Girl in the White Dress: Sam's Story Read online

  Copyright © 2013 by Nikki Walker, all rights reserved

  Published in United States

  By Nikki Walker, New Bedford MA

  ISBN

  Manufactured in United States

  First edition published 2013

  Cover art and jacket designed © 2013 (by Nikki Walker)

  Girl in the White Dress

  Sam’s Story

  Nikki Walker

  Dedications

  I want to thank my friends and family who have supported my writing and encouraged me through the process. I especially want to thank my husband for putting up with my hours of writing. I love you, Kenny.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  * * *

  White dress? Check. Something blue? Check. Something old and something new? Double check. Crap, I did not have anything borrowed. It was ok, I told myself. I was not superstitious. Not having something borrowed was no big deal.

  “Breathe,” I told myself. I did not need an anxiety attack coming on now. It may have taken years to get here, but we were finally here and it was worth the wait. Family, friends, everyone was here. Everyone was excited we both came to our senses. I could not wait to see his shining smile and his crystal blue eyes looking right at me. He was mine now and forever.

  “Sam, you ready?” asked Trinity, my Maid of Honor and best friend. She looked so beautiful in her bridesmaid dress.

  I sighed. “Yes, let’s do this.”

  As we walked out into the hallway, I heard my Mom yell, “Wait! I have something for you.”

  We stopped and turned around. I saw my Mom holding out something. “Here,” she said. She handed me my grandmother's bracelet. “I thought you could wear this today.”

  “Oh, Mom,” I could feel tears start to well up. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “It’s ok. She would want you to wear this.” She put the bracelet on my wrist. Now I have my something borrowed. I took another breath. “Let’s roll. I have the love of my life waiting for me out there.”

  Chapter 1

  * * *

  Ok, so the summer was over. Now what do I do? Jason and I broke up. He apparently did not want to be “tied down”, as he put it, while he was in California. Ridiculous. Really now. He threw away three and a half years because he needed to grow up. Whatever. I have cried my last tear over him. I was on my way to college and I planned to have fun.

  Packing sucked. I looked around my room and all I saw was boxes, boxes, and more boxes. Good thing I took Mom’s advice and labeled them. Clothes took up the majority of the space and my shoes were definitely in the running. A girl needed to be prepared. “Ok,” I said to myself, “Time to load the car.” I took one last look around.

  “Mom, are you ready? Is Dad here yet? I need help with these boxes,” I yelled downstairs. Mom hated it when I did that. She would much rather I walk downstairs, but I was lazy.

  “Your dad just called and said he will be here in five minutes. Are you sure you have everything you need?”

  “Pretty sure, but I am assuming that Worcester does have stores,” I said sarcastically.

  “Cute. Sometimes I’m glad you are going away,” she said. Yeah, I could drive her crazy, but she loved me. “I sure am going to miss you, Sam.”

  “Me, too, Mom, but you have Max to keep you company.” Max was the Labrador retriever Mom adopted to replace me when I went away. All the years I wanted a dog and she decided to get one now. Figures.

  Damn these boxes were heavy. Maybe I did not need to pack my whole wardrobe. Although, New England could get chilly. I was so looking forward to living in a bigger city. Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania was not known for anything more exciting than the annual tractor pull. Yuck.

  “Sam, your dad is here with the truck.”

  “Hey sweetie, you all set to go?” He glanced around at the boxes. “I see your mom helped you pack. She never could go anywhere without taking the house with her.”

  “Ok, Robert, you can complain all you want. There were those occasions you needed the whole house. I don’t know how you get along without my cooking, cleaning, and other maid like duties.” I could sense the annoyance in Mom’s tone. She and Dad had been divorced for about a year and even though they got along better now, sometimes I think they still would like to kill each other.

  “Alright you two. Enough. You know I hate acting like the grown up.” I turned to my father. “Dad, we need to get going if we’re going to get there in time for freshman check-in.”

  “You’re right. Off we go.” We continued to pack the car in silence. We were done fifteen minutes later.

  The drive would take us about eight hours. Fortunately, it was mostly highway. I got a little misty eyed as we drove by the diner near our house. It was our Sunday morning tradition to go there for breakfast. It was not as if I was never coming back, but it was still sad knowing I would not be back for a few months.

  I put on my headphones as we drove onto the highway. “Sam, are you not going to talk to me the whole drive there? I did want to talk to you.”

  I groaned. “Dad, please do not give me ‘the talk’. I got that from Mom several times. I am a big girl now and I can handle myself.” Seriously, having this conversation with my dad right now was not high on my list of fun times.

  “I just want you to be safe.”

  “I know, Dad. I will be fine. I bought stock in Trojan,” I said seriously.

  “SAMANTHA RAYNE!” he yelled. He looked like he wanted to hit me.

  “I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” I put my hands up in defense. “I’m not a moron. I will be good.” Like I was going to tell him otherwise.

  We sat for a while in silence. I did not know what Dad was thinking but every once in a while he would look at me and then quickly look away, probably debating on whether or not to continue our earlier conversation. I was definitely in favor of not continuing it. Of course, I was not going to do anything stupid, but I did want to have some fun while I was there. Which does not include having sex with every guy I meet, but a little flirting never hurt anyone. I put my headphones back on and turned on my iPod. If Dad started talking, I would just pretend I did not hear him. I watched the trees pass us by on the highway and eventually fell asleep.

  After what seemed like an eternity, we finally stopped. We were there. I looked up and was in complete awe of the massive buildings that surrounded us. I saw the Worcester Centrum ahead of us. Wow, this was definitely a long way from my small town in Pennsylvania. I felt an anxiety attack coming on. I can do this, I thought to myself. This was why I wanted to get away. I needed to be more comfortable with things. Not get so worked up. I was not exactly the party girl in high school and I was somewhat popular but I was not that comfortable in that role.

  “Here we are, sweetheart.” Dad got out of the car and headed to the trunk.

  Ok, deep breath, I can do this, I told myself again. I climbed out of the car, glad that I wore sneakers because we did not park very close to the dorms. There was a ridiculous line of cars with other students who looked as freaked out as I felt. Thank goodness. Today w
as move in day and tomorrow would be freshman orientation. The other students would not be moving in until Tuesday and classes started on Wednesday. I did not have much say in my schedule for the first semester but I did not think it would be too hard. I had a short stories class, Intermediate Spanish (I was not really looking forward to that one), Elementary Education, and Elementary Math. And no, that last one was not because I was math challenged. It was math for teachers. For some insane reason, I wanted to teach children. I wondered how long that would last.

  I grabbed a box and headed towards the sign in table. I already had my room assignment but I needed my key. “Hi, I’m Samantha Rayne.”

  “What’s your room number?” the girl asked. She looked friendly enough. She was wearing a WSC T-shirt that said staff on it.

  “Three eleven.”

  “Ok here you go. Sara will be your RA. If you need anything at all you can give her a call.” She was pointing to a blonde girl a few feet away. She also had a staff shirt on. “You can hop in the elevator and take a left. It will take you right to your room.”

  “Thanks.” I grabbed my boxes and headed into the building, my Dad in tow. I could not believe the amount of people here. I did not know why I thought there would not be a lot of freshman. Dad and I brought all the boxes upstairs. He wanted to stay and help me unpack but I did not really need him going through my things after that awkward conversation in the car. I did not need him thinking I was not his little girl anymore.

  “Ok, Sam,” he said. “I guess I’m going to head out. I have a long drive ahead of me. Again.” He looked at his watch. “I’ll probably take a quick nap and head back.”

  “Ok. Thank you for driving me up. I love you. Drive safe.”

  “I love you, too, Sam. Be safe.” Dad gave me a hug and left the room. About ten minutes, later my roommate came in.

  “Hi, I’m Trinity Carvalho,” she said. She plopped her bags on the bed that I had not staked claim to. “Can I just say holy crap? Where do all these people plan on living? This place totally doesn’t look big enough!” I instantly liked her.

  “I know what you mean. It’s crazy! I’m Sam Rayne,” I waved. “Do you need some help with your stuff?”

  “Actually, I dragged my boyfriend with me. He’s getting the rest of it for me. Derek is a junior here so he doesn’t have to move in until Tuesday,” she said.

  “Well that’s cool. At least you know someone here.”

  “Yeah, he’s actually having a party Friday night to celebrate back to school. You want to come?”

  “Sure, sounds like fun. It would be nice to meet new people.” I turned around and looked at my pile of boxes. “Ok, so when do the unpacking fairies show up?”

  Trinity laughed. “I wish!” She looked around the room. “Why don’t we head down to the cafeteria and see what they have for food first? If we’re going to put all this away we’re certainly going to need some energy.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” We headed down to the cafeteria where they were serving a move in day buffet. I saw a sign that said “Free Lattes, today only”. “Oh my God!” I squealed.

  Trinity whipped around. “What? What? Did something happen?”

  “Free lattes today!” I exclaimed.

  “What? Where?”

  “Are you a coffee fanatic, too?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah,” she grabbed my arm. “We’re definitely going to get along. We’ll be the highly caffeinated room,” she joked. “Let’s go get some coffee!”

  The rest of the day was fun. Trinity and I got along well and I could tell at least roommate wise it was going to be a good year. Her boyfriend came over and helped us put away the rest of our stuff. He brought his friend Matt, who I thought was adorable. I was hoping he would be at the party Friday. We watched Fight Club and ordered some pizza when we were done. The guys left about midnight and Trinity and I decided to go to bed. I was exhausted. There was a lot to do the following day.

  Chapter 2

  * * *

  The rest of the week was a bit of a blur. Monday we had freshman orientation and I met a couple of cool new people. Miranda and Kiley were both Occupational Therapy majors from Smithfield, RI. They both also lived on my floor. Trinity was in a different group than I was and she met some people, too. On Wednesday, classes started and that was a blast. Sarcasm intended. Apparently, my body forgot what it was like to wake up at 5:30 AM to be at school for 7:15 AM because I did not want to wake up for my 8:30 AM class. My love of English was not so prevalent when I was half-asleep. I made a mental note to try, and I stress try, to wake up earlier so that I could get coffee first. The rest of my classes were ok. I had to find an elementary school to observe for my teaching class. Fortunately, there was one literally across the street from campus. I would just have to get on the ball to be sure to get a classroom because I am sure at least half my class was thinking the same thing.

  Friday crept up quickly. Trinity and I were trying to figure out what to wear to Derek’s party. She handed me a skirt to try on. “Trin, I cannot possibly wear this. It is the size of a belt.” The denim skirt barely covered my butt.

  Trinity turned around to look. “Yeah, that does look pretty skanky. You apparently have more junk in the trunk than I do.”

  “HEY!” I threw my pillow at her.

  “I’m kidding!” She threw up her hands in defense. “I haven’t worn that in a while and I guess I forgot how short it was. Actually, the last time I think I wore it was with stiletto boots and I don’t remember Derek complaining. Of course, I also don’t recall actually going out in public.”

  “Ok, TMI!” I exclaimed.

  “Heh, sorry.” She was rifling through her pile of clothes. “Here, try this one.”

  I tried on the black skirt she threw my way. “Ok, this is much more respectable, yet still hot. It works for me.”

  “How do I look?” she asked.

  “Awesome.” Trinity was wearing a dark wash jean with a red halter-top and her signature stilettos. “I think I need a better shirt.” Clearly, my plain grey shirt was not going to work next to her.

  “Here try this,” she tossed me a sparkly teal tank top.

  “Much better.”

  After another hour of preparations, we were finally ready to go. This was why women start to get ready hours before they need to be somewhere and are still late. Way too much to do. We walked down the hall to pick up Miranda and Kiley and headed to the boys townhouse. Only freshman are stuck with the dorms. Everyone else gets a townhouse. Derek happened to live in the largest one with his thirteen roommates, all of whom happen to be his teammates. (Did I mention Derek was the Quarterback for the football team? Yup, and Matt was a tight end. What I would not give to look at his tight end. Ok, focus.)

  We arrived at the house and heard the music blasting. Trinity opened the door and all we could see was a mass of people. Obviously, Derek was quite popular. “Hello ladies.” A very large guy, evidently another football player, possibly a roommate, greeted us. “Here are your cups, free of charge, of course. The keg is over to the right.” We each took a red cup.

  “Are you ladies going to be ok if I go find Derek?” Trinity asked. I was guessing she saw the panicked look on all our faces. I definitely was not a partygoer in high school and by the looks of it, neither were Miranda or Kiley.

  “Sure,” I lied. “We’re fine.”

  “Ok, I’ll come find you hotties in a bit. Have fun!”

  I looked at the girls. “Sooooo…” I continued to stare at my empty cup.

  “Hey, gorgeous!” I heard someone say. I continued my conversation certain that was not directed at me.

  “Sam? Hello?” I heard the voice again. I turned around and saw Matt.

  “Hey, sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

  “No problem. Are you girls having fun?” he asked.

  “We just got here,” I said.

  “I see. Well, let’s go fill up your cups and get this party started.” He walked us over to the keg and fil
led us up.

  “Thanks,” I sad. I took a sip. Some foam went up my nose and I tried not to sneeze.

  “You want to dance, Sam?” Matt asked.

  My heart started to race. “Sure.”

  Matt dragged me out onto the makeshift dance floor. Genie in a Bottle came on just as we started to dance. After a while of getting pushed around Matt and I went outside to get some air.

  “Finally, I can breathe,” I said. It was nice out that night. Clear enough that you could easily see the moon and the stars.

  “I know. I’m sure we completed exceeded the fire code for the building. I didn’t know we could fit that many people in there,” he said. “Do you want to go sit in the quad?”

  “Sure.” The quad was between the townhouses and the dorm where people hung out.

  “Actually,” he stopped walking. “I will be right back. I am just going to run in and grab something. I’ll meet you over there.”

  “Ok.” I started walking towards the quad and he headed back up the stairs. I was lost in space when I noticed I was not alone. I picked up my pace a bit to get to a better-lit area. I felt a pull on my arm.

  “Hey!” I shouted.

  “Hey, Sam. It’s Lance, from the party,” the stranger said.

  “Hi,” I said warily. He was the guy who gave us the cups.

  “What are you doing out here by yourself? It’s not safe for a woman as hot as you to be alone around here.”

  “I’m waiting for someone,” I stated. I hoped he got the hint. He creeped me out.

  “I know. I have been waiting for someone, too. Luckily, I found her.” It was not until that moment that I realized he was still holding my arm. I tried to pull away but he was too strong. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Away from you,” I said.

  “I don’t think so.” Lance pulled me closer and I tried to struggle free. He tried to kiss me. I turned my head and he got a mouthful of hair.