The College Sluts Ch. 06-08

Back in her room, the teen pulled out her phone once again, still finding her message read but no reply. Clicking the phone symbol beside L's contact, Jane's phone auto-dialed the girl. After a couple of rings, however, it went to voicemail. The realization that the recorded message was the first that Jane had heard L's voice was beyond painful and the teen fell to her bed in defeat.

Through the phone, L sounded like a very cheerful, happy person. Listening to it, Jane only felt more like she was the problem; why else would such a nice person be so set on not meeting? Maybe L was in a relationship and afraid of cheating with Jane. Or worse, she saw Jane enter the bathroom and, getting a good look at her, decided she was no longer interested. The last thought really hurt.

Hanging up the phone without leaving a message, Jane called back two more times still with no response. After the third, she finally gave up; it was clear that whatever she and L had was now over. Needing someone to talk to, she sent a message to her group chat with Anna and Chloe. After ten minutes without them texting back, however, Jane threw her phone across the room and buried her head in her pillow.

She went through a wide variety of emotions trying to process what happened and how to move forward. Initially, she was angry, both with L for blowing her off and Anna and Chloe for never talking to her anymore. Although, she understood that both Anna and Chloe had full-time jobs which, in combination with her school, made it difficult to talk. Realizing her selfishness, anger turned to sadness as Jane's mind convinced her that she was a bad person.

"That's why L didn't want to meet," she sniffled into her pillow, "Maybe that's why Anna and Chloe ignore me."

She stayed like this for an hour before she became so drained that her brain was no longer capable of processing any emotion. Jane just felt tired but knew she had schoolwork to do and couldn't wallow in her sadness forever. So, gathering herself, she wiped away the tears staining her cheeks and pulled her laptop out of her bag. She had to accept that L was out of the picture and it was time to move on, no matter how hard it was going to be.

Chapter 7: The Cost of a Second Chance

Yawning, Jane joined the crowd of people waiting to enter the lecture hall. It was 8:30 in the morning and everyone surrounding her seemed to be in roughly the same exhausted state. She was hoping to take a seat and rest a bit before class, but it seemed the professor was running late with only five minutes until the class was supposed to start and all the doors to the room remaining locked.

She was still depressed from her interaction with L yesterday, her mind fixating on what caused the girl to leave. Despite her trying to move past it, Jane couldn't help but relive the incident repeatedly. Her night had been a long one, the teen getting little sleep as she continued to fret about what her future was going to look like.

"Hey Jane," Maggie greeted the teen, squeezing beside her as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey Maggie."

"I thought I was going to be late, I almost missed my bus," Maggie stood on her tiptoes to see in front of the crowd.

Jane yawned again, taking a look around herself, "No, you're good. I think the professor is running late or something. I've been here for ten minutes but I guess the doors are locked so no one can get in."

"Great, they make us wake up early to be ready for an 8:30 class, and then the professor doesn't even show up."

"I'm sure the professor wasn't thrilled about the morning class either," Jane replied, "After all, it's the University that is in charge of the scheduling. I don't know how much the professors get to control that."

"I guess that's true, but still. I mean, introductory economics so early in the morning? Kill me now," Maggie pulled her phone from her pocket, checking the time, "Even if the professor didn't like the timeslot, they're still the one teaching an awful class. And that's basically 100% their own fault."

"Maybe you'll love it and decide to change your major to economics," Jane joked.

Maggie made a doubtful face, "If I fall in love with economics from this god-awful class, please kill me. The only way that would happen was if aliens took over my brain or something."

"The good news is, you'll soon find out," Jane remarked, watching the professor dash into the building and push through the crowd. Much like they speculated, he seemed just as tired and disheveled as all the students. After he unlocked the door, everyone began to slowly funnel inside. Given the class size of roughly three hundred, it took a few minutes for everyone to get in and settled.

As was becoming their habit, Jane and Maggie walked all the way up the sloped wing and sat at the back row of the class. They were slightly far away, but the large projectors meant they could still see the notes and it would allow them to whisper freely. Both girls settled in their seats and began to empty their bags of everything they would need to take notes, leaving them to wait for the lecture to begin.

Despite their initial beliefs, the class didn't start off terribly. The material was quite simple and relatively easy to understand. As the name suggested, it was a very broad introduction to the content rather than a focused deep dive. Although, it was only the first class, and very possible that the material's difficulty would only increase exponentially as the semester progressed. Fortunately, the professor seemed very knowledgeable and apt at explaining the more difficult sections.

Jane found herself struggling slightly despite this. Not with the material, but with her urge to fall asleep. As the class progressed, her head became heavier on her shoulders, occasionally falling to her chest for a brief stint of rest. It was clear that her general lack of sleep the previous night and early class time were combining to create a less than optimal experience.

Trying to distract herself and shake off the encroaching sleep, Jane pulled her phone from her pocket. Looking at the time, Jane was surprised to learn that 45 minutes had already passed, especially considering how long her class the previous day seemed to drag on for. Perhaps the more involved content forced her to focus and, in turn, not worry so much about the time; or maybe she was just too tired to notice. Another surprise was the fact that she had a text from L.

L: Jane, I'm sorry.

Jane opened the message, contemplating replying but eventually deciding to leave the girl on read. After everything she had been through, it was time that she moved on from L, even if she didn't want to. If she was going to have any chance of passing her courses, she couldn't continue to stay awake at night worrying about a non-existent relationship. Unfortunately, L didn't seem to be letting up.

L: I want to meet you, it's just really hard.

"Who are you texting?" Maggie whispered, peaking over Jane's shoulder.

"No one," Jane replied, over the whole thing. She returned her phone to her pocket and began copying notes once again. Though she didn't want to admit it, L was creeping her way back in slowly. As much as the teen wanted to move on, her will to do so was being eaten away. 'It's not worth it, forget about the whole thing,' she thought, forcing herself to focus on what the professor was saying.

This seemed to help, and Jane managed to finish the rest of the class without checking her phone or worrying about L anymore. She felt her phone vibrate a few more times after the first two messages, but L eventually gave up, leaving Jane alone for the time being. Following the final slide, the professor thanked everyone for attending and let them know class was finished, allowing the students to pack up.

"Do you have any idea what is happening? Because I've been lost for pretty much the whole class," Maggie sighed, flipping through her notebook half-heartedly before shoving it in her backpack.

"Yeah, more or less," Jane replied, "I can help you if you need." She gathered up her own materials and put them in her bag, zipping it up and standing.

"You have a class at noon, right? Intro marketing?" Maggie joined Jane, the two girls joining the stream of people leaving the lecture hall.

"Unfortunately."

"Well, would you be open to going to the library and working on the economics homework until marketing?" Maggie asked, holding the door for Jane as the two exited the building.

"Sure, I was probably just going to back to my dorm and do it anyways..." Jane trailed off as she felt another vibration in her pocket, fighting the urge to look at her phone, "I guess we can help each other if we work together."

Maggie, of course, noticed the pause, but decided not to question the teen as to why it occurred, instead agreeing to their plan, "Ok, sounds good. Just be warned, I think it's going to be a lot more of you helping me than the other way around."

"That's ok," Jane chuckled, "It just means you have to help me in our other classes."

"You probably don't want that," Maggie admitted, "My help would likely only make things worse."

"Wow, you have a lot of faith in yourself," Jane quipped. Continuing their idle conversation, she followed Maggie from the lecture hall to the library. The extensive campus was becoming easier to navigate for both of them -- Jane especially -- and they arrived at the concrete building in little time. Despite a slight urge, Jane decided against getting a coffee and, instead, the two girls went upstairs to one of the group study floors.

Leaving the stairwell, they found an empty table and settled in. Jane -- sitting across from Maggie -- pulled out her notebook and laptop, opening them to the notes from the lecture they had just left. A vibration in her pocket alerted the teen to another text during this process, but she once again ignored it and tried to focus on schoolwork.

Both girls got to work, staying mostly silent as they went through each of the assigned questions. Occasionally, one of them would break the silence and ask the other for help, but this was mostly done by Maggie. Jane, on the other hand, was making easy work of the problems. The only thing holding her back was exhaustion and the constant distraction of her phone going off in her pocket.

L had seemingly switched from texting to calling, an extended period of vibration every couple minutes indicative of this change. Jane might have blocked the number if she wasn't so focused on not falling asleep. Since leaving class, there was no one talking to keep her awake resulting in Jane continuously drifting off in her chair. The only thing keeping her from slumber was the combination of phone calls and her head hitting her chest as she fell asleep.

"What did you do for number five?" Maggie asked.

The question startled Jane awake, the teen struggling to remember where she was for a second. Looking down at her notebook, she tried to find the question, "I... um... It's sort of like question three except you have to use the inverse equation the professor gave us." She felt another round of vibrations begin in her pocket and pulled out her phone, tapping the 'deny' button once again.

Maggie studied the teen, worried about her current state. Arriving at their first lecture, she had noticed that Jane was slightly off but just chalked it up to the early class time. Since, however, the constant phone calls and nodding off indicating something else was occurring. "My questions are that boring, huh?" she joked, watching as Jane's head fell once again.

"Hmm..." Jane shook herself awake, rubbing her eyes with the base of her palms, "No, it's not you. Don't worry."

"So then what is it?" Maggie inquired, genuinely concerned.

"I just didn't sleep very well last night," Jane yawned, "I guess I'm still getting used to the new bed." Her statement was proceeded by her phone going off once again.

"And what about that?" Maggie nodded her head towards the vibrating device.

"Umm..." Jane looked at the screen, confirming it was L before denying the call, "It's a relationship problem... I guess."

"Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Jane cut her off, "No, it's ok. It's just old stuff, you didn't do anything wrong. After all, I'm the one falling asleep after I said I was going to help you." The teen fidgeted with her phone case, pulling on the rubber as she watched another voicemail pop up. "Can I ask you for some advice?"

"Sure, it would be good if all the questions weren't one-sided, even if it's not about the homework," Maggie smiled, looking up at Jane, "And as long as your comfortable sharing it."

"So, I was really interested in being in a relationship with someone," Jane started, struggling to find the right words, "And they seemed interested too, at first. It was sort of a long-distance thing, but I kept asking to meet up and they never agreed. Eventually, after asking a bunch, they finally said they would. But just as we were about to, they ran away without me getting to see them."

It was difficult to relive the moment less than a day after it occurred, but Jane knew that she had to tell someone else about it. Her feelings were becoming muddled and exhausting, leaving her confused and unable to process. "I basically ended it there, sick of dealing with all the mess. But now they keep texting me and calling me."

"And what are they saying?" Maggie asked.

"In the texts they were saying that they were sorry and regretted it. I haven't picked up any of the calls." Jane frowned, "I don't know what to do about it anymore honestly. Where do I go from here?"

"Well, I guess the first question is if you're still interested in a relationship."

Jane had thought about that question herself, still not coming to a solid answer. "I want to say no, after everything they did... But if that were true, I would have blocked the number and moved on."

"So then text them back, or pick up one of their calls," Maggie suggested, "Worst case you can see what they want. For all you know, they still aren't interested in a relationship and are just trying to apologize."

"I guess that's true," Jane considered her options, "I just don't know..." She dropped her head to her hands, resting her arms on the table. She knew that Maggie was correct; the simplest solution would be responding to L. However, she was unsure if she was ready to hear an answer.

"If you're having so much trouble with it, you can always wait. Give yourself as much time as you need. And, while it may not be the best solution, if you wait long enough the problem will likely sort itself out."

"Yeah... I think I'm going to at least wait until after the next class. It will be better if I have the entire afternoon to think it over and deal with any repercussions," Jane explained.

"Wait, you're still going to marketing?" Maggie looked up from her notes, surprised.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Maybe the fact that you keep falling asleep..."

"No, I'll be fine," the yawn following Jane's words made them less believable, "After all, I can't skip class." She thought back to yesterday when she left her elective after only twenty minutes into the lecture; a real waste considering it led to the disaster that was her meeting with L.

"Well, at the very least you need a coffee," Maggie stood, "I'll go get you one, you stay here and keep working on the homework."

"I'll go with you; I've finished my homework anyway," Jane began to stand before being stopped by Maggie.

"No, it's ok. I can't believe you're falling asleep constantly and yet you already finished all the questions," Maggie sighed, "Just... maybe spend the time coming to a decision about your relationship thing. Figure out if you want to make it work or whatever."

Without the energy to fight anymore, Jane settled back in her chair and watched Maggie make her way to the stairs. The next thing she knew, the girl was shaking Jane awake. It had only felt like seconds to the teen, but the fact that Maggie was holding a coffee indicated that a significant chunk of time had passed. Jane raised her head from her notebook and took the cup from the girl.

Maggie made sure that the drowsy girl had a good grip on the paper cup before letting go herself, "Fell asleep?"

"I guess," Jane rubber her eye while taking a sip of coffee with the other hand.

"I didn't know how you took it, so I just got cream and sugar," Maggie returned to her seat, setting her own cup of coffee on the table.

"That's ok," Jane clutched the cup, savoring the warmth as she inhaled the earthy smell. With any luck, the caffeine would kick in soon and she would be able to make it through her marketing class. For the time being, she tried her best to focus and help Maggie work through the remaining questions, occasionally comparing the answers to her own to make sure they were correct.

Ten minutes before the next lecture was scheduled to begin, they both packed up their belongings and began walking towards the classroom; not a long journey from the central library. Jane was still slightly sluggish, her feet dragging as she fought the urge to lay on the ground and fall asleep. Fortunately, Maggie helped best she could and the two made it in time.

While the caffeine was somewhat successful, Jane still found it difficult to stay awake. Occasionally she drifted off, either waking up herself or with a little shake from Maggie. No one seemed to notice or, at the very least, didn't mention anything. Jane was happy about that; explaining to the professor that she was falling asleep not because of his material but due to relationship troubles seemed quite unappealing.

When she did happen to let her eyes close just a little too long, Jane was glad to know that Maggie was taking notes. The girl told Jane that it would be ok if she returned to her dorm for sleep since they could exchange notes later, but the teen argued she needed to be present for the teaching; even if she was only getting half the material.

Since it was only an hour lecture, it wasn't too long before Jane could leave and get some well-needed rest. The coffee had kicked in a little more by the end, keeping her awake for the final fifteen minutes and making it easier to leave. It didn't stop her from constantly yawning, however, or needing a reminder from Maggie not to leave her backpack in the classroom.

"That class was a little better," Maggie turned to look at Jane as they walked outside, "More interesting anyways."

"I'll take your word for it," Jane mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Did the coffee help at all?"

It took Jane a second to register the question, the girl focusing more on not falling over, "Umm... Yeah. A little. I think it's already wearing off, though."

Maggie looked her over, "How much sleep did you get?"

"Like a couple of hours."

"The good news is you can go back to your dorm and rest," Maggie let out a little sigh, "Come on, I'll walk you back."

"That's ok, you don't have to," Jane protested. Looking left and right, she squinted to try and figure out where she was before shrugging and walking left.

Before the teen could make it far, Maggie had a hold on her shoulder, "That's the wrong direction, let's go." She spun Jane around on her heels, steadying the girl before walking in the opposite direction. Fortunately, she remembered where Jane said her residence was otherwise Maggie wasn't entirely convinced the teen would make it back there.

"You're a good friend," Jane mumbled as they were walking.

"Thanks," Maggie replied half-heartedly.

"No, I mean it," Jane stopped for a second, turning to look her female companion in the eyes as she spoke, "I was having trouble today and you gave me good advice, and then you got me a coffee and tried to help me stay awake in class. Now you're walking me back to my dorm. You're probably one of the best friends I've ever had, and I've only known you for a few days."