I miss my son with all my heart. I wish he would come home to visit us more. I got him home for Christmas and it was so wonderful, just like old times. I don't know why he wouldn't come home for the summer. I guess he's just so dedicated to his studies. I told his father that I wished he would come home. "Give the boy his freedom," was the answer I got. So I do, I really do my best. But it's hard for a mother to watch her oldest child fly away from the nest and not want to come home. I always tried to be a good mother to him. Maybe I was too devoted to him. Maybe I needed to encourage him to grow wings sooner. But then were would I be? Then I'd just have fewer memories of him and he would have left anyway!
I hope he is doing well. I call him once a month to check up on him. He seems to enjoy talking to me, as much as any son can enjoy talking to his mother. I know I embarrass him sometimes, but that's what mothers are for. I try to get his sisters to call him. One of them wrote him letters the first couple months. She's old fashioned like that. But then she gave up. Not that he didn't write back. He's a good boy, so of course he wrote back. She just got bored of it and gave up.
Oh, well. I'm sure he'll come home when the time is right. It just frets a mother so to think about her only son, her eldest son, out there in the world without her love and protection. But then, he always has my love, no matter how far away he might be. I pray with all my heart that he knows that. I'm sure he does.
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Thursday night is my night to call my dad. The beginning of the semester, I never missed a week. Once I started getting more homework and tests, I missed a week here and there, but I think I did a pretty good job overall. I admit it; I'm a daddy's girl. I suppose it tends to end up that way without a mother around.
When I call, he always wants to know all about how I'm doing and how I'm enjoying classes and of course if I've met any new friends. I tell him that my favorite class is English Literature and that I've met several new friends, including a deaf girl in my sign language club. Her name's Jamie and she's amazing. She paints and does gymnastics. Dad begrudgingly asks how Bridget's doing and I say, "She's been doing pretty good" or "She's probably out partying" or "She finally got accepted into a sorority."
"Good for her," dad will say, but I think he's just glad that I've broadened my horizons beyond Bridget.
Eventually, dad starts asking about boys. I had a few crushes in high school, but I never really dated anyone. I had dates for dances and stuff, but no steady relationship. I blush and say, "Daaad!"
I don't want to talk about boys with my father. These are the times when I really miss having a mom. I do know I can talk to Bridget about boys, but I don't tell my dad that. The truth, though, is that there isn't much to talk about. The teaching assistant for my math class is cute, but a little nerdy, but I don't think we're allowed to date teaching assistants anyway. There are a couple boys in my dorm I'd consider going out with, but I'm not interested enough to make a move myself. Bridget, of course, when we do talk about boys, says there are lots of options down at the frats. She knows that's not my scene, but she likes to tease me about it anyway. But yeah, I figured I don't have to go looking for a boy. The right one will find me eventually, just like my dad found my mom. Such a beautiful story of how they met. I want a story like that to tell my children one day, too.
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Dude, picking up sorority chicks is way harder than I thought. They all just wrinkle their noses at me and are all like, "As if!" It's like something straight out of that "Clueless" movie that I've never seen. I wish I could get Brady to come with me down to the sorority houses, or at least to a frat party, but he keeps saying that isn't his scene. He'd rather study that party. Lame! I sure could use a wing man here.
Well, I suppose the nice thing about not having Brady around is that the girls are forced to look at me. Brady is a decent looking guy and I wouldn't want any of the girls getting distracted. I've got a lot to offer if they'd just give me a chance. Lizzy realized I was a fun guy. Too bad she's not in a sorority. If she were, maybe I could date her again, but I'm committed to landing a sorority chick this year!
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I really wish Chris would come to these frat parties with me. That girl needs to loosen up and have some fun! Let her hair down once in a while, ya know? The guys here are hilarious. They're always hitting on me. Well, some of them just hit on everyone. There's this one guy, I don't think he's even in a frat, who has long hair and wears shorts even though winter is coming up fast. He looks a little like a hippie, and I think he might actually be that "hippie" dude Chris and I ran into during that first week of class. I wonder if he's still running from that girl who was chasing after him. I've been very tempted to ask him, but whenever he comes over to talk to me, I just can't resist wrinkling up my nose and saying "As if!" instead. Maybe one of these times, I'll actually say something else. I do like to reward persistence and he's actually kind-of cute. There are all these rules about sorority sisters dating certain frat guys and not others and it's all so confusing that maybe getting a guy who likes to come to the parties but isn't actually in a fraternity would be perfect!
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There's this one girl in particular who's really starting to drive me crazy. I've probably talked to her a dozen times and she always listens and then just wrinkles up her nose, rolls her eyes, and snubs me at the end. I think she must just be playing hard to get. She's not the prettiest girl here, but she's the most intriguing. I think she's the one I'm going to land this year. She goes to lots of the parties, so I know she likes to have a good time. Plus, I like a challenge, especially after Lizzy. Lizzy was just too easy.
Now, I've tried nearly every cheesy and not so cheesy line I know on this girl. I've gone with "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" to just asking her if I can get another drink for her to trying to make small talk about how great the party is to telling her "I think we'd have great chemistry, and as a chemistry major, I should know." She just keeps rolling her eyes, but I catch her looking back in my direction every now and then. I think she just wants to put on a show in front of her sisters. If I could get her alone, or at least somewhere a little more private, I'm sure she'd come around.
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That hippie guy was at the party again last night. He's really starting to grow on me, but I didn't want to give in too easily, so I gave him a hard time like I usually do, but I was pretty sure he caught me looking towards him later in the night, so I figured it was as good a night as any to give in. So I let him sweat it out for a few more hours and then as the night was winding to a close, I walked over to him and finally held out my hand to him. "I'm Bridget," I said.
He actually looked disappointed. "Oh, okay," he said.
I couldn't believe it. This guy had been hitting on me for weeks and now he's going to snub me. I don't think so. "I don't think so!" I said.
He burst out laughing. "Bridget, dude, you need to relax!" he exclaimed.
"Uh! Don't tell me to relax!"
He just laughed even more and shook his head. "Maybe you're not for me, after all," he said. "I liked you better when you didn't talk to me."
My jaw just dropped. What an ass! But then I looked into his green eyes and though I saw a spark of something. Was he playing me? No time like the present to find out. I grabbed him by his hippie pink shirt collar and planted a wet one right on his lips. I felt him tense up and then relax. I knew he liked it. I knew he wanted it. I pulled away. "How do you like that, dude?" I asked.
He held his finger up to my lips. "Better when you aren't talking," he said.
"Uh!"
He laughed. "Okay, okay, I'm willing to listen to you talk," he said, "if you do it over the phone."
I eyed him suspiciously. "Are you asking for my phone number?" I asked.
"We have a winner!" he taunted.
"Yeah, it's you," I said, still sneering. But I took out a pin, grabbed his hand, and wrote my number on it. "Don't go doing something inappropriate with that now," I said.
He held his hands up in surrender. "Wouldn't dream of it, dude," he said.
I decided to smile at the end, just to show him I actually did like him. Or did I? "Talk to you later," I said and sauntered away. I could help but glance over my shoulder. He was watching me go, of course, and when he saw me look back, he smiled and waved at me. I scoffed, rolled my eyes, and turned back and smiled to myself. Okay, I actually did like him.
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I do like a challenge. I got Lizzy with a compliment an Bridget with an insult. Girls are just crazy. Dude, Brady is really missing out.
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