Chapter 21: Allison Age 17, Part 2

Leo (18), Megan (16)

Allison was happy it was a Friday and she was leaving early from school. It was a special privilege for seniors that if you had a study hall last period you could leave early. She drove home, wanting to finish writing her college essay while the house was quiet. All four parents had to work that day and Megan was still at school so it was really the perfect time. She went inside and headed directly for the kitchen to get a snack.

She jumped as she saw a figure sitting on the counter in the kitchen and instinctively threw the textbook she was carrying at him as a weapon.

"Ow," the guy said, rubbing his shoulder where the book had hit.

Allison now focused in and saw that it was Leo's friend, Brian, sitting on the counter, eating a bag of chips.

"Brian!" Allison said angrily. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," he apologized, hopping off the edge of the counter.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her panic subsiding. "Shouldn't you be at college?"

"I have Fridays off so I thought I'd come home for the weekend," Brian explained.

Allison smiled and laughed. "And, that somehow leads you to breaking into our house and eating our food?"

Brian shrugged. "I didn't break in. Leo gave me a key so I could visit."

"What? You didn't think we'd let you in?" Allison teased.

"Well, Megan is still mad about me eating the last of her ice cream a few years ago," Brian joked.

Allison giggled. "She'll never forgive you for that. That girl loves her ice cream."

Brian smiled at Allison. "Well, I can leave. You probably have work to do."

"No, stay," Allison insisted. She hoped she didn't come off sounding too excited about the prospect of him staying. The truth was that she liked Brian. He was funny, smart, and treated her like a friend rather than as Leo's little sister. That being said, she knew he was off limits since he was Leo's closest friend. But, that didn't mean she couldn't spend time with him. "You can help me with my college essay."

"Oof, you assume I can actually help with that?" Brian asked.

"You got into college. Not to mention you were an editor for the school paper so you must be okay at proofreading."

Brian sat with Allison on the couch. He wasn't sure they had ever done this. Usually Brian avoided interacting with Allison too much when he was over because he was afraid that Leo would notice that he liked her. He had been interested in her for years but never told anybody, worried that it would get back to Leo and ruin their friendship. He had had a few girlfriends during that time, breaking up with each of them because he would spend time with Leo's family and realize that they would never live up to his crush on Allison.

Allison pulled up her college essay and Brian read it, fixing a few grammatical mistakes as he went.

"So?" Allison asked when he got to the end.

"Um," he started, unsure of what to say.

"It sucked, didn't it?"

"Well, the content was good but it doesn't really sound like you," Brian explained.

"What do you mean? The essay is literally about me," Allison complained.

"Yeah, but the writing just feels...stiff," Brian admitted.

"Ugh," Allison sighed, dropping her head into her hands in frustration.

"It's okay, we can fix it," he assured her, placing his hand on her shoulder. Allison looked up at him, surprised that he was touching her. Brian withdrew his hand quickly.

"How?"

"You are writing like it's a formal essay. And, sure, there needs to be some formality to it. But, this is to show the admissions office who you are. And, you, Allison Altman-Hunt, are anything but stiff."

Allison smiled at the compliment. Brian helped her rewrite the essay and Allison was really happy with the result. Just as they were finishing, Teddy came home.

"Hi Brian!" she said, happy to see him. Brian had become a part of their family since he had been friends with Leo so long.

"Hi," Brian greeted. "I came to eat your snacks."

Teddy shrugged. "I expected nothing less."

"And, he helped me finish my college essay," Allison added.

"Oh, thank you," Teddy said to Brian, happy that she finally had it done. "Are you staying for dinner tonight?"

"Um, if that's okay, I'd love to," Brian agreed, loving the home cooked meals they made. His family mostly just ordered take out every night.

"Of course it's okay," Teddy assured him. "You're always welcome here."

Brian and Allison helped her make dinner.

Once the whole family was seated for dinner, Owen asked Brian how college was going.

"I love it," he told them. "It's a great school and I've made a good group of friends already."

"Allison has Gonzaga on her list," Tom told him.

"Oh yeah?" Brian asked, looking to Allison who just nodded. "Well if you want a tour, I'd be happy to show you around some time."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Allison told him.

Megan looked at her mom and raised her eyebrows. It was obvious to her that these two liked each other and she was sure her mom could feel it too. Teddy nudged Megan with her foot under the table, telling her to keep her facial expressions to herself.

After dinner, Brian and Allison made plans for her to tour Gonzaga the following weekend before he left.

Allison parked her car and found Brian waiting in the lot for her. He was holding a gift bag.

"Hey, how was the drive?" he asked her.

"Pretty easy," Allison told him. "It's nice that it's not too far but not too close to home either."

"Yeah," he agreed. He held out the gift bag. "Here. These are for you."

Allison smiled at the sweet gesture. She looked inside and saw a Gonzaga t-shirt, lanyard, and water bottle.

"I just figured that you should get the full Zag experience by having the gear."

Allison laughed. "Where can I change?"

They went to the student center first, and Allison went to the bathroom to change into her new shirt. She filled the water bottle and put the lanyard around her neck.

She held her arms out and spun as she approached Brian. "Better now?"

"Great," he said, with a slight laugh. "Except the lanyard. If you wear it around your neck everyone knows you're a freshman."

Allison stuck it in her pocket instead. Brian showed her around the campus. Allison loved the buildings and the green spaces on campus. She loved that she could walk from one end to the other unlike some of the larger schools she looked at. She loved how there were students out and about actually doing things with their days besides studying. She could tell it was a close community. Brian already was waving to lots of people as they passed by despite only being there for a few months. However, the school was also big enough that you didn't know everyone, which could often lead to people knowing too much about your life.

"Alright, last stop, my dorm," Brian said. "Ignore my roommate's side. I asked him to tidy up but his idea of cleaning is spraying Lysol around the room."

Allison laughed. She stepped into his room.

"Wow this is bigger than Leo's dorm," Allison expressed.

They talked for a bit about how on-campus housing worked. Brian was talking but his head was elsewhere. He and Allison had had a great day together. Now they were alone in his room. He wanted to kiss her so badly but resisted. As soon as she finished asking her questions about what living on campus was like, he decided they should leave before he tried taking a step that couldn't be undone.

"There's this coffee place that everyone goes to right off campus," he said. "You want to get a cup?"

Allison nodded and followed him there. They ordered their coffee then sat down.

"So, what did you think?"

"I really love it," Allison told him. "It's the best I've been to. And, I've been to a lot. I'm sending out my applications next week. But, I might talk to my parents about doing early decision here."

"Wow," Brian said. Early decision applications meant that if you applied and got in you would already be committed to going to that school. "I must have been a pretty good tour guide."

Allison shrugged with a smile. "You were okay."

"Hey, I gave you tips that the school's tour guides would never give you," Brian argued.

"Hmm, and you did buy me presents," Allison considered. "Okay, you were a decently good tour guide."

"Decently good," Brian repeated. "I'll take it."

They both laughed. After their coffees were gone, they walked back to campus. On the campus green, there was a mini carnival going on. There was music playing, food stands set up, and games going on.

"What's all this?" Allison asked.

"Oh, they put on all sorts of activities for us. There are karaoke nights, trivia games, arts and crafts, all sorts of stuff."

"That's so fun," Allison said.

"Do you want to go check it out?" Brian asked. "If you just want to head home, it's fine."

"No, I want to," she insisted. They went down to the green and made their way through the crowd of people. Brian kept his hand on the small of her back as they went through, not wanting to lose her in the crowd. Allison shivered at his touch.

They got fried dough and played a couple games before Allison decided that she should start driving home as it was getting dark. Brian walked her to her car.

"Well, good luck with your applications," Brian told her.

"Thanks," she said. "And, thank you for the tour. I'm sure it's not how you wanted to spend your Saturday."

"I had fun," Brian insisted.

Allison smiled. "Me too."

For a moment, she thought he might kiss her but instead he reached past her for her door handle. He got the car door for her.

"Drive safely," he told her. Allison got into the car, disappointed that their amazing day was over.

Allison got home late at night. Everyone had gone to bed except Teddy. Allison came in and sat with her mom.

"How'd it go?" Teddy asked. "You must have liked it to have been there all day."

Allison smiled. "I loved it! It was so beautiful there. I want to apply early decision."

"Wow, that good?" Teddy asked. Allison nodded. Teddy looked at her skeptically. "And, it's not just your favorite because you liked the tour guide?"

"Mom," Allison groaned.

"What? I want to make sure you're not just choosing it because you have a crush on Brian," Teddy explained.

"No," Allison insisted. "And, I don't like him like that. He's Leo's best friend. He thinks of me like a little sister."

Teddy shrugged. "That's not what I see."

Allison rolled her eyes. "Well, it doesn't matter. The point is that nothing would happen between us, so, no I'm not choosing a school based on him."

"Good. Tell me more about the school," Teddy insisted.

Allison rambled on and on about all the great things the college had to offer. She was so excited that she had finally found a school she was genuinely excited about.