"I'm fine. Thanks for walking me up." I turned around to face the door but Dylan stopped me again, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"Wait," Dylan took a deep breath before continuing, "Emily, promise you won't tell anyone?"
It took me a while to process what he had just said. Word would get around that Max spiked my drink and forced me to, almost, have sex with him. People even took pictures of Dylan carrying me down the stairs towards his car. By the matter of tomorrow morning it will be all over Facebook and Twitter or any other social media.
"Everyone already knows, Dylan." I lowered my voice when a few girls passed us, snickering.
I began to think the only reason he had walked me up to my room was so he could get me alone to talk to me about this. If I didn't tell then his perfect party life stayed the same. He could care less about what happened tonight. He just wanted to be sure I didn't snitch on him.
Dylan leaned his arm against the door frame and turned his head towards the girls to make sure they had left before he continued.
"No. I don't give a shit about the students.. I mean the teachers or the dean. Please don't let this spread like wildfire because if it does then I’m fucking screwed." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
He knew that one day, sooner or later, someone other than a college student would figure out about these parties. Him and his friends needed to make it less obvious.
"I won't tell anyone but I can't promise you that this won't spread like a wildfire." I answered, stepping into my door and holding onto the door handle.
Dylan still leaned on the door frame as I was ready to say goodbye.
"One more question.” Dylan pressed his free hand against the door as I was about to shut it.
I tilted my head to the side and furrowed my eyebrows.
"Do you know who spiked your drink? Like actually did it?"
I tried to remember how I had texted Jasmine and placed my drink down on the table but I never even saw anyone in the corner of my eye put something in my drink.
"No."
"But you said Max did it?"
I shook my head, "No. I said I knew Max was a part of it but I didn't know if he was the one that actually spiked my drink."
Dylan nodded his head.
"Why?" I asked, wondering why he even cared to know in the first place.
"Because whoever it was.. I'm going to beat their ass." He grit his teeth and tightened his jaw.
"What? Why do you care so much?"
Dylan shook his head before saying, "Because I know you and you're friends with one of my best friends so I guess that makes us friends too. Nobody messes with my friends."
Friends? Dylan and I were friends? I guess what I had thought just minutes ago wasn't true..
"Go to bed, Dylan. It's late." I said, turning around the find Jasmine passed out on her bed.
Dylan softly laughed, "How many times are you going to do this to me?"
I shrugged.
He turned on the heel of his foot and walked down the hallway. I watched as he turned his body around to face me one more time.
His mouth opened and words came out, "I'll make it up to you.. I'm sorry!"
He smiled as his dimples shown in his cheeks like craters in the moon. I smiled and shut my door.
I didn't want to get involved with Dylan because I would just end up being another girl added to his list of girls.
I brushed my teeth and got in my pajamas.
I collapsed into bed and fell asleep.
The sun shined bright into my eyes. I had my tight running shorts on and a sweatshirt. I laced my shoes and plugged my headphones in. I decided to go for a jog before classes this morning. Running helped me clear my head.
I jogged in the park. Students were spread all over with their books and with their friends as usual. I sang along to the song playing inside my headphones.
As I rounded a corner, I noticed I hadn't heard everyone around me shouting my name or snapping pictures. I stopped in place and looked all around me.
"How does it feel, Emily?" One kid laughed.
"What?" I asked, confused.
How does what feel?
"How does it feel to have sex with a junior?" a girl from behind me shouted.
A crowd began to form around me and I had no way of escaping all the people.
I ignored everything everyone was saying.
"We're not talking about Max! We're talking about Dylan." a boy in front of me yelled.
"Dylan and I? What?" I narrowed my eyebrows.
My heart beat so fast in my chest.
"It's all over twitter. People saw him by your dorm last night and saw him rescue you and drive you home. You obviously like him.” A girl stepped towards me, she looked familiar.
"I don't like him. He was just trying to help me." I answered.
Suddenly, I remembered her. She was Dylan's "girlfriend" if that's even what he considers her to be. She was the girl at the coffee shop a few days ago. Her brunette hair blew in the wind and she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Well, if I find you anywhere near him anymore.” She paused and grit her teeth, "Things will happen."
I stood there. Not moving. No expression on my face.
Everyone erupted in cheers as she walked away and they all stayed and watched as I stood on the side walk trying to catch my breath.
I was completely and utterly humiliated.
I plugged my headphones back into my ears and ran back towards the dorms.
I ran up the stairs to the third level and flew open the door. Jasmine sat on her bed with her laptop on her lap. She was scrolling through her twitter timeline, cupping a hand over her mouth as she went down.
"Jasmine." I caught my breath and she turned around, startled.
"Oh my god, Emm." She lifted off the bed with her laptop still in her hand, "Did you actually do all this stuff?"
"What stuff?" I asked, "What is everyone saying?"
"Did you get your drink spiked? I thought you were studying at the library. Why didn't you tell me there was another party?"
"Jas, the last think I needed you to do was get drunk again. That isn't healthy."
"Fine, but I think you better look at all this stuff.” She pointed to her laptop screen and my jaw dropped.
Chapter 9
The things on the screen weren't as bad as I expected.
I scrolled down Jasmine's twitter timeline and read:
*Dylan Clarke taking Emily Marshall home for a little fun (;*
I shook my head as I noticed a picture attached to the tweet.
"What the hell happened?" Jasmine shut her laptop and looked at me.
I started from the beginning, "Natasha invited me to a sorority party. I wasn't sure about going but I finally agreed because I knew if I didn't go then I would be bored all night. So, I got there. I found Natasha and she handed me a drink, I placed it down on the table because you texted me and then Max spiked it. Next thing I know Max is trying to get in my pants I tell him to stop but he won't and then he slapped me for screaming. Dylan heard me yelling so he came in and saved me."
Jasmine stared blankly at the wall.
"Bell?"
"You should have told me to come with you, Emm."
"I didn't want you getting wasted two nights in a row.” I said honestly.
"What happened after Dylan came in and saved you?" she asked.
"He drove me back here with Natasha and told me to never speak of it again."
Jasmine tried to hide her laugh but I noticed.
"What?" I was confused.
"You really think this would be no big deal?" She opened her laptop again and pointed to the picture of me in Dylan's arms as he ran down the stairs and out the door with Natasha.
"I need to go to class." I changed the subject, grabbed some clothes and walked towards the showers.
I quickly showered up and walked onto campus. I wore a sweatshirt this way I could wear my hood and nobody
would notice me. I didn't want people stopping me and asking if Dylan and I actually had sex.
I turned into my English class and sat down in my usual seat.
Dylan walked in shortly after looking beyond tired.
I thought I was just imagining when I saw him turn into the row of tables I was sitting in and sit next to me.
"See everything on twitter?" He smirked as he placed his Starbucks coffee on the white wooden table and pulled out his laptop, "We're quite the trend."
I scoffed, "Nothing happened last night."
"That's not what everyone thinks," Dylan said, stirring sugar into his coffee, "besides, better this is getting around campus instead of what really happened."
I could see people staring as Dylan sat close to me. I suddenly remembered that his "girlfriend" had told me never to talk to him again or else.
I quietly looked over at Dylan. He was leaning over and looking for something inside of his book bag.
"Dylan?"
He looked up towards me and his eyelashes draped over his eyes.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" I asked.
He started to laugh but then remembered we were all in the middle of a lesson and he cupped his hand over his mouth.
"Too fast, Emily." He laughed.
"No. I wasn't asking like that I was asking if you had just had one."
He pretended to pay attention for a few seconds.
"Well," he stuttered, "she isn't really my girlfriend."
I thought of all the things he could mean by "not girlfriend"
"Oh my god," I whispered cupping a hand over my mouth, "Are you guys friends with."
He raised his hand and softly covered my mouth.
"I guess, yeah." He scolded me, "what's the big deal?"
I shook my head disapprovingly. "Well your little friend with benefits told me to never to talk to you again."
He leaned his head back and softly laughed, "I'll talk to her. That's stupid."
I nodded my head slowly. Only agreeing with him so I could finally take some notes.
Once class ended, I stuffed all my things in my bag and walked out the door. I couldn't tell if Dylan was behind me or not but it didn't matter.
I walked back towards the dorm and once I opened the door I discovered that Jasmine had gone to her classes, too.
I lay down in bed and took out my books.
After an hour or two of studying, I heard my phone buzz. I picked it up and heard the familiar deep cut voice.
"Dylan?" I asked, "What's wrong?"
How did he get my number? I never gave it to him, nor did he ask for it.
"I-I need a ride." he slurred.
He sounded drunk, so drunk I was surprised he could make this call to me.
"Where are you?" I asked, standing up from my bed.
"I'm at this bar down in the city." I could hardly make out his words at first but before I knew it I grabbed my keys and ran out the door.
"Stay there." I said quickly.
I waited for a response before realizing he had hung up.
I ran down the stairs of the dorm complex and towards my car. I placed the keys in the ignition and drove off of campus.
City traffic was terrible. Especially since it wasn't that late yet. It was only seven o'clock and Dylan was already drunk. Wonderful.
I saw many different bars on the city streets. At a stoplight, I pulled out my phone and called him again.
"Hm?" he said sounding beyond wasted.
"What's the bar called? Where you are right now?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road. This light seemed to last forever.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you that, didn't I?" He softly laughed. I heard the sound of glasses hitting each other in the background and people talking.
I took my foot off the break and drove through the rest of the traffic.
"Dylan, what's the name of the bar?"
He paused for a minute. I heard commotion through his side of the phone and only thought the worst.
"It's called 'The Night Bar'."
I nodded my head. I knew exactly where that was. It was one of the most popular bars in city. Everyone in high school talked about it because nobody ever carded you there. I turned down a street and pulled into an empty parking space on the side of the road.
I looked around the open bar. The doors were open and people sat outside and inside.
I wasn't paying attention and I didn't even notice Dylan was banging on the passenger side window.
I unlocked the door and let him sit down in the passenger seat.
He looked terrible. Bags underneath his eyes and his skin was all sweaty. His white shirt looked dirty and his black skinny jeans were ripped.
I pulled out of the parking space and turned around back towards campus.
Thousands of questions were running through my mind.
Why did he call me out of all his friends?
Why not Natasha?
Why was he drunk?
Who gave him my number? Or how did he find it?
Did something bad happen?
I looked over at him, the car silent.
His eyes were closed and he had his hand against his stomach.
I wanted to know so badly as to why he was fine a few hours ago and why now he was drunk now.
But for now, I had to get him home.
After all, I owed him after he took me home.
Chapter 10
"Can I bring you back to your house or is there a party?" I asked as I drove in the dark of night.
He turned his head around as he lay in the passenger seat.
"No. None of the guys planned one." he answered, rubbing his eyes.
I nodded my head and turned onto his street. Surprisingly, there were no parties on the whole street. It was so quiet, it was unusual.
"They're all at a party down in the city, at some club. They've been talking about it for weeks now." Dylan said, as if he were reading my thoughts.
"Why didn't you go?" I pulled into the driveway and took my keys out of the ignition.
He opened the car door and then lifted himself up from the seat. I stepped out after him as he stumbled towards the front door.
"I'm sick of parties." He whined, fumbling for the keys in his pocket, unlocking the door once he's found them.
I stood on the porch; confused. Just two days ago Dylan was the biggest party-goer on campus and now he was admitting he was "sick of parties". I put the best I’m-totally-convinced look on my face as the front door swung open and the rooms inside were, surprisingly, spotless.
"Who cleans up the place?" I asked, following Dylan into the kitchen.
"I do." He opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of ice cream and a glass of water.
"Seriously?" I raised my eyebrows as he reached into a kitchen drawer and pulled out two spoons.
"Yeah. I hate when everything is dirty." He took a spoonful of ice cream.
I nodded my head slowly. Dylan was the strangest boy I’d ever met. Yes, he was fun and a party-goer but he was also smart, and neat. Why did he hide this side from other people?
"Can I ask you something?" he blurted out.
His words interrupted my thoughts but I nodded my head as I pressed my spoon into the gallon of rocky road ice cream.
"Do you have any secrets you don't want to tell anyone?" he asked, slipping his spoon into his mouth and letting the ice cream melt on his tongue. His jade eyes stared into my hazel ones.
"Yeah," I thought about all the things I had gone through when I was a child. My parents’ nasty divorce, me witnessing my father having an affair.
Should I tell him? Should I tell Dylan my darkest secrets? If I told him right now he wouldn't even remember in the morning. He was too drunk.
I sat down on the bar stool in the kitchen as Dylan kept staring. "Tell me about them." he said.
"I-it's about my parents. My whole childhood was a mess." I started, "but I barely know you. Why should I tell you?"
Dylan
seemed to really be listening. He had stopped eating the ice cream and his eyes were locked on mine, "Because I'll probably forget everything you say in the morning and I saved you just two days ago, so."
I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.
"My father had an affair. I was eleven. I came home from school early one day because something had happened. I walked home a lot. One day, when I got there I saw a woman upstairs with my father." I felt the tears coming to my eyes but I shook them away.
Dylan pressed his hand against my hand on the kitchen counter. "You don't have to continue."
I nodded my head but finished the story without going into full detail. "My father had an affair and he bribed me not to tell my mother, but I couldn't hide something like that from my mom. That's just terrible."
Part of his was rude and cocky and the other side of him was sweet and smart. There was something about him that I could trust. After all, like he said, he had saved me from Max.
I changed the subject. "What about you?"
He looked up from the carton and his eyes met mine once again. He took another bite of ice cream before talking.
"My mum has breast cancer. Stage three." he said it like it didn't affect him emotionally at all.
My eyes widened as the words escaped his mouth.
What should I say? I thought.
"Do you see her a lot?" I asked, taking another spoonful of the ice cream.
"I try to, as much as I can. She has a lady watching her at my old house. My father never sees her. He's the CEO of some major company." He looked down at his lap.
"Is that why you got drunk tonight?" I fiddled with the spoon in my hand.
He nodded his head before saying, "Chemo is getting expensive and my father won't pay for it."
That was the worst possible situation you could put your own child in. Having them stress over one of their parents slowly dying as the one thing they needed to help them stay alive was so close to their grip.
"I'm sorry." I apologized.
"Why are you sorry?" He looked up before continuing, "You didn't do anything. You didn't give her cancer. My father is a bastard. He doesn't understand love and he doesn't show any emotions."
I felt so much pain inside of me built up. I simply stepped off the bar stool and walked around the kitchen island towards him. I wrapped myself around him in a hug. I felt him wrap his arms around me as I pressed my cheek against his chest. His shirt smelled of beer and tequila but I tried my best to ignore it.
Party Boy Love Story Page 4