Luke and Amy

They had always been together, and that was that. She had begun at the university as a freshman, seeking a degree in business which would later develop into a masters degree in human resources. He had entered the university with an undecided major, only there because his parents were paying and had threatened to kick him out otherwise.
Amy spent a lot of her time in the library, studying books on effective business strategies with an old friend from high school, Brad. She loved that library, where the green ivy climbed its way up the red brick walls. Inside, the walls were covered with wood panels, and a giant fireplace provided warmth to the busy studiers during the winter. It was here that Amy truly received her education, listening and watching the diverse students of her campus.
Luke hated the library. He had only been there that day to hide from the girl that he had stood-up the night before. He actually did not consider it “standing her up”–it was really him not holding to his end of a bet. She was a big girl, at least six feet tall, and definitely weighing no less than two hundred and fifty pounds. So, he was a shallow jerk...what freshmen guy is not?
He had been sneaking through the book shelves the first time she bumped into him. Yes, that is exactly how it happened. She bumped into him. She had found a book she needed for one of her term papers and was heading back to her table, pages open, focusing only on the words before her. Luke had stopped walking, waiting for her to pass, thinking she would realize his presence, and when she did not, her elbow collided right into his lower ribs.
From that day on, a friendship grew, a relationship blossomed, and they were soon known around campus as “Luke and Amy”. No one separated their names because they were always together, and that was how it was for the next four years. They graduated together last spring, Amy with a bachelors degree in business and Luke with a bachelors degree in English–oh yeah, and Brad, still unsure of what he wanted in life, with a degree in business. They were happy.
Amy returned to school, spending her well-saved money on her masters degree. Luke started a job at a small-town high school teaching every English course available. They may have been apart, but they were still together.
When she had left, Amy had not prepared herself for those months without Luke. They had not spent more than two months apart in the past four years, and she knew nothing else. But when she got to her new university, there was so much more. Amy became friends with a couple of guys, and pretty soon, Luke did not hear from her quite as much.
See, Amy had bumped into Brad once again. He had thought about it a lot over the summer and was going back to school also for his masters in human resources. Brad was different, more mature. Amy was not sure if she was still with Luke just because he was safe and all she had known, or because she truly loved him. So, a few months into her first semester, Amy called Luke, and asked for a few months break. After hearing her explanation (which included Brad), Luke was outraged and hurt.
They had always been together–but not anymore. It is still Amy and Brad who study in the library together, but Luke is not there to run into anymore. It is “Amy and Brad” now, the two names that never separate. And it is “Mr. Donovan”, the teacher that every girl has a crush on; the teacher that every student looks at and tries to figure out why he is still alone.
(c) 2005