American Sweethearts

34

Oh my gosh, guys... we've grown so quickly! We're almost at 5k already! That blows my mind!

Thank you all so much for your support, it truly means so much to me. I appreciate you all with my entire heart. 

Love you, xx

--------------------

"Well, that fucking sucked," Steph grumbles, throwing her bag over her shoulders.

"Don't say that," I chuckle. "It was helpful."

"No, it wasn't."

"Maybe it was for others."

"These coping methods are such bullshit. They don't want you to ignore your problems, but then when negative thoughts come up, they basically tell you to put it away for later? How does that make any sense?"

"Well, you've got me there," I admit.

She has a point. We've spent the entire hour of support group talking about how to cope when our anxiety rises. I've heard it all before, but I'm sure it helped someone in the group.

Steph and I walk over the pavement, heading in the direction of the campus security building. It's unusually busy here, but hopefully that means there are more cops walking around, than there are in the building. There's people all over the place. I keep my eyes peeled to my surroundings, trying to find out why. Once we reach the main atrium, I notice a bunch of banners and a couple of food stalls.

It's the Greek Games.

Christian told me about this on our date. All the fraternities and sororities come together and compete against each other in a bunch of challenges. It's sponsored by The Barrel, so the winner gets free drinks for the rest of the year.

"How are you doing, anyway?" I ask Steph, trying to distract myself. We've never really gotten deep and personal in our conversations. We're usually just laughing and joking around, and leave the emotional stuff to the support group. But it's important to check in with your friends.

"I'm good," she shrugs. "I see Margaret outside of the group too, and it's actually pretty helpful, I haven't had any panic attacks or anything, and I've been distancing myself from everyone who still supports my ex."

"What's that like? It must suck."

"Not really. It feels more like a relief. Besides, you and Lena have been so great to me."

"Yeah, about that..." I hesitate. "What's going on with you and Lena?"

"What do you mean?"

"You kissed the other day. The morning after the party."

I still haven't gotten a chance to talk about it with Lena. I've asked her about it, but she told me she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't seem annoyed by my questions. If anything, she was happy. She smiled. I was going to tease her, but then Owen interrupted.

"Oh," Steph looks away. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure about that?"

"No," she struggles to hide her smile. "We were just dancing, and she said she wanted to kiss me, and I said okay."

"And you kissed?"

"Yes," she giggles. "Just for a second, but it was nice. We spent the whole night talking and laughing, and eventually, the party died out, and we fell asleep."

"And you kissed again when you left?"

"It just kind of... happened," she smiles.

"That's so cute!" I gush. "I'm already shipping you!"