ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13)

by Jane Keeler

  The first night was tough. Eve wanted nothing more than to sleep and see the next morning come, eager to make sure she was registered for all the right classes and that nothing on her timetable would clash. But it was strange to sleep in a new place, and with a stranger on the other side of the room. Jena’s breathing switched to a heavy, deep rhythm before too long, and Eve knew she was asleep, but it was hours before she could finally drift off.

  As she lay staring at the ceiling, she traced swirls of paint and tried hard to calm her mind down, hoping it would help. Some part of her was worried, though, about what it might mean to live with Jena for the rest of the year. Would she be a bad influence? Would she be coming home from parties with boys at all hours of the night? Would she try and drag Eve along with her? One thing was for sure – she would never let anything like that get in the way of her studies. She was never going to miss a lecture because of a party or a boy.

  But still, somewhere deep in the back of her mind, was a little thrill of excitement about the thought of meeting someone new and maybe, finally, going all the way.

  ---

  They headed out in different directions the next day, with a promise to meet later on in the afternoon and check out the societies together. By the time Eve was browsing amongst the last of the stalls, still waiting for Jena to show up, she began to wonder if she had forgotten to come at all. But at last she spotted her: over by one of the sorority stands, talking over the details of pledging with one of the sisters. Eve couldn’t help a small smirk from forming on her face. A sorority was the last thing she wanted anything to do with. She was here to learn, not to go to endless parties.

  “Not a fan either, huh?” came a voice from just behind her, and she turned with a blush.

  “It’s not really my thing,” she said, half-apologetically.

  “Nor mine,” the girl who had spoken replied. She was small and blonde-haired, with thick oversized glasses that seemed too big for her face. Eve half-recognised her from the morning: she was in the Literary Arts building looking at the classrooms earlier, when Eve must have passed by her. “You’re doing lit too, right?”

  “Right. Majoring in poetry,” Eve replied. “I’m Eve.”

  “Alison,” she said, sticking out a hand promptly. “I’m majoring in fiction, but I’ll be taking Poetry 1 as well.”

  “I guess I’ll see you there,” Eve smiled, just as Jena came bouncing over to them.

  “You made a new friend already?” she exclaimed, a large grin on her face as she threw an arm around Eve’s shoulders. It seemed they were, in her view at least, best friends already.

  “Jena, this is Alison, who is also doing lit studies,” Eve said, playing the part of gracious host. “Alison, this is Jena, my roommate.”

  “You guys want to go grab a coffee?” Jena asked, looking between the two of them. “The sisters told me about this great little coffee place down on Thayer Street. Apparently it’s the place to be, so I wanted to go check it out.”

  “Well, if it’s the place to be,” Alison said, dryly. Eve laughed. She was getting to like Alison’s sense of humour already.

  “Sure, I think I’m done looking around,” Eve agreed. She’d only seen a couple of societies that were even remotely interesting to her, and she was still in two minds about whether to join them. She had spent a lot of time in extracurricular activities in high school. Maybe now was the time to cut herself just a little slack.

  The coffee shop was already bustling with students, most of them excitedly chatting over cups of steaming coffee or showing each other things on their laptops. It was getting crowded, but they were lucky enough to grab a table with three seats. They decided to make a late lunch out of it, picking up a few pastries each and sandwiches to go with their coffee.

  It was easy to talk, and the conversation flowed freely. Still, there was something of a discord in their group, like one note being played out of tune in a symphony. As she looked between the two of them, Eve felt that Jena and Alison would never really get along. Each of them was so different, that was very clear. Jena wanted to party, go shopping, join a sorority, wear expensive make up, and get a boyfriend or three. Alison was only interested in studying. Eve wondered briefly whether she came across like Alison did – but no, there was something almost maliciously sarcastic about the way she talked. If Eve didn’t want to do something, she would just say so. Alison wanted to rip it to shreds first.

  Jena was not deterred, however, and seemed to be talking more to Eve than to Alison anyway. They were having fun, laughing and joking over their cakes, and it did not seem as though their personality clash was going to descend into a serious argument. Perhaps Jena’s lightness was just the right antidote to Alison – and maybe it would lighten her up a little.

  They started gathering their things to go – the coffee shop was still busy, and they had been done with their drinks and food for at least ten minutes already. The afternoon was drawing on, too, and Alison and Eve both wanted to read a little bit of their course materials before the evening. Jena naturally started to move with them, not wanting to be left behind.

  Eve put all of their empty coffee cups on a tray and started towards the counter where she could leave them, her new course books slung over her shoulder in a tote bag. It was bulging open with the size of the books, but she was used to carrying heavy loads like that around. She could manage it, though she was a little precariously balanced with the tray.

  She made her way across the room, edging between chairs and tables full of students, but her balance was suddenly taken away from her. Something had knocked into her, hard, and she felt the tray in her hands fly up at the same time as a hot liquid splashed against her arm. Before she could even register what was happening, she was on the floor, looking directly down into the tote bag of brand new books that was now covered in fresh coffee.

  “Watch where you’re going!” someone growled, and she looked up to see a slightly older guy in a leather jacket and plain black t-shirt. He looked like he might be a junior or senior, and his dark hair was styled into a pompadour with shaved sides. He had an angry look to him and a now half-empty cup of coffee in his hand.

  “You walked right into me,” she gasped, trying to get her bearings. Jena had rushed over with Alison trailing just behind, and they quickly started helping her to get up and gather the contents of the tray again.

  “Right, I deliberately wasted half a cup of coffee on you just to get your attention,” he sneered. “You’re not that pretty, sweetheart.”

  “You walked into her, alright? We saw the whole thing,” Jena replied, turning to face him with a furious expression.

  Now standing again, Eve brushed herself off as much as she could, reaching for napkins from the counter to try to soak up the coffee. “There’s no need to be so rude,” she added, half-muttering, feeling fairly embarrassed that a whole café full of people had just watched her get knocked to the ground.

  “The blush on that one’s face tells me she knows she’s in the wrong,” he smirked. “Now are you going to buy me a replacement coffee, or what?”

  “What’s your name?” Jena demanded, obviously ready to launch into a diatribe against him.

  “Ethan Riley,” he said, with bravado, as if the name was supposed to mean something to them. “And what’s hers?”

  Jena’s comments deflected, he fixed Eve with a sharp gaze, as if trying to figure it out just from looking at her. “Eve,” she finally offered.

  “The first woman? No wonder you have a superiority complex,” he smirked again, starting to turn to go. “See you around, Eve.”

  “Actually, it’s Eveline,” she countered, her words sounding weak and faltering even to her own ears. They probably did not even fall on his – he was already halfway across the room, swaggering outside to sit on the terrace as if he had proven something.

  “What a jerk,” Alison said quietly, offering Eve another handful of dry napkins.

  “Ignore him,” Jena said cons
olingly, helping to brush the worst of the coffee off one of the books. “He’s probably just throwing his weight around because we’re obviously freshman. Plus, yes, he’s a jerk. And not worth our time.”

  Eve was shaken, but after a few moments back out in the sunshine she was able to smile and laugh with them again. She decided to put the incident behind her. Today had only been the first day, and there was still the whole of the rest of the academic year to look forward to. And – as Jena confidently put it – there were sure to be guys on campus who were worth ten million Ethan Rileys.

  Chapter Two

  On Tuesday, Eve had Poetry 1. It was the class she was most looking forward to. She dreamed of publishing her own collections, of being remembered through the ages like the long-dead classics. She dreamed of making a living by her pen. This class was the one that was going to help her do it.

  She walked across the campus alone. She had agreed to meet Alison outside the lecture hall, and Jena was taking a class somewhere else, so she had just her bag of coffee-stained books for company. She did not mind it, though at times the campus could be a little intimidating. Groups of students had already formed into tight packs, roaming around together and making her feel a little isolated.

  She tried to think about the lecture that was waiting for her rather than focusing on the people around her, but she also needed to pay attention to where she was going. She glanced up at the building ahead to make sure she had got the right direction for her lecture, and her eye was caught by something familiar. A leather jacket, even in this hot and sunny weather…?

  As she got closer, she realised it was him. Ethan. The guy who had rudely knocked into her at the coffee shop. She wanted to carry on past him as quickly as possible so that he would not notice her, still feeling the embarrassment of being knocked down like that. The closer she got, however, the more she realised that there was no need to hide. His attention was fully taken up by a couple of other guys, both of them tall and wearing fraternity jackets. They were close to him – almost uncomfortably close – with their hands thrust deep in their pockets and an aggressive manner. Just by looking, Eve knew that this was not a meeting of friends. They looked angry, though he was facing up to them as if he was not scared of either of them.

  She did not want to be curious, but she was. As she got closer she could make out a word here and there, but not what they were saying to each other exactly. It sounded like Ethan told them to back off, but they were only too happy to carry on. She caught something about “the frat” and “warning you” from them before she was almost past them. She restrained herself from staring back over her shoulder for a few steps, but then her willpower failed and she looked back. The two frat brothers were wandering away, but Ethan was looking in her direction. No, she realised. He was looking directly at her.

  Her cheeks flamed up again and she walked on quickly, refusing to look over her shoulder again even to check whether he was still looking or not. She desperately wanted to know if he was, but on the other hand she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her for being caught staring – and she was not going to get caught again.

  Eve rushed into the lecture hall and quickly found Alison, making her way up the steps to find a place next to her. Pushing Ethan as far out of her mind as she possibly could, she made small talk about the course materials and how exciting it all was until the professor turned up. Then, thankfully, the lecture began, and she had something more important to focus on for a while.

  ---

  Poetry 1 finished at 6.30pm, and they packed away their books quickly. The lecture had opened so many new doors of thought for Eve, and her mind was swimming, full of ideas and inspiration. It had only been an introductory class, but it was still setting her mind alight. She was thinking about form and rhythm, syntax and metre, when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

  Setting her bag down again for a moment to read the message, she saw it was from Jena. “Oh, Alison,” she called out, seeing the other girl starting to move down the steps. “Hold on. Jena wants to know if you want to come out tonight.”

  “I don’t know,” Alison said doubtfully. “Where?”

  “She says there’s a party. The sorority she’s pledging to are holding it to welcome new potentials. She says we can go with her.”

  “I don’t want to join a sorority,” Alison said, shaking her head and starting to move off again.

  “No, she says you don’t have to join,” Eve said, watching her phone buzz over and over as new messages appeared on her screen. “Just that each pledge has to bring two more girls along to the party in order to get in. If you’re not at the party, you can’t pledge. She really needs us to help her out.”

  Alison hesitated again, but Eve could see a great opportunity here. She didn’t want to let her roommate down, and there was another factor that sprung to her mind. “Look, I’m not pledging either,” she said, catching up with Alison so they could talk more quietly. “So this might be the only time that either of us get invited to one of these things. Maybe it’s worth giving it a look, since it’s a one-off.”

  Alison sighed. “I guess that makes sense,” she said. “I don’t want to go to these things later in the year when we have more studying to do, either. What time do I have to meet you guys?”

  “It’s 6.30 now,” Eve replied, looking at the time on her phone. “So maybe come by our dorm at 8.30? Then we can head out and see what the fuss is all about.”

  “Alright, I’ll be there,” Alison agreed, though there was still a grudging tone in her voice.

  ---

  Getting ready for the party took longer than Eve would have thought possible. Jena was almost done by the time she got back to their dorm, but one look at Eve’s wardrobe and she shook her head no. She started rooting through her own clothes, insisting that Eve try on dress after dress until they settled on the right one.

  It was a little black number, sleek and figure-hugging, something that Eve was not sure she was comfortable with. At least it was cut from a full piece of fabric; Jena’s dress had holes and cut-outs all over it, making strappy patterns across her shoulders and midriff. Eve could never have worn something that daring.

  Their shoe sizes weren’t a match, but Eve did have one pair of plain black heels that just about worked with the dress. Jena tutted at her and started drawing up plans for a shopping trip as she worked on her face, adding layers and layers of black mascara alongside smoky grey eyeshadow. When she was finally allowed to look in the mirror Eve barely knew who was looking back at her. She could not deny, however, that at least one small part of her liked it.

  Finally ready to go, and with Alison impatiently sitting on the floor near the doorway, they gathered small clutch bags and phones and started to head out. Alison wore a rather plain, brown coloured dress that hung down past her knees and barely any make up at all, but she had refused all offers of help from Jena and insisted that she was not going to dress up to any further degree.

  The three of them made a funny group, Eve couldn’t help thinking as they walked across campus to the sorority. Jena looked totally at home in her revealing dress, like she wore that kind of thing every night, and Alison stood at the opposite end of the spectrum. Somewhere in the middle, Eve floated, not sure whether she was comfortable with her new look or not. Still, she was doing Jena a favour, and she did not want to let her down.

  They could hear the party before they saw it. Streams of girls in skimpy dresses and men in fraternity jackets were gathering in the same direction, or scattered across the grounds in front of the building that was pumping out loud music. At the door, four girls were checking every person who tried to enter the party. Eve recognised at least one as a sister that Jena had spoken to at their stand.

  “Jena, so glad you made it,” she beamed as they headed up to the door, blonde ringlets bouncing as she leapt forward to plant air kisses around Jena’s head. “These are your plus two, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Jena grinned.
“I told you I’d come through.”

  “Fantastic, darling, get yourself inside,” the sister gushed. “We have Sigma Chi visiting with us tonight. Help yourself to drinks and enjoy the party.”

  The three of them pushed forward into a chaotic hallway, littered already with discarded red cups and a few couples leaning against the walls together. There were rooms off to either side full of partygoers, seemingly from all ages and walks of life. The fraternity boys were obvious by their jackets, most of them navy blue, while the sisters all wore pin badges on the front of their dresses. The rest seemed to be freshmen, most likely new pledges of either side or ‘plus twos’ like Eve and Alison.

  Jena was in her element. She grabbed Eve and Alison by the hand and pulled them over to a table full of drinks, most of them already poured out into red cups. Alison was already shaking her head no before they got there, but Jena grabbed three cups and made sure each of them took one.

  “Ladies, welcome to college,” she said, before quickly taking a few big gulps from her cup.

  Eve sighed. She was 18 years old. She knew that college was a time to let loose and have fun, but she also knew the law. And she knew she was at Brown – not the kind of opportunity that she wanted to mess up.

  “I’m not drinking it,” Alison said, quickly putting the cup back down on the table where it came from. “I don’t want to get in trouble. Besides, I have class tomorrow.”

  Jena sighed and rolled her eyes, but did not try to convince her any further. She probably knew it was a lost cause. “What about you, Eve? I promise I’ll look after you if you want to have one or two.”