Chapter Five: My Grandmother's Name is Sarah

Thursday Morning

Reid was having a bad day. He'd stayed up too late drinking and watching the Friends marathon with the cute girl from his English class and her roommate. Now in addition to a massive hangover he'd overslept, missed breakfast and was arriving ten minutes late to Calculus. Fortunately the professor's back was turned when he entered the lecture hall and he was able to slip into the back row unnoticed.

His head was throbbing and he couldn't make out anything being written on the whiteboard at the front of the room. In typical Reid fashion, he crossed his arms over the seat in front of him and put his head down.

The next thing he knew someone was nudging him to wake up.

"Sorry," he apologized then gathered his things and moved out of the way. A line of students drifted past him and out the door. He followed behind catching up to one of the girls.

"Excuse me," he patted her on the shoulder to get her attention. "I was wondering if I could borrow your notes from today's class. I kinda fell asleep and…" He stopped, shrugging sheepishly.

"You didn't miss much," she replied. "Do you have time now? My next class isn't until one."

"Now would be great. I'm Reid, by the way. Reid Garwin."

"Sarah," she held out her hand. "Sarah Young."

"My grandmother's name is Sarah."

As soon as the words left his mouth he cursed himself for his own stupidity. Surprisingly, the girl smiled.

"Oh wow. So is mine. I'm-actually-named-after-her-and-my-Aunt-Sara-but she's S-A-R-A-without-the-H-me-and-my-grandmom-both-have-the-H."

Reid raised his eyebrows at the amount of words the girl uttered in one breath.

"Oh God," she blushed. "I-do-that-all-the-time-I-just-can't-seem-to-stop-talking-My-mom-says-it's-a-nerves-thing-but-I." She finally stopped to take a breath. "I'm shutting up now."

Thursday Evening

Reid sat with Caleb, Sarah and Vanessa at the dining hall during dinner. He had one eye on his meal and the other eye on the entrance looking for HER.

He saw Kira and Aaron walk in together. Aaron began talking to a few guys and they all got in line for dinner. Kira lagged behind scanning the cafeteria. Reid saw her glance at their table and begin heading their way.

"Hi, Caleb," she said standing at the end of the table smiling.

"Hi, Kira," Caleb responded politely.

"How was your summer?" her eyes washed over Caleb with fan-girl adoration.

Reid groaned inwardly. Why was it that girls always lusted after Danvers? Was it the tall, dark and handsome thing? Or was it the wholesome good guy routine that Caleb had perfected over the years? Either way Reid always felt like he was invisible to the fairer gender when he was around Caleb. A fact he would never admit, of course.

Kira then turned to Sarah. "Wasn't expecting to see you here. Oh wait, you're here on the Danvers Scholarship, right?"

"What do you want, Kira?" Caleb's voice hardened.

"No need to get bitchy, Caleb. One might think your girlfriend isn't satisfying your needs." Her tone indicated that she would be more than happy to fulfill them herself.

"Oh, his needs are MORE than satisfied," Sarah shot back.

Reid watched the interaction between the girls with interest. He was waiting for the day when the cat-fight would ensue. Maybe (hopefully) it would involve bikini mud-wrestling.

"So says you," Kira looked to Caleb for a response.

"What do you want, Kira?" he repeated.

"Just delivering a message," she handed Reid a sealed envelope.

Reid took it from her and stared at it.

"Well aren't you going to open it?" Kira asked.

"Not right now," Reid looked at Kira suspiciously but she'd already begun to wander back to Aaron.

"That girl is a bitch," Vanessa commented. "How do you know her?"

"We all went to Spenser," Sarah answered. "And so did those guys," she pointed to Aaron and the boys.

While Sarah gave her roommate a brief who's who of Spenser, Reid stared at the pink rectangle in his hand. It was a card or invitation. Not that it was necessary, but he looked to Caleb for direction.

"Might as well open it," Caleb shrugged and continued eating.

So Reid began to open the envelope. He ripped the paper and removed the insert. As he did a large mass of glitter fell out. Some landed on the table, but most of it landed in his lap.

"Aw, what the…," Reid dropped the card next to his plate and stood up. In his haste he knocked over his chair, the loud crash echoed through the dining hall.

Several people turned around to look at him as he brushed the glitter to the floor.

"Garwin, always knew you were a fairy," Caleb read from the card.

Furious, Reid stormed across the room toward Aaron, who sat laughing with his friends.

"REID!" Caleb called after him.

But as usual, Reid wasn't listening.