Déjà vu

Estelle's life as an University student has it's typical dramas, exam stresses and even a terrifying déjà vu

I quickly checked my watch. S**t! It was already twenty past eight.

“Hurry up Shae!” I called, banging on her bedroom door. “We have ten minutes before the exam starts!”

We were going to be late, I knew it. Shae had been acting uncanny all week, locking herself in her room seemingly 'studying'. Ha, Shae studying, I was more likely to see a cat fly. She was my roommate and best friend, so I recognised that something was wrong.

“Ugh, I’m coming,” she replied before whipping open the door. Her eyes were swollen with makeup stained halfway down her cheeks. Her brown wavy hair wasn't brushed and she still had her pyjama top on; odd.

 “Shae?” I grabbed her arm before she could walk past me. “What’s the matter?”

She turned to me, her eyes filling with salty tears. My heart sank, the last time I saw her like this her Grandma had passed. “Stella, I’m preg�"” she grabbed her mouth with her hand, the tears spilling over. I instantaneously pulled her into me and hugged her tight; shocked.

I immediately thought of Shae's boyfriend, Rance, and what his reaction would be. I shuddered at the thought, he’d undoubtedly leave her, only being together for a whole three weeks. Rance was an egotistic b*****d sometimes, and I could imagine him walking away without a second glance.

“How could this have happened!?” Shae managed to scoff over my shoulder and into my freshly washed scarlet hair. “Rance and I were always so careful!”

I squeezed my best friend tighter. "When did you find out?" I asked gently, curious if she'd been struggling with this all week. Why hadn't she just told me?

"Last week. I've been taking a test every day, just to be sure," she sobbed on my shoulder for another minute. As her best friend, of course I felt sorry for her, but I had to resist the urge of replying with told you so. Shae would recreate every detail of her sexual interactions to me, and now that she was with Rance, I endured it every day. I knew something like this would happen eventually, she wasn’t the brightest sunflower in the field, and bad choices had a way of finding her.

On my part, I’d never really had many sex stories to tell Shae about. To be honest, I hadn’t had any. Of course there had been opportunities, I’m at University for God’s sake, but it's never felt right. I wasn’t a believer in no sex before marriage, but I didn’t dash around campus with a ‘Free f**k’ sticker on my forehead either �" unlike Shae. Maybe not at the s**t level, but getting close to border-line; her model-thin figure and make-up caked face not exactly helping. I just enjoyed being natural combined with a little bit of mascara every now and then. Why did life always have to be about guys? Shae would grill me on applying more make-up with statements like ‘Boys don’t like funniness Stella, so show off those big green eyes of yours!’ Of course, I was just used to it now. Knowing these things about Shae, just made me care for her that much more. I squeezed her a little tighter.

 “I won’t let this ruin our last exam week,” she sniffed, straightening up before wiping the mascara streaks off her cheeks with the back of her sleeve. “We’ll get through today, and then I’ll deal with it.”

"How will you tell Rance?" I asked, trying to hide the worry I felt for her from my voice.

She snapped her head up. "What?" she glowered in shock. "I can't tell Rance! He would flip out! It would ruin his future, our futures!"

Her eyes expanded as she considered the possible outcomes of what could be. The terror on her face was answer enough of her decision.

I gave her a smile of reassurance.

“I’ll happily come to the clinic with you,” I offered, reading her thoughts. I knew that I was the only one that she’d tell about this, so I didn’t precisely have a choice; no one should go through an abortion alone.

“Thanks Stella,” she gave a weak smile before heading to the bathroom, obviously to fix her face.

***

I completed the exam with a half hour to spare, so I decided to grab a cappuccino from the café just outside the examination room. The line was lengthy, obviously everyone else who got out early had the same idea, but I had time to kill as Shae would need the whole four hours. I hoped that she had a clear head, needing all the concentration imaginable as she obviously hadn’t studied this week. I’d made sure I’d prepared for this exam as I wanted to graduate with Honours.  The other day I’d spotted an incredible opportunity in the newspaper for a university graduate in a leading art studio. So if all went to plan, I’d be accepted. Shae had never really thought much about what job she’d get once graduating. Ever since Rance caught her eye, her future had always begun with him and ended with him. I shook my head in disbelief.

“Estelle!” the lady behind the coffee machine called.

I grabbed my cappuccino and headed back outside, pulling my phone out of my pocket to search for a nearby women’s clinic. I found one that was in the middle of Brisbane city while another �" SMACK!

Something hit my back hard, catapulting my phone from my hand to the ground. I turned around to see a football rolling across the path.

“Sorry!” A guy called from the grass field as his friend retrieved the ball.

Before I had a chance, an aged scruffy looking campus cleaner bent down and retrieved my phone for me.

“There you go, my dear,” he said flashing his yellow teeth. He didn’t sound that old, but I couldn’t tell through his unkempt moustache, beard and sunglasses covering his face.

“Oh thank you, Sir,” I smiled, scanning my phone for any scratches.

“You be safe now,” he said creepily as he waddled away. I frowned after him �" weirdo.

Convinced my phone was unscathed, I spun on my heel when I stepped straight into someone; my coffee wasn’t so lucky this time. Cappuccino stretched from the top of his crisp white shirt right down to his navy suit pants. I stood frozen holding my empty coffee cup, staring at my disaster.

“I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed before hastily searching in my bag for tissues. I started dabbing the stranger frantically, realising now how expensive his suit looked. “A football hit me and then there was a creepy cleaner and-”

I’d glanced up at his face; he looked like a living Grecian God. I must have stared at him for a good few seconds before blinking rapidly, his eyes filling with amusement. “Um,” I paused, now looking anywhere but at his face. “I could have it dry-cleaned if you’d like…” I honestly couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“It’s alright Miss…” his formal yet kind voice sounded as he offered his hand.

I shook his soft hand as I looked back up at his youthful face, realising it had been a question.

“Oh, Sheen, but call me Estelle,” I said mindlessly, never liking my last name due to the familiar mistake of relating me to Charlie Sheen.

“Well then, Estelle,” he said, our hands dropping back to our sides. “I’m not sure it appropriate for me to strip down right here,” he pushed a hand through his thick black hair as he scanned the area jokingly. “So, maybe you will just owe me some other day.”

“Stella!” Shae’s voice hollered from the tsunami of students surging out of the exam room. “Stella!”

It was obvious to everyone that she was yelling at me, her hand frantically waving above the sea of heads.

“Well, I’ll see you round, Stella,” he grinned as I snapped my head up, my eyes watching his back as he resumed his pace towards the Faculty of Business.

“Do you realise who that was!?” Shae gasped as she reached me, gawking after the Grecian God.

“Erm, no,” I frowned, thinking it was probably just another guy she’d hooked up with.

“It’s William Astor!” She glanced at me then, bewildered that I didn’t know. “You know, he’s the son of Raymond Astor! The plane man!”

That struck a chord; Raymond Astor, the owner of one of the largest airline companies in Australia. If you hadn’t heard of Astor Airlines, you weren’t Australian.

“I wonder what he’s doing here…” Shae spoke to herself, squinting her eyes until he disappeared into the faculty.

“So, Raymond Astor has a son?” I asked, absentmindedly.

“A single son, yes,” she sighed. In her dreams I thought to myself. A guy like himself probably had four girlfriends waiting for him in the car.

“Oh no fair,” Shae was eyeing the empty coffee cup still in my hand. “I wish I had time for a caffeine hit.” If only she knew that I hadn’t actually taken a sip…

“I’m going to need it this afternoon,” she raised her eyebrows at me, both of us knowing where we needed to go. I gave her a small smile, as we set off towards my car. I could see Shae was searching for Rance, perhaps having second thoughts.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I hesitated before getting into the car. “You should talk to Rance about this, it’s as much his decision as it is yours.”

She bit her lip and then eyeballed the campus grounds once more, before turning back to me.

“Please Stella, let’s just go.” And I knew that was her final decision.

We drove in silence to the North Lakes Women’s Clinic, just outside of Brisbane. We’d chosen that one so that no one would recognise us. My Swift was especially zippy as we weaved in and out of the traffic, arriving just in time before close. Shae looked anxious as we sat in the waiting room, her thumbs fidgeting and her knees trembling. A lady then called her name and she stood in a flash before disappearing out of sight with a nurse.

It was unnerving to see Shae like this. Usually I was the one who worried while she paraded her relentless confidence; but not today. Shae’s confidence was all over the place, even when she was glancing around campus for Rance, she looked petrified. I just hoped that she was making the right choice.

I lazily reached over to the table and picked up the latest gossip magazine. I began to flick through the photo pages of the odd celebrity here and there when I saw him; William Astor. He had been photographed on his balcony shirt-less, broadcasting his perfectly sculpted abdomen. I then began reading the article underneath the photo.

                     Hold your breath girls, because look who was flaunting their billion dollar six-pack last weekend? You guessed right! William Astor, spotted on his penthouse balcony at the Meriton, soaked up some well-deserved Vitamin-D after spending the week meeting with some of the world’s most prestigious investors!

Huh, maybe that’s why he was dressed so business-like earlier, I thought to myself carelessly. I couldn’t believe I had spilt my coffee all over his suit though, how humiliating! I continued to read.

                Now a year into his CEO position at Astor Airlines, you’d think he’d had long enough to settle down with a lucky gal by now? That’s however not the case �" a source revealed that he’s too busy for a girlfriend and is focusing on establishing a new direction for his father’s company. Sorry girls! I guess the waiting game continues…

Yeah right! I thought, silently scoffing.

I then looked up to see Shae re-emerge, appearing somewhat more relaxed. After paying the lady at the front counter we headed outside into the cool autumn air.

“I’m so glad that’s over,” she huffed as we got in the car.

Shae had always said she never wanted kids, and I definitely couldn’t ever see her being a mother. The poor child would probably get deprived. Not that Shae was a horrible person, let’s just say she could be quite self-absorbed. I on the other hand was the complete opposite, although I’d never really thought about having children. Shae was always the one with the ‘serious’ boyfriends, not that I’d call a three week relationship serious.

“Stella, promise me you won’t say a word,” she looked across at me as we drove back to campus.

I just raised my eyebrows at her.

 “I know, I know, of course you won’t,” she smiled sheepishly. “I’m just nervous about facing Rance. What if he can tell something’s different?”

“Just act normal and he won’t even know,” I reassured her. “If he says anything, just say you think you screwed up your exam or something.”

“I don’t think, I know I did,” she sighed, her customary post-exam self emerging. I was just grateful she was back to typical Shae again.

“Look, let’s just have a night in tonight, no boys,” I proposed as we pulled up outside our on-campus apartment block. “You know, like a sleepover!”

I smiled huge as she returned my smile, her eyes lighting up.

“You’d give up a wild post-exam Uni party just for your desolate best friend?” she said sarcastically.

“Don’t flatter yourself, or I may just ditch you after all,” I joked.

It sounded stupid having a sleepover, seeing as though we were roommates, but every now and then we just needed time to ourselves to relax. We filled two bowls with popcorn, opened a bottle of wine, dug out some old romance DVD’s and dragged our mattresses out to our tiny living room. Our apartment was really small and we’d lived in it together since freshman year, but we loved it. The walls showed off their crimson brown bricks on every side of each room, all except one.

We had large glass windows stretching right across the back of the living room, displaying the beautiful view we had over campus. We were the third story up out of four, so we could still reeve the benefits of height, like watching the drunk Uni students stumble home on a nightly basis. This apartment was always our homely safe haven, study free of course �" that had to be taken to our bedrooms or to the library. It gave us a place of tranquility and good times, rather than coming home from a long day of Uni to another room occupied by study.

The first movie was ‘Pride and Prejudice’, our favourite. We weren’t ten minutes in when my phone buzzed. Shae reached over and grabbed it off the table for me, reading out the message.

“I know your friend’s dirty little secret. Did you have fun this afternoon, Gorgeous?” Shae read out, before a look of distress struck her face, staring at me wide-eyed. “Did you tell anyone!?”

“No I swear!” I snatched the phone out of her hand and re-read the message. Only one word stood out; Gorgeous.

He was back. I thought it was over, I assumed he’d forgotten about me after I graduated from high school. But now, four years later, he was back.

Author's Note

Using Australian English :)

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

I'm guessing whoever "he" is was an abusive boyfriend, o maybe someone that was obsessed with her or just an obssesive, abusive boyfriend. :P I look forward to reading more. I didn't find any faults.

[Courtney]

I like how Stella is from Australia I have always wanted to go there. I cant wait to read the next chapter and get more clues as to who the creeper is. Good write!