~~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. ~~~
She startled him, he pulled his arm back and his elbow hit against the back of the chair, "shit!" he whispered loudly in pain as he looked up. He quickly took the earphones out of his ears as he focused on Madison, her beautiful blonde hair, her luscious lips. After all these years, she only seemed to grow more beautiful, all Ephram could do was gasp, all he could do was stare at her with his mouth open, still holding his elbow. She tried to smile, she didn't know if it was a good idea or not to be there, wanting him back in her life. They sat across from each other, staring at each other, unable to speak, Ephram rubbing his face, barely missing the little patch of hair under his bottom lip.
Finally Madison broke the silence and whispered, "can we go some place to talk?"
Ephram swallowed hard and nodded, taking in a deep breath, not sure if this was a dream or not. He couldn't take his eyes off her, but at the same time couldn't think of anything to say, his mind was racing a million times a minute. As they were walking, Ephram finally said softly, "Delia, uh, says hi."
Madison smiled and looked at him, "how are you doing?"
"…I'm good…Majoring in music…Jeffery Jacob has been my, uh…my professor for two semesters now." He swallowed hard, still uncomfortable about the whole situation, "Hey, what about you?"
They found a place in the lounge, hardly anybody there so they sat on a comfortable couch near the corner. Madison sat cross-legged and faced Ephram as she spoke, "Also majoring in music, with a minor in singing. I took a year off for work…and another year to travel with my new band…I transferred here last term as a junior but I am a senior this term. Work is going very well, I was able to transfer down here to Boulder and Denver, since I've lived in Colorado my whole life. I just missed it, you know." She looked at Ephram for a moment and tilted her head, "what's bothering you? You look like you've just seen a ghost?"
He shook his head, "sorry…This is just…um…very overwhelming, I mean…" He paused, trying to find what to say next. He shifted to look at her, "…Its just that…um…I never…imagined I'd ever see you again." he pulled at the little patch of hair under his bottom lip, a nervous thing he did. After a while he loosened up and stopped being so nervous and was able to talk to her almost like old times. Ephram found out that she lived in an apartment about 10 minutes from the campus with her best friend Jess, she kicked Jay and one of the other guys out of the band over a year ago because they were doing drugs, has dated off and on, has made enough money to last a life time, but more importantly, is still as down to earth and sincere as she used to be. Madison found out that Ephram always regretted pushing her away, Delia was his life, ever since she first got sick. They give each other advice and call each other almost every day. Works part time for the Boulder Symphony and has gotten a couple job offers. Julliard has recruited him but they will wait until he graduates to bring him in on a scholarship.
The two talked until all hours of the night, catching up on each other's lives and finding out that they have two classes together, both on Friday.
"Well…I should go" Ephram finally said, "I have a long day tomorrow" he looked at his watch, "starting in 5 hours…I cant believe we talked this long." he smiled.
"I was waiting for that smile" she replied as they stood up. Ephram blushed as she continued, "I missed you Ephram" she touched his arm, not sure whether to give him a hug or not. They went their separate ways for the night, Ephram making his way back to his room where Bright was already sleeping; it was 3am after all.
