The Beautiful Monster

"We just have to survive finals first," Zoe muttered before yawning.

Alyssa felt that same exhaustion. Studying wore her down so much. She constantly needed a pick-me-up to keep her going.

"I think I need another coffee. Anybody want anything?" Alyssa asked, figuring they all needed a little boost to finish off their study session. It was starting to get late, but they still had so much left to do. She looked between them. "Latte? Green tea?"

"You know me so well," Elias said warmly.

"Make that an iced macchiato," Zoe replied.

"You got it," Alyssa replied before standing and leaving the small study room. She walked down the steps toward the café, but she paused before she walked inside. She couldn't stop thinking about her parents and Thanksgiving. If she didn't go home and try for a peaceful holiday, she would be in her room all alone.

It was crazy, but Alyssa stepped off to the side and pulled out her phone. She tapped her mom's contact and lifted the phone to her ear as it started to ring. She almost thought it was going to go to voicemail until she heard her mom's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Alyssa managed to say. Her throat closed up after that word left her. What else was there to say? She knew that she called for a reason, but she just couldn't find the words to say.

"What do you want? I'm busy," her mom snapped.

Alyssa flinched slightly. She almost hung up right then, but she stood her ground. Maybe she could get her mom to calm down.

"I was wondering what you're doing for Thanksgiving?" Alyssa asked. Typically, it was just her, her mother, and her father. They were closed off from the rest of the family because of drama that had been circulating for years. She honestly couldn't blame her other relatives for not wanting to spend the holidays with her parents.

"Thanksgiving? After everything that's going on, you just care about a damn dinner?" Alyssa's mom spat out.

Alyssa narrowed her eyes slightly. She wondered what was going on that was making her mom so upset. Then again, there was always family drama going on. It was probably something petty, and her mom was probably just taking her anger out on her.

"My break is next week, so I was just wondering," Alyssa replied. Calling her mom was probably a bad idea. She was silly to think that she could actually have a civil conversation with her mom.

"Unless you have something to actually contribute to this family, don't bother," her mom said before hanging up.

Alyssa stared at the space ahead of her with wide eyes. She knew that the call could possibly be bad, but she hadn't expected it to turn that bad. She needed to contribute something to be able to come home and see her family? She could only guess that meant money that she didn't have.

Now, she felt stupid. She actually thought something was going to come out of that phone call. She was blinded by hope, but she knew what her parents were like deep down. They weren't kind and supportive under all of those harsh comments. She needed to move on.

Shaking herself off, she strode into the café and grabbed all three of their drinks, opting for a cappuccino for herself. She definitely needed more coffee to get her through this night because she had countless pages left to read and plenty of terms left to learn. At least she had her actual family at her side through this. She knew where true love and loyalty lied.

*******************

"I'll be back before you know it."

A wistful sigh broke from Alyssa as she lingered around Elias' car in the dorm parking lot. It was the first day of Thanksgiving break, and Elias came by to say goodbye to Alyssa before he headed back to his parents' house for the rest of the week.

It was nice to him because Alyssa wasn't looking forward to the next five days by herself. It was only five days, but it would feel like an eternity until she could see him again. She wanted him to have time with his family, though.

"I know," she said as his arm wrapped around her shoulders to draw her close to his side. She nestled close to him, enjoying his warmth as a cool breeze blew past them. She couldn't wait to cuddle him again, to not have to say goodbye to him. It sucked more and more each time.

"You can come by my apartment after break. It'll fully be set up," Elias told her with an excited smile.

"Really? I can't wait to see it!" Alyssa gasped, nearly forgetting that he had an apartment now. She couldn't wait to hang out with him there instead of her dorm room. She was tired of having to abide by the curfews and rules. It always cut into how much time they could spend together.

"I'm not the best at decorating, so maybe you can give me some tips," Elias said with a sheepish smile. He rubbed her arm gently as they stood close together.

Alyssa didn't mind the lack of distance between them at all. It was nice being so close to someone mentally and physically.

"I'd be happy to," she replied. She wasn't exactly an interior decorator, but it would be fun helping him decorate his apartment. She couldn't help but feel like that was a fairly intimate thing to do with someone, and the thought made her heart flutter briefly.

"It'll also be nice because you can stay over as late as you want," Elias pointed as he lifted his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Alyssa's cheeks warmed up as she rested her hand on his chest.

"It'll be pretty late," she told him as she smiled at him. It was torture having to kick him out of her dorm room. It'll be even harder to convince herself to leave his place since there were no rules in place there. However, she didn't want to crowd his space. He did get it to have some space away from his family, and she didn't want to compromise that.

"The later the better," Elias replied before leaning forward to capture her lips. His touch was warm and longing. It would be the last kiss they would share for the rest of the week, so they were going to make it count.