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"You sound homesick, sweetie" my mother says over the phone "Darn it I’ you can take to cure it"

I bite back a chuckle My parents are very hippy-ish and e believer in herbal remedies She’s a self-proclaimed artist/tarot card reader and my dad’s an herbalist Their quirky, offbeat personalities have , to say the least

"That’s okay" I pull the tape off a box--I’ht need to cure this one all on et to smile," she says "A smile can fix so ht now I swear"

"Good And if you need anything, you know you can calllonely"

"I’ ready to head off toto make some new friends there"

"That’s so weird because I had a dreaht that you lish class, so keep your eyes open"

I shake ht, Mom, I’ll make sure to keep a lookout"

"Good Call ood"

"And proo into your shell I know you don’tout on opportunities to make new friends and maybe date a little bit You haven’t even mentioned a boy since Carter I hope he didn’t break your heart"

"He didn’t break my heart," I assure her, which is the truth My heart has never been broken because I’ve never been in love When it co I never really thought s off because he said I was too closed off It kind of openedthe habit hasn’t been easy and I’otten any or even went out with anyone that I’et a little sexually frustrated "And I proo into my shell or whatever it is you called it"

"Say it like you mean it," she insists "I want to hear the excite through my clothes for a shirt "Okay! I promise!" I say with forced cheer as I roll my eyes "There Better?"

"Much better I love you, sweetie"

"Love you, too"

I hang up and blow out a breath Whileto come true, I’m skeptical she’s seen my future as she so often claims to do Besides, I’m really nervous, which usually means I’ll come off aard and unapproachable, the quiet, tortured artist who broods at the back of the class

After I get dressed in a grey t-shirt and a dark pair of jeans, I slip on , and head out the door The apart by next semester I can find a closer place, but for now, I make do and use the five-rabVictorian house and then a few streets where the blossom trees canopy over the asphalt Back in Florida, we didn’t really have four seasons and I find it fascinating to watch the leaves falling frorab my attention, mainly because they either look intense, sad, or extremely happy, and I covertly take pictures of the eo

By the time I reach the busy campus yard, I’ve probably taken at least a hundred pictures Looking through the lens, I zoorassy area just to the side of the university’sthe ca, I pause

The guy and girl are huddled together, as if they’ve carved their own private world for each other The guy says soirl busts up laughing, throwing her head back The guy sh He jurabs her arm, and spins her around and around until she almost falls down

There’s such freedo happiness to the point that I actually start to feel happy just observing theand it’s not like I haven’t introduced uy looks fauy directly faces eous brown eyes, realizing I’ve definitely seen hi atabout him, from his eccentric taste in clothes, to the way he entertains his friend, to the confidence in his walk screao all stalker and snap at least twenty pictures of hiirl he’s with disappear inside the , I hurry off to English class As I sit down in a desk toward the back of the roo, but I findeach person as they enter