

He said, "You can call it a break. I just wanted to be closer to my girl."

Roy and I were, and always had been, friends. Any discomfort I was already feeling was ticking slowly upward. I asked, "You're dating someone here?"

He slapped his knees and said, "You! I figured why not make it official, after all this time?"

"Make what official? Us? There is no 'us' in that sense. We're just friends."

He said, "Well, maybe a week will change your mind."

I asked, "I don't think so. Where are you going to stay?"

He looked around the room and said, "Here! Duh."

I replied, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. You can spend the night, but after that, you have to find another place."

He shook his head and lowered his tone. "I took the week off to see you. I'm sacrificing good grades so we can be together."

I said, "I'm sorry. I have to be firm on that."

He said, "Well, after tonight, maybe you'll change your tune."

I didn't. Mostly because he tried to climb into bed with me a half-dozen times that night. I kicked him out in the morning, and told him that I would see him that summer, once we were reunited with all of our friends back home.

I didn't see him that summer, as it turned out. He followed some girl at his college back to her home state and stayed there with her the whole time. Whenever I contacted him, he never replied.