The next day around 1pm, Ephram went to visit Leah at the cafeteria. "Hey Ephram!" she yelled happily, "guess what!"
"Don't make me" he smiled
"That girl in the punk rock band, she took a year off from school and now she's back and she knows you!" she jumped up excitedly, her blond locks flailing all around. Ephram raised his eyebrows as she continued, "her name is Madison! Did Bright tell you that she stopped by your room yesterday?!"
Ephram's expression went from a confused look to a look of sort of anger and hurt as he rubbed his face, missing the little patch of hair under his bottom lip. Before he could say anything, Leah excitedly said, "and guess what! She's in one of your classes! Wanna know which one!"
"No…um, no…" replied Ephram shaking his head, still trying to take in everything that was just said. "I'll see you later" he said softly as he headed to his history class.
He thought to himself as he was walking to class, 'I can avoid her, this is a big campus…no I cant, she's in one of my classes…she knows where my room is for crying out loud…Maybe I should see her…' Thoughts like these ran through his head all day, even during class, the one she wasn't in.
After class he found Bright, "man! Why didn't you tell me!" he whispered angrily.
"DUDE! I didn't want you to get hurt again!"
"She goes to school here man! She's in one of my classes, its not like I wouldn't find out eventually!"
"Well dude, if you want to keep avoiding her I suggest you scoot your ass right now cuz I think I see her right now!"
Without looking behind him he shot Bright an angry look, "gah!" then walked fast towards the library.
Bright laughed at himself, 'like I said, I thought I saw her'.
Ephram found one of the music rooms to be empty so he went inside and made himself comfortable at the piano. He started playing a piece by Jeffery Jacob, one of his favorite pianists, letting all his emotions flow into this one piece.
When he was done, somebody from behind him started clapping, it made Ephram jump and he hit his knee on the edge of the piano, "aw, shit!" replied Ephram out of pain as he turned around, rubbing his knee. He quickly took off his hat, "oh, Professor Jacob, nice to see you."
Jeffery Jacob smiled and stopped clapping, "Ephram Brown, how are you this fine afternoon. Well, let me guess, something is bothering you…"
"Its that obvious, huh."
"You know, Ephram, this is my last term teaching here at Boulder before I go back to Indiana. You're one of my best students."
Ephram blushed, "well thank you sir, that means a lot."
"What's bothering you son?"
Ephram sighed but only shook his head.
"You know, the only way to get rid of something that is bothering you is to face it head on. Don't avoid it, it only makes it worse." He looked at his watch, "Well, I have to get to my class, have a good day Ephram." and they shook hands before Jeffery Jacob left the room.
Ephram sat at the piano, still thinking about everything that has been going on.
When he got back to his room he decided to call home, Delia answered, "Hello?"
"Hey Dee, how you doin?"
"Ephram! Guess what, I have a boyfriend! And the best part is, he looks like Bright!" she smiled happily into the phone.
"My 13 year old sister is growing up, awesome."
"Hey, you don't sound like yourself…"
"Can I get some advice from you?"
"Course, you know that!"
"What would you do if your first love came back into your life?"
"WHAT!?!? Madison is back!!! Tell her to come visit me!!! Talk to her, see how her life is!"
The two talked for a few more minutes before Ephram decided to go the library to start on one of his projects.
He met Myka, Leah's boyfriend, walking to the library also. They were laughing and joking when the inevitable happened, Madison was sitting at a table doing her homework. He knew he had to go talk to her, but he figured if he pretended not to see her then he wouldn't have to talk to her for a little while longer. He went to the other side of the library, Myka went to find Leah who just so happened to be sitting with Madison. "Brown is acting weird" he said as he sat down at the table, looking at Leah.
"Madison, meet my boyfriend, Myka. Myka, this is Madison, an old friend of Ephram's!" She smiled happily, still oblivious to everything.
"Well…Brown went over to the music section, Madison, you should go say hi."
"You know what," Madison whispered as she picked up her books, "I think I just might. He and I have some catching up to do."
When Madison was out of sight, Leah replied, "I like her!"
Madison searched the library and found Ephram in the music section, hovering over some books, with his American Chopper hat on and his headphones on underneath that. She sat across from him, reached across the table to touch his arm, "Ephram" she whispered.
