“I can ask you the same question.”
Adam looked around at the stands which had a few onlookers watching. Most of them were girls whose only interest in the game was Adam. He seemed to be enjoying that greatly. Adam Murdoch was handsome, to say the least. He was like the hero of several clichéd romance movies. Careless, trouble maker and mysterious, Adam Murdoch was the most popular one from the two friends. He had probably kissed every girl he had ever known at some point in his life and his idea of female friendships was physical more than anything else. His dark hair fell into his eyes and his tall frame had just the right amount of muscles and build.
Ella left the boys on the basketball court as she headed back to her apartment but was met with Mary at the exit.
“I’ve been looking for you,” Mary told her. “Should have guessed you were with Lucas.”
“Came to say hi.”
“Lucas had grown even more handsome after the summer.”
“You’re not allowed to sleep with Lucas, Mary,” Ella said sternly. “He’s one of my best friends and that would just ruin everything.”
Mary rolled her eyes. “If I had a ‘best friend’ half as good looking as Lucas, I would be sleeping with him right now.”
Ella shook her head.
Mary Shields was the duller of the two when it came to intellect. As far as looks were concerned, Mary Shields was superior to Ella by far. She was petite, curvy and had lush black hair which fell to her shoulders. In some manners, she was like Adam; they both enjoyed the attention of the opposite gender and in fact, relished in that attention. The girls were as different as could be but they had been best friends since middle school. While Ella’s interest lay in arts and books, Mary was into dramatics and that was what she was majoring in at college. Ella was the one unofficially in charge of keeping Mary in line.
“I’m getting tired of Stebbins, El,” Mary complained. “Tell me how to get rid of him.”
“The same way you got rid of the previous hundred men,” Ella suggested.
“It’s different with Stebbins. He’s actually nice. The rest of them were all jerks.”
“Well, just tell him you’re not interested anymore.”
Ella had spent more afternoons than she would like to admit drawing up strategies with Mary on how best to ditch the latest of Mary’s experiments.
“Maybe Adam can help you out,” Ella said sarcastically.
“That’s not a bad idea, actually,” Mary mused.
“Two idiots getting together to figure out how to get rid of people you invited into your beds willingly. How adorable.”
Mary rolled her eyes.
Chapter 2
Lucas was trying to focus on the books in front of him but the fruitlessness of his attempts was frustrating him to the point of slamming his book shut at any minute. Giving in to the instincts, he did exactly just that before heading out of the library for a smoke. Despite being a writing major, Lucas had lost track of all the times he completely went blank when he had to write an important story for one of his classes.
Walking down the corridor, Lucas thought he heard some commotion at the end. Since he was never one to mind his own business, he went to investigate.
“Stebbins, I told you no…” The voice grew more and more familiar as Lucas approached closer. He recognized it as Mary Shields’ voice though he had never interacted with her much except for when she was with Ella.
“You don’t always get to call the shots,” a male voice, rougher than Mary’s, answered back.
“Stebbins, I’m done with this.”
Lucas peered over the door into the small classroom at the end of the corridor. Mary was leaning against the white board while Stebbins stood in front of her.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Stebbins took a step towards her. “You whore.”
Mary blinked. Straightening up, she made to walk away but Stebbins grabbed her roughly and pushed her back against the door.
“You’ve practically slept with the whole university but I still gave you a chance. And this is how you repay me,” Stebbins was standing dangerously close to her now. Mary looked back at him, her expression completely blank.
“Let go of my arm, Stebbins,” she said calmly.
Stebbins’ grip on her arm may have tightened because of the cry Mary let out before Stebbins crashed his lips onto hers. Mary struggled but it was useless; Stebbins was much larger and stronger than her. His hand painfully pulled her hair back.
Lucas had seen enough. He opened the door noisily to announce his presence. Stebbins didn’t seem to realize someone had entered and Mary was too busy struggling with him. Lucas reached them and roughly pulled Stebbins off her. Losing his balance, Stebbins almost fell as he staggered backwards, glaring at the intruder.
“What the fuck?” His face had turned red with anger as he stared at Lucas.
“It’s not nice to force yourself upon a lady.” Lucas’s voice was so deadly that Stebbins seemed to recoil for a minute before regaining his composure.
“I wasn’t forcing myself upon the whore. And even if I was, it’s none of your business.” Stebbins took a step towards Mary again.
“Don’t use that word again,” Lucas said lazily as he stepped in front of Mary. She seemed too shocked to be able to say anything and she was staring at Stebbins as if seeing him for the first time. Stebbins weighed his options. Lucas was much taller and much bigger than him. It would be best not to pick a fight with him. Shaking his head and cursing under his breath, Stebbins walked out of the room, banging the door shut.
Lucas turned to Mary who seemed like she was in a trance.
“Are you alright?”
“He… he—” Words seemed to fail her as she touched the hair where he had pulled. “How dare he?” she finally finished. “I dated him despite everything. I’m Mary Shields. I can have anyone but I- I chose him? And he had the audacity to-” She seemed to be talking more to herself at this point. Lucas looked worried. “Do you want me to call Ella?” he offered.
“No,” Mary said. She shook her head as if clearing her head of a mist. “No, no, no. Let me digest this first.”
Suddenly, tears sprang to her eyes and she begun to sob. Lucas moved closer awkwardly and patted her on the shoulder.
“How did you even end up dating an asshole like Stebbins?” Lucas asked in an attempt to distract her.
Mary wiped away the last of her tears and smiled weakly.
“Um,” Lucas tried to think of something to say. “Let me buy you coffee. And then you can tell me how things even got this far.”
Mary seemed visibly cheered at that. “Alright,” she agreed.
Minutes later, they were seated in a cozy, street side café with large cups of hot chocolate in front of them.
“It’s strange how we’ve never actually had a real conversation,” Mary was saying. “I mean you’ve been friends with Ella for years and I’m her best friend. I should know you.”
“If you aren’t busy trying to get rid of admirers, maybe we could have met properly.”
“I can say the same for you,” Mary replied humorously.
“That’s not true. I never chase off admirers. I welcome them.”
“Well, it’s easier when you’re a guy. For girls, it’s different. Especially when creepy men start admiring us.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Absolutely.”
“How?”
“Don’t hurt me Mary,” Lucas said, traumatized. “Are you suggesting creepy men have never admired me?”
Mary giggled.
“I need to hear this story.”
“Oh, you will. Later.”
There was silence before Lucas spoke up again.
“So what’s the deal with Stebbins?”
Mary sighed. “No deal. I was with him for a couple of weeks. Got tired of it so I told him I can’t see him again. You saw the rest.”
“What an asshole.”
&n
bsp; “I had no idea.”
“Why did you get sick of him?”
“I get sick of every guy eventually. I’m not one to settle.”
“I see.”
“You probably think I’m an awful slut like most people do.”
“You’re not a slut.”
“Oh, I am. I’ve slept with a lot of people. I’m the definition of a slut. I just don’t care much for it. If I was a guy, no one would care. It makes me so angry to the point of not caring what people think anymore.”
“You’re not a slut. And I would disagree with anyone who thinks guys get away with it. Adam would be a better definition of a slag.”
Mary laughed. He smiled back. He had a rather nice smile, she noted.
“Thank you, Lucas. For what you did today. It means a lot.”
“Just did what was the right thing to do,” Lucas shrugged.
“And,” Mary continued. “You and I need to stay in touch. I want to hear about all the creepy men who admired you.”
“Of course,” Lucas winked at her before he pushed back his chair. “I’ll drop you off at home.”
“I can walk,” Mary suggested.
Lucas rolled his eyes. “I’ll drop you. Don’t want Stebbins lurking around somewhere waiting for an opportunity.”
Mary looked scared at that possibility.
“I’m kidding,” Lucas backtracked. “Don’t worry.”
Mary slid an arm through his before smiling up at him. “Shall we go then?”
Chapter 3
“Ella Scott, you are a life saver,” Adam said.
“Never doing that again, Adam.”
“Yes, you are,” Adam grinned at her. “You’re practically Lucas now.”
Ella laughed. They were seated in the cozy living room of Ella, Mary and Donna’s shared apartment. It had been set up extravagantly by Mary’s father who was always showering the three girls with presents and money. The living room consisted of several plump cushions, fluffy carpets and exotic rugs. A flat screen TV stood towards one corner.
Ella had just gotten Adam out of an unwanted date by pretending to bring him the terrible news of a nonexistent friend, Dean being ill and needing his help. It had worked spectacularly and the two had headed for her apartment so as to not be seen until the duration that Adam is supposed to be with this Dean character.
“Why do you get yourself into dates that you know you’re going to regret later? You and Mary both.”
Adam shrugged. “I didn’t know it’s going to be this torturous. I thought we’ll have a nice make out session and that’ll be it. She wanted to talk about feelings though.”
Ella shook her head. “Wouldn’t want that, would we?”
“Nope.”
“You and Mary should date,” Ella jokes.
“Hmm, that’s a good suggestion,” Adam mused.
“Idiot,” Ella said, shaking her head.
“What about you, Scott? How’s the boyfriend?”
“Unexciting,” Ella replied before she realized what she said.
“Then why are you with him?”
“You misunderstood.”
“I understood that he’s unexciting.”
“He’s very sweet too. And caring. And a complete gentleman.”
“Yet unexciting.”
Ella rolled her eyes. “Let it go, Adam.”
“Alright,” Adam said, holding up his hands to show defeat. “But if you ever want something a touch more exciting-”
“Adam,” Ella warned.
“What? You didn’t even let complete before your mind jumped to conclusions.”
“Okay, complete.”
“If you ever want something a touch more exciting, I could set you up. There. I wasn’t suggesting anything else. I know I’m extremely irresistible and exciting but I would never suggest you and me to be anything more than what we are. Lucas would kill me.”
“What’s Lucas got to do with this?”
Adam hesitated for a moment and then said, “You’re his best friend. After me, of course.”
“Of course.”
Adam grinned enigmatically. “Well, let’s just leave it there.”
“Who would you set me up with, then?”
Adam only grinned. “Thinking of breaking up with our Prince Charming, are you?”
“No!”
“I won’t judge, Scott.”
“I’m not.”
“Alright, alright. Let me make you some coffee as a thank you for saving me from a terrible date. She wasn’t even a good kisser…” Adam’s voice trailed away as he walked into the kitchen. Ella leaned back on the sofa. Patrick had been her boyfriend for the past month and she had been satisfied with their relationship. He was everything that a 20 year old girls’ 21 year old boyfriend should be. He held open doors for her, complimented her dressing style, listened to her when she needed to talk, kissed her at just the right moments and surprised her with presents. In short, he was a typical boyfriend any girl would dream of. And typical sometimes became synonymous with boring. There was nothing exciting about their relationship. They met every day while at college. He took her out to fancy dinner and movie dates on the weekends. On weekdays, they studied in the library or in one of the lush, green grounds. They made out often and sometimes had sex. Sex was mostly nice but nothing mind-blowing. In short, Ella was satisfied despite feeling unfulfilled at times.
She was still lost in thought when Adam returned with a cup of coffee.
“Aren’t you having coffee, too?” Ella asked.
“Nope. I stay away from caffeine.”
“Why?” Ella asked suspiciously as he handed her the cup.
“Don’t worry, Scott. I haven’t poisoned your coffee.”
“Wouldn’t put it past you,” Ella muttered.
“What do you mean, Scott?” Adam pretended to be traumatized. “I would never do that.”
Ella rolled her eyes.
“You clearly don’t think very highly of me,” Adam commented. “We need to spend more time together, Scott.”
“We could do that.”
“Be warned though, I’m irresistible,” Adam winked.
“Of course you are,” Ella replied back, playfully.
Donna entered the apartment as Adam took a seat next to Ella again. Donna Price was a tall, athletically built, black girl. She was on the basketball team with Adam and Lucas and hence, good friends with the two. Their university was unique in the sense that it had mixed sports teams to promote equality. Donna was the third of the trio. She had angry black eyes and a harsh temper.
“Hello, Don,” Adam said as she slammed the door shut. “You’re in a mood.”
“What are you doing here?” Donna said.
“Erm, making Ella coffee.”
“Oh, how completely ordinary. As if you’ve been coming over for years now.”
“Donna,” Ella spoke up. “What have I told you about not being a bitch to people who don’t understand that you’re always a bitch?”
“Hey, I understand that!” Adam protest. “I’ve had to put up with her for two years on the team.”
“How traumatizing for you,” Donna said as she threw her bag on the floor and started searching through the pile of books lying in the corner of the room.
“What are you looking for?” Ella asked.
“A book,” Donna replied, sarcastically. “I have to study,” she announced before she exited into her room.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Ella headed to open it and found Mary standing arm in arm with Lucas. Her cheeks were flushed with laughter and Lucas was smiling. Their happiness was contagious and Ella couldn’t help but smile too.
“Well, well,” Adam commented. “You two, as well?”
Ella rolled her eyes. “Ignore him, please,” she suggested as Lucas and Mary entered.
“That’s the only way to stand him,” Lucas replied.
Lucas sat down next to Adam while Mary walked up to Ella, throwing her arms
around her and taking her by surprise.
“You seem happy,” Ella whispered in a low voice.
“I am,” Mary replied.
Later at night, as the girls sat in Ella’s bedroom, Mary repeated the whole story with Stebbins. Donna and Ella were the perfect audience, listening carefully and commenting at the right moments.
“That asshole!” Ella was furious. “I’m going to kill him.”
“I would have killed him right there,” Donna said. “I wouldn’t have waited for a guy to come and save me.”
“You’re big,” Mary told her. “Have you seen my size?”
“I say we go and murder him right now,” Donna suggested enthusiastically and she seemed ready to do it.
Mary shook her head sadly. “I just want to stay away from him. And I want you two to stay away from him too. He’s dangerous. You should have seen him.”
“I’m not staying away from him. I’m going to kill him when I see him,” Donna replied.
“Thank god Lucas arrived. Or else, I don’t want to imagine how it would have ended.” Ella shuddered.
Mary was quiet. The walk home with Lucas had been something out of a fantasy. He hadn’t wanted something from Mary like most boys do. He was just seeing her home safely. He had made her laugh several times and she had felt safe around him. There had been times in the past that Mary had had passing thoughts of what it would be like to kiss Lucas. These thoughts only occurred when Lucas was present and he was usually immersed in conversations with Ella. He was often with Donna too, considering they were both on the basketball teams. During tournaments, Mary noticed Lucas often because he was perhaps the best player on campus. Mary had never paid him much attention except to notice his incredibly good looks. Somehow, he had always been off limits because of Ella. At first, because he used to like Ella. That had been obvious by the number of times he asked her out in high school. But that was two years ago and he had never approached Ella since they came to college. Mary still thought he was off limits because what he and Ella had wasn’t normal. At times, Mary thought they were just putting off admitting that they had feelings for each other. But now, she was having second thoughts. Even if Lucas had liked Ella at some point, Ella had never reciprocated it. There is nothing wrong in liking Lucas, she tried to tell herself. But did she even like him? Or was it just one of her instincts to land the guy who didn’t seem to want anything from her.
Romance: The College Bad Boy: A Young Adult Romance Page 35