CHAPTER 02: Lasting Impressions
"You’ve made a lasting impression
And if it doesn’t feel right
Then I just can’t go wrong
I’ve been sleeping with the lights on
So if I wake in the night
Your picture is clearly in sight"
- The Starting Line
“That was so boring,” Rae commented as she collapsed into one of the chairs in the lounge room with a heavy sigh.
“I second that,” I nodded, placing my large stack of books on the floor before I sat down in the chair across from Rachael. “ I can safely say that orientation was a complete waste of my time.”
“Seriously,” Rae agreed. “I feel like I could take a nap now,” she commented.
“I wish I could,” I sighed.
“Why can’t you?” Rae asked.
“I have a meeting with my new boss,” I replied.
“You’ve got a job already?” Rachael asked with surprise.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“How’d you manage that?” she asked. “You’ve only been here a day.”
“Well, I worked at a record store back in Tulsa, and my boss, Jim, has a brother that lives here in New York, and he owns a record store too – it’s like a small chain or something, and Jim called in a favor and got me a job here,” I explained.
“Sounds like a cool boss,” Rachael commented.
I nodded. “He is. He didn’t want me to leave.”
“Lucky,” Rae said, sticking her tongue out at me. “But my mom’s being cool and sending me money. I have some saved up from working in high school, but she told me to save some of it.”
“My dad told me that I didn’t need to get a job,” I said. “He’s always spoiled me, but I like working. I mean, I know my parents will give me money if I ask … with my mom it’s a bit of a hassle, but my dad’s cool. I dunno though … I just feel better when I have my own money. And I can buy whatever I want, and they can’t complain about me blowing their money.”
“That’s true,” Rae smiled as Meg and Jenna walked over to us.
“Hey, guys,” I said.
“Hey,” they both sighed, dropping into chairs and practically throwing their books on the floor.
“I never want to step foot in the bookstore ever again,” Jenna commented.
“That bad, huh?” Rae asked.
Meg nodded wearily and stifled a yawn just as her stomach growled loudly. Meg’s cheeks grew pink and she looked around, obviously embarrassed. “Excuse me,” she said sheepishly.
Rae waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I have a feeling my stomach will be doing the same thing before long,” she commented. “I’m starved.”
“Me too,” I sighed as I glanced at my watch. “I’ll have to wait until after I meet with Bill.”
“Who’s Bill?” Jenna asked.
“Her new boss,” Rae replied, glancing at me to make sure she was correct. I nodded and smiled.
“You’ve got a job?” Meg asked, looking surprised.
I nodded.
“Well, since we’re all hungry, we could go with Trip downtown to eat. Then she could meet up with us after her meeting with Bill is over,” Rae suggested.
“Is that okay with you, Trip?” Meg asked.
“Sure,” I smiled. “Just let me go put my books away, and then I’ll be ready to head out.”
Rae and Meg both stood, but Jenna remained seated. “You coming, Jen?” Rae asked.
“Nah, I think I’m going to stick around here. Maybe take a nap. I’m exhausted,” Jenna replied.
“I totally hear that,” I commented before I hoisted my stack of books up on my hip and made my way down the hallway to my dorm room.
I placed my books on my desk and went into the bathroom to check my appearance before emerging from the bathroom, meeting Rae at the door.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yep,” I nodded.
During our ride on the subway, we decided to meet back at a deli about half a block away from the record store, where I was meeting with Bill, and once we came to our stop, we hurried off the subway and made our way up the stairs and out onto the busy New York streets.
“I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to riding on the subway,” Meg commented. “I’m used to small small town Pennsylvania.”
“This is a far cry from Oklahoma too,” I said. “But I think I can get used to this. It’s a nice change of pace.”
“Well, I love it here,” Rae smiled. “But I’ve been here several times with my mom, so I’m sort of already used to it.”
“I’ve been here once before,” I commented.
“Oh, really?” Rae asked.
I simply nodded as we reached the deli. “Well, I better head to the record store. I’ll see you guys in a little bit!”
“See ya,” they called after me as I hurried down the sidewalk.
I met up with Bill just on time, and the whole meeting wasn’t anything too huge. I just had to fill out some paperwork, and he gave me a quick run through on how things were done. As it turned out, Bill handled business almost exactly like Jim, so I was completely confident that things would be perfectly fine.
It was actually a relief to find out that it wouldn’t be too big of a change. Jim had been such a great boss, and I hated leaving him, but Bill seemed as if he was going to be just as nice as Jim. While I was there, I also met some of the people I would be working with. They all seemed very nice and made me feel welcome immediately. I also gave Bill a copy of my class schedule, and he agreed to work around it.
After the meeting was over, I headed back to the deli to meet up with Rae and Meg. When I entered the deli, the first thing I did though was buy a sandwich. Then I joined Rae and Meg at their table in the corner.
“So how did things go?” Meg asked as I unwrapped my sandwich and took a bite.
I chewed up my food and took a drink before answering. “Really well. It’s basically the same as my job back in Tulsa, so I’m not too worried.”
“Well, that’s good,” Rae commented. “So now you just have to worry about managing work and classes.”
“Yeah, that’s the fun part,” I said, rolling my eyes as I took another bite of my sandwich.
“I’m not even looking forward to Expository Writing,” Meg commented.
“When do you have it?” I asked.
“Tomorrow morning at nine,” Meg replied.
“Me too,” I said.
“Me three,” Rae grinned.
“I think Jen has it then too,” Meg commented.
“Awesome, we can all struggle through it together,” I smiled.
“Well, I was always pretty decent at English,” Meg commented.
“I was too, but that was only because my mom was on my back about homework and my grades all the time,” I said.
“Would you like me to take over for her?” Rae asked with a grin.
“That’s quite alright,” I replied.
“Well, let me know if you change your mind,” she winked.
Once I was finished eating, we decided to go back to the dorms. From there Meg went to her room while Rae and I went to ours. I still had a bunch of unpacking to do. My things had arrived right before it was time to go to orientation, so I hadn’t even had a chance to look things over.
“I wonder if my things are here yet,” Rae commented as I went over and opened one of the boxes.
“Want me to go downstairs with you to check?” I asked.
“Nah, I can go by myself,” she replied.
“Well, let me know if you need any help,” I commented.
“Will do,” she agreed before she disappeared down the short hallway. I heard the door click shut as I continued looking through my box of stuff. The first thing I found was a picture of Zac and I. I couldn’t suppress a smile. It was a picture from graduation. I couldn’t believe how long ago that felt. In reality it had only been three months earlier, but so much had happened between then and the present.
I took the picture over and sat it on the nightstand by my bed and walked back over to the box. I couldn’t believe how much I missed being on tour. Of course, I was completely content with being off of the tour bus, but the whole experience had been so much fun. It was nice to spend time with Zac as well as Natalie, Lariana and the others.
I sifted through the rest of the contents in the box, which mostly consisted of more pictures. I had one group picture from the tour and one of Quinn, Lindsay, and me that I put on the nightstand with the one of Zac and I. I put the rest of the pictures on my dresser and went back to the box.
I had also brought along a few posters to add to the walls. Natalie had told me that I needed to have something of the sort to remind me of home, so she and Lariana helped me pick out some posters while we had some free time while on tour. Natalie had tried to convince me to take a Hanson poster and hang it up, but I’d refused. It would just be too weird to have a poster of my boyfriend and his brothers hanging on the wall.
Natalie had tried to tell me that it would be a great way to give them some free advertising, but she might as well have been talking to a deaf person because it wasn’t going to happen. After she realized that I wasn’t buying it, Natalie had started in on Lariana, but the last I had heard, she wasn’t down with Nat’s plan either.
As I was opening up the next box, Rae reentered the room carrying a box.
“I take it your stuff is here?” I inquired.
She nodded. “Is that offer to help still open?” she asked.
“Of course,” I smiled.
“I have a few more down in the lobby,” Rae explained. “But between the two of us, we should be able to make it in one trip.”
“Okay, let’s go,” I said, standing up straight and dusting off my hands.
We took the elevator down to the lobby and collected Rae’s boxes. I got the two smaller ones while she heaved the large one into the elevator. “I think I’m going to be up the rest of the night unpacking,” she commented during the elevator ride to our floor.
“Don’t worry, so am I,” I replied.
“Oh, well, we’ll just make Jenna and Meg keep us awake during class,” Rae grinned.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” I smiled as the elevator doors opened. Rae scooted the box out of the elevator while I followed behind her with the other two.
As we reached our door, I could hear the sound of the phone ringing. Rae had brought along a phone to plug in the night before, but I wasn’t sure at first if the ringing was actually coming from our room, but once Rae pushed our door open, the ringing became louder.
“I’ll get it,” she exclaimed, standing up straight and rushing over to the phone. I shook my head and laughed as I followed her into the room. I sat her boxes down beside her bed as she answered the phone.
“Helloooo,” she said. “Room 268. How can I be of service?” she said, grinning at me. She paused for a moment while the person on the other end of the phone apparently replied. “Why, yes, she is,” Rae replied after a moment. “Who shall I say is calling?” she inquired. Again she paused before her lips formed the shape of an ‘o.’ She put her hand over the receiver and said to me, “It’s a guy. Goes by the name of Zac. Know him?”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Yes,” I said, holding out my hand for the phone. She handed it over and went back to retrieve the box she’d left by the doorway.
I brought the phone up to my ear and smiled. “Hello?”
“Trip?” Zac asked incredulously.
“Yes?” I replied.
“Who the hell was that?” he asked.
“That was my roommate,” I laughed.
“She seems a little …”
“Crazy?” I inquired.
“Yeah, I think that sums it up,” he replied. “Are you sure you’re safe with someone like that?”
“She’s cool,” I said as I sat down on my bed. “You’d like her.”
“Well, I’m glad you like her,” Zac commented.
“So am I,” I replied.
“So, what have you been doing today?” he asked. “I tried calling earlier.”
“Oh, I had orientation this morning. Then I had to meet with Bill about work. Then I met up with Rae and Meg for lunch.”
“Rae?” Zac asked.
“My roommate,” I said.
“Oh, I thought you meant …”
“That Rae was a guy?” I snorted.
“Well, yeah,” he replied. “Natural assumption. You didn’t tell me your roommates name.”
“You are so paranoid,” I commented.
“I am not,” he said. “I just don’t know how comfortable I am about you hanging out with other guys.”
“Well, you know, this isn’t an all girls school, so at some point I probably will have to talk to other guys,” I pointed out.
“Yes, I know,” Zac replied.
“Don’t you trust me?” I asked.
“Of course I trust you,” he replied. “I’m just not sure I trust the guys around there. They might try to move in on what’s mine.”
“So now I’m possession?” I asked.
“No, you know what I mean,” he said.
“Yes, I do, but I trust you. And you talk to a lot of girls on a day to day basis,” I commented.
“But I love you, so it’s not like I’m going to hook up with any of them,” he said.
“You better not,” I replied.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Zac said. “I haven’t hooked up with fans in the past, so there’s no reason to start now.”
“Wasn’t Kate a fan?” I asked.
“TRIP!” Zac exclaimed. I knew how much it aggravated Zac when I brought up Kate. It wasn’t that I disliked her or harbored any ill feelings toward her, but he hated it when I brought her up. I think I probably did it just because there were so many things about that relationship that I could poke fun at. “Why do you keep bringing her up?”
“Because I know how much it annoys you,” I grinned.
“You are evil,” he said.
“I know,” I said. “So, how are they others?”
“They’re good,” he replied. “I’m supposed to tell you hi from everyone and they all send their love.”
“Aw, tell them I said hey,” I smiled. “And I send my love to them. And give Ezra a kiss for me, okay?”
“Will do,” he agreed. “So, I take it that things are going well for you then?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Have you met many people?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ve met a few people from my floor,” I answered.
“Do you think you’re going like them?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” I replied. “Rachael is awesome,” I paused and glanced at her as she was unpacking. She didn’t bother to look up, but she did stick her right hand up in the air and stuck out her pointer finger and pinky. I smiled to myself as I continued to speak. “And there’s Jenna and Meg. They’re roommates. Jenna’s a music major too, and we have a lot of our classes together, which is a huge relief. And then there’s Candis, and Tasha. I haven’t really got to know them that well, but they seem cool too.”
“No guys?” Zac asked.
“Well, believe it or not, sweetie, there are guys around here,” I replied. “I just haven’t got the chance to meet them yet.”
“Yeah, well, you make sure to let them know that you’re taken, okay?” Zac said. I could tell he was smiling.
“I will … unless they’re really hot …” I grinned. I could just see Zac squirming at the other end of the phone.
He scoffed. “How rude!” he said.
“Oh, you know I’m just joking,” I laughed. “I love you, and no one could ever be as hot as you,” I added.
“Am I sensing some sarcasm from that end?” he asked.
“Me? Sarcastic? No way,” I laughed.
“Right, and Taylor never acts as if he harbors any same sex tendencies,” Zac commented.
I couldn’t help but let out a huge laugh.
“Ya know that Taylor would beat the shit out of you if he heard you say that,” I said.
“Yeah, I know,” Zac chuckled with a sigh.
We were both silent for a moment.
“Well, I guess I should let you go,” Zac finally said. “I need to crash soon. We have an early interview tomorrow.”
“Okay, have fun,” I said.
“Oh, it will be loads of fun,” Zac said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “And you have fun too. Just don’t do anything too crazy without me, alright?”
“I won’t,” I laughed. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he replied. “Talk to you soon.”
I hung up the phone with a sigh and turned to see Rae looking at me expectantly.
“Yes?”
“So, who is this Zac that you love?” she inquired.
I purposely hadn’t mentioned Zac to Rae or anyone else. So many aspects of my relationship still felt so new that I wasn’t exactly sure how to handle the situation. To me my relationship with Zac was pretty normal, all things considered, but I had never had to explain about Zac’s career to anyone before, and I wasn’t sure how other people would receive me.
“He’s my boyfriend,” I replied.
“Oh, you have a boyfriend?” Rae asked, raising an eyebrow with interest.
“Yes, I do,” I smiled.
“Oh, do spill the details on him,” Rae grinned.
I smiled to myself as I thought of Zac. “He’s really a great guy,” I said, thoughtfully. “I’ve known him all my life. He’s funny and sweet … and just … my everything. He’s practically my best friend.”
Even as the words spilled from my lips, they sounded so foreign to me. Some days just thinking about how much the dynamic of my relationship with Zac had changed over the course of a year was baffling. The way I had felt about him in the past compared to how I felt about him now was as different as night and day, black and white. However, during the time that our “relationship” had been undefined and so uncertain, it had turned the black and white to an array of grey.
But the fact that I could even think of Zac as being sweet amused me a great deal. For years he had been the biggest pain in my ass and a pure headache to be around. However, that had all changed. Those things about him that once annoyed me to no end had suddenly become endearing and cute. His smart-ass remarks were now funny, and time spent away from him caused my heart to ache.
“Have you guys always been close?” she asked.
“No,” I nearly snorted. “We used to despise each other …”
“Oh?” Rae laughed. “So how’d you two get together?”
“One day he kissed me, and I wound up falling for him,” I laughed.
“Oh, how romantic,” she commented.
“Yes, I know,” I nodded, rolling my eyes.
“So, how long have you two been together?”
“Well, officially about five months,” I answered. “But unofficially it’s been about a year.”
“Cool,” Rachael smiled. “So, where is he located at?”
“Well, for now he’s in California,” I replied.
“For now?” she questioned. “And later?”
“All over the United States,” I shrugged uncertainly.
“Okay, you’re going to have to explain this better to me,” Rae said as she walked over and sat down on her bed across from me.
“Okay …” I said, taking a deep breath. I picked up the picture of the two of us that I had sat on my nightstand and showed it to Rae. “That’s a picture of him,” I said.
“Ooh, he’s cute,” she grinned as she glanced up at me. “He kind of looks familiar though …”
“Well, he’s in a band,” I said, clearing my throat.
“Oh, so that’s why he’s going to be all over the United States!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“So what’s the name of his band?” she asked.
“Hanson,” I replied.
“Hanson?” she repeated.
“As in ‘mmmbop.’”
“Oh!” Rachael said, making a face as though she had made a new revelation of some sort. “He’s the drummer, right?”
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“I had a friend in junior high that was a big fan,” Rachael said, rolling her eyes. “No offense, but she about drove me up the wall talking about them. I was never a fan myself though. It just wasn’t my cup of tea.”
“No offense taken,” I smiled. “I didn’t used to be a fan either.”
“But you are now?” she asked.
“What kind of girlfriend would I be if I wasn’t?” I asked. “Besides, how can I not be a fan when he gets up there and sings a song he dedicated to me?”
“Oh, he does that?” she exclaimed.
“Yeah,” I nodded, smiling.
“That is so sweet,” Rae grinned. “Do you think he’ll be coming to visit you?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yep, he and his brother’s are playing at Carnegie Hall on November 5th,” I replied.
“Awesome, I want to meet him,” she grinned.
“Oh, you just want to get an autograph for your friend,” I joked.
“Well, there’s that,” she nodded. “But he also sounds like a cool guy.”
“He is,” I nodded. “You two will get along so well.”
“Well, I can’t wait to meet him!” she exclaimed.
I smiled to myself and took a deep breath before glancing in the direction of the boxes that still needed unpacking. “So I guess we would should finish unpacking and then crash since we have class tomorrow morning, huh?”
Rae made a face and nodded reluctantly.