Evelyn takes a step back and glances at the pile of suitcases, boxes, miscellaneous bags and whatever else she threw into the skewed mix. She would be home in a matter of two hours. She is one of the handful of students on campus that have family that is in close proximity to the university.

She has gathered this from the many friends she has made that have to take quite a road trip to go back home for the breaks. She has even talked to those who cannot return home due to expenses of the distance.

She prides herself on always being grateful for her situation. She wouldn't know what to do if she was in her friend's shoes.

"Girl did you bring your whole house out here?!" Her dorm-mate exclaims.

Evelyn glanced at her mighty high pile and shrugs nonchalantly.

"Well, I did leave behind my clothes in my second walk-in closet." She quips, eliciting a giggle from the dorm mate.

"Must be nice." The girl with the neatly plaited braids singsongs. "Meanwhile I have two suitcases and a pillow." She adds, chuckling at her exaggeration.

Evelyn rolls her eyes at her dorm mates foolery. This is why the two got along so well. They both are quite witty and a bit dramatic. The two know not of the word "censor"  and do not bite their tongue to let everyone know. They are truly dorm mates made in heaven.

"Deja, you know you brought in a whole army of people to help bring in your stuff and then set it up."

Deja giggles at Evelyn's exaggeration. The thing is, Evelyn did not exaggerate too much. Deja did, in fact, have five bodies moving in and out of their already cramped dorm room, with various belongings of Deja's. Some were new and some old, most of everything from what Evelyn surveyed on move-in day was new.

"Whatever, girl." Deja finally dismisses Evelyn with a playful sigh.

The two stare at each other for a moment before bursting into giggles. They really did enjoy one another's company this semester.

Deja lives four hours away from campus and it was hard accepting the fact that she was so close and yet so far from home. Evelyn made the transition easily on move-in day. Although they had a pile of belongings to straighten out and organize, they disregarded it to bond over their love of some random actor from their favorite movie.

Who knew a guy, that has the heart of two girls, would be the glue to bond them together for life?

Nevertheless, the two young ladies have been friends ever since.

"I swear I can't wait to get home, man!" Evelyn plops onto her naked mattress, smiling at the plushness she meets.

Deja does the same, plopping opposite of Evelyn.

"Me either. You know my mom Jamaican, right? So you know I'm finna' grub real good when I get home!" Deja chuckles licking her lips for emphasis.

Evelyn smiles at the girl. She almost forgot that she had a touch of Jamaican in her blood. It must be nice to be apart of another culture. Evelyn even respectfully envied Deja for her diversity.

"Eat some for me too then, you know I'm eatin' the standard black shit."

Deja leans up on her elbows and glances at Evelyn indifferently.

"Girl, I love me some neck bones and collards! Just as much as I love jerk chicken and gungo rice and peas. Better stop complaining!" Deja scolded Evelyn, returning to her original position.

Evelyn once again rolls her eyes at her dorm mate and counts the popcorn looking puffs on the ceiling. She really won't miss the congestion those puffs gave her during her early allergy season.

"Now my momma said she gonna be here at twelve. It's twelve forty-five! Does she not want me to go home?" Deja breaks the very short silence.

"My momma said--"

"Evelyn? Evelyn?!"

Evelyn looked to the door that she and Deja strategically held open one of their suitcases. Deja thought it would be a great idea to leave their dorm room door open so that they can listen out for their families.

The only problem was that every time they heard someone's mother, father, grandmother, whoever called out, the two dorm mates would get up thinking it was for them only to be disappointed. After the third yell for a student, the two just decided to ignore it all.

But Evelyn knew this was for her. Not because the person yelled her name - because apparently there are quite a bit of Evelyn's on this floor - she knew that distinctive raspy voice belonged to no other than her father.

"Daddy!" Evelyn screeched somehow catapulting from her bed and into the arms of her eagerly waiting father.

"Hey, baby. Damn it's been a minute since I seen your ugly face." He chuckles, squeezing his daughter into his chest.

He really did miss his little girl. Even when he had another at home, his first born has always been his heart and he truly felt vacant without her.

"I miss you too big ugly!" Evelyn chuckles, batting away threatening tears.

She really missed her father.

"I know he ain't getting all the damn love. I know that for damn sure." A woman enters the threshold.

Evelyn releases her father quickly, sauntering over to the impatient woman behind him.

"Hey, momma." She smiles brightly.

Her mom twists her lips in feigned disgust before breaking into a smile and pulling in her eldest girl.

"I missed your little ass." She murmurs into Evelyn's arms.

"I missed you too, momma." Evelyn squeezes tighter.

Evelyn cannot explain how happy she is that she is able to hug her mother and father again. She hasn't seen them since August and although it was a short period, it felt like forever until now.

"This here your roommate?" Her father interrupts the moment between mother and daughter.

Evelyn slowly breaks her embrace with her mother and turns toward Deja who was now looking on with a wide smile. Evelyn knows Deja was simply waiting to be recognized and introduced.

"Yeah, yes sir. That's Deja Neita." Evelyn rolls her eyes when Deja hops down from the bed to offer a hand to her father. "Daddy, Deja. Deja, my daddy." Evelyn introduces them.

Evelyn's father takes Deja's hand and shakes it firmly, smiling at the equal grip Deja had on his hand.

"Deja, nice to meet you. You Haitian?" He asks as they drop their hands.

Deja giggles and shakes her head, no.

"No, sir. Jamaican." She corrects.

Evelyn's mother steps up to join the little group.

"Well ain't you a doll? I love my dark chocolate babies. You are such a doll!" She exclaims, eyes wide as she examines Deja.

Evelyn nods in assent.

Deja is beautiful. Just like Evelyn, Deja has deep dark mahogany skin. It is a beautiful complexion in Evelyn's opinion. Her facial structure, on the other hand, is something beyond Evelyn.

It is wonderfully crafted, just as if God made sure he took his time with her creation. Deja has more than looks, she is tall like most of her island ancestors and what most would call "curvy" due to a long career of track since her elementary days and heavy Jamaican food.

To top it all off Deja sports a beautiful pair of deep brown almond eyes. The girl is drop dead gorgeous and her boyfriend of two years will attest to that if asked.

Deja humbly smiles, her slightly crooked teeth doing nothing to put a dent in her beauty.

"Thank you." Is all she can manage.

"Damn Carolyn, stop scaring the damn girl!" Evelyn's father scolds, earning an eye roll from his wife.

"Oh, Matt shut the hell up. All that damn cursing ain't even damn necessary." She hisses.

Evelyn shakes her head at her parent's exchange, they are more likely the reason why she is such potty-mouth pirate.

"Momma why you left me like that?"

All heads turn to the genuinely hurt fifteen-year-old.

Evelyn smiles at her little sister, her only sister. The young girl seems to grow everyday. She has surpassed Evelyn's average five-foot-five stature. Brianna now stands at five-foot-seven according to Evelyn's last phone call with her mother. Who's the little sister now?

"Oh girl hush with all that whining, you know I hate that." Carolyn deadpans. "Now come speak to your sister so we can get on this road."

Brianna tries to bite back a smile as she gingerly enters the room. She makes sure to excuse herself as she passes her parents before finally reaching Evelyn. She giggles at the slight height difference and rolls her eyes before embracing her little-older sister.

"I missed you, punk," Evelyn speaks first.

"Yeah, yeah." Brianna playfully dismisses her.

Brianna and Evelyn are not necessarily close, but they do share a mutual understanding that they will be there for one another. The sisters like it this way.

"Well it was nice getting together but it's 'bout to rain and I don't want to be caught in it, so grab some stuff and let's go." Carolyn interrupts the sisterly moment.

Her family loves ruining moments.

Evelyn and Brianna break apart as their father begins retrieving a few bags before excusing himself out into the hall. The mother does the same, mumbling about how she's "too old to be lifting shit". No one dares counters her claim as she follows after her husband.

A trio is left behind as the girls looked at each other for a brief introduction between dorm mate and little sister.

"Deja." She extends her hands.

"Brianna." She takes Deja's hand.

"Great, now lets get these bags going." Evelyn's claps her hands together.

The two girls drop their hands and set to work, trying to carry as much as they can. No one wants to take multiple trips.

It takes just about thirty minutes to retrieve everything, pack it strategically into their sedan, and say the final goodbyes before the Williams family were on the road to their hometown.

Evelyn made sure to not leave without promising Deja to text and video call during their break. She also could not leave without making sure that she stacked up on her favorite snacks to last her for the next two hours. She needed something to distract her from her parent's arguments on the road.

Until then, she was going to eat, catch up on sleep, and send silly texts to her new friend and friends back home. She cannot wait to be back.

Evelyn wished she was back on campus. A week has passed and already she was ready for spring semester. Her parents are driving her crazy. Her sister won't stop talking about Ariel. There is nothing to do. Evelyn is simply agitated.

Monday was calm. Tuesday was fun. Wednesday was calm again. Thursday the aggravation began. Friday hell was breaking loose. Saturday she ignored everything and everyone. By Sunday, Evelyn was purely over it. No one would leave her alone.

So Monday, today, she decided that she will make another visit to an old friends house. She needed the release and besides everyone in the house was gone. After four days, the family had gotten used to Evelyn's presence and she was no longer that new and exciting toy gifted on Christmas.

Evelyn needed no one to tell her twice that she could do as she pleases while back in town. Besides, she is a trustworthy daughter and can definitely hold her own.

"What happened again?"

"My mom tried to mention Brandon." Evelyn grumbles. "I swear she does it on purpose."

The girl shakes her head and sighs.

"Girl that boy was something else. I can't believe he pulled the, it's not you, it's me bull. What punk does that?" The girl rambles on.

"Brandon Maddox, that's who." Evelyn dryly replies.

She really hates the ground that ignorant boy walks on. He was once her boyfriend of two years, and now, he wasn't. Evelyn often tries to nullify their relationship as a simple high school fling, but the truth is, she really missed the kid and thought that maybe they had something worth moving on with, farther than high-school.

"Mhm. I mean I give him credit for breaking your heart then than now. He knew he was moving to another state. Can't hate him for that." The girl sighs, reaching an unfortunate conclusion.

Evelyn nods.

She's right. Brandon was a pretty good math wiz-kid. He loved numbers and although he was also talented in sports, his passion is numbers and labs. So of course when he got the acceptance letter of a lifetime, he had to take it. Evelyn couldn't hate him for that. She could although, hate him for telling her so late.

"You're right, Kimberly." Evelyn sighs dejectedly.

Yup, her mood is finally set for the day.

Kimberly glances somberly at her best friend. She missed her little "chocolate drop" and here she is sulking like a child. Kimberly does not believe in sulking over anything, especially over a boy. Her Abuela taught her better and she will pass on these teachings.

"No, no. We are not doing this today, Ev." She announces as she rises from her bed. "I refuse."

Evelyn looks to her best friend, biting back giggles at the Latina's feisty accent fighting through her assertive words. Kimberly is almost always fussing at Evelyn about something. This time is no different.

"Up. Up now." Kimberly stands confidently, one hand placed on her hip.

Evelyn knows not to defy Kimberly as she obliges without protest. Kimberly huffs her approval and turns away.

"Vamonos." She says over her shadow. "Let's go." She translates as an afterthought.

Evelyn didn't have to be told twice as she trailed behind her Latin friend. The only thing she could do was hope that the little Latina will not lead them into trouble.

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