He grabbed the number and blurted out his answer angrily. “You want it so bad, Keith? Fine, I’ll text her. But I’ll tell you now, if this doesn’t work then we’re done.”
I was shocked by his words and I was going to say something in my defense. That was my trait. I was the one who had an answer for everything. Grant pulled out his phone and started to tap the numbers into it. I walked away, with pride. I knew that this could bring us back together. It just had to. I couldn’t be wrong. I had a little faith that this could give us that miracle we needed, and that was all I had to go on. The thought of us going back to the way we've been over the last year was unbearable.
Chapter Seven
Celia
A message popped up on my phone’s screen as I dug through the boxes around me.
What are you wearing?
I thought about Mom’s words about having fun. I thought about Rachel being out and having fun and decided that I wouldn’t ignore the message. Now, I just had to think of how to reply.
Sure, it was a stranger, I didn’t even know how they’d got my number, but it was only a little fun, right?
Not really. Maybe for someone like Rachel, who made friends easily and had boys following her all over campus, that would be easy, but for me, it was just… hmm.
My only interaction with the males of our species had been with my male cousins, uncles, and my male teachers. I had never had a boyfriend and I didn’t know how to talk sexy. The only thing I knew came from movies and television.
What should I reply, I wondered with my lip between my teeth and my brows furrowed.
I didn’t have a clue.
So, I looked up and down at what I was wearing, wondering whether to lie or not and replied.
Blue jeans, light blue blouse.
My heart raced as I pressed the send button. I laid down on my bed as I waited for someone to reply, this mystery person who had my number. I realized that maybe it was the wrong thing to send and I wished that I could turn back time to send another message instead. I’d claim that I only had my T-shirt and my panties on just like the song. Or maybe I should send another one back asking what they’re wearing.
Damn! Just say that it’s the wrong number. I had no idea who it was on the other end of the line. For all I knew, I could be talking to a girl. There were too many questions and not enough answers here. I held the phone in my hand, my eyes closed, and waited for a reply.
The next thing I knew, the sun was up, and Rachel was awake. When exactly had she come in, I wondered? “You got some love interest that I don’t know about?”
Rachel laughed and I squinted my eyes open a little and tried to focus.
Holy crap. What time was it?
I looked at my phone and saw that it was nearly nine and my screen said I had a ton of messages. I looked at the time again and screwed my eyes shut. That couldn’t be right.
Six am? Why? It was the weekend.
Dang, she woke up early for someone that crawled in during the middle of the night. I must have fallen asleep somewhere around midnight and she wasn’t even back in the dorm yet.
“So, come on, tell me who it was that texted you so much? Is it a guy?” The sparkle of amusement in her eyes made her cute, but I wasn’t ready for cute yet. I needed coffee.
“No,” I mumbled, my head fuzzy like it was that time that I’d drunk too many shots of tequila. I’d only had it that one time and I vowed never to have it again.
She went to the coffee maker and turned it on. “It’s just that when I came in, your phone didn’t stop going off and the way you were holding it in your hand was cute. It was kinda sweet, really.”
I nodded, remembering that I’d cleared out all the boxes and put away all the things my family sent me. I hate getting up to a mess, so, I organized myself. I’d called Nana, my aunts, and my uncle to thank them for all the stuff they sent. Then I did a mini fashion show with my new clothes and make-up. Usually, on the rare occasion when I did wear makeup, I only used a little bit of eyeliner and some shadow, but now I had a whole makeup bag full of it.
And then I washed it all off, put the clothes away, and brushed my teeth. I’d used the Wi-Fi for a bit just searching the Net. That’s when I’d got the text and replied. Then, I must have fallen asleep. I felt my cheeks burn as I rolled out of bed. Dang, how stupid of me!
“Well, whoever was texting you last night was after some attention.”
I stood up and stretched out, “You mean the early hours of the morning. Because I went to bed around midnight and you weren’t back then.”
“Wow! Are you my mom?” From the look I sent her, I knew she’d snarked that a little too hard. “Sorry, I meant that as a joke. Anyway, some of us are going to get in some more exploring today. Do you want to join us?”
“No, thanks. I need coffee and some breakfast before I go out anywhere.”
“Well, I don’t want to nag, but coffee and a pack of chocolate donuts isn’t the breakfast of champions, honey.” I could see from the way she looked at me that she didn’t mean it harshly, but it still stung. If nothing else, I knew that Rachel would be honest with me, even if it wasn’t what I always wanted to hear.
I shook my head and I tried to think of something to say, some excuse not to go out with her. It was the weekend, after all, and we should be out exploring the campus together, so we could figure out where to go for classes. And those tight jeans and the nearly invisible sweater that she had on screamed of going to a club, not searching the campus for buildings.
“Why don’t you come with us and we can get breakfast?” she asked as she put the brush down and checked her makeup. She was beautiful. And she was definitely on a mission to lose her virginity this week for sure. No waiting for our girl, no thank you.
“I really can’t afford to, that pack of donuts is about all I could afford. Besides, I like them.” I smiled a fake smile, but she didn’t know me well enough to know that it wasn’t genuine. For a moment, I thought that maybe I should go out. After all, Monday was just around the corner. But I’d have to get up, have a shower, dry my hair, and then figure out which of my new clothes wouldn’t be labeled a skank within five minutes of walking out of the door.
“Alright, well, I gotta go. If you change your mind, then just gimme a call.”
Before I could reply, she had her bag in her hand and was out of the door. For a second, I was tempted to chase after her and tell her to give me a minute to get ready. But I really did need to focus on doing this all right. Okay, maybe donuts weren’t healthy, but my focus during the day was all about my studies. In the evenings, I’d find some time to play, but the daytime was all about school from now on.
I knew I needed to study, work hard, and maybe find a nice boyfriend that would understand my need to go slow. I wasn’t like most of the teenagers I knew, only curious about how many ways they could be fucked before they were too old to use what nature gave them. I wanted a more conservative life; the one my parents had dreamed about. Okay, maybe not completely conservative, I did plan to spend a lot of time at work once I’d reached that goal.
I put the thoughts away when my phone chimed and vibrated. Was it my mystery texter?
I rushed to it like a kid in the candy store who’d been given 60 seconds to grab as much candy as they could before the buzzer went off.
What are you wearing now?
Something naughty?
Something good?
Are you not talking to me now?
My eyes traced up and down my screen reading all the messages and like that greedy kid in the store, I decided to do what I was doing before I fell asleep and then Rachel woke me up. No, I didn’t go back to sleep, I started to reply to the messages with a big smile on my face. Maybe staying in, after all, wasn’t so bad seeing as I had a little company, even if I didn’t know their name.
Chapter Eight
Celia
It was a week later, and I couldn’t hide the grin on my face as I texted my mystery text
I felt dirty and naughty, but oh, so nice, all at the same time. No more was I being the good little girl hiding behind her books and study sessions. I was showing what was really in my mind and I loved it.
I thought about all the things that I wanted a guy to do me. I thought about all the things that I wanted to do to him. Mainly, I would give him the freedom to make me feel like the woman I wanted to be, more than anything else sometimes.
I started to feel my body respond as I pressed the send button. I knew the reaction that I would get from sending such a message and it excited me.
You’re making me really hard right now.
I wrote back with no hesitation… Good!
Then I waited, feeling my legs slide up and down the bed as I started to imagine him, touching me in all the places I’d always hidden. I decided that it must be a man on the other side of the line, as he told me in one of his messages that he was hard.
You’re such a dirty girl, aren’t you?
I giggled as I wrote back. You have no idea how dirty.
Do you want to show me?
Send me a pic.
I gasped at the idea of taking a naughty picture, but then the idea of a guy out there having my photo on his phone, made me think otherwise.
I wanted to do it but then I didn’t want to do it either. I sat up as I started to break into a cold sweat. This wasn’t how I’d pictured life at NYU.
Going away to school wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. If anything, it was the complete opposite. I felt lonely. Something that I’d never felt back home.
Sure, I didn’t have friends back there. I’d had one once, but as soon as she became popular, I became a second thought. But I’d had my Nan and Mom to keep me company back there. The only person keeping me company now was the secret man on the other end of the phone. And that wasn’t even for sure, it might not even be a man on the other end of the line. I didn’t know, did I?
And that made me think of something.
I was just about to type something else when the door swung open. Like a sinner in church, my face turned bright red and I knew I had a guilty look on my face. Mom always said that I wasn’t good at hiding my emotions which always felt like another weakness added to the list.
“What gives, roomie? On the phone again?”
Rachel spoke to me with that tone. The kind that told me she wanted in on the secret. I shook my head, “No, was just sending a message.”
Which meant that I was on the phone. Not a good liar at all, then.
She groaned and smiled at me. I felt as if she knew my secret already, and I hadn’t even told her. But then she spoke, and I knew my secret was safe.
“You need to get out and socialize, girl. I mean, this isn’t high school, and you could make friends if you tried.”
I sighed thinking about the idea of having more friends. I’d spent the entire first week of the semester running to and from, finding books, finding websites, making a calendar for my assignments and my job. I’d had to start work early, because of my own screwup and that added to all the classwork that had suddenly piled on top of us made me want to just cry. I’d spent most of the day just trying to stay above water, and at night, all I wanted to do was lie in bed and talk to my mystery guy. I didn’t need more friends. I needed another me to keep up with it all!
I watched her and for some reason, I decided to do something that I wouldn’t normally do. Lying was a daily occurrence for others but never for me. Especially, because I wasn’t any good at it but here I was giving it a shot.
“I was just making arrangements to meet some friends later.”
Crap, I didn’t go with one friend, which she might have believed. Oh no, I implied there was more than one.
I moved around, avoided her stare and hoped that the lie would stop. That it wouldn’t keep rolling off my tongue like ice-cream melting down a cone. Whenever I felt anxious like I did right now, I’d just go on speaking, just to cover the dead air until the other person finally interrupted and stopped me.
“Oh. I was going to ask you out with the girls and me, but if you have plans…” she grinned at me, in that know-it-all way that I’d seen occasionally. I’d figured out by now that Rachel wasn’t just a nerd with a gorgeous body. She was a little bit of a trickster that could usually get what she wanted. Which didn’t make me dislike her, it just told me that maybe I needed to be careful around her.
She nagged at me a lot to go out, which I knew she did for my own good, but she also wanted to know why I stayed in so much. She couldn’t believe that I was just studying, and I saw that look in her eye now, that told me she was up to something.
Whatever it was she had planned, I knew that this lie was going to get me into trouble and for once, I didn’t care. I thought about Mom’s words about why I’d come here in the first place, “Don’t only study, but try and have some fun.”
“So, what are you guys doing then?”
What I felt like doing right now.
“Just getting a few drinks.”
By myself, but I would leave out that part.
My phone beeped in my hand and then another lie came out, “Shoot is that the time!”
I gasped as I looked down at my phone. Her hand jerked away from it and it was then I realized the real reason that she sat on my bed in the first place. It wasn’t to be near me or even to figure out if I’d lied to her. No, she wanted to grab my phone.
“Well, you better run along then, little Miss Mysterious.”
I nodded my head in agreement and then I moved my phone away from her quickly so she couldn’t grab it. She pretended that she was trying to stretch, but I knew her game and I didn’t like it. I shook my head over the whole thing. Rachel was an imp, the type that made me want to laugh and be mad at the same time. But could her impish ways go further, I wondered as I left the room. I barely knew her, after all.
***
My head spun like a top as I thought about Rachel and her games. I had to wonder now if she was the one sending the messages. She had the number now, right? But then why would she want my phone, if she already knew what I’d sent to my mysterious texter?
I sighed as I stuffed the phone into my bag and thought about my secret fantasies, which had been lost in the space of my first week in college. I’d gone from thinking that I had the perfect roommate, to wondering if she was an absolute bitch. I’d also had to start a job the first week of the semester not the second because I failed to put in the right start date. I was so nervous when I filled it out, that I messed it up. And last, but certainly not least, I felt alone. So alone, that I even contemplated going back home as I headed to a diner.
It was far enough from campus that no one would spot me. I laughed to myself at the idea of it, someone might spot me. It wasn’t like anyone would even recognize me, because no one really knew me.
If I hadn’t been in such a rush to leave the room and campus, then maybe my feet wouldn’t be so tired, and I wouldn’t be sweating uncontrollably from doing more exercise today then I’d done the entire year.
My heart raced as I headed into the diner and thought about the biggest meal I could have tonight. I was going to eat a burger, fries, ice-cream and a brownie. It might mean that I couldn’t eat tomorrow, but tonight I didn’t care so long as I wasn’t near Rachel.
The thoughts came back to me then. I’d only been there for a week and so far, the one person that I thought would be my best friend, turned out to be… maybe not so much.
Rachel smiled and said all the right words, she even made me laugh sometimes, but it was as if she had a plan for me that I didn’t really want to be a part of. Or maybe I was just too damn paranoid and should learn to trust people? I’d just have to wait and see.
Chapter Nine
Celia
“What does a girl have to do to get fed around here?” I stared at the menu and tried not to let my frustration show. The place was busy, but the waiter hadn’t even come over to ask if I wanted a drink yet. But with every booth filled, it was hardly his fault, was it?
I waited a few more seconds, then I sighed as I put the menu down. I put it down hoping that he’d know I was ready to order.
“That’s a good idea. He’ll come over now. Mind if I sit with you? The place is full.”
I looked up as the sound of a feminine voice beside me broke through the noise in the diner. “Pardon?”
“I asked if I could join you?” I’m starving!?” She slid into the booth on the other side and put her arms up on the table, her hands crossed. She had medium brown curly hair and green eyes that now begged me to answer her one and only prayer. She was cute, pretty even, and she looked ordinary enough. Not a threat.
“Sure, that sounds alright.” The waiter came just as I agreed, and I ordered what I wanted. He turned to the other girl and smiled.
“Oh hey, Becky, I didn’t see you come in. Want your usual?” The guy was clearly flirting with my new eating partner, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yes, please, Mike. With a strawberry milkshake, please.” She smiled and watched as he walked away, still writing on his order pad. “Can you believe they still use a pen and paper system here and not tablets like everywhere else?”
“I hadn’t noticed. You eat here often, then?” She was a little bubbly, happy about life, and I liked that about her, even if it did make me nervous.
“All the time, it’s the only place I’ve eaten all week. They do breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and my dorm is right over there, so it’s not much of a walk.” She waved behind her in the general direction of the dorms and smiled. She had a medium frame, was about average height, and everything else was average about her too. Except she had a slight gap between her front teeth and her eyes held a delight with the world that I thought little could dim.
“Hi, I’m Becky Adams, freshman and the one and only member of the Becky Adams fan club. Nice to meet you.” She held her hand out and I saw her fingernails were colored bright green with splashes of orange. “Oh that. I’m a painter.”
-->