I thought I'd try my hand at Lady Clark of Books' challenge.
Now, I decided to get creative. See, I went to an all-girls high school. If Marian went there, chances are she wouldn't even know who Robin was. But! The challenge was to write about teenagers, and there are definitely teenagers in college. Sure, they're dangerously close to their twenties, but they still qualify.
Also, as much as I love my reader-approved RH voice, I'm just dying to play with other styles. You've been warned. . . .
Preface:
Fall term of his sophomore year started without Robin. He had come to a decision: college was. . . dumb. And so not for him. There were bigger things out there in the world, bigger problems, bigger people, bigger places. There were adventures to be had and problems to be solved and people at school—they just didn't get that. It's like they were totally happy in their two-square-foot electric-fenced in yard and reading the newspaper was enough exposure for them to the outside world. But not for Robin. So, when Richard said: "Hey, dude, let's just bum around the Middle East" instead of thinking: "Hmm, that might be dangerous" Robin said: "Yes! That sounds awesome!" And it got him out of a really unpleasant situation. His best friend, his first friend, his favorite friend, the only person on his floor he wanted to see and the only person at the school he really cared about, Marian, had come to him at the end of freshman year with the following news: "Robin, I think I like you." Woah. That was just too much. Robin was about random play and no attachments and never seeing people again after hookups. Marian was. . . Marian. She was. . . well, he didn't know what she was. So it was a good thing he wouldn't be around in the fall to figure that one out. She wouldn't mind, right?
When Marian pulled up to campus ready to unpack a lot of crap into a too tiny room, she was really happy to see the familiar buildings and incredibly happy to see the familiar faces. She had spent the summer with her father at the beach. She was tan, she was fit, and she looked fabulous. Now, where was Robin? Frustrating, frustrating Robin. He basically responded to her confession of love with a blank stare. Well, wait till he sees her now.
Auto-reply from LocksleyR: Out of the counrty no e-mail Back in December
Marian found out from an automated e-mail that Robin was not going to be joining them that fall. And he didn't even spell country right. He's an idiot. That's pretty clear. And a lot's going to happen around the empty space he's left. Hopefully, when his parents make him go back to school, which they will, he won't think that things will be the same. Because they can't be.
They're going to change.