PRESENT DAY

I sat there at our table in the lounge, listening to Shanna order some specialty off-menu cocktail, and thought about everything that had happened between us in that dorm room four years ago.

Once she was finished, I told the waiter, “Just a glass of merlot, please.”

“Jeez, you’re a cheap date,” Shanna said as the waiter walked off.

“I don’t have as much money as you.”

“I told you, I’m buyin’ first round. You shoulda got champagne to celebrate. Maybe not Cristal, but…”

“Mm.”

Life had gone well for Shanna over the last four years. Her parents hadn’t let her go back to UGA, so she’d gone to community college, just like she’d predicted. And then she’d flunked out of there, too. Too much partying, too much living life like it was her last day on earth.

However, her other… skills had led to more interesting prospects. She slept with an up-and-coming (pun intended) fashion photographer and ended up in a relationship with him. Because she didn’t have anything else going on, he took her on as