Friday’s lunch comes much too soon and passes almost too quickly for me to enjoy living it. Natalya and I join the rest of our girlfriends in the Shatner Building’s lunch hall after our Twentieth Century Novel class finished.
“I’m glad you came, Elie,” Isabelle says. “Lately you’ve been having lunch with William on Fridays. Is he busy today?”
“No, I wanted to spend more time with you all. I like you ladies very much, and . . . I value the friendships we’ve made.”
From their bewildered faces I can tell my overt pronouncement of affection for them has caught them off guard. Without telling them I’ll never see them again after today and will miss spending time with them, this is the best I can do.
“Well, yes, I think we all feel the same way,” Natalya agrees. “We really have formed a good group of friends, haven’t we?”
“It’s made starting our university life easier, that’s for sure—and it’s fun to be close enough to share secrets,” Lindsey says. Then in a whisper she adds, “And now for something we’re all dying to know, Elie: are you . . . you know . . . sleeping with William?”
Embarrassed shock drops my jaw with a thud, and in the time it takes to draw it back up, I recover enough to reply. “How could you think I would do that? I’m not that kind of girl!”
The others giggle like schoolchildren, and after a few moments, I find myself joining in.
“I can’t believe you’re not. He comes across as a nerd, sure, but those eyes . . . and I just want to run my hands through his hair and—”
“Stop, just stop, please. Let’s change the subject, shall we?” I don’t know what’s come over me that I can’t stand Lindsey to continue—my sense of propriety being shocked at her forwardness of speech, the strangeness of William being anything other than a friend to anyone, or a pierce of jealousy at the thought of anyone but me being close to him—something I haven’t felt since I met him.
“Okay, okay.” She holds up her hands as if giving up. “But if you don’t move on him soon, Elie, someone else will.”
“And as a good friend of his, I wish him the best of luck with that,” I force myself to say.
Before we part, I give them all a long hug and tell them I’ll be away visiting family for a week. I receive shocked, confused hugs in return, but none of them want to let go and make me promise to call them straightaway once I return.
I promise, robotically, because to show any emotion might break my resolve. My intention of spending my last quality time with my friends in a happy state before I leave is fading, and as time advances, I’m nearly overcome by how much I’ll miss these girls—as well as William.