Unexpected Lover: College Romance Book 1

by Scarlett Archer

  “That’s my boy!” His dad says, proudly, putting a rough hand on his son’s shoulder. “Taking his studies so seriously. See, Josie, I told you that he’d do us proud.”

  Josie still seems disheartened, and Peter feels bad about lying, but he can’t let his entire spring break be overruled with looking after his parents. He needs to have time to himself, like he’d planned all along.

  As his mother pays for all the food, Peter pulls out his phone and asks one of the other guys in his class if he knows where Isobel works. This particular friend is also staying home for spring break because he failed a paper last semester and needs to use this time to do some extra credit work. He’s also rather famous for remembering every detail of information given to him by anyone. He’s a walking USB.

  Peter puts his phone away, prepared to check it later when he is away from the prying eyes of his parents and best friend.

  Josie takes the cart back to the store as Peter, his dad and Jake climb into the car. Peters dad turns around and looks at Peter with so much sincerity that Peter feels like he’s in trouble.

  “Son, I know we’ve not come at the greatest time, but try to make your mother feel at home. She’s been lost since you left and she misses being a mother so much. It’ll do her a world of good if you just let her look after you for a while.”

  Peter feels his face going red with shame.

  “Sure thing, dad.”

  Josie returns and they begin driving back the apartment.

  Peter feels awful. Yes, on the one hand his parents being here is a major inconvenience, but on the other hand, they are his mom and dad. He knows that his mom misses him, but she can be so suffocating sometimes. She likes to coddle him and treat him like a kid, and it hasn’t stopped, even though he’s in his twenties now.

  He wants her to take a step back and let him live his life as he sees fit. He doesn’t need to be looked after all the time, like she seems to think he does. He needs to revel in his individuality.

  All this aside, he should be trying to spend more time with them. They’ve helped him through everything he’s ever gone through. They brought him up well, always putting his needs before theirs and loving him unconditionally. He appreciates that.

  He decides that if tonight goes well, and he can convince Isobel to come to his, he’ll introduce them. His mother will appreciate being involved in his life again.

  Jake, Peter and his dad all lug the bags from the car to the kitchen. Josie urges them to not help her put the things away, so instead Peter retreats to his room for the few hours he has before he has to go to lunch.

  He pulls out his phone and reads a message from his friend telling him that Isobel works at a diner just a few blocks from here. He berates himself for never going before and decides that he should go to ask her out, right now, before he lets the nerves set in.

  “Mom, I need to go speak to one of my professors about my last paper. I’ll be an hour max. I promise I’ll be back in time for lunch.”

  Peter doesn’t leave her much time to respond as he runs from the apartment and hits the street outside.

  He slows down on the corner by her place of work and contemplates what he’s going to say. What do you say to a girl who ditched you the morning after the perfect night without so much as a note? Should he be angry? Should he act like it’s not a thing?

  What if she’s not working today?

  Should he just straight up ask her out for a date? He has the perfect idea for where they can go. She’ll love it, he’s confident about that. What he’s unsure of is if she’ll say yes or no. They seemed to get along so well last night that if she says no, he’ll be devastated.

  He finds himself stood outside of the diner looking in the window.

  He can see her.

  Oh god, she’s so damn beautiful.

  Today, in replacement of the shiny gold dress, Isobel wears a short, red striped dress with a white apron. Her hair is pulled up into a neat knot and she has a polite smile and a notepad, with a pen poised at the ready.

  Nerves creep up on Peter as he stares at the girl he’s been thinking about since the moment he woke up. What if her personality change last night is indicative of her lack of interest? Maybe she wanted a little fun and nothing more? What if he took more from their time together than he should have?

  He thinks back to their night, running things over in his head, trying to find some sign that things may not have been as they seemed.

  After they got back from the bar, he had taken her to his room, awkwardly making a pathway through his clothes so that they could make it to the bed safely. He had taken her in his arms and thrown her on the bed, where he climbed on top and they had continued to kiss.

  She had shown no signs of wanting to take it further, so he had simply continued to kiss her until they both fell apart, exhausted and panting.

  And then they just talked. Not about anything important. Just shows they’ve seen on TV, books they’ve read, even politics for some time. Eventually, she had drifted off to sleep and Peter had curled up next to her, feeling more comfortable in his bed than he’d ever felt before.

  He watches as she takes an order from the table closest to the counter and he enters. He considers walking up to her and asking her out directly, but instead, his nerves force him to take a booth by the door and wait for her to come to him.

  “May I take your order?” Asks a woman with short blonde hair and a button nose.

  “Um, actually, I’m here to talk to Isobel.” Peter says, not thinking about this potential flaw in his plan.

  “She’s not available for chit chat right now, but her break is in fifteen minutes, so if you’re still here, you can talk to her. In the meantime, can I get you anything?”

  Peter sticks his head out of the booth and watches as Isobel carries a tray of food over to the booth a few down from his own.

  “If you don’t order, I’ll have to ask you to leave.” The girl says, her tone unimpressed and her hand on her hip.

  Peter quickly scans the menu.

  “Can I have a vanilla shake, please?”

  The woman notes this down on her pad and walks away, muttering about stalkers and ruffians.

  Isobel comes into view, carrying a tray of drinks and fries for the family directly opposite his own. As she turns away, she spots Peter and gapes from a moment, completely caught off guard.

  Her mouth slowly turns into a smile and Peter’s heart does a few skips and jumps.

  She mouths ‘wait’ and taps her watch.

  Peter nods back, and she continues working.

  The button-nosed waitress returns and silently gives him his shake, though his stomach is too filled with butterflies for him to drink it. He can’t help but worry that she’ll turn him down and he’ll be heartbroken over a girl he barely knows.

  How ridiculous have you become?

  He waits patiently, but each minute feels like agony as thoughts of rejection plague his mind, causing anxiety and he almost considers running and pretending this nonsense ever happened.

  But he can’t. He has to stay. He wants to talk to her and see if they can take this any further.

  When the fifteen minutes are finally up, Isobel slides into his booth, smiling softly and smelling of grease, but he sees no issue with this.

  “How did you find me?” She asks.

  Peter’s tongue becomes suddenly numb and his brain closes down for maintenance as he thinks of something to say that doesn’t sound the least bit creepy.

  “Uh, well, I live nearby and erm, I was just, uh I asked a friend where you worked because I wanted to speak to you.” He blurts, scared to look at her in case she’s disgusted.

  “Oh. Well, I’m glad you did.” She announces, unexpectedly.

  Peter looks up, shocked.

  “Really?”

  “Of course. We didn’t exchange numbers last night. I was gonna go to the bar tonight and ask your friend for it.”

  “Oh.”

  Peter
seems unable to think of anything witty to say as his head fills with endorphins.

  This is the best news.

  “I’m sorry I had to leave so early this morning. I had to go home and get ready to work. I told Jake, but he seemed a little out of it, so I wasn’t sure if he’d remember.”

  I’ll kill him. Peter thinks, angrily.

  “I was worried you’d ditched and never intended to see me again.” Peter admits, feeling foolish.

  “Why would I do that? We had such a good time last night. I’d like to do it again, sometime.”

  Peter’s heart inflates and his smile stupidly spreads across his face.

  “That’s excellent!” He cheers, before reigning himself in. “Uh, I just mean, yeah. I’d like to too. In fact, that’s why I’m here.”

  “Yes.” She states, confusing Peter.

  “I haven’t even asked yet.”

  “I can see where this is going. I’d love to meet up with you tonight. Does seven outside here work for you?”

  Peters mouth moves, but no sound come out, making Isobel laugh, a beautiful tinkling sound that fills his head with fairies.

  “Yeah, that works for me.”

  “I’ve got to get back to work, but I’ll be thinking of you.” She stands back up, brushes her fingers across his face and leaves.

  Peter’s hand goes up to his face and he feels the part of his face that she touched. It’s like her fingers are magic and she injected him with joy.

  Peter makes his way home, trying not to smile like a maniac, but he can’t help it.

  He’s in love.

  CHAPTER 03

  I lean against the counter of the diner, taking a moment to myself before we open in fifteen minutes. I’m still reeling from last night. I feel all light and fluffy, like a cloud. I think I’m just crazy happy.

  We had such a nice time last night that I can barely contain myself. It was just so lovely. We just kissed all night and then fell onto his bed and talked for hours. I can’t remember who fell asleep first, but I have my sneaking suspicions that’s it me.

  He was such a gentleman the whole night, and that’s not something I have the luxury of experiencing most of the time. He didn’t push me into anything, or act like he was entitled to anything. It was wonderful and so, so refreshing.

  I must have a dreamy look on my face because Juliette, one of the girls I work with, touches my hand gently.

  “Earth to Isobel.”

  I snap out of my thoughts and smile a her.

  “Sorry, Jules. I was just in dreamland, again.”

  “Anything interesting?” She asks as she refills the napkin dispensers.

  I feel bad for not doing anything, so I start to refill the ketchup bottles.

  “Not really. I just… I met someone last night and… y’know.”

  Juliette freezes.

  “You went out?” She asks, incredulously.

  “Yeah!” I say, indignantly. “I do go out sometimes.”

  Juliette raises and eyebrow and I smile, sheepishly.

  “Yeah, OK, so it’s a rare occasion, but all my friends are gone, so I had little else to do.”

  “Spring break?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why haven’t you gone?”

  “I don’t have the money for such things.”

  I used to be embarrassed to admit this, but today I feel like a new person. I’m not embarrassed that I don’t have money. There are more important things to life that being wealthy.

  Finding the right man for example.

  My friends all offered to chip in and pay for me to join them in the Caribbean, but I don’t want to live on handouts. My dad has always been a firm believer in only living from what you earn, meaning that you shouldn’t accept charity if you don’t need it, and you should always work for what you want.

  I’ve taken this advice very seriously. I’ve never taken anything from anyone. I’ve always worked to enjoy myself. I’m very lucky that my parents can afford to pay my tuition, but they worked very hard for this luxury, and I’m eternally grateful that they worked so hard on my behalf.

  However, unlike many of the other students here, I have to pay for my own food and boarding. I’m perfectly fine with this arrangement. Work is good for character, and it stops people from getting complacent. I work in the diner here and I also have a service where I visit the elderly a few times a week. I help them if they think they are ill and offer after-care services that they may not be able to afford.

  This started as a voluntary service, but they refuse to let me leave without paying me. I was very opposed to this at the beginning, and for whatever reason, this made them all the more insistent.

  My friends however, have very wealthy families who pay for their every move. They don’t have to work a day because they have their tuition, rent, food and holidays paid for. I don’t resent them for it, like I know some people do.

  Yes, they’re a little spoiled, but that’s human nature. Greed is part of who we are, and there’s little we can do to curb the manifestation of this sin. My biggest problem is that I’m worried about them. I’ve worked since I was fourteen. Not always serious jobs, but paid work nonetheless. This has given me a healthy respect of money and a great work ethic.

  My friends, well, they don’t have this. They throw money around as though it literally grows on trees and will not know what to do with themselves when they have to work eight hours a day. Sure, some of them may go and work for their parents and have a fairly easy work day, but some of them will not have this. I don’t think they’ll be able to handle it.

  With this also comes their incredible ability to be more high maintenance than an old car. They don’t mean to do it, but they act as though the world owes them something, and it’s not going to work in their favour. I wish their parents would do more to prepare them for the real world.

  These girls barely take college seriously. They spend most nights drinking and meeting up with boys. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them really dedicate themselves to their studies, so their chances of graduating also worries me. I just wish they would take their education more seriously. Some of the people I know at college are literally working to pay for their tuition along with everything else. They spend every other minute they have free studying. I saw Jackie, a girl in my biology class, walking to work while reading a textbook.

  That’s the dedication I show, and I’m just very fortunate that I have more time to study because I’m not working to pay my tuition as well. These are the people that will graduate top of their classes because they have a lot riding on this. If my housemates don’t graduate, I have no doubt in my mind that their parents will simply pay for another round.

  But I suppose that their life, and like I said, I don’t judge them for it.

  “I know how that feels.” Jules says, wistfully. “All my college life was spent waving goodbye to my friends as they went on extravagant adventures, while I stayed at home and worked my ass off just to be able to eat and live.”

  I feel a little sorry for Jules, though she’d kill me if I admitted it. She acts brave, but she’s had a really tough life. Her parents died in a car crash a year before she moved to college. She put all of her college fund towards paying for their medical bills and their funeral, forcing her into work to pay for every aspect of her college life.

  She studied law, but tragedy doesn’t take a break, and a month before she was due to graduate, her sister died, and she had to take in her niece. She didn’t have the money to care for the child, but she knew that she had to do what was best for her.

  She had to leave college and get the first job she could find in order to provide the best life for Sophia that she could. She’s doing a great job, and she refuses to complain, but I know it’s not easy for her to live this way.

  She had the biggest dreams. She wanted to one day be Secretary of Justice in New York, but as she likes to say, things don’t always go the way you want. She says she lost a future, but gain
ed a precious little girl and she wouldn’t give her up for anything.

  One day, I hope to give her the break she needs but for the time being I don’t know how to help. I babysit often, and Sophia is a sweetheart, so I never mind. It helps Jules to work longer hours too.

  Life deals crap hands sometimes, and it really shows character how people deal with them. Some people would bemoan their life and never do anything to make it better, but not Jules. She works hard, never complains and is a wonderful friend.