48. Semester's End

Monday, December 7th
Waning Crescent Moon (Fifteen Nights to Full Moon)

The semester was near ending. It was the last day of classes, and it was a huge relief to be done, even with that small feeling of dread that had settled into the bottom of my stomach. I had two days to study before my first final exam on Thursday. The semester had flown by, and I had to cram for the comprehensive exams that I had in nearly all of my classes. On top of that, I had to take an oral exam for Spanish and a practical exam for my Biology lab.

I spent a lot of time studying with River in her room, since Greg was still staying with Stephanie and the two had no respect for boundaries. The living room was a mess, and I had to keep an air freshener in my room just to keep the smell from the garbage, dirty dishes, old food, and hamster from creeping into my room. Whenever I opened the fridge, I was greeted with the smells of rotten food, spoiled milk and other dairy products. I could constantly hear Waffles rolling into walls and chairs in his little plastic ball. His cage was a mess and she kept him in the shared living room instead of in her own room. I didn’t have the energy to clean up after my messy roommates, especially with finals so soon.

I hadn’t talked to my parents since I dropped them off at the hotel on Thanksgiving. I got a few calls from them a few days after Thanksgiving, but after I ignored those, they stopped calling. Randall’s family wasn’t too mad about my parents. They had dealt with people with the same opinions in the past. They told me the biggest fault in my mother’s plan was that, without me and the Pack, she had no proof. People would just think she was crazy.

“What are your plans for the break?” River asked me while we were studying. We were quizzing each other on our biology questions.

I wasn’t planning to go back home for Christmas. I didn’t want to see my parents or even talk to them, and I was worried that if I did come home, my mom wouldn’t let me go again. Instead, I would stay at Randall’s for the break, since the dorms were closing. I would be moving most of my things into one of the guest rooms so that I would be comfortable for the month-long break. I was looking forward to that more than anything, which made the torture of Finals Week even worse.

“I’m staying with a friend here in town,” I said, not wanting to give much detail.

“Oh, you don’t want to spend the holidays with your family?” She flipped over a flash card and looked surprised about the answer on the other side. River didn’t pick up material very fast, but she was persistent in her studying, which led to her good grades.

I shrugged, “It’s too far, plus I just saw them for Thanksgiving and that didn’t go very well. I don’t think I really need to go back home. I like it here more. What about you?”

“Oh, I’m going home but it’s not too far away. We should keep in touch, though. And if things don’t work out at your friend’s place, you can always come and stay with me,” She smiled.

I smiled back, happy to have someone like River as a friend. She was so helpful and caring. Even if she did hit me with her car and Lilith used her as a pawn against me, it wasn’t her fault. She was a good person and I was glad that I saved her from Lilith, even if doing so had bound me to the vampire.

“Of course, I want to hear how your break is going as well,” I said before we went back to quizzing each other.

* * * * *

Tuesday, December 15th
Waxing Half Moon (Seven Nights to Full Moon)

I walked out of my last final exam with a feeling of accomplishment. It had nearly taken me the full two hours to complete my American Literature essay final, but I was done, and I felt like I had aced it. I couldn’t say the same about all my other finals, but I knew well enough that I had at least passed all my classes. I felt like my studying with River had been much more productive than if I would have just tried to study alone. The biggest relief was that I was done for a month, and I could focus more of my time on Randall and Pack business without having to worry about classes.

After selling back my books for a miserable amount of money, I went up to my dorm room to finish packing up what I needed to bring to Randall’s. Kelsie and Stephanie – and thankfully, Greg – were already gone. Kelsie and Stephanie had their last finals on Monday and left, not bothering to clean at all before going.

I sighed as I was greeted by the offensive odor. I would have to clean up the common area before I left, otherwise it would smell even worse when we got back. I got a new trash bag and emptied the contents of the fridge into it. I filled the dishwasher and started it, wiping down the counters, washing some dishes by hand, and throwing away all the old cans and bottles that littered the room. It wasn’t the best cleaning job, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about anything growing in there while we were gone.

Stephanie had taken Waffles and his cage, but she hadn’t bothered to clean up all the little shavings and bits of food and poop that had fallen out of it. I pulled out the vacuum cleaner and ran it over the carpets. Even with the mess, she had actually taken care of the little creature better than I thought she would. I figured it would already be dead. I wondered if it would still be alive after the break.

After I finished cleaning, I called Randall and he came by in his truck to get me and all my stuff. Of course, I didn’t take everything to his house, but since I didn’t have much to begin with, I was able to take almost everything. At least, all the important stuff.

He helped me carry my boxes into the guest room and before I could unpack, he closed the door and pushed me roughly onto the bed, crawling on top of me and kissing me. I grinned and kissed him back, running my hands over his chest as I reached down to pull off his shirt.

It was going to be a good break.

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A/N: I wasn't planning to write this chapter, but as I was looking at the calender and the upcoming events in the story, I realized that I would be going very close to Christmas without even talking about finals, the end of the semester, etc. So I made this nice little (short) transition chapter to wrap up a few loose ends. This is the last that we'll see of River and the other roommates (other than Lilith). I originally planned more roommate drama with Greg and Stephanie breaking up and hamster custody battles (which really happened), but I kind of ran out of time. I will have to find a place to add it in for the rewrite.

I liked the ending. I never really planned for Selene to be staying at Randall's house, but when the idea popped into my head, I decided I really liked how it fit into the rest of the story.

I know this chapter was supposed to be posted last week, I just got really busy. I will have the next chapter up by tomorrow hopefully.