The Multitudes Within Me (Sequel to The Sound of Ice)

PART ONE - 1

I bite the tip of my eraser, blinking up towards the cloudless blue sky. A bell tolls in the distance, the university chapel steeple poking into the belly of heaven. There's a cool autumn breeze that makes me shiver.

"Sam, did you get number twenty-four yet?"

I rub my ear against my shoulder. "I'm working on it."

"Fuck, this is hard."

I glance at Eliza, and she smiles. Her hair is up in a high ponytail, and she's wearing her favorite purple windbreaker. We're stretched out on the campus grounds in between classes - people say this will be the last nice weekend before it gets cold. Late October in Boston is awash with dry leaves, reds and golds and oranges, trembling on tree branches and scattering across the paths.

I look back down at my paper and cross out my old work, starting over. The lead is soft against the thick paper, and it scratches loudly as I balance equations rapidly. I'm glad Eliza's in my chemistry class - it's so much harder than I thought it would be. Everything about school is harder than I thought it would be, really.

"Okay," I say, biting the eraser. "I might've got it."

Eliza peers over my shoulder and I push my textbook towards her so she can see. Tucking my hands in the sleeves of my sweatshirt, I lean back on my elbows. Well, Cameron's sweatshirt.

"I got a thirteen here instead of an eleven," says Eliza, tapping on my paper. "Check your nitrogen again."

"I will." I watch a leaf twirl through the air as the breeze picks up - groups of students walk by, thumbs hooked in the straps of backpacks, bright colored jackets against brick buildings. "You sure you didn't miscalculate the phosphorous? That's where I messed up the first time."

"Oh - oh." Eliza scrubs her eraser into her textbook. "Yeah, you're right."

I watch her recalculate, her handwriting large and loopy. When she's finished, she slams her textbook shut with a huff.

"Okay, I think we're done for now," she says. "Want to go grab a coffee?"

"Sure."

We walk side by side, her boots crunching over leaves. I love Eliza because she always knows how to fill the silence with words - she talks passionately, and with her hands, about anything.

"So I'm watching this show, right, and then this hot guy comes out of nowhere. Like, literally steps through the door of like, the house in the show, and I'm like - who the hell are you? And the other characters don't pay much attention to him, like it's no big deal, and I'm like - well, hello there!"

I laugh, and Eliza hitches up her backpack and grins.

"You have to watch this show, Sam. Honestly. It'll destroy you."

"Well, that doesn't sound fun."

"Destroy you in the good way, I mean."

"There's a good way?"

Eliza squints into the sun and smiles, and I stuff my hands in my sweatshirt pocket. We pass by one of the science buildings, where we have our chemistry class, and I glance up at the large three-story brick building. The professor, Dr. Howard, scares the hell out of me. She used to work at NASA as a rocket scientist, and she's incredibly brilliant.

Our favorite cafe is off campus, about a ten minute walk from our dorms, but worth it. Besides, I always like walking around Boston. The tall buildings, the traffic-jammed streets, the cobblestone, the brick, the smoky scent of crushed cigarettes in the cold wind. Boston is bright and alive in a way that St. Anne never was. It's not home, though.

Eliza opens the door to the coffeeshop - it's warm inside, red-checkered tablecloths, the thick scent of ground coffee beans - and tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"What do you want, regular with cream?"

"Exactly."

Eliza makes a face. "How boring. I'll pay, you bought mine last time."

As Eliza gets in line, I sit at a table by the window, twisting a napkin. People walk by on the other side of the glass, talking into cell phones, pushing baby strollers, listening to music, holding the hands of a wife, a boyfriend, a son. The sky is beginning to fade to a deeper shade of blue, the awkward moments before dusk.

I rest my head on my chin and glance at Eliza, flirting with the guy at the register. She's transgender, and already this year she's claimed she's found The One six times. She's so outgoing and funny. I got lucky, sitting next to her the first day of chemistry glass. And she lives in the dorm building right beside mine.

"Thanks," I say as she sits down and slides my coffee towards me. I wrap my hands around the warm styrofoam.

"You know," she says, taking a sip out of her own cup. "We should do something for Halloween."

"Do something?"

"You know, go out." She looks up at me and grins. "Come on, you need to be more social."

"I - I am social." I'm not.

"I'll find a party for us to go to or something."

I take a sip of coffee and look out the window. "Great."

Eliza reaches out and nudges my shoulder. "Hey - don't pull another all-nighter tonight."

I smile. "I won't. That was only because I had a biology essay due today."

We fall into a comfortable silence, Eliza drinking her fancy coffee as she scrolls through her phone, and I rest my head in the crook of my shoulder, glancing up at the city.

I really do like Boston. But it's no home.

A/N yay first chapter! lemme know your thoughts! much more to come :)