The Press Luck
The next day seems to come easier now that Christen is in the swing of things.
In the morning she was awoken by the alarm Kelley set so that she could get up early enough to get a morning workout in. Kelley hit the snooze button four times before she finally crawled out of bed. It is a good thing that Christen is a morning person otherwise there could have been some serious problems between the two roommates. College students do not mess around when it comes to sleep.
From then on, Christen attended a few of her classes and was on time to each and every one. She listened actively as her professors passionately spoke about global history and the social construct of society today. While most students idly took notes or fought off sleep at their desks, Christen hung on every word. She is a firm believer in ‘knowledge is power’ and couldn’t help but feel empowered by the information her professors were spewing.
Now as the sun towers high in the midday sky, Christen exits the chemistry lab with an overwhelmingly accomplished attitude. Today is going much smoother than yesterday and she actually feels like she’s learned a few things. As Christen continues her content reflection, she feels the sudden vibration coming from her back pocket. She pulls out her phone and sees that she has an incoming call from her mom. She hits the answer button and brings the phone to her ear as she strolls down the sidewalk.
“Hi mom” Christen answers.
“Christen!” her mom excitedly exclaims on the other end of the line. Christen is forced to pull the phone away from her ear a bit for fear of her mother’s animated voice blowing out her eardrum. “Oh my darling, I’ve missed you so much!” Christen chuckles.
“It’s only been two days, mom” she informs as a small smile forms on her lips. She always finds her mom’s words to be quite endearing.
“I know” her mom weakly admits “But you’re my baby girl and you’ve grown up so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday you were out in the field making flower crowns and daisy chains.” Christen hears her mom sniffle through the speaker of her phone. “Now you’re an adult and you don’t need your mom to hold your hand anymore. You don’t need your mom to protect you and keep you safe. You’re out in the world now.” Christen feels a lump growing in her throat.
“You don’t have to worry about me, mom. I’ll be fine on my own” Christen tries to convince her mother as much as herself.
“I know. I know you will” her mom agrees, “I’m just having a hard time without you here. I always knew that you would leave to live on your own one day.” Christen’s mom takes another breath. “I just didn’t realize that would mean I would be living on my own as well.” Christen’s eyes start to well up. No. No crying. You didn’t cry the first night, you aren’t going to cry now. Christen exhales slowly.
“I can make you another daisy chain if that will make you feel better” Christen jokingly offers in an attempt to lighten the mood. Her mother lets out a shaky laugh.
“Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry for unloading all of that on you. I think I’m just experiencing a little separation anxiety” her mom explains as she audibly takes a few breaths to collect herself.
“It’s ok, mom, I understand” Christen acknowledges because she knows exactly what her mother is going through. It’s the same feeling Christen had when she sat alone in her dorm room for the first time. It’s a feeling that lays somewhere between home-sickness, nausea, and grief. It’s a feeling that makes a person feel completely isolated even when they are surrounded by many others. It’s a feeling that seems hopeless, but it’s a feeling that’s only temporary.
“So how are your first few days of college going? Is it everything you expected?” her mom questions with a second wind of enthusiasm. Is it everything I expected? It’s nowhere near what I expected.
“It’s…” Christen starts as she ponders a way to try to accurately answer her mother’s question, “Definitely something.” Definitely something, alright.
“Is that a good thing?” her mom inquires, her curiosity peaked at Christen’s vague response. Christen takes a second to really consider her reply. Is it?
“I’m not sure yet, I guess we’ll have to wait and see” she finally states as she rounds the corner of the academic block.
“Well you’ve got time, just take it step-by-step for now” her mom informs. Christen nods, momentarily forgetting that she’s talking on the phone and her mom has no way of seeing her. Christen’s mom takes her daughter’s brief pause as an opportunity to ask another question.
“So are you liking your classes so far?”
Christen has mixed feelings about her reply to this one. She’s really enjoying some of her classes. Like today, when she calculated less than five percent error on her Chem Lab, she felt above-the-moon proud of herself. But when she thinks back to yesterday, her thoughts immediately go back to Freshman Seminar. That class definitely left a sour taste in Christen’s mouth. And then there was her communications course. She didn’t really know what to make of the class because a certain someone in the seat beside her seemed to be soliciting the majority of Christen’s focus.
“Some are better than others” Christen proclaims, deciding that was the only way to describe her situation. Her mom seems to accept her answer because in no time she moves on to the question she’s been dying to ask.
“So” she casually begins, “have you met anyone interesting yet?” Christen momentarily slumps her head as she feels the slight wave of blood as it causes a rosy tint to appear on her cheeks. She knows exactly what her mother is asking and she feels disappointed in herself for not anticipating it.
When her mom was a freshman in college, she met Christen’s father. They spent all four years of school together and ended up getting married the summer following graduation. The story is cute enough, but it doesn’t end there. As it turns out, Christen’s grandmother also met her future husband when she was a freshman in college. One would think that the two stories resembling each other is just a happy coincidence. Until they find out that the exact same thing happened to Christen’s father’s parents as well. And the generation before them. As luck would have it, Christen hails from a long line of collegiate sweethearts. Even her older sister Tyler began dating her current boyfriend during her freshman year. It’s what her father refers to as ‘The Press Luck’ and only now is Christen remembering it. She lets out a frustrated sigh as she readjusts the phone to her ear.
“It hasn’t even been a week, mom. I can’t believe you’re already asking me about this” she declares as she avoids the path of an oncoming jogger.
“What? All I’m asking is if you’ve met any interesting people yet. Can’t a mother ask her daughter that?” Christen’s mother defends.
“That’s not what you’re asking and we both know it” Christen bluntly states, not buying her mom’s supposedly innocent curiosity. She can hear her mom let out a defeated sigh, almost as if she’s been caught in the midst of her sly plan.
“Can you blame me for asking?” she eventually concedes, “You know our family has a certain undeniable history!”
“I’m aware” Christen acknowledges, “But you seem to be forgetting the fact that I’m attending college for more than just my M.R.S. degree.”
In all honesty, Christen doesn’t intend on searching for her ‘special someone’ during her freshman year. Instead, she plans on focusing on her studies and building her skills for future employment. Sure, she wants to settle down someday. She wants the white picket fence and to wake up in the loving arms of her partner every morning. Most people do. But Christen also wants a successful career, and right now, that takes ultimate priority.
“I know that, Christen. All I’m saying is to keep an open mind. Who are we to question fate, right?” her mom replies.
“Fine” Christen unwillingly states, not in the mood to argue with her mother at this very moment. Can we please just talk about something else now?
As Christen finally enters her residence hall, she hears a shuffling on the other end of the call. After listening to her mother yell a muffled ‘No Morena, down! Off the couch!’, Christen’s spirits lift.
“Is that my puppy you’re talking to?” Christen excitedly asks as she approaches the elevator. When she looks up she sees that it’s coming down from third floor.
“Yeah, she jumped up on the couch again” her mom responds with an exasperated breath of air. “Do you want to talk to her?” Christen can’t contain her excitement anymore at this point. She hasn’t seen her dog in over three days, which in Christen’s mind, is an unholy long amount of time.
“Yes! Put her on!” Christen gleefully exclaims.
After a few more moments of rustling noises on her mom’s end, Christen finally hears the familiar pant of her beloved pooch.
“Morena? Hi there puppy!” she all but squeals into the microphone of her iPhone. The elevator dings but Christen is so caught up in her excitement that she doesn’t notice. “I’ve missed you so much, baby!” she gushes in a baby voice as the elevator doors rush open.
“It’s nice to see you too” a very familiar voice sounds from Christen’s side. She looks in the direction of the speaker and instantly freezes when she sees Tobin walk out of the elevator. A wave of embarrassment washes over her.
“N – No” Christen fumbles as she brings her phone away from her ear, “I was talking to my dog.” Tobin sends a wicked smirk Christen’s way.
“It’s not very polite to call someone a dog, you know” Tobin informs with a wink as she casually strolls past Christen. Christen’s mouth opens and closes like she’s about to say more to Tobin, but no words come out. Instead, she just watches helplessly as Tobin shoots her one last grin before exiting the building. It’s not until the elevator dings and the doors shut that Christen is awoken from her current state of shock. Her eyes dart to the small screen above the doors and she sees that it’s already going up again. Shit, no! Now I have to take the stairs again. She lets out a defeated groan.
“Christen? Hello? Are you still there?” she hears her mom’s voice distantly call from her phone. Christen jolts in surprise as she looks down at the phone in her hand. After seeing Tobin just now, the phone call was long forgotten. Christen returns the phone to the side of her head.
“Yeah mom, sorry, I’m still here” Christen quickly explains, “I just got a little… distracted for a second.”
“It’s ok” her mom graciously replies, “I was just asking you what you thought about your father, Channing and I coming to visit you for Family Weekend.”
“Um, sure, sounds great” Christen haphazardly agrees as her mind wonders back to her previous humiliating encounter with Tobin. How is it possible that I keep embarrassing myself in front of this girl? She heard the baby voice and everything! Ugh, there’s no coming back from this, it can’t get any worse.
Christen’s mom continues to chatter away in her ear, but since Christen is so checked-out of the conversation, her mother’s words don’t even register.
This is just my luck.