Safe Haven

I spent at least another hour sitting on my bed, still in my sweaty running clothes, and reiterating to Savannah the story about me and Niall; which I had already done many times for Harry and Kelsey, so I knew I hadn’t left out any details. I paused often, letting her interrupt me to be nosy and ask all of her questions. Once I had given her enough information to be satisfied, I decided to give her a tour of the campus (avoiding the nature trails, of course). Which reminds me, I should probably take a shower.
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Two hours later, Savannah had seen all of the most popular places on campus: the quad, the student union, “the marketplace”, etc. I surprised myself with how much I actually knew about the campus and made a mental note to apply for a job as a campus tour guide next semester. Just as we were circling back towards my dorm, the scent of freshly cooked bacon filled our nostrils. We both stopped in our tracks and turned to face each other.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked.

“Last one there is paying the bill!” I yelled, bolting towards the campus café.

“Hey! Cheater!” she ran after me, quickly closing the gap between us. Almost there…twenty feet…ten feet…five feet….

“Ha, I made it!” my hand hit the door just a fraction of a second before hers did, and she huffed out a groan. Her bitterness soon dissipated as she stepped in and inhaled the delicious scent of sizzling bacon and sticky maple syrup.

“Oh my gosh I’m starving!”

“I believe I can fix that!” Harry approached us from the front podium and directed us towards a nice table in the back.

“Hey, Harry! This is my friend, Savannah.”

“Ah, the notorious ‘Vannah from Florida! Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, so you’ve heard of me then. Good things, I hope?” I rolled my eyes and laughed. She was in full-on flirt mode. Savannah always did have a thing for guys with tattoos, and Harry’s arms were on full display.

“Of course! I especially love the story about how you wet your underpants when you got scared at the zoo!” Harry and I busted out laughing and Savannah’s pale face turned bright red. She’s going to kill me for telling people about that, but it’s too funny not to share. At least I lied and said it happened when we were kids, when really it was last year.

Her death glare was hard to avoid from where I was sitting right across from her, but all was forgotten once the food came out. Harry of course already knew what I wanted and Savannah ordered the chocolate chip pancakes. As I was devouring the last of my blueberry waffles, I was interrupted once again with questions about Niall.

“So, that project you’re doing…when can I expect to see the finished project?” she inquired.

“Yes, please tell us, Autumn. How’s that video coming along?” Harry grabbed a chair and joined us at the table.

“Do you ever actually work, Styles?”

“Let’s not focus on me. This is about you! And Niall.” I rolled my eyes and pretended to take a large sip of coffee, so that I wouldn’t have to answer.

“Well, would you look at the time! I promised Kelsey I’d help her with her chem lab, sorry guys. We’ll have to discuss this later,” or never.

“But isn’t that her over there? With Greg from that party?” Crap. Why, God? Why?

“Ok, ok FINE. We haven’t done anything yet…and we’re supposed to turn something in in two weeks,” they both opened their mouths to speak, “and before you say anything, I need your help. We can’t do this alone, and we need some people to use as our guinea pigs…so what’dya say? Will you help?” I bit my lip and looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Of course we’ll help!” Harry beamed, “but I should get back to work. Call me later! I get off in an hour.” I nodded my head and focused my attention on Savannah.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to be a movie star!” she struck a supermodel pose and flashed her million dollar smile. It made me even more aware of her beauty than I usually am. As much as I hate to admit it, I was always jealous of the way she looked: acne-free porcelain skin; long, brown, wavy locks; shiny white teeth; petite frame, and the perfect height. Almost every guy she meets falls in love with her…she really could be a movie star. On the other hand, I am just an awkward, naïve teenage girl; which is why I choose to stay behind the camera.

With a deep sigh, I placed a few dollar bills on the table and we made our way back to the dorm.
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We sat in the middle of the room on the floor, staring at all of the film equipment and brainstorming ideas for how to make the film interesting. I thought back to all of the countless hours I had spent on set with my dad for all of those years and wondered why I had never bothered to take note on the actual filming process. I wish I could have told my five year old self to pay attention…. Although, I do remember one thing that always seemed to be important.

“Scenery,” I blurted, breaking the silence. “We need a good background…some place interesting so that it looks good from any camera angle. And where we can film for the intro and the filler scenes, like a real documentary. And it has to be unique.” But where?

“Well, then there you have it! We’re in the middle of New York, just miles away from the city and you didn’t think of going there?”

Oh. Right. Duh. “What would I do without you, sis?” We spent the rest of the day making plans for Friday. It was just the two of us – Kelsey had very generously offered to let Savannah sleep in her bed tonight (probably just so she had an excuse to sleep over at Greg’s place, but still generous). Having so much time with Savannah made me realize how much I missed her.

She used to come over almost every weekend and we would watch cheesy movies or dance to the High School Musical soundtrack at ungodly hours. We would attempt to sneak into the kitchen in the middle of the night to try and get a midnight snack without waking up my mother…. I suddenly became very sad. What if we end up drifting apart and never hang out anymore? What if she leaves me for someone better and I wake up one day when I’m like forty years old and have no one left but myself? I began to slip into panic mode.

“Autumn? Are you okay? I know this look. Come on, don’t do this.” Before I could say anything, she cut me off. “Take a deep breath. We are both here right now, in this moment. I have you, you have me, and that’s how it’s always gonna be!”

“You’re right…yeah, you’re right. I have nothing to worry about!” She knows me better than I know myself. I took a few deep breaths and put on my best fake smile.

“I’m always right!” she joked. I laughed along with her, but there was still an unsettling feeling lurking inside me. Somehow I knew that something was going to go wrong this week – I just wish I knew when so that I could be prepared. But, for now I’ll just try to be positive and live in the moment making midnight memories with my best friend.
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For the next two days Savannah “helped” me with my online classes (she was more of a distraction really), caught me up on all of the hometown gossip, and we finalized the plans for all of the filming Niall and I needed to get done this week. By Thursday evening I was physically and emotionally exhausted.

“I’m hungry!”

“Hi, hungry. I’m Autumn!”

Savannah rolled her eyes. “How dare you use a dad joke against me? But I really am starving – and no I do not want another cup of ramen noodles.” What’s wrong with ramen noodles? They’re cheap and edible – perfect for college students.

“Okay, but if we’re going somewhere to eat I’m not paying!”

“Deal. Can we go to that pub you showed me the other day? It looks pretty good.” I sighed begrudgingly, but agreed to go. I didn’t even bother to look in the mirror, just grabbed my keys and phone and headed out the door.

The pub was pretty busy by the time we got there, but we managed to get a nice booth in the corner. The whole area was dimly lit, most of the light coming from the large TV screens and the neon signs over the bar. And the wooden booths were surprisingly comfy. An all too familiar blonde-haired girl came to take our drink order and to let us know a waiter would be right with us. God does she work everywhere?!

The service was extremely slow, probably because it was a busy night but still. “Hey Savvy, check this out!” I ripped the straw wrapper in half and put it in my mouth to make it look like I was a walrus and she burst out laughing. “You are such a weirdo! This is going on snapchat!” I laughed too, making silly faces and posing for the camera when our waiter finally came.

“Hi, I’m Niall I’ll be your server toni-“ I nearly choked on my drink. I seriously have the worst luck! I was so shocked I almost forgot I had straw paper in my mouth. I heard Niall chuckle, “Autumn, nice look!” he joked. Quickly spitting out the paper, I attempted to smile and laugh it off. “Ha ha…I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Yep. Every Tuesday and Thursday.” He gave me a small smile and then we stared at each other awkwardly for what seemed like an entire century. I looked over at Savannah, using my facial expression as a cry for help. Luckily she got the hint.

“Right. Well… I’m gonna go with the classic cheeseburger with fries – no pickles.” Niall cleared his throat, “Oh, yeah. Good choice. And for you Autumn?” I’ll just have you, I thought. “Umm…I’ll have the grilled chicken sandwich with fries, please.” “Hey that’s my favorite! Your food will be right out.” My eyes followed him as he walked away…gosh he is so attractive. It shouldn’t be legal to be that hot.
The rest of our dinner was pretty uneventful, but as the night went on I became more and more anxious about the next day. Lying in bed that night, I couldn’t help but to wonder if all would go as planned. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.

Notes