[[A/N: a big thank you to simply_forgotten303 for making an awesome cover for me/the story. check it out over there ---->>>]]

FRIDAY

Sleep had come easier than faster than expected, and when Kate’s alarm went off at six, she felt extremely well-rested. After her morning routine, she stopped back in at the little coffee shop for a quick breakfast. Continuing her walk towards the campus, she thought of her upcoming weekend home visit. She was getting more and more excited to see her friends and family again, even though it had just been a few days since she saw them last. After a brisk walk, the sun shining on her freckled face, Kate pulled open the heavy metal door and walked down the cool hallway towards Room 615. It was easily found. Entering the room, she stopped to take everything in for a quick second.

There were desks bolted to the floors, with an aisle on each end and through the middle. The farther back you went, the more steps you went up. There was an exit door on the wall at the end of the middle aisle. The desks were pretty typical -- wooden seats and top, metal backs. A large wooden desk stood to the side at the front of the room, with a large black leather chair tucked under the middle of it. A white dry erase board stretched across the wall behind it, the length of the room. A message board had been bolted up by the entrance door, and medical posters scattered here and there on the walls throughout the room. Just your typical, basic college classroom, really.

Kate walked up to the sixth row of seats and sat in about the middle of the row. ‘Not too close, not too far away,’ she thought to herself. There were about fifteen or twenty other students already sprinkled throughout the seats. A few sat together, most sat alone, with two or three seats between them and the next person. A steady trail of people came filing through the door soon after Kate sat down, and she watched them for a few minutes. They were all pretty much the same: walk in a few steps, stop, look around, find a seat, walk to it, and sit down. ‘Just like the first day of high school,’ Kate thought. Growing tired of watching the other students stream in, she got her notebook and a pen out of her bag and set them on the desk. She turned the notebook open to the first page, a crisp, clean, and blank white page with blue and red lines eagerly awaiting her first notes. Twenty-five minutes after Kate had arrived and found her seat, a man and woman walked through the door and over to the desk at the front of the room. They were obviously the professors, well, two of them anyways.

They chatted for a couple minutes, and then stood, surveying the crowd seated before them. Most noise had quieted when the professors had walked into the room, but clearing his throat, the man said, “Ladies and Gentlemen -- thank you for attending this meeting. It’s more of an ’orientation’ than anything. We’ll try not to keep you any longer than possible, but we just wanted to run over some things before classes officially begin on Monday.” He stopped for a second, letting his words sink in, and allowing time for anyone to get out pen and paper if they wished. Then he continued, “My name is Professor James Smith. I practiced medicine for over thirty years, and now I strictly teach.” His thin gray hair was proof of his age. Along with his belly that hung over his belt on his khaki pants. He also adorned a white button-up shirt, and a blue and white striped tie. Kate imagined he had on loafers, but couldn’t see from where he was standing behind the desk.

The woman spoke next. “Hi. My name is Professor Jane Simmons. I practiced medicine, specializing in obstetrics, for fifteen years. I work partial time now, but mainly teach. It is such a pleasure to see you all here this morning.” Professor Simmons looked like a sweet lady. She was probably in her forties somewhere. She had her hair pulled back from her face in a loose bun, but a few strands had found their way free. She had on small brown rimmed glasses, and was thinner than her colleague. She had on a dark plum-colored blouse, and a knee length gray skirt. Black heels were on her feet, Kate had noticed when she walked in. Part of being a doctor, after all, was being unusually perceptive.

The orientation went smoothly, as far as orientations were concerned. Papers were handed out, they went over the school and course rules and guidelines, and were told that where they sat Monday was where they would sit for the remainder of the semester, at least. It was easier to do roll call this way. After an hour and forty-five minutes, the orientation was over. Kate all but ran out of the room.

Back in her dorm, she hurriedly packed the last of her things for the weekend. The plane ride home was short, and then a thirty to forty-five minute drive to her house after that, depending on the traffic. Her last ‘free’ weekend until God only knew when was here at last, and Kate was in a hurry to get it started. She had bought tickets online last night, and had printed out the paper confirming so. Double checking her purse to make sure it was still tucked nicely in next to her wallet, Kate locked her door and headed down the hall and out the door.

****

A little over three hours later, Kate was lying on her old bed. She had arrived shortly before, and was a little worn out from the airport, plane ride, and her family’s excited talk all the way home in the car. Kate’s phone, that was resting next to her on the bed suddenly started vibrating. It was Megan. Smiling, Kate answered, “Hello, Sunshine!”

“Ah! Kate! Please tell me you’re at your house already!” came Megan’s excited voice from the other end.

Laughing, Kate replied, “Why, yes I am.”

“Well, that’s really great, because I’m right down the road from your house. I was gonna be really upset if I had to make small talk with your parentals.”

“It’s ok,” Kate told her, laughing, “you can come on up. I’m in my room.” Ending the call, Kate sat up, her eyes moving around her old room, the bedroom she had grown up in. Unexpectedly, her mind wandered to her new ‘friend’ Pete Peterson. Who was this guy, anyways? Logging onto Facebook, Kate clicked on his picture and waited to be redirected to his profile. Under location it said: USA. Well, if that wasn’t as general as possible. They didn’t have any friends or interests in common. Under the ‘info’ tab, it said that he was male, interested in women, he was single, and his religious and politics beliefs were ‘other.’

“Huh.” Kate said out loud, clicking on the ‘photo’ tab. Just the one picture there that he used for his profile picture. The sound of Kate’s bedroom opening caught her attention, and looking up, she saw her friend Megan. Pete Peterson forgotten, at least for now, Kate rose up from her bed and hugged her best friend. She smelled of vanilla and tanning lotion. “Trying to soak in all the sun’s rays before the cold weather sets in, huh?” Kate said, smiling.

“You know it!” Megan replied. “What were you doing? Facebooking, I bet!”

“Well, yeah….” Kate started to tell her about her new ‘friend,’ but she didn’t have time.

“Don’t worry about Facebook. There’s a huge party in your honor tonight over at Mark Redmond’s house. You need to shower and change so we can get going!” Megan informed her.

With Facebook and Pete Peterson completely forgotten about, Kate rushed into the bathroom to get ready.

****

Waking the next morning, disorientation momentarily overcame her. Blinking several times, trying to clear the fog from her eyes and her mind, Kate remembered she was in her old bedroom at her parents’ house. The taste of stale beer coated her mouth and tongue, and her head and stomach started to swoon in unison. “Ugh. Oh….” Rushing for the bathroom across, the hall and throwing herself over the toilet seat, she remembered why she never drank. Kate plus alcohol equals a morning spent praying to the porcelain God, no matter if she drank one, or one hundred. Washing her face and hands in the sink, she thoroughly brushed her teeth as to erase every hint of alcohol and cotton mouth that was there.

Feeling slightly better, she walked down the stairs where her mother was sipping on a cup of coffee and her father was reading the sports section. ‘Pretty cliché, really.’ Kate thought.

“Morning, K. Would you like some breakfast?” her mother, Mary Anderson, asked.

“Uhhh…ugh..no. Maybe just a cup of coffee?” Kate offered.

“Sure. Just a sec.” Kate’s mother rose up from her seat and got down an orange and yellow flowered coffee cup. After dumping in the sugar, milk, and coffee, she handed it to Kate to stir. “Enjoy, sweetie.” Kate’s mom was sweet, but sometimes too much so. She definitely had the ‘loving mother’ act down pat.

A few hours later, Kate was more awake, and the shower she took had helped mounds. She was on her way to Megan’s house to see how she was functioning this fine Saturday. Megan could always party with the best of them.

Pulling into the rock driveway, Kate wasn’t too surprised to find Megan in the backyard on a green and white plastic lawn chair. “Hey Megs.”

“Oh, hey, Kate. I didn’t hear you come up.” she replied, sitting up in her chair.

“No, I guess not. You looked practically comatose.” Kate said, smiling.

“Yeah, well, when I can tan, I’m at my nirvana. So I guess you had fun last night?”

“Yeah, last night. This morning -- not so much.” Kate told her with a grimace on her face.

“Aww. You’re just a light-weight!” Megan told her, then added, “Hey, my tanning session is over. I hear dad starting up the mower. I’m not trying to be covered in grass. Want to go into town and see what we can find to do?”

“Sure.” Kate walked inside with her long time friend so she could change clothes, which consisted of throwing a tank top and shorts over her swimsuit. They soon headed out the door. On the drive over, Kate thought she’d mention Pete to Megan and she what she thought of the whole thing. “Well, and he doesn’t hardly have any information on his profile, and only the one picture that he uses as his profile picture.” Kate finished.

“Hmm.. Well, I don’t know. Your’s isn’t very detailed, either, Katie. Maybe his profile and all is new too, like yours, and he’s busy, like you, and hasn’t had time to mess with it. As for the profile picture, maybe he’s ugly. Maybe he doesn’t like having his picture taken. He could be epileptic, and the flash from a camera might throw him into a fit.”

“Yeah, maybe. And that’s not very ‘politically correct,’ by the way. ‘Throwing him into a fit.’ Boy, you sure have a way with words, Meg.” Kate said, shaking her head. That was Megan for you. She always said what she thought without much censorship between her mind and her mouth.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about. You’re just paranoid, I think.” Megan replied.

****

Sunday went pretty well without a glitch. Kate attended church with her parents, and then threw her things back in her bag and headed off to the airport with her parents in their car. Giving them both a long hug and a kiss, she said, “I’ll call when I get back to the dorm. Miss you guys.”

“Miss you too, sweetie. Be careful.” Her mom said, both of them giving a small wave as Kate headed towards the doors.

****

Back in her dorm room, Kate tossed her bags on the floor next to her and flopped down on her bed, pulling out her iPhone and dialing her parents’ house number. “Hello?” Came her dad’s masculine voice from the other end. He must’ve answered in the kitchen on the corded phone that didn’t have caller ID on it.

“Hey, Dad. Just wanted to call and let you guys know I made it alright.” Kate replied.

“Oh, Katie-bug. Okay. That’s good to know. How was your flight?” he asked.

“It was okay. No crash landing or anything,” Kate smiled. They chatted for a few more minutes, and then hung up.

Kate had a long day ahead of her tomorrow, it being Monday and the first official day of her classes, and she wanted to get a good night’s sleep. She quickly logged onto her Facebook account to send Megan a message on her ‘wall’ before she crashed for the night. Swiftly navigating herself to Megan’s profile page, Kate typed: “Hey, Meggers. Just wanted to let you know I’m back at school. Can’t wait to see everyone over Thanksgiving break. I already miss you guys.”

Ding!

Confused at the sound, Kate looked around and saw an instant message box pop up. It was Pete Peterson.

‘Hi. Thanks for adding me to your friends list.’ Read the message. A little yellow smiley face followed the words.

‘Oh, it wasn’t a problem. You’re welcome.’ Kate replied after a few moments. Well, he sounded normal, at least. Eyeballing her laptop screen, Kate got up to retrieve her soda from her end table. She heard her computer Ding! again. Walking over to the desk her laptop rested on, she read:

‘I really am grateful. I don’t have many friends.’

Setting her soda can next to her laptop, she typed:

‘Oh. Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t have many here, either. I just moved here for school.’

‘I see.’ Was his response. And then, ‘What’s your major?’

‘I’m studying to be a doctor. A pediatric doctor.’ Kate typed.

‘Well, I’m sure you’d make a great kids’ doctor. You seem very kind.’

Smiling to herself, Kate typed her reply: ‘Thank you. That was very nice.’ All feelings of creepiness and worry were dissipating as Kate chatted with Pete. He seemed harmless, and was easy to talk to. She mentally scolded herself for being so judgmental towards people she didn’t know, yet again. Amanda had proved her wrong when Kate jumped to conclusions about her, and now Pete was doing the same thing. He just wanted a few friends, someone to chat with. Same as Kate.

‘How did you find out about me? I don’t remember your name, sorry.’ Kate typed into the messaging box.

‘Oh, I was in the tour the other day. You probably didn’t notice me. You seemed pretty absorbed in what was going on.’ Pete typed back.

‘Oh, right. Sorry.’ Kate typed quickly. She in fact had been very absorbed into the tour the other day. Then she asked, ’Why is your profile picture just scenery?’

Another Ding! signaled his response:

‘That was the only one I could find on my computer…lol… I will change it now.’

‘Oh, okay. Sorry. I was just curious I guess.’ Kate answered, adding a little yellow smiley at the end. Kate got up to use the restroom. She heard two Dings! while she was in there.

‘Changed.’ Was the first message. And then, ‘You still there?’

‘Sorry. I was in the bathroom. I will have to go see what you look like.’ Kate answered.

‘Oh. Well. I hope you like it. I need to go now. Thanks for chatting with me. Good night.’ And just like that his name was gray, and a message popped up saying he was now offline.

“Huh. Well.” Kate said to the instant messaging box. “Guess he really did have to go.” She typed his name into the ‘search’ bar. She noticed that he had, in fact, changed his profile picture, and she continued on to his page to get a better look at it.

The picture didn’t show much. It was a close up facial shot that only showed from his shoulders up. He had blonde hair that looked like it had been attempted to be tamed, but the curliness of it made that next to impossible. Under thin green rimmed glasses he had dark brown eyes, and had some sort of yellow t-shirt on that clashed with his hair. He looked like your all-American nerd. Practically a perfect stereotype.

Shrugging, Kate shut down her laptop and closed in, heading for bed. She had stayed up later than planned, and was more than ready for sleep to overtake her.

****