Short Story: Before the Pact

A When We’re Thirty Story

by Casey Dembowski

Hannah slid her tray into the spot next to her roommate’s and surveyed the crowd in the cafeteria. It was packed, the area buzzing with excitement—Greek Life recruitment had just started. The pledges were easy to spot, some in matching outfits, others with pins, all with a nervousness about them. She thanked heavens, not for the first time, that she had opted out of recruitment after getting to campus and meeting Kate last year. Her frazzled freshman self would’ve never been able to handle the pressure. But it was still fun to watch.

Across the cafeteria, a boy in khakis and a dark green button down, brown hair falling into his eyes, jumped out of his seat. He grabbed something from the group of girls at the table next to him and ran. Even from across the room, she could see it was a purple binder, one she recognized as Pam’s from across the cafeteria. Pam stood as if to follow, but a veritable wall of boy blocked her path.

“Uh oh,” Hannah said watching the antics. “Pam’s going to be in trouble.”

Kate rolled her eyes at the mention of their dormmate’s name. “It’s her own fault. I told her to keep that thing in her backpack and never take it out. She knows better.”

Hannah jumped back as the boy skidded into their table. His eyes were wild and his grin contagious. He focused on Kate, the tiniest glint of relief showing in his expression.

“Kate, will you please hold onto this for me?” He pulled his shirt up to reveal the edge of the binder. “I’ll owe you.”

Her best friend shook her head vehemently. “You already owe me, Will Thorne.”

“Please?” He held his hands together, begging, but Kate didn’t budge.

Hannah held her hand out, surprising everyone, including herself. “I’ll take it.”

“Thank you! Thank you, kind miss.” He bowed his head and held the contraband out to her. “I am forever in your debt.”

Hannah giggled. Who was this guy? “When will you be picking this back up?”

Will glanced over his shoulder. The human wall had fallen and a very angry Pam was searching the crowd, but had yet to spot them tucked into the corner as they were. “Tonight?”

She nodded. “I’ll be in the Brown House with the newspaper staff.”

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Until tonight then.”

***

Hannah clicked on the same line break for the third time. Her mind wasn’t in it tonight. Not while that binder sat next to her. She felt bad for Pam, who was nice enough, but something about that boy—Will Thorne—it was like she had no choice but to help him.

Kate had been mum on Will except to say they had class together. When Hannah pressed, she’d been emphatic that there was nothing going on between them. As if. She was so emphatic that Hannah could only believe her. Which was perfect because from the moment their eyes connected across that cafeteria table, she felt it, the spark. And oh, she wanted to see him again. Prayed that she wouldn’t be handing the binder over to Kate in the morning to give to him in class or walking it back over to Pam with apologies.

“Knock, knock.”

Hannah turned around, training her expression to neutral. “I thought you were bailing on me, Will Thorne.”

Will smiled and shook his head. “I would never. I just lost track of time listening to the most amazing EP. It was transcendent.”

“Is that so?” she asked, suppressing a smile at his earnestness.

“Yes.” He extended his ear bud to her and sat down on the edge of the desk.

Hannah didn’t make a habit of sharing ear buds with strange guys, but she wasn’t about to turn him down. The opening chords of a punk pop ballad started. It was good. So good. The chorus hit and her heart ached from the words and raced from the melody. She inched closer to him. Their eyes met, and in that instant, she knew in a way she’d never known anything before that Will Thorne was going to change her life.

“Hannah Abbott,” he said as the bridge crashed, his eyes dancing with each syllable of the name he hadn’t known this afternoon. “Meet Wilderness Weekend.”