Going the Measure by Lisa Crawmer (life changing books .TXT) 📕

Aly

Last May, I graduated high school. I am going to Florida State University. You could call me a school nerd. Well, I do sports, but I’m not like some dumb jock. I play softball, track, and volleyball. Track is my favorite sport. Every day I at least run six to ten miles. I live in Sebastian, Florida. I’m on honors list. It’s a pretty big deal to my parents since my brother totally flunked out of high school.

Most of the time, I would be at the beach, but my schedule is so booked with things that have to do with college. Brent and I are supposed to hang out tonight. Brent is my boyfriend. I’m getting kind of suspicious though. He doesn’t call as much and is mysteriously always busy. He’s a few years younger, and since I’m going to college, I don’t even know if it would work well.

I’m sitting at my desk, planning on what things I’m going to put in my room when Brent calls.

“Hey Brent! I was about to call you,” I say.

“Uh, yeah hi Aly. I just needed to tell you something. You know how your going to college? I just don’t think that would be good, you know, a long distance relationship, You feel me? I mean, I’m sixteen and your going to be nineteen in two months. A big age difference.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” I question back.

“I guess you could say that.”

“Bye Brent.”

I hang up on him. I am angry and happy. I didn’t want a long distance relationship either. I also didn’t want to be the one to break up with him. I’m not a heart-breaker. We did have a big age jump. I tried to get back to my room plans, but I couldn’t stay on task. At least I could date some college boys!

Dad calls me down for his usual family meetings. I yell back and tell him that now is not a good time. Ever since my brother moved out and became a slum, my parents make sure that school is my main priority. So they made this family meeting so that they know what I’m doing in school and make plans to study better if I do bad on a test.

* * *

At my house, I get ready to go to the beach for the first time. Melissa, Paige, and Alex invited me for an all girls day. I put on my swimsuit on and my jean shorts over them. I bring my lucky towel; it’s blue and neon green. I remember when I used to bring a boogie board and toys to the beach. Now I’m a novice surfer. I’m okay, but I’ll never be a Bethany Hamilton. When I get there, my friends attack me with their signature break up hug. After I pull them off, We grab our surfboards and head out to catch the waves. I hate when you get all the way out there and there are no good waves that come your way.

Paige is like the queen of surfing. She has blonde hair like me. Alex usually stays on the beach and flirts around. She’s the redhead, more like hothead. She always attracts the boys. Melissa either reads or joins in the water. She’s a brunette. I’m a beach girl, but I still have glam and style. I try not to flirt with boys because most of them are trouble. I’m not one of those girls that go around hanging with random boys and have a boyfriend at the same time. That’s more of an Alex thing.

At around 3:30, we pile up in Paige’s crap car. The only reason she has it is so she can haul the boards around. It doesn’t even have a radio! I have to run my last three miles to finish my daily run. Paige drops me off first, knowing what I have to do. Mom stops me when she hears the screen door open.

“Where have you been? No one told me you were leaving! And you and Brent broke up? Why don’t I know anything!” she says

I usually run around my neighborhood and around the school. It’s about two to three miles. Brent’s house is on the route, but I decided to avoid it. It would make him feel awkward. While I’m running, I think about what college will be like. First of all, I have to make my running route. I can’t wait for college.

Carson

Wow, I’m going to college, I think. Summer has went by so fast. My friends and I usually go boating and prowling for girls, but school has cramped my schedule that I’ve barely even seen my buddies. It’s July, and I haven’t stepped foot out out of my house. I’m going to Florida State University. I play football, baseball, and basketball. I HATE running. There’s this guy in town that runs like twenty miles a day.

Today is the day when you can go to the college and put some things in your dorm. I made sure I didn’t have a girlfriend a year ago so that I don’t have have to worry about crazy exes. My roommate is supposed to be here too. As the campus nears my vision, most kids are doing the same as me.

I walk up to my room and unlock it. When the doors creeks open, there is a tall, skinny, redheaded kid. He’s wearing glasses and has severe acne. A hint of an over bite pokes out of his mouth.

“Hey roomy! I’m Josh. Just to make it clear, this is my side, this is yours. This is my dresser, that is yours. And so on. If you follow my rules, we’ll get along. Later,” he said while walking out talking about math to himself.

He didn’t care to let me talk. I decide to go down and chill a little by the school’s pool.It’s too bad my friends aren’t here to attract the ladies with me. I’m not really a mean guy. My dad taught me to treat girls right, so I’m taking his word for it. There’s a huge crowd of people there. I play it cool and slowly take my shirt off. Might I say that I have a six pack? Well I do, and that’s my main pick up. I don’t usually know what to say, so I try to use body language.I swim for a while until the girls lose interest and leave. Everyone cleared out pretty fast, around 4:00, so I left to. I put on some dry clothes and get in my car. The drive back home is silent.

Aly

Today is my first day of college. When I pull in, I go straight for the office area to get my parking pass and all the good free stuff. It’s so packed tight with other kids that t claustrophobic thoughts come in to mind. I walk up to my dorm and wait for my roommate. Five minutes later, she walks in. She is a light brunette, very tall and muscular. She is already intimidating me. She runs towards me and gives me a hug while I’m still on the bed.

“O-M-G! I finally get to meet you! I’m Ashley. We are going to have so much fun, roomy!” she said quite excitingly.

“I’m Aly,” I reply in a more annoyed tone. “Actually, right now I have to do a couple things. I have to make a running route.”

“Oh! That’s right! Maybe I could go too!”

“I’m more of a single runner than... a mingle runner.”

“Nice play on words girlfriend! Well, if you ever need one, call me up!” She smiled and got out her phone to call someone.

This is a good chance to slip out. It’s going to be a long four years. I take my run and figure out my route. Not many people run here, so I take this chance to finally have quiet time. After this, I go over to the smoothie place and grab a textbook from a shelf. After I finish my smoothie, I walk around until I end up at the fountain in front. Oops, the textbook is still in my hands. Oh well. I throw a penny in the fountain and begin to read.

After about an hour, I go to the pool and chill by the poolside. It isn’t busy at this time, so it’s added to my schedule. So far, my schedule is almost booked. I have class at three until six. I have six to eight open. I’ll leave it blank for now. I go back to my room, watch some T.V. and go to bed early. Thank the lord Ashley isn’t there.

The next day, the library is open and I slip in to catch up on some new books that have come out. Most of the people that like to read are here. Who would expect to see a jock in this “prison”, as some boys at my school called it. They are total Neanderthals. The rest of the day is taken up by reading a book at the fountain and working on a nice tan.

Carson

Ah, morning, the best time. I walk straight to the smoothie place and buy a mango banana swirl. I’m sitting there texting and drinking, when a girl that I haven’t seen before walks in and orders the same thing. She looks over at me and I get embarrassed and look back at my phone. She sits down for about a half hour reading a book, then leaves. I throw my smoothie cup away and follow her. It was an instinct to follow girls for some reason.

I’m spying on some girl that I don’t know. Wow, you stalker, I think. She throws a penny in the fountain and sits there for another half hour. Then she gets up and goes to the pool for a swim. I always have my trunks, so I decide to make a scene and take off my shirt off slowly again. She