I kept scanning the room as though I could make her appear just by wanting her to. Part of me still felt like I did on the first day of class — like Winnie didn’t exist until I saw her, folded up in her chair, saw her pointy knees and her slept-on hair and brought her into existence. Most of me knew this was bullshit, though, and that I was just too full of myself to ever notice her before. That day, her absence was an ache in my molars, and I couldn’t give a fuck about Jason and Finn, Beth, Sarah, any of them. I wanted to kiss Winnie. I deserved to kiss Winnie. I knew this was bullshit, but feelings. What are you gonna do? I saluted Mags on my way out the door, fingers flying on my phone’s screen before I was all the way out of the building. Where are you, Winnie-girl? I didn’t hear from her right away, so I pounded on the door to her room. I checked the lounge, the library, the student center.
