by Magan Vernon
I didn’t even hear someone come up to the counter until I heard Sam yell. “Who are you kissing now, Monica?”
I gasped and turned to see my dreadlocked roommate standing at the counter with a big smirk on her red painted lips.
“Trey Chapman!” Melanie squealed.
I turned and glared at her.
“Sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t help it, and she’s your roommate so she has to know.”
“Oh, I witnessed the major eye fucking they were doing last night. I just didn’t know it got to kissing, gross,” Sam said the words with disgust as if she were spitting them out.
I walked over to the counter with Melanie next to me. “It was just a simple kiss. When you put two people together in close quarters, sometimes things are bound to happen.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, but if this thing is going to continue with you and Trey, just give me some sort of a warning. I don’t want to walk in on that again.” She set her hands on the counter. “And if he’s going to be your whatever and you want to have him at the apartment, I guess we can work out an arrangement if you can make some room for my hobbies.”
“I’ll think about that one,” I muttered.
“Good.” She smirked. “Now can I get a large white chocolate mocha with two extra espresso shots?”
I squinted my eyes in confusion, typing the order in on the register. “Whoa, that’s some pretty heavy stuff. Do you have a big test or something?”
Sam shook her head, pulling out some crumpled dollar bills from a duct-taped wallet. “No, it’s my usual. I work nights three days a week at a bank call center. It sucks, but it helps pay for my half of our nice, little apartment.”
Well, that explained how someone that wore ripped up t-shirts and fishnets could afford such a nice place.
“That’s cool,” I said, taking her money and putting it in the register.
Sam leaned in. She smelled like nicotine and foundation, not a good combination. “Look, my offer still stands. If you want Trey over, make room for my hobby, and he can stink up the apartment with his Republican musk.”
I bit my bottom lip, mulling over what she said. “How about if you don’t do it every night, and you have to keep it in your room?”
What was I saying? Was I really just planning on having Trey over more often?
She slammed her hand down on the counter. “You’ve got a deal, roommate.”
And it felt like I just made a deal with the devil. But if there would be more nights with Trey, I didn’t know if it was such a bad deal. We did have to work on our project after all…
***
After closing up work for the night, I got back to my apartment. Sam was gone, so I had the place to myself. I walked into my bedroom, setting my messenger bag on the floor and looking down at the coffee grounds on my shirt. It was probably time for a hot bath and some laundry. Gathering the rest of my dirty clothes, I walked into the kitchen. Our washer and dryer were basically in a tiny closet off the kitchen, but it worked for getting my few days worth of clothes in clean condition.
Once the washer was started, I went back into my bathroom and turned on the hot water, drizzling in a few bath salts. Pulling my hair into a bun, I eased into the warm water, letting it soak over my body. It was just what I needed. But just as I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the tub, my phone buzzed. I would have ignored it, but it buzzed again.
I groaned, leaning up and wiping my hand on a towel before grabbing my phone from where I set it on the closed toilet seat. There was a message from an unknown number.
Do you have plans tonight? I was hoping I could take you to dinner.
I didn’t have to know who the text was from; the context was enough to tell me it was Trey. I decided to text back anyway. There was no reason not to have a little fun with him.
I’m sorry, but if this is a telemarketer, I usually don’t accept propositions through text. You will have to call between the hours of eight a.m. and five p.m.
He responded quicker than I thought he would.
Miss Remy, I didn’t know you were going for a career in comedy. This is Trey.
I know. I responded.
Now that you know, and you have my number, how about dinner? I can pick you up in an hour.
The guy didn’t give up. It was a quality that was both a good and a bad thing. I liked someone who knew what they wanted, but sometimes it could be too much.
I believe this number was given to you to discuss our project, not about personal relations.
But this is about our project, Miss Remy. I want to sit and discuss my objectives with you over dinner.
I groaned. He was very persistent.
Mr. Chapman, I am going to have to decline. I have other obligations that I need to attend to. I will see you in our morning class.
With that I set my phone back down and rested my head back against the tub. My phone didn’t buzz again. I was expecting him to respond and felt a tinge of disappointment in the pit of my stomach that he didn’t. If he would have showed up at my door with his charming smile and those dimples…well, he probably could have convinced me.
After a few more minutes in the tub I got out and wrapped my towel around me. The pajamas that I’d been wearing all week were in the wash, but I knew I had another pair buried in my closet. I walked through the room and into my walk-in closet.
“Where the hell are those pink shorts?” I asked myself.
I fumbled through the stacks of sweaters that were at the back of my closet, but the shorts weren’t there. As I reached up to the top shelf my hand hit something hard. I grabbed the object and pulled it down. It was a small, wooden box, about the size of a shoe box. On the front was a crest with the words ‘Kappa Beta’ carved into it.
I sat on the floor and ran my fingers over the letters. I didn’t even remember packing it, and I hadn’t looked at it since I left Taylor. Slowly, I opened the box. The first thing I saw was a silver chain with the letters ‘KB’ dangling at the end, but the thing that caught my attention was the picture underneath it.
Four girls sat on a blue couch, all in Kappa Beta t-shirts and smiling like their lives depended on it. I was one of the four girls. I ran my fingers over the girl in the picture. The happy girl. The girl that didn’t speak sarcasm. After I left Taylor my mom used to ask what happened to her happy girl. As I looked at the date on the corner of the picture I knew what happened to that girl; she died inside the night the picture was taken. The girls sitting next to her were supposed to be her sisters. Her friends. They were supposed to protect her. Instead they just watched and said nothing.
As I felt tears slide down my cheek and onto the picture, I knew that the once happy girl was the reason I couldn’t be with Trey Chapman. His father’s politics were half the reason I would never be the same again and being with Trey would only remind me of that night.
“Um, I’m here to get the morning after pill?”
The pudgy nurse looked up from her copy of People magazine and quickly shoved it under her desk like I didn’t totally catch her reading it.
“Okay, hold on one moment.”
She went behind a few shelves full of bottles, leaving me standing there with my own thoughts. My feet tapped nervously at the ground. I still hadn’t slept. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to sleep again.
The nurse came back up to the counter with a tiny package in her hands and then she typed a few things into the register. “Okay, that will be $101.50.”
“What?” I tried not to scream and looked around to see that there was no one else near me. No one would have been up that early on a weekend to go to the pharmacy anyway. “I thought it was supposed to be free, and I could just fill out a form?”
She held a tight-lipped smirk on her face. “That was before the contraception bill went into effect.”
“The what? What am I supposed to do?” I blinked back the tears fighting to get out. I had cried too much the past few hours, and
I didn’t even know if I had it in me to cry again.
“Well, we could try to see if your insurance will cover it, but I’ve had quite a few girls in here that haven’t been able to get it covered.”
I shook my head, closing my eyes and then opening them again. “So I’m just stuck?”
The nurse put her hand on mine, patting it gently. “We aren’t supposed to get involved in politics, but I’ve seen too many situations like yours since Governor Chapman passed this bill. I just wished there was something more. If this is an urgent situation, you can always go to the emergency room, and they should be able to work their magic.”
I shook my head, pulling my hand away. “No, no emergency room. I’ll be fine.”
I put the picture back in the box and slid it on the shelf where I found it. I wiped away the last of my tears and then slid on the first pair of pajamas I found. Whether I liked it or not, I still had to live next door to the guy and at least work with him on our project. I walked out of the closet, grabbed my laptop and turned it on. I figured I would need to at least get started on my paper, because the sooner I got done with setting up our objectives, the sooner I would be able to stop working with Trey.
But as I looked down at my phone, seeing the last of my text messages, I couldn’t deny the butterflies that still fluttered in my stomach just thinking of him. I clutched my phone to my chest. My heart was leaning one way, but my mind would never forget the past. If I hated someone’s politics, could I still fall for them?
Chapter 8
After working on my project, and watching a few hours of reality TV, I finally fell asleep. I went to bed early only to wake up the next morning to face Trey in class. I couldn’t pretend like our massive make out session didn’t happen, especially when he walked into class and just grinned at me like he had a secret.
“Is there something I can help you with?” I asked as he took his seat next to me, folding his hands on the desk.
“You can help me with our assignment. You see, Miss Remy, my partner has been ignoring me, so I could really use some help on getting my side of the project started.”‘
Damn, he smelled amazing. Even better than usual. Maybe he just put more cologne on, or maybe it was because I was trying not to notice him and failed miserably when all I could do is think about what cologne he was wearing.
“Well, you should maybe talk to Dr. Westerfield about switching partners. It sounds like this girl is a real bitch,” I said with a smirk, pulling my laptop out of my bag.
Trey leaned in so close I couldn’t help but stare at his lips. The lips that were on mine just a couple of days before. I could almost still taste them. “I’d say she’s just the opposite. And she’s a really great kisser.”
I could feel the heat crawl up my neck and to my face. He said it softly enough so that no one would notice, but just hearing Trey say that about me made my whole body feel like it was on fire.
I cleared my throat, trying to get my head back in the game. “Well, then, you should probably just leave her alone. Those types of girls are always trouble.”
“I’m always up for a challenge, Miss Remy.” He ran his finger down the length of my arm from where my sleeve met my skin and down to my wrist. It sent a warm chill down my arm where his fingers grazed, and it took everything I had not to react to it. “So how about it, Monica? Will you stop rejecting me and just let me take you on a proper date?”
I glanced up and saw the professor walking in. At the risk of being called out again for flirting, I turned my attention to my laptop and opened a word document. “I’m going to have to decline again, Mr. Chapman.”
He looked over his shoulder just as Dr. Westerfield set her bag down on her desk. Then he faced the front of the room. I thought our conversation was over when he pulled out a notebook and pen, but after writing down something quickly he slid the notebook over to the side of the desk.
I glanced over to see a simple question written out.
Why not?
I shook my head and reached into my messenger bag, pulling out a small notebook I kept around to take notes in case my computer ever died. I grabbed a pen and quickly scribbled on the notebook, placing it at the end of my desk.
Because I don’t date Republicans.
I thought it would be a good enough response and he would actually pay attention in class, but no such luck.
He quickly crossed out his first sentence and wrote a new one. I’ll make an exception for you, if you make one for me.
I let out a puff of air and then scribbled the previous one, shoving it at his desk.
No.
All I needed was the two letter word. I hoped that gave him the hint.
It seemed to do the trick because he didn’t bother me throughout the rest of class, though he was pretty busy arguing the points with others on our readings about local government sanctions. I hated to admit it, but there was something incredibly sexy about the way he argued. Every point he made was followed by silence, as if he was actually listening intently to what the other person would say. Then he would slam them down with another political answer that would have that person scrambling for a rebuttal. He really would make a good politician. And an incredibly sexy one.
***
After classes I was finally able to head back to my apartment. Sam was out, and she hadn’t lit up the place yet. I almost regretted allowing her to smoke in the apartment, but if it was just going to be in her room it wouldn’t be that bad. I tried to fool myself into saying that I just agreed because Trey was close by, and I needed to work on the project with him. When in all reality part of me wanted him to come over more often. Even after looking at the picture with the Kappa girls and thinking how much I hated his dad. Maybe he wasn’t like him, but I wasn’t just going to let a guy in that easy.
All summer I tried to put the past behind me. I saw a counselor twice a week, did Pilates, and even tried some forgiveness techniques that involved sage, candles, and pictures. None of them worked. If any guy even looked at me, I usually ran away. My counselor said I couldn’t let my mind control my heart, but I had been doing it for so long that it became second nature until the moment I saw Trey Chapman. Now I was afraid of what would happen if I let my heart win.
Quickly, I shook the thoughts of Trey and his white dress shirts out of my head and went into the bathroom, turning on the bath water. It had become my new routine to unwind for the day, and I didn’t like to miss it. I poured in some bath salts and then put my hair into a bun before slowly creeping into the warm water. Bach crooned from my iPod, and I could almost forget about the day and everything Trey. Almost.
The thought of his dimpled smile combined with the hot water of the bath, sent a whole new set of electricity below my belly button. I gripped the bathtub and mentally shook my head. I couldn’t think of Trey that way or how much he made every part of my body long for him. He wasn’t just another guy; he was a conservative bastard. His father publicly opposed all forms of contraception, gay marriage, and tax breaks for the middle class. Those were my three big hot-button issues and anyone that wasn’t for them, I figured I was against. But maybe Trey wasn’t like his father. I knew I didn’t share all of the same political views as my dad on every issue.
I tried to put politics in the back of my head and just enjoy my bath, but then I heard a loud knock at the door, followed by another. I could have just let it go, but whoever it was kept knocking. I groaned, sliding out of my nice, warm bath and quickly pulled on my bathrobe.
“I’m coming!” I yelled, wiping water droplets from my legs and walking into the living room. The knocking still continued. Whoever it was, they were going to get a mouthful when I got to them.
I threw open the door to be greeted by a giant bouquet of roses. “What the French toast?”
The roses slid down, and there was Trey’s smiling face. “Are you inviting me in for French toast? Because I’m sure that will go great with these flowers.”
I rolled my eyes, taking
the flowers from him, moving into the kitchen, and setting them on the counter. “No, it’s just an expression.”
I tried to look away from the flowers, but they smelled wonderful. The entire kitchen was filled with their amazing aroma. They were all fully bloomed like a big, red ray of sunshine. No guy had ever bought me flowers, but I didn’t want to make a big deal of it in front of Trey. I would gush over them when he left.
“Was I interrupting something?” I turned and saw that he was now standing behind me in the kitchen; a small smile on his face while his eyes trailed down to my robe.
I pulled the top closure tight against my chest and felt my pulse quicken. I prayed he wouldn’t try anything. He never gave me the vibe of being the type of guy that would, but looks could be deceiving. “Yes, I was taking a bath.”
I thought he would be the slimy guy that would ask to join me, but he didn’t. His eyes even stopped scaling my robe and instead they were looking right into mine. “I came over to see if you would reconsider my offer to take you to dinner.”
My throat felt dry, like I had been in the desert for weeks. Between the roses, his dimpled smile, and the way he looked at me like I was the most interesting person in the world, it was hard to resist.
“I…I…I don’t think it’s such a good idea.”