Impossibly Forever: Two Books in One (Impossibly Duology) (16 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Moya

  
A sudden and sharp pain
ran through my neck when I woke up. I’d fallen
asleep at my desk again. Sitting up on the chair, I smoothed out the creases
I’d made on the pages of my textbook. Then I stretched my hands over my head,
released a yawn, and checked my cell phone for the time. There was a text
message from Branden.

  
Good luck today, babe.

  
I sent him a quick thank you, seeing I had only an hour to shower and get
dressed for class. Professor Samson was running a sample test today—my reason
for procrastinating on theory concepts and problem solving in Financial
Management all night. And to think I was starting to like my major.

  
After showering, I hurried back to my room and hauled a gray, knitted sweater
dress over my head, pulled on thick black tights, brown boots, and finally
slipped into my favorite wool coat with the houndstooth pattern and oversized
buttons.

  
A woolen cap kept my ears warm and curls under control. I looked at myself in
the full length mirror on the closet door. It wasn’t officially
winter
yet, but the weather had gotten colder, and I
disliked the cold.

  
When I locked up and went downstairs, Vanessa was waiting for me in the lobby.
She didn’t seem like her usual glamorous self. Her eyes were puffy; they barely
looked as if they were open, and she was dressed rather…average. Like me. There
wasn’t anything stylish. Nothing like what she was known for.

  
“Hey, Nessa.”

  
“Hey girl,” she croaked, her voice sounded dreadful.

  
“Uh-oh.
What happened?” I asked, touching her arm
lightly as we stepped outside the dorm.

  
“I went to Calvin’s game last night, screamed my lungs out for him, and
celebrated into the late hours. Then I got soaked in the freezing rain on my
way back to my dorm.”

  
“Ah, I see.” I draped my bag over my shoulder. “That sucks. You gonna make it
through the rest of the week?”

  
She shrugged. “I’ll live, just as soon as finals are over and I can get some
rest.”

  
Hooking her arm around mine, we turned down the concrete path towards the
School of Business. Vanessa had Communications a few rooms from my Financial
Management class. Thursday was the only day of the week my bestie and I walked
together to the same building, that’s why she’d meet me at my dorm.

  
“So, I take it your relationship is doing all right then?”

  
“Yeah, I mean, we have our days. But we’re like any other couple. How are
things with you and Branden?” she’d been dodging the topic of her and Calvin
for the past few days now.
Weird.
She used to spill
everything to me, even when it was another argument.
         

  
Letting it go, I smiled and answered, “We’re great. I’m going to his house
again this Saturday for dinner.”

  
“Ooh. Another dinner with the fam. Things
are
getting
serious, huh?” the question came out in a cough.

  
“We just really like each other and want this to work.” I hadn’t told Vanessa
just how much Branden wanted our relationship to progress. The talk of marriage
would freak her out.

  
She released my arm to fix the long, burgundy scarf around her neck. Then she
gave me a glance over and shook her head slowly. “I can’t believe this is the
same girl who used to say she don’t need
nobody
.”

  
“Stop,” I nudged her arm. “You keep saying that.”

  
“I know, but it’s so hard to believe you’ve changed this much. I’m glad you
found Branden.”

  
I smiled.
“Me too.”

  
As we approached the building, we both searched in our bags for our student IDs
to open the door. There was a beep. Someone else beat us to it. Peering up, I
saw it was Tobias.

  
“Hello, ladies,” that deep, silky-smooth voice and overconfident grin had
become all too familiar now—He’d been pursuing me for the past few months after
transferring to my Financial Management class.

  
“Thanks,” I muttered flatly, pushing past him to enter the building.

  
“Thank you, Tobias,” Vanessa said in a nicer yet gritty tone as she entered
behind me.

  
“Oh no, honey. Are you all right?” he asked Vanessa.

  
“I’ll make it,” she answered.

  
I towed her along and hastened ahead to keep him from starting his usual
pestering. Only, my evasion was pointless since we had the same class and he
chose a seat next to mine.

  
“So, are you ready for this test?” he asked, catching up to my pace.

  
I kept my eyes straight ahead, replying with, “I’m always ready.”

  
“Of course,” he smirked. “You’re one of the top students in the class.”

  
“Ahem,” Vanessa piped in. I slowed down and looked over at her. “Catch you
later, girl. I’m going to head to the little girls room before my class
starts.”

  
“Okay,” I waved at her. She turned right and headed for the bathroom.

  
Ignoring the fact that Tobias was waiting for me, I treaded past him down the
hall. Professor Samson was already at his desk arranging papers when I entered
the room.

  
Tobias sat down, and I could sense him watching me as I got out of my coat and
prepared for class. Students trudged in and took their seats.

  
“Are you ever going to forgive me?” he asked.

  
I sat, taking blank sheets of paper out of my bag. “Forgive you for what?” I
didn’t spare him a glance.

  
“For calling you a…lesbian?” he whispered, so no one could hear.

  
Letting out a satirical laugh, I placed the papers on top of the desk and
folded my hands in my lap. “I’m over that. What I don’t like is that out of all
the
FinMan
classes at Easton, you just had to
transfer to this one to torment me.”

  
“Torment you?” he smirked. “Don’t get it wrong. I mean, you’re fine as hell,”
he stretched the word in a romantic way. “But I transferred because Professor
Samson is the best. I didn’t even know you were in this class. Still, it’s a
nice treat, even though you can’t stand me for some reason.”

  
I scoffed, finally looking at him. “No. There is a reason. I told you I have a
boyfriend, yet you still continue to hassle me to go out with you.”

  
“That’s because I haven’t seen this phantom boyfriend of yours,” he retorted.
“Who is he? Does he go to this school? Does he go to any school? Is he even
working?”

  
I sucked my teeth.
“None of your business.
Just leave
me alone.”

  
“Man, you’re so hard to get through to.”

  
“Damn right.”

  
“How about dinner tonight?”

  
“In your dreams.”

  
“Let me guess,” he sighed. “It’s because of this boyfriend?”

  
I rolled my eyes. “Please, even if he wasn’t in the picture, I still wouldn’t
go out with you.”

  
“Ouch,” he touched his chest. “That hurts.
How come?”

  
“Three words: Not. My.
Type.”

  
Professor Samson stood from his desk and began issuing out the test.

  
“Okay, class. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  
He was right on time, because it seemed like Tobias was about to continue
annoying me, and I was getting riled up from his never-ending pursuit.

  
I couldn’t help think how ironic this was though. Like déjà vu, me being in a
situation where a guy was completely fascinated with me. Hadn’t Branden and I
started out this way? I used to be evasive, pushed him away before giving in to
my obvious feelings. But Tobias was in no way comparable to Branden. There was
no attraction. The thought of him and I was just laughable. Branden’s the only
guy for me.

  
Thinking about my boyfriend clouded my mind so much I nearly missed the test
now on my desk, and Professor Samson had started his timer.
Geez.
It had been only five days since I’d last seen Branden, yet I missed him a lot.
I could hardly wait for the weekend to taste those sweet lips of his again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Branden

  
I counted down the hours
until I knew Moya was back in her dorm to give
her a call. I waited a few more minutes to allow her time to settle down.
Hopefully, she wasn’t too engrossed in studying as yet.

  
Moya answered on the first ring, barely letting it go through. “Hey, baby.” Her
sexy voice echoed through the phone. It sent my heartbeat on a marathon. I
wished I could feel her lips on mine right now.

  
“Hey yourself,” I managed to get out amid my fantasizing of touching places of
her body I hadn’t explored…yet. “How was your day? How’d you do on that test
this morning?”

  
“Hmm…” she moaned. “I did okay. My day wasn’t too bad either. We mostly
recapped in the other classes. But damn, right about now I’m dying for finals
to come so I can get a little break from school and studying.”

  
I sprawled out on my bed to get more comfortable. “Don’t worry, babe. Christmas
will be here before you know it.”

  
“Yeah.”
She sounded as if she was lying down as well.
Her next words came out in a near whisper. “I miss you.”

  
“Me too.
Five days is a long time, huh?”

  
She giggled in such a stimulating way. Everything about this girl turned me on.

  
“It is a long time, but I don’t want you driving here every evening just to see
me. You need to get plenty of rest like Doctor Henderson said.”

  
And there it was again, another hint that she was still worried about my
health. I wasn’t sure if Moya realized she’d been cautious around me since the
surgery. Whenever we met up on the weekends, she’d take her time to hug me,
always asking if she pressed into my chest too much. Or even when we’d go for a
walk, she’d ask if I needed to stop and catch my breath. I’d have to put off
telling her my plans to play hockey again, until she was convinced I was much
better.

  
I sat up in bed with my back against the headboard and my legs outstretched.
“It’s fine. You’ll be done soon and we can hang out as much as we want.”

  
There was a pause, like she’d quickly thought of something and brushed it
aside, deciding instead to say, “You’re right. I can’t wait.”

  
“My parents are excited about having you over again for dinner. You really
impressed them. Mom keeps asking about you.”

  
“Yeah, she’s cool. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting her to be so nice to me.”

  
I laughed. “I know she’s a bit intimidating at first, still she’s a great
person, really caring. She just wants the best for her sons. Like any mother
would.”

  
“Branden,” she drew in a deep breath. It made me curious.

  
“What’s up?”

  
There were muffled sounds in the background, like she was flipping the pages of
a book.

  
“Things are still uneasy for me,” she muttered, in a sad tone.

  
It didn’t take much to figure out what she was talking about. “You want to tell
me about it, babe?” I knew she was still having trouble letting go of what
happened with her mom and dad. Not sure how I would feel about my mother doing
that to me. Then again, my parents had both done despicable things that I
wonder sometimes, how I could have forgiven them.

  
“I’m trying to get over it, but…it’s so hard. I missed a lot of years with my
dad because of her lies. And at the same time, I still feel like it wasn’t all
her fault either. He should’ve tried harder.”

  
Till now, I had no clue on how to help Moya with her family issues. All I could
tell her was, “Give it time, and keep taking small steps. It’ll happen, babe.
Don’t force it.”

  
Releasing an air of relief, she said, “You always know the right things to say,
huh?”

  
I couldn’t help but grin. “Well, according to this girl I know, I’m a smart
ass.”

  
She tittered. “Is that so? I’d like to meet this girl.”

  
“You should meet her,” I continued to play around. “She’s beautiful, smart, and
not to mention sexy. She’s definitely a keeper, and I’m never letting her go,
ever.”

  
Moya went quiet again, possibly trying to calm herself after hearing my
compliments. I had that effect on her.

  
“I was thinking…” I held back to consider if I should ask.

  
“About?” she prompted me.

  
Just go for it.

  
“How about we go on a trip together?” Hopefully my bold proposition hadn’t
frightened her.

  
Moya went silent for a while, taking soft breaths while she deliberated
intensely. When she still didn’t answer, I said, “We don’t have to if you—”

  
“When?”
     

  
I slid off the bed and sat at the edge, hoping she’d say yes. “I was thinking
the weekend after New Year’s. Is that all right? We could leave on Friday and be
back by Monday, since the next semester doesn’t start until Tuesday.”

  
Please say yes. Please say yes.

  
“Okay.”

  
“Yes!” I shouted in the phone, unable to control my excitement.

  
She laughed. “Sounds like you have big plans for this trip.”

  
“What…oh,” I didn’t have any hidden sexual agendas, if that’s what she was
implying. Though, I wouldn’t mind taking it there. “I just want to kidnap you
for a while and keep you all to myself. No school. No worries.
Just us.”

  
“All right, Bran, if you say so.” I heard her yawn, obviously tired from a long
day.

  
“I’ll let you get some sleep then.”

  
“Hmm, okay. I’ll call you when I get home tomorrow evening.”

  
“Cool. Sweet dreams, Moya.”

  
“You too, Branden,” she whispered before ending the call. I sensed there was an
itch to say more, on her part and mine.

  
We hadn’t said “I love you” since that whole ordeal in the hospital. Maybe
she’d given more thought to it and concluded it was too soon. And in trying to
keep her comfortable, I’d done the same. There was this fear gnawing at my
heart too, that maybe she didn’t love me yet. Not the way I did.

  
Just as I reached over and placed my cell phone on top of the end table by my
bed, I heard a light rap on my door. Ashton opened it and stuck his head inside.

  
“Can we
talk,
bro?” he asked, coming in.

  
I stood. “Sure. What’s up?”

  
He seemed troubled. Then again, Ashton was often troubled, in between focusing
on football, college, and girls.

  
“Well, I told you I was going on this study abroad thing, right?”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“So, actually, I was thinking about transferring to the college in Spain
completely and finishing up there.”

  
Surprised, I raised my brows and asked, “What? Why do you wanna do that?”

  
Folding his arms, he started to pace from left to right. “I like Spain.”

  
“Yeah, okay. Tell me the real reason.”

  
He stopped and looked me straight in the eye. “I’m being honest. Traveling is
something I’ve always wanted to do and Spain is a start.”

  
I blew hard before saying, “Wow. So what about football? Are you giving that
up?”

  
He shook his head and stared at the carpet. “It’s not for me anymore. I just
don’t have fun playing like I used to.”

  
“You’re giving up football, and you’ll be completing your studies at some
Spanish college?” I confirmed.

  
“Yep,” he bobbed his head slowly.

  
“Okay. I’m confused, just how are you going to explain this to Dad, not to
mention Mom? She’s going to go berserk when she hears.”

  
“I know that, but whatever. They’re just gonna have to deal with it. They have
their own issues anyway.”

  
I blew out a deep breath. “Tell me about it.”

  
“Well, look,” he turned and opened the door. “I just wanted to be straight with
you before taking off.”

  
“Yeah, I get it.”

  
Before stepping out into the hallway, he peered back at me and ask, “You cool,
little bro?”

  
I sat on the edge of my bed, nodding, “Yeah. I’m cool. Good luck, Ash.”

  
“Thanks.”

  
Closing my door, I heard his footsteps bustling down the stairs. He left me
thinking, how flipped out our parents would be when he told them his decision,
and how I wish it was me leaving this house instead.