As the line moves up, I scan the food before grabbing a burger and going back at the table. I slow down as I approach the table. Lea is leaned over, whispering. Her face is lined with concern, Hayze’s jaw is clenched. The way they treat each other makes me believe they are downplaying their relationship. I would guess they’re dating, but apparently Hayze hooks up with every girl on campus, so I know that can’t be it. As much as I want to ask them about it, I won’t. I’ll wait until I have a better relationship with them.
“I said I’m fine Lea,” he warns.
I slide my tray on the table and fix my eyes on my food, ignoring their conversation. Lea is the first to look in my direction. “Bad timing?” I ask, scooting further away from them.
“Perfect actually,” he says, glaring at Lea.
Lea slaps her hands down on her lap, filling the space with a loud clasp. “I forgot to ask! How’d your first night go?” She asks me, her face shifts into a toothy grin.
“Good,” I bob my head up and down.
“That tool you dated tried to hit on her,” he snorts. I bite the ketchup packet with my front teeth and rip the side open as I listen to them bicker.
Lea’s mouth twists to the side, she taps her chin, thinking. “You will have to be more specific,” she says.
“Corey,” he spits his name in disgust.
She shrugs her shoulders as she finishes chewing. “He wasn’t that bad…When he wasn’t drinking”
“Unfortunately for everyone around him, he drinks all the time,” he says.
“Guess you have a point,” Lea says, shrugging.
Hayze opens his mouth to say something, but rolls his eyes instead. The conversation is light throughout lunch, but I catch Lea watching him with concern.
As the students thin out of the room, we stand and walk toward the trash bins. I toss my food and stay ahead of them. Lea grabs onto my bag, tugging me backwards.
“Let’s go out Wednesday,” Lea says as she dumps her tray. I smile, knowing this is the opportunity I need. Lea’s face lights when I nod my head in agreement.
Hayze groans, “Fine.”
Twisting my watch around my arm, I see I’m running late for my last class. “I have to get to class,” I tell them.
“See you at the room, Tay,” Lea calls out.
I set out to find the fine arts building. After ducking from a football and bumping into a group of girls, I finally find the building. The front is covered with windows. I walk inside praying that I will be released early from my last class of the day. My phone vibrates from my pocket. I glance around the class, but the professor isn’t in sight. Seeing that it’s from Lea, I open the text.
Her text says:Pool party at Hayze’s. Wanna come?
I respond:Do I have a choice?
No you don’t. Her response comes through immediately and I laugh.
A sporadic graying man, flies in the lecture hall with seconds to spare. He shuffles the syllabus to each student, speaking excitedly as he works. I sigh as he directs us to flip to chapter one, and I tell Lea that I will be late for the party. The lecture hall is packed with students. One more trails in, leaving me boxed between two people. I doodle important notes in my notebook, half an hour later we are dismissed.
“There you are,” Lea says as I walk in our dorm. Her dress flips into a whirlwind as she storms around the room, tossing things in her bag. She pushes sun tan lotion and two large towels before yanking the reluctant zipper in its place.
“Here I am,” I repeat.
“Do you have a suit?” She asks, pointing to the straps of her bikini. I bite my bottom lip. I want to lie and say I don’t, but that will just give her a reason to loan me one of her bikinis. And that is the last thing I want.
“Yeah, in the closet,” I say.
“Perfect, put it on and let’s go,” she says, smiling. I step in the closet and change quickly; I tug on a purple cover up before walking out.
“So, what exactly am I getting myself into?” I ask.
We walk down the narrow hall, bumping into passing students. Lea kicks the front door open, juggling her bag as she walks. When the humidity fills my lungs, I toss my thick hair in a ponytail.
“Hayze and his roommate have cookouts sometimes. Their apartment has a pretty awesome pool we hang out at,” she says. I point to my car in the parking lot. She dumps the heavy bag in the back and slides in the passenger seat. She flips the visor in my car, checking her appearance in the mirror.
“The apartment complex is fine with parties?” I ask, knowing the answer before she has time to respond. They aren’t fine with it, but I get the feeling they don’t need permission.
“They have never said no,” she says, shrugging. She flips the visor and laughs at me. “His apartment is the closest one to campus. It’s basically only students, everything slides in that place.” I pull on the packed street and she points. “Pull on the far lane, you’re about to turn right.”
A gap in the tree line appears and a complex comes into my view. “Turn here and park in front of the office,” she says.
The complex is huge. Red bricks line the outside, while the face consists of white paneling. Six buildings are scattered around the office. As we get out and approach the office, I hear music and chatter. Lea takes the sidewalk leading to a black iron fence that sits between each building. A pool with dozens of students comes into sight.
My eyes immediately fall on Hayze. He isn’t hard to miss; the group of girls surrounding him makes him an easy target. Although he speaks to them, he looks bored. His leg anxiously jerks up and down on the chair, a beer rests of his knee. With his chest bare, I take in the dark lines etching across his shoulders. A stray line of roman numerals sits below his chest on his left side.
“Want a beer?” A guy taps me on the shoulder with a canned beer, I jerk from the coolness. He looks at me apologetically but holds the beer in place.
I shake my head. “No, thanks,” I say. He shrugs and tosses it to Lea’s willing hands.
Lea pops the top of the beer as she walks around the pool, like a lost puppy, I follow closely behind. She drags a chair next to Hayze’s fan group and motions for me to sit. Hayze spots us for the first time. He sets his beer on the table and walks over.
“You came,” he says. He pulls Lea in a hug, laughing as he ruffles her hair.
“Hey Taylor.” He grins, giving me a cordial hug.
He sits between Lea and me. The pool is scattered with loud students. Some are in the pool but most are at the table, each table is shaded by an umbrella. Lea brings the silver can to her mouth and disposes the rest of the drink in one gulp.
“How was the first day?” Hayze asks me, his voice is rushed. His eyes dart around the group, the pool, and finally land on me. He slips sunglasses on and taps the arm of the chair. When I saw him today he was so relaxed and easy going, and now he’s erratic.
“Err fine,” I say. “How was yours?”
“Good,” he says, distracted. He tosses the almost full beer to the sidewalk, frowning. Sighing, he says, “I don’t know why the fuck I’m even drinking that.”
“Doesn’t have the same affect, does it?” A guy laughs.
“Nah, I need to get out of here man,” he said. He tugs his hand through his hair and sighs. “What else is there to do?” He looks around the group.
Lea frowns. “Hayze, you seem a little hopped up on something, are you okay?”
“Christ, Lea, say that a little louder, I don’t think the cop across the pool heard you,” he says. “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”
Pulling off her sunglasses, she matches his glare. “I don’t know, you tell me.”
“Just fucking drop it,” he says, running a hand down his face. He seems distant from their fight, but Lea crosses her arms, obviously mad at the way he’s acting.
A blonde from Hayze’s fan club stands and walks over to us. She makes a show of sitting in his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. When she whispers in his ear,
he tenses and grips her side.
“Seriously, Hayze, get a room,” Lea says, making gagging sounds.
“Actually that’s not a bad idea,” the blonde says, the shrill of her voice makes me cringe. Her thin lips curve into a grin as her hands rub his arms.
He pushes her from his lap and stands. “It will get me the fuck out of here,” he says.
Smiling with victory, she grabs her clothes, and links her hand with his. “Out of here? I thought you lived here?” She asks.
“Darlin’ we’re not going back to my place,” he laughs.
She frowns. “I live too far. I don’t wanna wait that long.”
He walks off and she follows. Like a train wreck I can’t tear my eyes from him, I look behind me. A brunette has joined. Hayze has his arms slung over their shoulders, leading them from the pool.
“Are they…” I look to Lea in horror.
“Yup,” she laughs, without a trace of humor. “Welcome to the “Hayze show.” And thank god Joel isn’t here. They like feed off of each other,” she said, cringing.
“Wow,” I said.
Lea laughs, “This is your first day of college. Just wait.” Her words slice through me like a dull knife.
“And you’re okay with that?” I ask, daring. I know it’s a huge step, but their relationship is so odd to me. She looks at me and wrinkles her nose.
“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?” She asks, staring at me as if I grew two heads. I shrug my shoulders and drop the topic.
I peek over my shoulder, but the threesome is nowhere to be found. Lea drags her chair in the sun and slings her beer back. As she reaches for another, I glance around the remaining crowd.
I kick my feet on the cooler in front of me; with my ankles crossed I let out a sigh and get comfortable. Chatter illuminates around me, they hash out the fresh semester, making promises of nights to come. A girl rises from the pool and saunters by me, flicking drops of water on my dress.
Lea shifts in her seat and pokes my arm. “Speak of the devil,” she says.
I follow her gaze; the bikini clad girl is leaning into the iron fence, begging for the attention of the guy in front of her. The olive-skinned guy searches the pool, his hands grip the tip of the fence and with one swift movement he hops over the fence. As he draws near, he takes one last puff of his cigarette and tosses it behind him. His black hair is buzzed; his deep set black eyes grow colder with each step. I’m certain if I tried, I could pop the top of a beer on his cheek bones.
“Lea,” he grumbles with disdain as he passes. She shrugs, I almost ask what that was about, but I decide against it. Lea has odd relationships with everyone aside from me.
“You sure you don’t want a drink?” The guy from before asks.
“Do you have anything that tastes better…Or maybe something stronger?” I look at the beer then to him, grimacing. I’ve only tried beer once but it left a lasting impression on me. It was absolutely disgusting. Lea chuckles at me.
With a curl of his lips, he pulls a box from under the table. “Slap the tit,” he said.
“Uh, excuse me?” I watch him, waiting for him to apologize. He gestures to the table and I cock my eyebrow at him.
“C’mon fish, don’t tell me you have never played,” he teases. The box unfolds as his knife glides the edges. He dangles a dark bag in front of my face. “Get your ass up, fish.”
“Fish,” I say, adding air quotes. “Is a high school thing, not college,” I tell him as I rise from my seat. I ignore his accusation altogether. I don’t want to get into my strict upbringing with a guy that’s wasted in broad daylight.
“You have seriously never done this?” Lea asks and I roll my eyes.
“What do you think?” I shoot back.
“You didn’t sneak off to a party after your parents fell asleep?” She asks with a laugh. The guy looks down at me, amused.
“I’m almost convinced that my dad never sleeps,” I say, sighing. He holds the bag over my head with his fingers on the dispenser. With wide eyes, I take a reluctant step back. “You haven’t even told me what I’m supposed to be doing,” I say, rearranging my sunglasses to buy time.
“Drink,” he deadpans.
“Here, I’ll show you,” Lea says, pushing her way in front of me.
She twists the knob and braces for the wine to flow. The chair angled behind me slides across the pavement, Lea stops, wiping the back of her hand across her lips and stares at the guy behind me. He twists his blue hat around, shoving it over his eyes and lights up.
With a deep inhale he holds the smoke in then turns to us. With a cough, smoke tumbles from his mouth. “What?” He croaks out, staring at Lea.
“Amazing, just amazing,” She clips as she tugs on her cover up and grabs the bag. “I can’t even come over without you guys pullin’ some stupid shit! Taylor, let’s get out of here.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask, grabbing her elbow.
“Lea’s just acting like a fucking saint. She gets on her kicks sometimes. Like she’s never lit one up with us,” he chuckles.
“There are cops standing at the gate. Someone probably called in on you idiots,” Lea says, shoving her finger in their direction.
He dips his shades down and snorts. “Those are security guards, big difference.”
“Yeah? Well don’t call me when they arrest you for possession.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he says. With a grin, he leans back in the lounger. “For the record, you’d get off my back if knew what Hayze did earlier.”
“I honestly don’t want to know. Fucking idiots,” she mutters and storms away.
It takes all the energy I can muster to match Lea’s sharp strides. With her fist balled at her side, she curses with each step. When we reach the car, Lea’s anger has somewhat dissolved.
“What was that about?” I reluctantly ask.
She grabs my door handle and slings it open. She lets out a long exhale, trying to calm down. “Just a bunch of careless assholes; some of these guys can be very persuasive, just be smart.”
“…Okay,” I say.
“Be careful with them. Especially the idiots you saw today,” she huffs.
I crank my car and sit. With cool air blowing in my hair, I tap my fingers on the wheel, waiting for Lea to elaborate. My mind has come up with a million different scenarios. I want to ask if she’s talking about Hayze, and what her warning means, but I patiently wait.
“You ready? I need to make a call when we get back,” she says.
Shifting into drive, I smile, “Just waiting on you.”
three
“Yeah…” Lea scans my body, tapping her chin and shaking her head. “That outfit isn’t going to work.”
Frowning, I look in our full length mirror. My jeans are tight, and my gray Beatles shirt clings to me, flattering my unfortunate figure. Then I look at her, shaking my head. Her purple halter top ties at her neck and her black shorts look more like underwear.
Against my better judgment I agreed to go shopping with her today. It was…interesting; definitely something to remember. She made countless suggestions and I politely declined. She shrugged her shoulders and bought the outfits I vetoed. I ended up buying two dresses, and she teased me calling them Sunday morning dresses, but they’re not something I would show up to church in, or anywhere else.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” I ask, teasing her. She promised we were going to a laid back bar tonight, but her reluctance with my outfit makes me think that she was lying.
“Oh, it’s perfect… For your Sunday family dinners,” She pulls something from her closet. “I would be showing my body off if I looked like you! Here, wear this,” she says, tossing clothes at me.
I wrinkle my nose and stare blankly at her. “What? You’re way skinnier than I am,” I say.
“Guys don’t want skinny, they want this,” she says, gesturing her hand up my body. I cock my eyebrow and inspect the black dress. The cheap material is shiny, too shiny and almo
st rubbery. Sighing, I walk to the corner to change. The tight dress stretches over my curves. I never thought of myself as fat, but a size six is rare to find on this campus. I can definitely tell that rooming with her might be a problem if she fails to understand we’re different sizes.
“It’s a little tight,” I say, sucking in my breath.
“Said no one ever, its perfect,” She says, rolling her eyes. She shoves me in front of the mirror.
It’s different; maybe if I were looking at someone else this would be sexy. As my eyes reach my face, I know this is wrong. I tug on the hem of the dress, willing it to grow in length. She pulls my ponytail, letting my auburn hair fall down my shoulders.
She dramatically wipes her brow. “There, now I can take you to a bar.”
She tugs on my hand, leading me to the hallway. We bump into a pair of girls taking a selfie. The more girls I see scattered on campus, the better I feel about my outfit. If all of us were in a group, I would be the most modestly dressed one. My dad’s voice pushes its way into my head, if everyone else was jumping off a cliff…But I shake that thought. Whatever makes me feel better, right?
“We’re meeting Hayze at his house,” she says, fumbling for her keys in her satchel style bag.
She clicks her keys and an older Honda civic headlights blink at us. When I open the door, water bottles tumble to the ground. “Just push everything over,” she says, scrounging to help make room for me.
I toss books in the back, kick bottles to the side, making a path to sit down. She smiles apologetically. “We are taking mine next time,” I laugh.
She turns her radio down as she starts the car. She pulls from the parking garage, and out into the busy streets. We’re caught at every red light, but she manages to entertain me with lip synching.
“We’re here! His apartment is ground floor,” she tells me as she pulls into the near empty parking lot.
I follow her into the dark hallway and under stairs. She stops at the apartment marked one thousand twenty-two and knocks. Hayze opens the door, a guy, with a low fitting hat, passes by us. “Thanks man,” he says.
Hazed (Hazed & Unfazed #1) Page 3