A Little Help From Her Friends
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine. I am only borrowing them for a little while and will return them when I am finished.
Author’s Notes- So I have a pretty tragic headcanon for The Freshman, which I hint at in “The Freshman: Thirty Years Later” and this story focuses on it, or at least about what comes after. So, yes, there is a reference to character death, but mostly it’s about putting yourself back together after loss. I’ve been feeling a little negative towards Kaitlyn lately and wanted to write a story where she comes off in a positive light.
Pairing- minor Chris/MC
Rating- PG
Summary- Savannah prepares to go on her first first date in 30 years and calls her best friend for advice.
Words- 701
“I’m going on a date,” I cried into the phone in a panic.
I could tell I‘d surprised Kaitlyn because it took her a moment to speak. “How do you feel about it?”
“All over the place,” I admitted, “I haven’t been on a first date in over 30 years.” As I spoke, I glanced at my bare hand. I’d only taken my wedding ring off a few months ago and I still noticed it’s absence. Just like I still noticed Chris’s absence in every other aspect of my life.
“Tell me about him,” Kaitlyn encouraged.
“His name is Max, he’s 51, divorced with two teenagers.” I said, reciting off the details, “he’s an English professor.”
“Do you want to tell me something that I couldn’t find on a dating profile?” Kaitlyn asked dryly.
“We met when I spoke with his class,” I told her, “and we’d been e-mailing for a few weeks before then, he’s a friend of Sandra’s. We have similar taste in books, with some room for debate. He’s a big fan of Vasquez and has written several papers on his works. He included The Freshman in his reading list this semester, which is why I was asked to come in.”
“So is this an intellectual attraction?” Kaitlyn pressed, “or is there something more?”
“He’s very handsome,” I told her and then took a deep breath and admitted, “I… It’s the first time I’ve been attracted to someone, really attracted, since Chris.”
“That’s great!” Kaitlyn exclaimed and then she softened, “but it’s also probably really scary, right?”
“Yeah…” I said shakily. It was really scary. “Kait, I don’t know how to do this.”
Nothing in my past had prepared me for being 49 and re-entering the dating scene. It wasn’t like I’d ever had a lot of dating experience. I’d dated some in high school, but nothing really serious, and then there had been Chris.
I’d been with Chris since I was 18. We’d dated all through college, gotten engaged right before graduation, married a year later and had settled down to the picture-perfect life. Until it ended too soon and, now, here I was, nearly 50, trying to figure out how to navigate life on my own.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” Kaitlyn promised me, “when’s the date?”
“Thursday,” I said, three days from then. “Ok,” there was a moment of silence and I could hear Kaitlyn fiddling with something, a moment later I got an e-mail notification. I opened it and saw a hotel reservation notification for the following weekend.
“You’re coming to visit?” I asked with a smile, though a little surprised that she could make it work just like that.
“Yep, I also sent the notice out to the others,” she told me, “even if they can’t make it, you and I will spend the weekend chilling in a hotel room watching horror movies and eating ice cream.”
A moment later I got another notification, from Abbie simply “I’ll be there.” Zack’s e-mail immediately followed hers.
“What did you tell them?” I asked quietly.
“Just that you needed us,” Kaitlyn assured me, “you can share the details or not, but we’re here for you, Savannah. Always.”
“I know.” The proof was right in front of me, my friends rearranging their busy lives to travel, some of them across the country, to be with me.
“This date is a big step,” Kaitlyn continued, “but it’s only one aspect of your life. If you don’t see this guy, if you realize that you aren’t ready to date again, or if you realize that you are, just remember you have so much else going on.”
“I love you,” I told her.
“I know and you should because I’m amazing,” she said with a laugh, “I will see you next Friday and while you don’t have to tell the others anything I want all the details.”
It was my turn to laugh and then I hung up the phone. I was still nervous about dating again, still torn about how I felt, but I knew I would get through it the way I’d gotten through everything else: With the best friends in the world by my side.
- End
