When You Come to Me by Jade Alyse Page A

just…friends…yes, friends…”
    She had to admit that, somewhere in the course of her college career (thus far), somewhere in between the time that the leaves fell to the time the flowers and the trees bloomed, somewhere between midterms and pop quizzes and block parties, dinners in the cafeteria, all-nighters in the library, sporting events, she had grown to love Brandon. How did this happen?

    It was warm at the end of the week when she heard from Brandon again. He showed up at her dorm door unexpectedly, was silent when she opened the door and spotted him there. She reached for her jacket, shut the door behind her and followed him to the parking lot, where the green Explorer waited patiently. They climbed in together, silent still, and in short time they were walking down the sidewalk downtown, the breeze cool, her arm locked with his.
    “I want you to understand why I did it,” he began as they walked slowly, their strides in sync. “I know I’ve complained and complained about her so many times, I…I think I know what I’m doing, Natalie…”
    Natalie glanced up toward the night sky, saw its clarity, sighed.
    “Bran, when it’s all said and done, I just want you to be happy,” she told him calmly. “And in that same respect, you are an adult…and you can do just about whatever you want…my opinion of your choices shouldn’t matter…”
    “But it does,” he told her. “It always does. Who else can I talk to about this, but you?”
    Natalie shrugged her shoulders.
    “I love her, Nat,” he said quietly. “Shouldn’t that be enough?”
    “I’ve always been taught that if it’s the kind of love that completes you, changes you for the better in some kind of way, then it’s the right kind of love…if Sophia is that girl…then…”
    Brandon only nodded. She had not yet grasped enough of him to read him. She only hoped, for his sake, of course, that Sophia was that girl who ever the girl may be…

    In the following weeks, she saw very little of her friend, rarely heard from him, with the exception of an occasional phone call, the primary subject of which, of course, was how amazing his relationship with Sophia was.
    “How is she?” Natalie asked him. She secretly hoped that he’d say that she was terrible, that the sex was terrible, that he’d made his final mistake with her.
    “She’s great,” he’d told her with a pleased sigh. “Things have returned to some stint of normalcy…it’s almost as if she’s a new person…”
    “Oh…”
    “How are you, Nat?”
    “I’m fine…”
    “Fine?”
    “Yes, Brandon, fine…”
    “That’s good to hear…well, I have to run…we’re going out to dinner…call you later…”
    “Bye…”
    #
    It was in this time that she got the chance to reconnect with Asha, and took a small time to expand her social circle, if only by a little, just enough to the point where she felt socially comfortable. This included joining the chemistry club, where, with her knack for organic chemistry, she was appointed vice president. This also included going to the occasional party or two, a venture that Brandon had previously said not to take without him. This included the occasional club trip with Asha, the block parties, the cookouts, a road trip or two into Atlanta…anything that could convince herself that her college career didn’t surround Brandon Greene…
    Then, Brandon called one night, over a month following the separation, wanting to go out with her.
    “A movie,” he’d said. “Just someplace quiet.”
    He showed up outside of her dorm building, and when she slid into the passenger seat beside him, she took notice of his appearance. He certainly didn’t look the same, certainly had a darker shadow about him, allowed his hair to grow out longer than what looked right on him.
    “Hi,” she said cautiously looking at him.
    “Hello,” he replied, clearing his throat, shifting his hand brake to drive.
    “Long time, no see,” she said, hoping