by J. L. Beck
My mouth drops open as I stare up at him in disbelief. Cujo?!? Did he just freaking call me Cujo? What. The. Fuck. Reaching up, I slap his hand away from my shoulder.
"You don't get to touch me," I snarl at him. He backs up, eyes wide with his palms up in front of him like he's afraid I'm going to come after him. He's probably not far off. I'd love nothing more than to junk punch him for daring to call me that, no matter how attractive he is.
Looking around him to Max I raise an eyebrow, "Now, can I please go into my room? Y'all can fight this out amongst yourselves, but I'd like to be comfortable if I'm going to have to deal with all of you." I know I'm coming off as a serious bitch, but he and Wyatt are both pushing every button I have.
Max looks like he's going to lay into me again until Kat places a hand on his arm. When he turns to look down at her, she murmurs, "Just let it go Max, she's my roommate. I'd rather not have her hate me."
Too late for that sweetheart, I hated you as soon as I got that notice yesterday. I know it isn't really her fault, but I'm just not in a very giving mood right now.
Giving me a warning glance Max shrugs, "Whatever you say Kat."
Once they both move away from the door, I rush forward to put my key in. I want nothing more than to put my stuff down and get the hell away from the entire group. All five of them, my new roommate and her entourage, especially Max and Wyatt, can kiss my ass. I don't need this; I still have to figure out what I'm going to do about getting a tutor so I don't fail Algebra.
Kat follows me into the room, the guys behind her. Ignoring her friends, I gesture towards the unmade bed, "That side is yours. Make sure you keep your stuff on your side of the room."
She nods, pulling one of her duffel bags off her shoulder and dropping it onto the bed with a sigh of relief. The girl looks resigned, which isn't what I was expecting. I'm not sure why, but she looks about as thrilled to be here as I am to have her. I'm not going to ask her what her deal is though. Making friends isn't why I'm here. In fact, if I had my way, I'd be at a bigger college, farther away from my controlling parents.
Catching the look on her face, Max doesn't hesitate to pull her into a hug. "It'll be okay doll face," he whispers into her hair, obviously unaware that I'm close enough to hear what they're saying. "Living in the dorms will be good for you. New experiences and all that shit."
With a small laugh, Kat shakes her head, "That's exactly what Anna said. Right down to 'all that shit'." When she tips her head back to look at him, he smiles down at her.
"I do like your sister. You should listen to her more often." Max winks and Kat looks away biting her lip.
Ugh. This little love fest is more than I can handle. "I hope this isn't going to become a habit. Considering the fact that I actually like spending time in my room, I don't want to have to share it with some face-sucking lovebirds." Jesus, it's like I can't control the things coming out of my mouth. I'm usually short with people, but I'm really not this much of a bitch.
Before I can apologize, Kat spins around, a blush staining up her cheeks as she says, "We're just friends. You don't have to worry about any face-sucking, but he is usually around."
"I wasn't trying to imply that I give a shit. Just stating a fact. I like to hang out in my room, and I don't want to have to stock up on disinfectant and headphones in order to do so."
Max is immediately in my face. "Are you always this big of a bitch? Or is this all for us?"
For someone who's "just a friend", he's awfully protective of Kat. I'm tired of this conversation. I already had a fight with my mom this morning about Bradford Anderson, the guy she's been trying to foist on me ever since I broke up with him in high school, which is probably why I'm being more of an asshole than I normally am. So, another possible confrontation is the last thing I want to deal with.
"You know what? I'm outta here. I'll be back later, once all your friends are gone." Pushing past Max and walking to the door, I wait for the other three to move out of my way so I can get out of here. Wyatt opens his mouth to say something, but I put my head down and skirt past him quickly, trying to pretend I'm not at all interested in whatever it is he wants to say. I don't even attempt the elevator, heading straight for the stairs. The sooner I get to Scarlett's room, the better.
My best friend's room is on the first floor, and running full speed down two flights of stairs not long after running up the same earlier has me convinced that I need to start working out. By the time I make it to her floor, I'm panting and sweaty. Gross. Coming to a stop in front of her room, I bend over, putting my hands on my knees in an attempt to calm my breath and racing heart. Before I even get a chance to knock, Scarlett's door opens and her roommate Annabelle stops short when she sees me.
"Are you okay?" She's obviously surprised to see me looking so haggard. I'm usually much more put together, but with the way today has gone, I'm close to unraveling.
"I'm fine," I wheeze, "Is Scarlett here?" She's pretty much the only person I talk to and if she isn't here, I don't know where I'll go.
Annabelle's still looking at me like she's worried I'm going to pass out any second so I try harder to control my breathing. At first, she doesn't answer me but when I finally straighten up, she nods. "Yeah, she's inside. I was just going to work, so go on in."
Thank God. I won't have to deal with Annabelle on top of everything from upstairs. She moves out of the doorway so I can walk past her into their dorm room, and Scarlett's sitting on her bed Indian style with her headphones in listening to music. Books are spread out all around her and she's not paying a bit of attention to our conversation going on at the door.
"The girl has her music so loud, I don't think she'd notice the room falling down around her," Annabelle says rolling her eyes.
Smirking, I reply, "She is a music major, I guess that's to be expected."
I actually met Scarlett last semester in a Music Theory class where we were forced to partner up. I don't get along well with many people, but we both have the same sarcastic sense of humor, and she wouldn't let me not be friends with her. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would have resorted to stalking to get me to hang out with her.
"Yeah, well, I gotta get to work before I'm late," she says before turning to yell at Scarlett, "I'll be back late."
When Scarlett doesn't acknowledge her, Annabelle grabs a piece of paper off her desk and balls it up before slinging it at her. The paper hits Scarlett on the side of her face, and she jumps about a foot before turning to glare at Annabelle and me.
Yanking her headphones down around her neck, she pushes a bright red curl out of her eyes and snarls, "Really Annabelle? Was that absolutely necessary?"
"Yes! Once again, you weren't paying any attention. What if some random guy walked in here? You'd have no idea until it was too late!"
Annabelle is entirely too upset about the unlikely possibility, but before I can say anything, Scarlett's scowl softens, and she says softly, "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. I'll lock the door as soon as you leave."
Nodding, Annabelle leaves without saying anything else and Scarlett stares sadly at the closed door for a second before turning her attention to me.
"What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to meet the new roommate today?"
I sigh, "Ugh, yes. I met her." Not to mention the hot guy entourage that accompanied her. Even now, I'm still thinking about the one guy, Wyatt. The fact that I'm still thinking about him irritates me even more than getting a roommate.
Scarlett must hear the frustration in my voice because she motions towards her bed and I flop down next to her. "That bad huh?" she says understandingly.
"You don't even know the half of it!" My groan sounds frustrated.
She frowns, "That doesn't sound good. So tell me already!"
I think she's enjoying my discomfort just a little too much, but narrowing my eyes, I give her the play by play of meeting Kat and her "friends". I know I spend entirely too much time complaining about the roommate's hot guy friends beca
use by the time I'm finished, Scarlett is laying on her back on the bed with her arm over her eyes. Her freshly colored red hair is spread out on her pillow, and she's laughing at me! Sitting up, I reach over and yank her arm away from her eyes to see they're sparkling with mirth.
"It's not funny Scarlett! They're all jerks!" I'm fuming now. I came here for support expecting her to commiserate with me, and instead she's laughing at the situation.
Scarlett snorts, "I'm sure you weren't little miss nice yourself Pey. You're not exactly the easiest person to get along with. In fact, you're probably the most closed off person I know."
Lying back down beside her, I let out a long-suffering sigh. "I know. Kat isn't that bad I guess, she seemed about as happy to be in my dorm as I was to have someone there. I just got used to being by myself you know?"
"I get it Pey, I do. But, you're going to be rooming with her for the rest of the year. You should at least make the effort to get to know her before writing her off completely." She's quiet for a minute before continuing, her smile wider, "Tell me about this Wyatt guy. It sounds like he definitely made an impression on you."
Groaning, I tell her, "He didn't make an impression on me in the way you're thinking. He was a complete jerk! He and Max were both jerks."
"That may be true, but you barely mentioned Max at all. What is it Shakespeare said? The lady doth protest too much?" Scarlett claps her hands in glee, "I feel like a proud parent! You've finally got your first crush! I should be squeeing right now!"
Narrowing my eyes, I point a finger at her, "Squee and I will cut you. And, I don't have a crush. Even if I did, it wouldn't be my first." Stopping to gather my thoughts, I roll my eyes at her. "Why did I start talking to you again? Remind me, please."
Turning her head to glare at me, she continues, "When did you start? Hell, if I hadn't forced you to talk to me, you would have missed out on the awesomeness of my friendship. Then where would you be?"
"You're right Scarlett. My life would be empty without you!" I say dramatically, clasping my hands above my heart before dissolving into laughter.
"God, you're such an asshole!" Scarlett exclaims as she shoves me off the bed and onto the floor.
Grabbing her hand at the last minute, I pull her onto the floor with me and then we're both laughing. After a few minutes, Scarlett gets to her feet before offering a hand to pull me up too.
"Come on chica, let's go check out that new roommate of yours. Maybe the man candy is still there. After all, I do need a date for this weekend," she waggles her eyebrows exaggeratedly before towing me out the door and up to my room while I pray they're all gone.
We take the elevator up, so at least I'm not out of breath this time. When we get off the elevator, I can already see that the door to my room is shut, so maybe they all left. Deep down, I know that I'm not that lucky, so I square my shoulders and try the handle. It isn't locked, so there goes the "nobody's-home" theory. Walking into the room, I see Kat sitting on her bed with a spiral notebook writing furiously. Scarlett shuts the door behind us, and she startles, whipping her head up to look at us.
"Oh, hey! You're back," she says with a friendly smile, like the conversation earlier never happened.
When I don't say anything, Scarlett steps around me and holds out her hand. "Hey! I'm Scarlett, Peyton's friend. You must be the new roommate she told me she was getting." She grins at Kat, who immediately grabs her hand.
Please save me from friendly people! "Scarlett, obviously she's my roommate, she's sitting on the only other bed in the room and she was alone when we walked in. Who else would she be?"
"Oh stop!" Scarlett smacks me on the arm before turning back to Kat. "Her bark is worse than her bite I promise."
Kat beams at Scarlett and it's all I can do not to strangle my friend. The last thing I need is her encouraging my new roommate to talk to me. Scarlett completely ignores how ill at ease I am though; she just makes herself comfortable on my bed and carries on a conversation with Kat like I'm not even here. I know she's doing it more to piss me off than to really be friendly, but Kat seems grateful for a friendly face.
"What made you decide to move into the dorms?" Scarlett is genuinely interested in Kat's answer, and I'm surprised to discover that I actually want to know too.
Kat shrugs, "I was staying with my sister, but I decided to move into the dorms so she could let a friend who's having a rough time move in with her. It was just easier."
"That was so nice of you!" Scarlett grins at my roommate, and I know there's no way we won't be spending time together since Scarlett's taken an instant liking to her. Turning to me with a smirk, Scarlett continues, "Wasn't that nice of her Pey?" Her tone leaves no room for argument, and I give her a resigned smile as I sit down beside her.
Kat is looking between us like she can't figure out how we could possibly get along, and she's not the only one. Scarlett is pretty much the anti-Peyton, or maybe I'm the anti-Scarlett. I'm not sure, but somehow it works. Scarlett keeps me from being a complete bitch to everyone, and I give her more of the backbone she needs.
After studying us, she seems to come to the decision that we're not complete psychos and relaxes back so that she's resting on her hands. "So, what are you guys majoring in?"
I don't know of any way to avoid answering, so I tell her, "I'm majoring in Commercial Music, and Scarlett's major is Music Education."
Kat's eyes light up when I say Scarlett's major, and she turns to her, saying enthusiastically, "That's so cool! I'm majoring in Elementary Education! I wonder if we'll have any classes together this semester!"
Scarlett shakes her head, and Kat's smile falters. "I doubt it. Most of my classes deal with Music Theory and Instruments."
After that, the atmosphere in the room turns awkward. Maybe Kat's more like me than I thought, except where she wants to make friends and have people like her, I really couldn't care less. But, Scarlett was right earlier, we are going to be roommates for at least the next few months, so I need to make the best of it.
Sliding into the first empty chair I see, I can't believe I was almost late to class. An Economics class no less. I've been behind all day, and it's only the second day of the semester. This is not a good omen. As I reach into my bag to take out the textbook that was required for this course, I sigh in relief as the teacher comes into the room.
"Cutting it close weren't you?" a voice breathes into my ear and my back stiffens. I know that voice. How do I know that voice?
Twisting around in my seat, I see the guy from the other day that got between Kat's friend and me. Having him in my class is just what I need. Oh God, I hope his major's not the same as mine.
"What are you doing here?" Stupid question. He's obviously here for class, but I was hoping not to have to see anyone from Kat's dipshit fan club outside of the occasional run in at my dorm. Instead, it looks like I'm going to spend all semester with one of them. Joy.
A dark eyebrow raises and I can tell he's laughing at me. Okay, maybe laughing isn't the right word, but I can tell from the smirk on his face that I'm amusing him, and I don't like it. "What does it look like? I'm in class, same as you. I just got here on time."
His holier-than-thou attitude makes me want to hit him. "Maybe I would've been on time if it wasn't for all the excitement in my dorm room the other night. Did you ever think of that?"
"Excitement? Sweetheart, we were only with you for about twenty minutes. If that's all it takes to excite you, you've obviously been hanging around with the wrong guys."
What? He did not just say that! His words make me wonder what kinds of things he could do to "excite me" in twenty minutes or more and it's all I can do to keep my voice down when I hiss, "You're such a prick."
"I'm a prick? I'm just trying to be friendly, you're the one who's acting like I've offended you somehow." Now he's all wide-eyed innocence, but I know exactly what he's trying to do, so instead of replying I spin around and face the front of the room. Tomorrow, I need to make sure I sit as far awa
y from him as possible.
Of course, that's not the way my life works, because just as I think it, the teacher looks up from the open book on his desk and clears his throat, "Good morning class! My name is Professor Woods and welcome to Principles of Economics! Look around at the people sitting near you, as they will be there for the rest of the semester. I understand that you are all college students, however, I have a lot of students, and it's easier to learn and remember your names if you're always in the same spot."
Is he kidding me right now? This guy is older than dirt, and reminds me of Albert Einstein. He's tall, skinny, and has snow white hair sticking out all over the place. He's also wearing glasses, khaki pants, and a white dress shirt with what looks like suspenders underneath a tweed jacket. This entire semester has gone to shit. Putting my head in my hands, it's all I can do not to weep, until I hear the low chuckle coming from the asshat sitting beside me.
I turn to glare at him but he doesn't back down, just gazes back at me like he can see all my secrets. I feel laid bare and it makes me uncomfortable, especially when his laughter cuts off abruptly and it looks like he's going to say something to me. I don't want to hear whatever he thinks he needs to say, so I face the front of the room again, intent on ignoring him. Pulling the sleeves of my pale pink Cashmere sweater down over my shaking hands, I attempt to ignore him. It's not easy. He's sitting beside me completely relaxed, and I can feel the heat of his body. I try to repress a shiver, but fail. When I feel him turn to face me I expect him to make some comment about how his nearness gives me chills, but he says nothing. After studying me for a few moments, he shrugs out of his light jacket before placing it over my shoulders.
Leaning over, he whispers, "You're welcome," before turning his attention back to the front of the class.
I spend the remainder of the class trying to ignore him, but I fail miserably. All I can concentrate on is the scent of his cologne on his jacket. The fact that he's spent the class doodling instead of listening to the professor explain the class agenda and his expectations doesn't help either. As soon as the professor dismisses us, I shrug out of his jacket and dart out of the room successfully avoiding anything else he might want to say to me. Having conversations with a guy I'm trying not to be attracted to is much harder than I thought it would be.