“Hi mom, is something wrong? Did you guys miss your flight?”
“Oh honey everything is fine and our flight was fine. We’re here at the hotel, did you have lunch yet?”
“You’re here right now? But you guys aren’t supposed to land until 3:30.”
“Oh no, did I say we would be there at 3:30? I was confusing our trip to see you with our trip to see your brother. We landed a little after 10:30. I’m sorry about that Sky. Do you have any more classes today?”
“No, I’m done for the day.” I looked at Jonathan and held his gaze. “I was just wasting time while I waited for you guys. I actually haven’t eaten so I would love to eat with you guys.”
“Okay honey, we will be at your dorm in a few minutes.”
“Okay, mom.”
I hung up and pushed my chair back and stood up. “My parents are here so I have to go.”
He grabbed my wrist as he looked up at me and the warmth from his touch was so comforting. “Can we finish this on Sunday night, after parent’s weekend is over?”
I was going to say no but I wanted to see him again, I couldn’t help it. Maybe he was being honest with me about the whole Barbi thing. If she really wasn’t his girlfriend, he would have to talk to her about the way she hangs all over him.
I returned his gaze and held it for a few seconds before answering. “Okay.”
A huge grin spread across his face. “I’ll meet you in the lobby of the dorm at, say 8:00?
“Alright, fine.”
“Have fun with your parents. My parents will be here too but I will be available if your parents have any questions about anything.”
“Okay, thanks. See ya.”
“See ya.” His eyes followed me as I left and I glanced behind me once to find him still watching me before turning the corner and leaving the student union.
Chapter Eight
I couldn’t stop smiling as I hugged my mom and Jay. It was so good to see them. I guess I thought I wasn’t that homesick but once I saw them I realized how much I had missed them.
“I’m so glad you guys are here, thanks for coming!”
“Of course honey! We wouldn’t miss parent’s weekend.”
“We’re starving, where do you want to go eat?”
“Since the festivities don’t officially begin for parents until tomorrow, how does pizza sound? There’s a great place in town.”
“Perfect, let’s go.”
We caught up over lunch and I told them how well I was doing in my classes so far.
“I leave the library at about midnight every night.”
My mom looked worried. “Is it safe to walk back to the dorm by yourself at that hour?”
“It’s fine. My dorm isn’t far from the library and I can always call security if I want an escort back to the dorm.”
“I would feel better if you walked back with a friend or something. Maybe you can study with your roommate and then you guys can walk back together.”
I shook my head at my mom and smiled. “Mom, I’m fine really.”
Jay put his hand over my mother’s hand which was resting on the table. “Skylar is a smart girl honey, I don’t think you have to worry about her, she knows how to take care of herself. You and David taught her well. Of course I wasn’t too shabby either!” My mom giggled at Jay and she seemed to relax and I was so grateful that he was there. He had never said a bad word about my dad and he always mentioned him so that we would know that he knew that my dad was not forgotten. Yeah, Jay was a cool guy. I rubbed the ring on my finger and smiled as I thought about my dad. If he were here he probably would have said exactly what Jay said, or at least pretty close.
“Okay, okay, but just please be careful and aware of your surroundings at all times.” My mom had a worried look in her eye so I put my hand over hers and looked at her and smiled to put her at ease.
“I will mom, I promise.”
That seemed to placate her so we enjoyed the rest of our meal and got ready to go.
“So honey, do you need anything? Should we go shopping for a few things?”
I did need more shampoo and a few other toiletries, but I didn’t want to be a financial burden to them. I knew that the plane tickets were expensive and that my brother and sister bought those for my parents because financially, they were strapped. My brother and sister took turns sending me money each month. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to cover what I needed and to cover the occasional trips to eat out with my friends. I would be getting a check from my sister in few days and I maybe had just enough shampoo to last me that long if I watered it down a little.
“No, I’m fine.”
My mom must have sensed that I needed things. “Sky, we can buy you a few things, it’s okay. What do you need?”
“Well, I do need just a few things and Target is not far from here.”
“Oh good, at least you have something close by.” She looked at Jay. “Okay honey, are we ready?”
“Yep!”
As we left the pizza place, I was walking behind them and I smiled to myself, so happy that they were able to come for the weekend. I rubbed my ring and silently told my dad that I knew he was there too.
Target was busy, as usual, and we were in the shampoo aisle and I was bending down to find the right kind of shampoo, when I heard a familiar voice.
“It looks like we had the same idea.”
I looked up to see Jonathan’s gorgeous face smiling down at me and I wanted to melt right into the ground. He looked so gorgeous!
“Hey, yeah, I guess it does.” I was a bit flustered because he caught me off guard, but I managed a feeble smile and suddenly felt very awkward because my parents were standing behind me and I could tell that they were waiting for an introduction. I stood up and turned to them and they both had that look, you know the one where they know this is the guy you like but they don’t want to embarrass you, but they want you to introduce them? Yeah, that look.
“Um, mom, Jay, this is Jonathan Hunter. He’s our Resident Advisor. Jonathan this is my mom, Mrs. Marshall and my step-dad, Jay. ”
My mom smiled and reached out and hugged him and I wanted to die of embarrassment right on the spot, I was totally mortified. Did she really just do that? My mom had been a hugger all of her life and she didn’t care if she just met you, if she got a good vibe from you she gave you a hug. Well, I guess she got a good vibe from Jonathan. “Jonathan it is so nice to meet you!”