“Stop!” I shouted.
“Come on, you know you want me.” He tried to kiss me again.
“No, stop!” I yelled again.
“You heard her, dude. Let her go.”
“Matt, stay out of this,” Lance said still not releasing his hold on me.
“Let her go. She’s with me.”
“What are you going to do about…” Lance did not even get to finish his question because Matt’s fist hit his face first and he landed on the ground.
“Touch her again and see what happens.” Matt turned to me. “Come on, Sam. I’ll walk you back to your dorm.” I took Matt’s out-stretched hand and we walked back to my room. I was in a bit of shock since nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I was not sure what that was about. When we got back to my room, Matt asked if I was ok.
I hesitated. “Yeah, I’m fine. I guess,” I finally managed to get out. “Can you explain to me what Lance’s issue is?” I asked.
“He likes to, um, initiate, for lack of a better word, the freshmen. He overheard Derek telling someone else that Trinity was bringing her friends and for some reason he picked you as his target apparently.” His face softened and he brushed his hand softly against my cheek. “Are you sure you’re ok though?” he asked.
I could feel my heart start to race. Stupid butterflies in my stomach. “Yeah, I’m ok,” I breathed.
Matt did not move his hand from my cheek. It felt like the air had stopped moving. I do not remember the last time I felt this nervous. “Sam,” he said softly.
“Yes?” Oh my god, if he was going to kiss me, he had better do it already. I thought my knees are going to give out on me.
He leaned forward. I tried to breathe. As soon as his lips touched mine, I felt the heat from his breath and I shuddered. The intensity I felt behind the kiss was nothing that I had experienced before. I took a step back certain that I could no longer breathe. “Wow,” escaped through my lips.
“I’ll say,” he said. “Although, I’m not sure if we got that right.” He leaned in for another kiss that was just as electric as the first. I melted into his arms.
“Ok,” I pulled away again. “I’m getting a little dizzy here.”
He smiled. “Good to know I have that effect on you.”
“You have no idea,” I said. Then I remembered he went back to get something. “What was it you had to go get before you became my hero?”
Matt started to blush a little. Very cute. “I have a present for you.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah,” he pulled out a piece of paper. “I saw the poster on your wall the other day and I wanted to draw this for you.” On the paper was a beautiful drawing of a lily. Obviously, he noticed my huge poster of lilies, orchards, and roses on the wall.
“Wow, Matt, this is awesome.” I could not believe he drew me a picture.
“Thanks,” he said. “It’s actually a secret passion of mine. Wasn’t really sure how the football team would feel about my artistic abilities.”
“You shouldn’t hide this. It’s gorgeous. I’m totally going to hang it on my wall.”
“Thank you.” He was so cute. “So, I was wondering if you had any plans tomorrow night.”
“Um, not that I’m aware of. Probably just hanging out. I still don’t really know the area so well.”
“Well, would you like to have plans? I was hoping you would like to go on a date with me.” He actually looked nervous. Like I was going to say no. I tried to play it off all casual.
“Sure, sounds like fun,” I said. Breathe, Sam. I thought.
“Cool,” he said. He touched my face again. “Now how about we get back to what we were doing.”
“I guess so,” I smiled as he was leaning in. The rest of the night was kind of a blur. He was a complete gentleman, although at some points I was not sure I would have objected. He ended up leaving about four in the morning and I crashed. Trinity was apparently staying at Derek’s tonight. I had a feeling she was going to stay there a lot. Although, maybe that was not such a bad thing. If she was there then that meant Matt could be here. Stop, Sam, I thought to myself. Let’s not rush things. Although, if tonight was any indication, tomorrow would be fantastic.
* * *
Trinity finally came back to the room about noon. I was just about to head to the cafeteria for lunch. I completely slept through breakfast. “Hey, you,” I said.
“Hi. Sorry I did not come back last night. I passed out on Derek’s bed. What happened to you at the party? I saw Miranda and Kiley leave about 2 AM, but you were nowhere to be found.”
“Actually,” I said. “I was with Matt.”
“Shut up! That’s great!”
“Yeah, we sort of have a date tonight.” My heart started racing just thinking about it.
“We HAVE to go shopping!” She seemed just as excited as I was for this date. Although, I did not think that was possible.
“Ok,” I heard my stomach grumble. “Can we at least stop to grab lunch along the way?”
“Sure, and a coffee.”
“Well that was just understood.”
She laughed. “Alright, mall here we come.” Trinity grabbed her purse and her keys, she was the only one of us who had a car here, and we headed to the mall. After what seemed like forever trying on outfit after outfit, I think we had finally found the right one. Since I did not really know where Matt was taking me, I wanted to be casually chic.
When we got back, I jumped in the shower and got ready for my date with Matt. I was so nervous that I think I had Trinity check how my outfit looked at least 15 times. I was finally satisfied after I checked my hair once again. I had about five minutes before Matt showed up for our date. I could feel my breath start to quicken and took out my inhaler. Now was not the time for an anxiety attack. I had just put away my inhaler when I heard a knock at the door. I took one last glance in the mirror before I opened the door. “Hi,” I said.
“Hi, are you ready?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
Matt and I headed towards his car. I never asked him what he drove so when we walked up and he pushed the alarm button on his keychain, I was not expecting the blinking lights of a 1999 BMW M3 Convertible. I stopped dead in my tracks. Matt looked very confused.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
“I’m fine. I am just in love with your car,” I said.
He laughed. “My parents bought it the end of last year and decided they wanted a Z3 Roadster instead so they gave me this one and used my old Volvo as a trade in.”
He was talking as if that was not a big deal. I was excited when my mom let me drive her Corolla. Good grief. “Ok, well, consider me officially impressed.”
“I’m glad, but it’s just a car.” I still had not moved. “Would you like to actually go in it now?” He held the door open.
“Oh yeah, sorry.” It was even more beautiful from the inside. Black leather interior, silver exterior, six disc changer, sunroof... I was in heaven. We did not even have to go anywhere but sit in this car and it would be the perfect date. I wondered where we were going anyway. Matt had said it was a surprise.
We pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the highway. We made small talk along the way and he would not budge on where we were going. Finally, after about thirty minutes he pulled into a long driveway. I saw a sign that said “Woodsy Drive-In”. Awesome, I had always wanted to go to a drive-in theater. I excitedly clapped my hands.
“I take it we like,” he said.
“Yes!”
“Good. You have a choice. It’s either Austin Powers/American Pie or House on Haunted Hill/The Bone Collector.”
“I’ve already seen American Pie like ten times,” I said. “So how about the scary ones?”
“Nice! A girl after my own heart.” After we drove in, Matt walked over to the concession stand and got some soda and hot dogs. When he came back, he pulled down the top and grabbed a blanket out of the back. The previews came on an
d we settled in to watch the movies. About half way through The Bone Collector, he put his arm around me. It was nice hiding my face in his shoulder for the gory parts rather than my sweatshirt.
There was a fifteen-minute intermission between movies so I excused myself to go to the ladies’ room. Of course there was a long line because what woman would not need to go to the bathroom. When I got back the movie was about to start and Matt had run to the concession stand again for a refill on the sodas and some popcorn.
“I’m really glad you came out with me tonight,” he said.
“Me, too.” I was about to take my place snuggled back into his shoulder but he leaned in for a kiss. There was the same intensity that there had been the night before. My heart was beating so fast. I think we missed a good ten minutes of the beginning of the movie. Finally, he pulled away to catch his breath. He looked at me briefly and then said, “Maybe we should finish watching the movie.”
Matt confused me by his sudden change, but I continued watching the movie anyway. Maybe he was really into this kind of movie. I could go either way.
I think I saw more of Matt’s shoulder than the actual movie this time. We headed out after the credits and about ten minutes of traffic. We drove back to the school and by this point, it was kind of late. The movies only started when it was dark out and it was almost midnight now. Matt walked me back to my room. Trinity was not there. She was probably at Derek’s again.
“I had fun tonight,” I said. I still was not sure what the deal was at the movies but I would give him time to explain.
“Me, too.” He gave me another electrifying kiss. “I will call you tomorrow, ok?”
I guess he was in a rush. “Ok, cool.” Matt turned down the hallway and went back to his dorm. I was not sure what brought on the weird behavior, but I liked him. A lot.
Chapter 3
* * *
Sunday was uneventful. I spent most of the day in the library doing homework. It was only the beginning of the semester but I already had a paper assigned for my English class. I had to write a ten-page paper on a great American author of the nineteenth century. Someone needed to remind me why I majored in English.
When I got home from the library, Kiley and I headed down to the track for a run. By the time we got back, it was suppertime and Matt still had not called. What was up with that guy? He acted as if he was all super interested and then pulled a complete one eighty. We made a stop back at the dorm to change and pick up Trinity and Miranda before going to the cafeteria. There were no messages when we got back from dinner either. Ok, really, what the hell? I had no idea what was going on in this guy’s head and it was really starting to piss me off. I put on some angry girl music and just laid on my bed. Trinity came in from the bathroom and saw my disgruntled state.
“Hey, I’m sure he’ll call. Something probably came up.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. But he was starting to act weird last night.” I filled her in on what had happened.
“Hmm,” she said. “That is odd. It’s probably nothing though.”
“I hope you’re right.” I decided to go online for a little bit before I went to bed. I had to catch up on my celebrity gossip. I was in the middle of reading an article about Tom Cruise when I heard a ding and a message popped up on my screen. It said, “Hey, gorgeous.” It was from Jason. Great, what did this dumbass want?
“Hi,” I typed back.
“How are you doing?”
“Fine. You?”
“Why so formal? You mad at me?” he said.
“I’m not mad, Jay. What do you want?” I said annoyed.
“I’ve missed you.”
“Ok.”
“Just ok?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
“What the hell do you want me to say? You left me for California. I’ve moved on.”
“I was stupid, Sam,” he said.
“Well, that was obvious.” Bozo.
“I hate it out here. I want to transfer back east.”
“Jay, you’ve only been there a week.” Wow, I was feeling much better about him being out of my life. What took me so long to realize he was a moron?
“I’m freaking out. I don’t know anyone and it’s not as fun here without you.” Oh boy.
“I’m done, Jay. So done. You wanted freedom and you got it. I’m all set.”
“Wow, Sam. I can’t believe you feel that way.”
“A week ago maybe I wouldn’t have, but I’ve met someone.” Who cared that he had not called me after our date? Jay did not need to know that.
“Oh.” Damn instant messenger. I could not see his facial reaction.
“Yeah, so, I have to go.” Yup, no awkwardness there.
“Ok… bye, Sam.”
“Bye, Jay. You should try to stick it out. You’ll love it out there once you give it a chance.”
“Maybe.” Then he signed off.
Ok… that was weird. “Trinity, what is wrong with men?” I asked.
“Uh, oh. What happened?” I told her about the conversation with Jay.
“You seem to attract the oddballs, Sam,” she joked.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to bed.” Apparently, my phone had other plans. I could not have been in bed more than five minutes when it rang. Trinity was still up so she grabbed it for me.
“Oh, hi,” I heard her say.
“She’s here. Sure.” She covered the phone. “Sam, it’s Matt.”
“Oh,” I said. What did he want at this time? “Ok.” I took the phone. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he said. “Did I wake you?” At least he realized it was late.
“I was just laying down. It’s ok.”
“Good. Do you want to go for a walk with me?” he asked.
Ok, maybe he did not realize it was almost midnight. Eh, why not? I did not have class until nine and I could sleep when I am dead, right?
“Sure.”
“Ok, I will meet you in front of your dorm.”
“K,” I looked down at my polka dot pajama pants. Oh, hell, who cares? I threw on flip-flops and my new WSC sweatshirt and headed downstairs. I saw him standing there in his shorts and a sweatshirt. Hot. Damn him.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” Why was this awkward?
“Follow me,” he said. “I want to show you my favorite place on campus.”
“Ok.” He took my hand and we walked down the big hill and through the commuter lot. Maybe I should have brought my phone with me.
Finally, we stopped behind the baseball field. It was this big open field.
“This is nice,” I said. I was still unsure of where this was going.
“It’s where I come to think,” he paused. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“Ok, about what?”
“Last night.” Oh goody.
“Ok.”
“You may have noticed I got kind of weird at some point.” No, really?
“Yeah, a little.” That was an understatement.
“I want to explain.”
“Ok.”
“I broke up with my girlfriend of two years this summer. We met at orientation and it was great. Nevertheless, this summer she met someone else and she broke up with me. Apparently, she had been seeing him before we broke it off. I have been somewhat hesitant of getting into anything with anyone, but then I met you and I felt such a connection that it freaked me out. I don’t want to get hurt again.”
“Aw, Matt,” I said. I was glad he had a good reason for being a weirdo. “I’m not going to hurt you. I feel the same way about you.”
“Really?”
“Uh, yeah. Did you not notice how I felt?”
“I guess I was too worried that you wouldn’t like me to notice that you actually liked me.”
“Yeah, ya think?” I decided now was a good time to give him a kiss. Yup, definitely a connection.
“I really like you, Sam.”
“That’s good because I really like you, too, Matt.�
� He kissed me again. He walked me back to my room. “Goodnight, beautiful.”
“Night.”
* * *
The next few months came and went. We were Fred and Wilma for Halloween and he came home with me for Thanksgiving because his parents went to Europe. It was around finals that things started getting weird. We were studying one day and he had a strange look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I know this is really bad timing, but I talked to Kelly yesterday.” Kelly was the ex-girlfriend.
“I see,” I said. This did not sound good.
“She wants to meet me for lunch tomorrow.”
“Uh huh.” What did he expect me to say? Yay?
“Would you be ok with that?” Seriously? I did not know any person that would be ok with their current significant other meeting up with their ex.
“Um, no,” I said.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“I kind of already told her I would.” What the fuck was his problem? Why on earth would he think I would be ok with that?
“Oh,” was all I said.
“I’m sorry.”
“Uh huh. Fine. Whatever.” Why did guys never think things through? Why would he think I would be ok with this?
“Sam?”
“Yes?” Ok, I was quite annoyed.
“I really am sorry; I will call her and cancel. I’m stupid. Obviously this puts you in an awkward position and I should have thought of your feelings.”
“Well, how would you like it if I met up with my old boyfriend?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Ok, then.”
He got up off the bed and came over to me at the desk. “Forgive me?” He gave me the puppy dog face. Damn him. He gazed at me with those big brown eyes. Ugh, he wins. “Of course. But first,” I handed him the phone.
He called Kelly and told her he was unavailable to meet with her because he was spending time with his girlfriend. Yay for me!
“Ok, all done. Are you still mad at me?” he asked.
“No.” Like I could stay mad at him. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was falling in love with him.
Girl in the White Dress: Sam's Story Page 2