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"Second Chances"


Prologue
prologue: the cliffs

By Allieas

The day couldn’t have been more beautiful; the sun was bright in the afternoon sky, and from where we were standing, all that could be seen was a beautiful blue lake and green treetops. I could hear my mother’s high-pitched laugh somewhere in the not-too-distant area and Mr. Amadei’s loud voice every so often, but otherwise the only sounds were of the water below us and occasionally a bird. 

“I bet you’re too scaredy to jump!” I teased, giving Anamaria a small push. Her brown curls bounced around her shoulders as she caught her balance. She spun around to face me, eyes wide. We were at the edge of a cliff - one that teenagers had been jumping off for fun all morning. We had waited for them to leave before sneaking away from our families and venturing to the edge ourselves. I wanted to jump, but was a little afraid myself. When I ventured a peek over the edge, I realized it was much farther down than I had originally thought.

“It’s not scaredy!” Anamaria argued, face red. “I’m not scaredy. I just don’t want to.” She folded her arms over her chest and glared at me. I didn’t believe what she was saying.

“Ana-is-a scaaaredy-cat!” I sang, and gave her another tiny shove, then another - just to scare her some more. It was always fun to freak her out. I gave her one more little push, but this time, she tripped on the edge of the rock and let out a very high-pitched scream as she scrambled to keep her footing, but she tripped even farther forward, flapping her arms around manically. 

Suddenly I didn’t find any of this funny. I wanted to scare her, but not this much. I reached out, but my fingers barely brushed against her purple Hunchback of Notre Dame shirt before she toppled off the edge of the cliff. 

My eyes snapped open, and I struggled to control my breathing. I hadn’t had that dream in such a long time: why now? The barracks were completely devoid of any light. I pushed the light on my watch. 03:25. Might as well get up. Take a shower. Shave. Before I was competing with the entire company for latrine space. 

I forced myself out of bed, still exhausted from twelve hours of Land Navigation that had only ended three and a half hours ago.

Officer Candidate School was worse than Afghanistan. 

At least it gave me something else to think about. This was the wrong place to dwell on childhood nightmares. I wouldn’t make it through with those kinds of thoughts on my mind. 

I grabbed my red-light flashlight, unlocked my locker, and retrieved my personal hygiene bag from the top shelf. 

Last day of Land Nav. Focus, Blackwood. 

Author Notes First thing I've posted in a while! I've been toying with this idea for quite some time though. I always appreciate feedback/critique! Thanks for reading!


Chapter 1
Back to School

By Allieas

I sighed as I entered New York University’s registrar office, clutching the departmental permission slip I needed to get into Dr. Disotell’s Evolutionary Genetics class. Since I was technically a Biology major, I was blocked from being added to the class without the slip. I usually avoided this building at all costs, though, as it was an alarmingly small space considering NYU’s impressive student population, including about 20,000 undergraduates. It was always overcrowded, and there was always a substantial wait. I was grateful that Melanie offered to keep me company. As my suite-mate and good friend, I usually appreciated her company. Her voice interrupted my irritated appraisal of the room we were in.

“Don’t look now, but a hottie just walked in. A man in uniform.” I let out a small laugh, making a point not to look in the direction that she was referring to. 

“Damn, Mel, you are thirsty, aren’t you?” I teased, “also, NYU public safety officers so don’t count as men in uniform.” 

“Thirsty? Yes! I just spent four weeks on a family vacation that involved a lot of church-trips with my grandmother. I haven’t even been able to look at a man without feeling weird in weeks. You know my family… and this guy is not a public safety officer. Some kind of military.” 

Now I was curious, but more because I had never heard of a New York University student in any kind of military anything. “Military? Are you sure he isn’t just a hipster?” I didn’t turn around. I didn’t much care, anyway. The line was moving a little faster than usual today, and I really wanted to get a bagel before my next class. Melanie’s brown eyes were completely glazed over - she was in another world. 

As we exited the Registrar and Bursar office, I caught sight of the man Mel had been drooling over. He was tall, with brownish hair shaved into a high and tight and light eyes. His nose was long and very straight, and there was a patch on either one of his shoulders. I knew one of those patches meant he had seen combat, but wasn’t sure which one or what anything else on his uniform meant. The guy must have felt me staring, because he turned around until we made eye contact. Unsure of what to do, I smiled at him, feeling my cheeks redden a little. I didn’t want him to think I was staring because of what he was wearing, but maybe he didn’t, because he smiled back. I quickened my pace, suddenly very eager to get out of the office. 

Luckily, Mel didn’t notice my awkward moment, and I didn’t bring attention to it. 

“So,” I said, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket. It had vibrated several times in the past couple of minutes, and I had a strong feeling about who had been texting. “What are your plans for this weekend? It's already Thirsty Thursday!” If I sounded overly enthusiastic to start a conversation that wasn’t about the guy I’d just made awkward eye-contact with, Mel didn’t seem to notice. 

“Haven’t decided yet! Isabelle wants to go clubbing because she knows this promoter, but there’s also a gathering happening in Gramercy Green, in Jon Chen’s dorm. Didn’t you tell me about that one? They're both Friday but I think I'm going to tell Isabelle we'll go out Saturday instead, so we can do both. Tonight I'm thinking roomie happy hour with Kiara?” 

I looked down at my phone. Ugh… 4 messages from Tyler Hudsen. I opened the message thread. 

10:32 Zoe. Where are you? Tried to stop by your dorm and nobody was there, but you don’t have class till noon. 

1:17 Hey. Just wanted to apologize for last night. You’re right. I’ve been really stressed lately. I shouldn’t have been jealous. Love you. 

1:29 Zoe. Are you really that mad? Can you please just call me?

1:31 Please call me back.

“Did you hear me?” Mel noticed my phone, and frowned. “What does he want?” To say she disliked my boyfriend was to say the very least about Mel's feelings for Ty. I’m not sure if it was because he stole me away from her often in the past two years, or if it was because he was always making me upset, lately. It was difficult to hide that kind of thing from a best friend, especially one as nosy and interested in my life as Melanie Park. Lately, it seemed that Tyler and I were always disagreeing about something, and between his explosive temper and my stubbornness, disagreements often spiraled out of control. Yesterday, after noticing that an old male friend had texted me, Tyler had lost it. I’d walked away from him and hadn’t answered him since. 

“He just wants to apologize. Maybe I should call him.” My stomach turned over. I really didn’t want to stop my avoidance of him yet. Mel noticed.

“Zoe, does he even make you happy anymore... like, ever?” 

I didn’t look at her, focusing on not running into other students on the sidewalk. “Yeah, sometimes. I mean, I don’t know. I’m gonna call him. Don’t you have class? I’ll see you tonight, though. Promise!”

“Alright, Zo. Love you, girl.”


Chapter 2
Apologies

By Allieas

1:52 I’m by Stern. Where are you?

The moment I hit send, my phone began to vibrate and a photo of Tyler smiling popped up on the screen. I stared at the phone and took a calming breath. He was apologizing. I should be reasonable, too. I swiped the green answer bar. He was probably nearby, as he attended Stern, the business school.

“Hey.” 

“Zoe.” His voice sounded breathier than usual. “I’m in Gould Plaza. I don’t see you.” I turned around, as I had just walked past Stern’s Gould Plaza. I jumped up the few stairs and scanned the plaza for a tall white guy — he would stand out in the sea of East and South Asian students that made up most of the business school. It didn’t take too long to spot him. I ended the call and began to walk toward him. His face lit up when he saw me, and I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach. Maybe I was being too harsh on him. 

He strode over to me, probably because I was walking fairly slowly in his direction, and immediately gave me a quick, strong, hug and kissed my cheek. I stiffened, still not really over it but also not wanting to make a big deal over the hug. “I really am sorry, Zo,” he whispered into my hair. 

“Let’s walk and talk,” I said, moving toward the back exit to Gould Plaza. There would be fewer people walking around West 3rd Street than 4th by the library entrance. 

We walked in silence for two blocks, before Tyler couldn’t stay silent another moment. “Zoe, I’m sorry. I really am. Can you really not let this go?”

I didn’t want to look at him. That always made it harder. He probably looked so sincere, so full of regret. I looked straight ahead, where a pigeon was waddling across the street toward a small piece of food someone had left on the sidewalk. “I forgive you, Tyler. I just need some time.” I felt him tense beside me, without even looking at him.

“What does that mean?

“It just means what it sounds like… I want a couple days to clear my head. I love you. I do, I just need a couple days.” I thought about the pure rage that had flashed in his eyes the night before over a text message. How he’d grabbed my phone, looked through the rest of my texts, then threw the phone across the room and stormed out. That wasn’t a normal response to such a simple issue. I had to stand my ground. 

Tyler sighed. “I understand. I love you so much, Zoe. I feel so bad that I let myself get so upset. I trust you. I just don’t trust other people. And with everything lately I’m stressed out.” By “everything,” he meant school, law school applications, the fact that his father had lost his job, causing him to have to pick up extra shifts at the place he bartended to the point where he barely slept. I sighed. Maybe I should be more understanding. The angry outbursts had only been happening the past few months. Tyler  touched my arm lightly, and stopped walking. “Hey - Zo, please look at me.” I did, reluctantly. Damn it. Now I feel bad. Don’t admit it!

“Tyler. It’s okay. I forgive you. I’m going to hang out with Mel tonight, but I’ll see you tomorrow. Let me know how everything is with your family.”


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