Mr. Waite started talking about what we would be learning in English 243 and what his rules were in the classroom. I was half-listening, but I kept thinking about Gage sitting only three seats away. It almost felt like a dream when I met him two days ago, like he really hadn’t helped me carry Macey home or that I cleaned up the cuts on his face. I wanted to thank him again for what he did, but since we were in the middle of class, I thought better of it.
As the professor started to really get more into the class, I pushed everything Gage-related to the back of my head and focused on the lesson. I couldn’t let my mind wander in my first class. I scribbled down notes quickly as Mr. Waite talked. From the sound of it, this class wouldn’t be too difficult. We would be reading short stories from famous authors, then we would have to write a small paper every week on the stories, as well as discuss them in class.
“Because you guys are in college I expect you to have your assignments in on time or else they do not count. You are to participate regularly with readings and presentations, and you are also expected to work with your surrounding students,” Mr. Waite said.
At the mention of talking in front of the class, I sunk a little lower in my seat. I had always been shy, and having to talk or read things in front of tons of people was not my forte. That was weird considering who my parents were, but hopefully, since this class was pretty big, I wouldn’t have to talk much. Other than that, I thought this class would be pretty easy. I had always excelled in English.
As class went on, I found myself occasionally glancing over at Gage from the corner of my eye. He was slumped down in his seat, twirling his pencil between fingers. His hoodie still stayed over his head, blocking my view of his face. I wanted to know how his eye and lip were, and to make sure he was taking care of his injuries. For some odd reason I wanted, no, I needed to talk to him again. I couldn’t figure out why I needed to. If this was how I was going to be all semester in this class, it would be long few months.
“Okay, that is all for today, everyone. I won’t always remind you, but remember to read the Young Goodman Brown and come in with some things you thought about while reading it on Thursday.” I had this English class twice a week while my other classes were mostly just one day. “I will see you on Thursday.” With that, he dismissed us.
Everyone around me gathered their stuff, glad to be out of here. Even though we were here for about an hour, it didn’t seem that long. I knew the professor let us out earlier than he normally would. Seeing Gage stand up, I quickly gathered my things. He walked ahead of me at a brisk pace, making it hard for my short legs to keep up.
“Gage!” I yelled as I followed behind him down the hallway. There weren’t many people, so I knew he heard me, but he kept on walking. “Gage,” I tried again, picking up my pace, surprised I hadn’t tripped over my heeled shoes. Kids from the same class turned to look at me over their shoulders with weird expressions, but I pushed past them. Yes, I was making a fool out of myself, but I didn’t care at the moment. When I finally caught up with him, I grabbed his elbow tugging on it. I didn’t know why he was still wearing the same hoodie; it wasn’t even cold outside.
“What the hell do you want!” he growled as he turned to face me. He towered over my short frame, and I was once again struck with how tall he was. With him staring straight down at me, I saw how bright his hazel eyes were. I felt myself cowering away slightly at his expression and tone. Gage was glaring daggers down at me and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. I quickly dropped my hand from his elbow.
“I-I…uh,” I stuttered like an idiot. I saw no ounce of recognition in his face. Not saying anything else, he turned back around and continued walking. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Knocking myself out of whatever state I was in, I started after him; why, I didn’t know.
“Gage!” I said loudly as I went after him. The double doors shut after him, but I quickly pushed through them. He now walked ahead of me, a good few feet away. “I know you can hear me!” I said as I held onto my bag and hustled toward him. He once again made no move to indicate that he heard me. I slowed to a brisk walk beside him, having no idea where we were going. I was glad I didn’t have my second class for another hour or so. My heeled shoes were thankfully silent as we walked; it would be even more awkward if my heels clicked, making the only sound.
“Silent treatment now?” I asked. There was a little voice in the back of my head telling me to stop this right now, that I was only making him angry. But I couldn’t stop.
“You may not remember me, but I’m Carter. The girl you helped out the other night? You helped me with my drunk friend?” I pressed, still walking beside a silent Gage. “Well I noticed you are in my English class, and I wanted to say thank you again for what you did. And check up on your wounds,” I rambled. I knew random words were spilling out of my mouth, but I couldn’t stop them. There was something about him that made me want to talk or do something to get a rise out of him.
“What happened, anyways? Did you get in a fight at the frat party? Or did someone try to mug you?” I said, my words ending in a high tone. He still didn’t answer me, and it was starting to piss me off. “Did you kick the other guy’s ass, or did he win? I can see you losing if I must say.”
“Would you just stop talking for one fucking second!” he suddenly yelled, stopping. “You are annoying as hell.”
“I was just—” I started to say but he cut me off.
“I don’t give a flying fuck. Why won’t you leave me alone? If you want me to sleep with you, then you are doing it all wrong,” he bit out. I choked at his words. Sleep with him? I stared up at him with wide eyes. From my angle I could see his face clearly now. The cut on his lip looked worse today, with bruises around it, and the corner of his eye and cheek sported a huge bruise. But somehow, he didn’t look ugly at all; in fact, it made him seem even more like a bad boy.
“Excuse me?” I finally got out.
“I. Am. Not. Going. To. Fuck. You,” he said slowly. “You are the clingy type and I hate that. Plus you are not that pretty anyways.” He talked to me as if I were a child. Crossing his arms over his chest, he smirked down at me. I could feel anger bubbling up inside of me.
“I didn’t say I wanted to sleep with you,” I bit out. “Where did you even get that idea?” He just raised an eyebrow at me.
“You little…I can’t believe you think I want to sleep with you! I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me the other day, but apparently you are too much of an asshole to accept it. I did you a favor by patching you up.” I pointed at his chest and poked it. Ignoring the hard muscle I felt, I glared up at him. “Here I am, trying to be a nice person, and you are being a jerk to me!” As I yelled at him I couldn’t understand why I was so angry. Usually I was so shy and rarely yelled at someone, but Gage had already pressed my buttons, and it had only been a few minutes.
“You know what? Screw it! I am not thanking you again. You should apologize to me!”
“Apologize?” he asked, like that was the funniest thing.
“Yes, apologize! You are here being a jerk when I am trying to be nice!”
“I don’t apologize, sweetheart.” His smirk got wider.
“Don’t call me sweetheart!” I snapped.
“Okay, sweetheart.”
I let out a growl.
“When you want to act like a civilized human being, I will accept your apology. Good day!” With that I turned and headed back the way we came. I could feel my blood boiling and I clenched my hands into fists. I didn’t know what made me so angry at Gage. He was just infuriating, and he’d only said like ten words. I guess I just thought his rude attitude the other night was because of him getting hurt, but apparently not. At least now I knew not to waste my time on him.
Huffing, I continued away from Gage toward another building. I had no idea where I was going at the moment, but I didn’t care. I knew I still had a good hour until my next class, so if I did get lost I would
be fine. When I had gone a good distance, I went over to a random bench and plopped down.
Who does he think he is? Chris Hemsworth or something? I would never sleep with him, especially since I just met him. Sure, Gage was very hot and probably belonged in a magazine, but that didn’t give him the right to be rude to me. I didn’t even know his last name for God’s sake. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I calmed down slightly. I breathed in the fresh air and let the sun soak into my skin. As I relaxed, I suddenly remembered I left my coffee in the classroom. Letting out a small groan, I didn’t make a move to get up and go get it. By the time I got there, it would probably be gone anyways.
“What are you groaning about?” a random voice asked. My eyes shot open to stare at a guy who was sitting right next to me, his eyebrows raised and his hazel eyes sparkling. For a split second I thought it was Gage, but this guy was different. He had dark brown hair that was cut kind of short and coiffed in the front. He kind of had a squarer face than Gage, and he looked more approachable. Why was I comparing him to Gage?
“I’m Dylan, Dylan Stiles, and you are?” he asked.
“Uh, Carter Miller,” I replied.
“Wait, as in Miller? The Miller?” His eyebrows shot up and a look of surprise flashed across his face.
“Yeah, as in The Miller.” I watched as a smile broke out across his face.
“Woah, you are like royalty!” Dylan exclaimed. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Royalty? Far from it.” I giggled.
“Do you not know who your father and mother are? Ashton Miller, multi-millionaire, and Layla Miller, world-famous author!”
“Don’t forget my brother.”
“Oh yes, Luke Miller, quarterback of the football team and only a sophomore, but people are saying that the team will win it all this year, and he is heir to the business.” I stared at him in shock.
“How do you know so much about my family?” I asked.
“Magazines, duh.” I laughed again as I felt all the anger from before melt away. Dylan seemed to have the lovable, friendly vibe about him. I instantly liked being in his presence. “But if I may ask…why are you sitting here alone? Shouldn’t you be surrounded by friends?” I rolled my eyes at that. Just because everyone knew who my parents and brother were didn’t mean I had tons of friends.
“My class let out early and after talking to some asshole, I came here to sit down,” I said simply.
“And here I am, the knight in shining armor to make you feel better.” He grinned at me.
“Yes you are.” His phone buzzed at that moment.
“I’m sorry. I have to go. A friend of mine needs some help.” He stood up. I followed after him. Dylan wasn’t as tall as Gage or Ethan or my brother, but he stood taller than me. I didn’t notice until now, how muscular he looked. His arms were pretty big, and I bet he had a firm torso. “It was nice meeting you, Carter. I hope we run into each other again.”
“Me too. Thank you for cheering me up, Dylan.” Without even thinking, I found myself pulling him into a hug. I had only just met him and was now hugging him; yeah, I must have gone insane. When we pulled away, he smiled at me.
“We better run into each other again. I have a feeling we are going to be great friends.” He grinned. “See you around, Carter.” With a wave he turned and walked away. I stared after him slightly confused about the whole thing, but shrugged. He seemed really nice and I actually did want to see him again.
I grabbed my schedule to look for my next class, art. On the back was a map of campus and I had circled the buildings I would go to. Pulling both of my bags on, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and headed toward where I needed to go, all the while sending Macey a text. I didn’t tell her about Dylan or Gage, but I knew I would have to later tonight.
My next two classes went by fairly quickly. It was kind of the same thing in each class. The professors went over the syllabus and what they expected of us before doing a small exercise. It was basically like the first day of high school.
My art class was simple, and the professor already told us about an upcoming project we would do. The class was somewhat small and was a mix of boys and girls. What I liked the most about it was that the classroom was really homey. The walls were decorated with paintings and random drawings from previous students. There weren’t desks and seats like in other classrooms; there were just chairs and a few desks scattered around. There were even a few comfy-looking chairs and a couch. When one o’clock came around, I was more than happy to go grab something to eat. I was starving, and my head was starting to hurt from all the information I received in the last few hours. As I made my way toward 95 Degrees to meet Macey, I sent Luke a text telling him I was free until two, so whenever he wanted to go get ice cream, we could.
All day I hadn’t seen anyone I knew, well, besides Gage in English. I was surprised that I didn’t see anyone from the football team like Luke and Ethan said I would. I kind of wish that I had someone in my classes who I knew, so I wouldn’t feel so alone and sit there like a weirdo. I just had to give it time, so I could make some other friends.
Campus was lively now, as everyone had classes or were up and about. Weaving my way through the crowds, I finally made it to the café and entered. I quickly spotted Macey sitting at a table laughing at something the guy across from her said. Immediately, I recognized the guy, Luke.
“Hey, Mace,” I said, coming up to them. “Luke.” I smiled over at my brother. I was glad he was here with Macey, hopefully keeping her company while I still had class.
“Hey, how were classes?” Mace asked as I sat down.
“Pretty good. Hopefully won’t be too bad this semester. How about you?”
“Good. Chemistry is going to be so fun! We have labs we do every week, and molecules we have to chart.” Macey talked excitedly. She was looking off into the distance, like she was imagining doing that stuff already. I shook my head at her enthusiasm.
“How about you, Luke? Got any good classes this year?”
“Nah, just the usual. A few business courses, a math class, and communications. Not too much for the semester because of football season.”
“Excited for tonight?”
“Hell yeah! The team is great this year, and with the extra drills, we will definitely win. Ethan and I have been going over the plays a lot lately.” I knew Luke was hoping to make captain next year, along with Ethan being his co-captain. Both of them working together was like a well-oiled machine; it was like they could read each other’s minds. On the field it was amazing to watch.
“Speaking of Ethan, where is he?” I asked.
“He has class at 1:30, so he’s heading that way now.” Ethan was like Luke, studying business. His family owned a bunch of stuff overseas and all over America. They were never home and never were when he was little; that was why he was always over at our house. Even though he only lived three houses down from us, he had his own room beside Luke’s. My parents hated that his parents left him alone so much, so he was practically a part of our family. Even now that he was twenty, his parents still weren’t around. I think the only time he really spent time with his family was the summer before sophomore year, when they dragged him across Europe with them.
His parents were pretty well off, especially from the businesses they owned, but Ethan always said he wanted to make a living without his parents’ help. Even though his parents may want him to take the company over, he said he wouldn’t. I guess that was another thing that I really admired about him: he wanted to be his own person and do stuff his own way.
I always hated that his parents left him to travel the world. He didn’t like to admit it, but I could tell he missed them. Sure, my parents were like his own, but it wasn’t the same. Sure, his parents would say they were doing this for him, for his future, but I think Ethan would rather them be around than have all the money they make.
“You better grab something to eat; you only have a little bit,” Luke said, interrupting my though
ts. I nodded, asking if they wanted anything before heading to the counter.
As I waited for my food, all three of us talked. It was actually kind of nice not having Macey or Luke shooting insults back and forth. They were being civil. Sadly, it had to end, as Macey had class in ten minutes, as did Luke. I hated that none of us had the same schedule. Getting up, I hugged Luke and wished them both good luck in their classes. After I made sure that we were on for 3:30 to go get ice cream, the two of them left.
I let out a sigh as I sat down by myself. I hated eating alone in public. I didn’t really know why, but I just did. I always felt like people were staring and judging. Picking at the rest of my lunch, I finally decided I find somewhere to go sit and sketch for a few minutes before my last class.
Throwing my stuff away, I grabbed my bags and headed outside. It was nice outside, so I might as well enjoy it while it lasts. Walking around for a few minutes, I found an empty table beside a big tree. Smiling, I sat down and took out my sketchbook. With twenty minutes to kill, I set a timer to make sure I wouldn’t miss class, and then started drawing.
Time passed by quickly and before I knew it, my timer was going off on my phone. I quickly shut it off before looking at what I did. My hand felt like it drew on its own, and I found myself staring at an outline of a man. It wasn’t fully developed and only had a few bits done other than the outline. If I had more time, I would be able to see more of it. I knew I had to get to class, so I sadly put it away. I was definitely going to finish that later.
My math class thankfully went by pretty quickly and soon we were dismissed. I could tell I was going to struggle in that class. I wasn’t the greatest at math anyways, but I knew I would need a tutor or to study very hard. Thankfully, my brother was great at math, and so was Mace.
Once I was out of the building, I texted Luke to meet me at the dorm building. I was ready for our ritual. As quickly as I could in my heeled boots, I made my way back to my building. I smiled thinking of today. It went by pretty well and I was looking forward to the rest of my classes. Even though I got yelled at by Gage, I was able to meet Dylan, who I thought would become a great friend. Now I was heading to eat ice cream with my brother before his football game. This semester was going to be great.
Silent Love Page 7