Excuse Me, First Love
College Daze: Book One
Danielle Burton
COPYRIGHT
Excuse Me, First Love
Copyright © 2015 Kirby Danielle Burt
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author, accepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Cover Design: Danielle Burton
DEDICATION
To my beautiful mother. Though you never got to see me accomplish this dream I know you’d be proud. Gone but not forgotten. I love you always.
To my amazing husband, for being amazing and my gorgeous daughter. May this encourage you to fulfill your dreams and never give up as far out of reach as they may seem.
To my incredible Wattpad readers and fans. Without you none of this would be possible. Your continued support means the world to me. Thank you for giving me the courage to continue this journey when I have felt like giving up so many times.
To my fifteen-year-old self. Thank you for choosing life;
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty - One
Twenty - Two
Twenty - Three
Twenty - Four
Twenty - Five
Twenty - Six
Twenty - Seven
Twenty - Eight
Twenty - Nine
Thirty
Thirty - One
Thirty - Two
Thirty - Three
Thirty - Four
One
Gabi
Don’t do it Gabi. A throat punch is not the proper way to start off your freshman year of college. I stared after the idiot who’d just darted past, knocking me flat on my butt. Luckily I’d landed on a soft bed of grass instead of the pavement. Mr. Rudeness hadn’t even so much as glanced over his shoulder. Clearly chivalry was dead and he was missing a vital organ known as the brain. Asshole.
“What are you doing down there?”
I squinted up at my dad while rising to my feet. “Just resting a bit.” No need to send him chasing after anyone either. “Are we almost done?”
“Just a few more boxes.”
Looping my thumbs through the belt loops of my shorts, I fell in step beside him as we walked back to the moving truck.
He leaned against the truck and studied me for a few seconds before he spoke in a somber tone. “I still don’t understand why you had to come down so early. You could’ve at least given your old man another week with his baby girl before running off to college. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get away from me.”
“Not you…or Kas.”
His chest inflated with a heavy sigh. “I wish you and your mom would get along.”
“Maybe if she’d stop trying to dictate my life.”
“Your mother means well, sweetheart.”
“Oh, I know. She just loves me to pieces, that’s why she’s not here.”
His shoulders drooped and he reached over and brushed one of my wild, reddish curls away from my face. “Your mom wanted to be here, she just –”
“Had to work? What’s new?”
His eyes remained on me a moment longer, but he didn’t press the issue. I suppose because he knew, just like all the other times, that it was a pointless argument. We’d gone round and round about my ‘relationship’ with my mother most of my life. It always ended in a stalemate.
With another heavy sigh, he pushed away from the truck then grabbed another tote from the ground. “Let’s finish up.”
Once everything was inside of my dorm, my dad stood with his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. “Sure you don’t need any help unpacking or you know, wanna hang with your old man for a while?”
“I’m fine, Dad, and you need your rest before you get back on the road.” I closed the space between us and squeezed his waist as tight as my arms would allow. “Love you. Call me when you get home so I know you made it safe.”
“Love you too, baby girl. And I sure will.” He brushed one of my frizzy curls behind my ear and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Be good.”
“When am I ever not good?”
He narrowed an eye at me and lifted a brow, his ‘who you think you foolin’ look.
I giggled, shaking my head at his expression. “Point taken. But don’t worry, I’ll be on my bestest behavior. Cross my heart.”
He hugged me one last time before heading out, leaving me to relish in the feeling of being on my own for the first time in my life. A grin crept over my face and I pumped my fist, before hopping up on to the bed and commencing to shake my groove thang.
Several minutes later I was still at it, swiveling my hips and singing the chorus to ‘Break Free’ by Ariana Grande.
A throat cleared behind me sending my heart into a frenzy. I turned, finding my dad standing in the doorway smirking.
“When you’re done celebrating, here,” he held out my laptop bag. “You left this in the truck.”
I climbed down and shuffled to the door, my cheeks burning the entire way. “Thanks, Daddy.”
Once he was gone, for good, I locked up my dorm and headed down to the one place I’d been dying to go since being accepted River Crest University.
~ ♥ ~
I slipped off my sandals and dug my toes into the cool sand, enjoying the breeze coming off the lake as joggers passed by giving friendly waves. That was one of the things I missed most about River Crest, the sense of community.
It wasn’t exactly a small town but it was far from the big city of Chicago where I’d spent the last three years. Even though I’d only lived in River Crest for a short while before moving, I’d fallen in love with everything about it. Devastation didn’t begin to describe my feelings when I found out my dad’s job was relocating us.
The only way to describe River Crest was in two simple words: Black Mecca. As history goes, the university opened its doors in the late fifties. The neighborhood had a terrible crime rate, but the founders of RCU, a husband and wife duo, had a dream. With their sheer will and determination River Crest flourished into something beautiful.
One by one black businesses had owners opened up shop, families had moved in, and a community had been born. Sure it’d had its up and downs, almost lost many times. But neighbors, friends, and families stood strong. Fought and thrived, refused to let what they’d built crumble. Now River Crest was a force to be reckoned with. Black excellence at its finest and I wanted to be every bit of a part of it.
It was one of those places people only dreamed of moving to. Big houses with white picket fences and spacious yards, beautiful parks, and the most gorgeous winters. But the thing I loved most about this town was where I stood right now, Juniper Lake.
I’d spent every day here the summer before my parents had dragged me kicking and screaming to the Windy City. On the last night of that particular summer, I’d sat in this exact spot with the best friend a girl could ever hope for, Jayson Adams. My Jayson.
A lot of promises were made that night, none of which were kept. I toyed with the dolphin charm hanging
from the thin chain around my neck. A parting gift from him, or rather my half of a matching set. The other hung above his heart the last time I’d seen it.
There had been so much I’d wanted to say to him that night, but my fear had gotten the best of me. I’d been a fourteen-year-old girl in love with her best friend. A friend she would never see again. I’d resigned myself to the fact that revealing how I felt was a moot point. We were kids, I was moving a thousand miles away, and there was nothing I could do about it.
The next morning he’d kissed my cheek, told me he’d never forget me, and promised to call me every day. And he had...at first. After a few weeks the calls had tapered off until one day they’d stopped completely.
I’d hated my parents for months for tearing me away from him. I hated him for breaking his promise. And I hated the world for being so unfair.
Every day I told myself it was just a childhood crush and the feelings would eventually go away. I’m still waiting.
When I made it back to my dorm it was overflowing with boxes, none of which were mine. My mother had packed all my things in bright colored totes and fancy garment bags. Everything was so well organized, unpacking would be a breeze.
I navigated through the maze until I reached my side of the room. A large silver makeup case sat on my bed. The professional kind you’d usually see at a photo shoot. One side was open revealing an array of eye shadow in every color of the rainbow – and then some.
A hand shot out, snapping the lid shut and scaring the crap out of me in the process.
“Sorry about that. I was looking for something and didn’t have any room.” A petite, girl with flawless sepia skin moved the makeup case to the floor. “You must be Gabrielle.” She beamed at me, showing off perfect white teeth, and stuck out her hand.
“Gabi,” I corrected, and shook her hand.
“I’m Camryn,” she said, brushing her long, straight brown hair over her shoulder. “But friends call me Cam. People who want to die call me Cammie. Please don’t call me Cammie.”
I offered a small smile, unsure if it was a joke or a threat, and sat on the edge of my bed, looking around the room. A mountain of boxes, some with clothes spilling out, hid the door. “You sure have a lot of things.”
“I know.” She gave an exaggerated eye roll and shook her head. “As soon as my mom found out I’d be living on campus she converted my room into her ‘yoga space’.” I had to bring most of stuff with me.” She busied herself pushing boxes over to her side of the room. “Plus I bought a whole new wardrobe during the summer. High School is over now. I have to look the part if I’m going to land me one of these sexy college guys.”
Classes hadn’t even started yet and she was on the prowl for men? I could already tell we didn’t have a thing in common.
A knock on the door interrupted my assessment and I rose to answer it. Camryn followed close behind. Cleary personal space was of little importance to her.
When I opened the door there was a man leaning against the frame picking at his cuticles. He was a few shades lighter than Camryn, and had a baseball cap turned backward on his head.
“Can we help you?” I asked him.
His hazel eyes caught mine and he smiled. For a long moment he didn’t speak, just stared. It wasn’t until I cleared my throat that he pushed away from the frame and found his words. “Thank God. The girls in the last dorm were trolls.” Words he should’ve kept to himself.
He handed us each a bright orange sheet of paper. “My name is Haikeem. I’m part of the unofficial welcoming committee. That there,” he said, pointing to the flyers in our hands. “is a list of all things important here at RCU. Hotspots, bangin’ parties, and even a few romantic spots for the couples. It’s updated monthly, and we encourage all the sexy ladies to attend our parties.” His gaze lingered on me as he ran his tongue over his plump lips.
“I bet you do,” I mumbled. That troll remark had rubbed me the wrong way. Any chance he might’ve had went out the window with that one statement.
He took a step back and smiled at us again. “Well, I’ll be seeing you ladies around. Especially you, Red.” He winked at me before turning and heading down the hall
In your dreams.
I skimmed over the flyer while walking back to my bed, not even giving the parties a second glance. My eyes stopped near a section at the bottom of the page. Live Music & Poetry: Every Saturday at Angelo’s. Poetry was my weakness. Though I couldn’t write it worth a damn, listening to poets pour their emotions out in melodic rhythms moved my spirit in a way I couldn’t quite put into words.
Camryn’s voice pierced my reverence and I looked up to find her butt planted on my nightstand. “I’ll definitely be at all these parties, especially if Mr. Sexy from the welcoming committee is there.”
After a relaxing breath to stave off an eye roll, I tossed the flyer on my pillow and went over to the tote labeled ‘shoes’. Leave it to my perfectionist mother to have every pair scrubbed clean and separated into dividers. I grabbed my favorite pair of sneakers, and then sat on my wooden chest to change into them. “Between studying and track meets I won’t have time for any.”
“You run track?” If the shock in her voice wasn’t evidence, her gaping mouth gave away her surprise.
“Yeah.” River Crest was famous for track. There were teams at the Elementary, Middle, and High Schools. I guess you could say it was kind of our thing.
“I always wanted to join the track team, but my mom wouldn’t let me.”
“Why not?” I stood after I had laced and tied my shoes.
She went back to pushing boxes around. “Sports are for manly girls.”
“Excuse me?” My gaze narrowed on the back of her head. I don’t know who Miss Priss thought she was, but if –
She faced me and her eyes went as wide as saucers. “Those are my mom’s words, not mine. She said I couldn’t go out for sports because boys don’t like girls that act like boys. Gymnastics was also out of the question. Boys don’t like girls with more muscles than them. Again, my mom’s words. I ended up cheer-leading, which I hated.”
I took a deep breath, my gaze softening and anger dissipating. I needed to stop with these knee jerk reactions, the only thing my mother and I agreed on. “Wow, your mom sounds like a pill.”
Camryn threw her head back and groaned. “She’s the worst. I was so glad when I graduated, I don’t ever want to go back there.”
She turned back to a box that was almost as tall as her and began pushing it. Or at least that was her attempt, but the thing wasn’t budging.
With a little shrug I went over to help. If we were going to be roommates, I suppose I could at least try to get along with her, even if we were polar opposites. “My mom didn’t want me to run either. My dad had to talk her into it, and she only agreed if I worked for her. She’s a caterer. She wants me to go into business with her, but it’s not my thing. I just want to win a few more medals and get my degree in Astrophysics.”
She stopped pushing the box, and I slipped, almost hitting my face on it.
“You’re majoring in Astrophysics?”
I nodded and gestured for her to keep pushing.
“Wow, you’re like every little girl’s role model. I could never do something so ambitious.”
It was clear the box was staying put, so I turned and leaned against it. “What’s your major?”
“Yours is so awesome I’m embarrassed to say.”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”
She pursed her lips, staring down at the box. “Accounting.”
“Accounting isn’t bad. It pays well.”
“Yeah, but it’s boring and safe. Plus, I’m too damn cute to be sitting behind a desk.”
I couldn’t help but to crack up at the seriousness in her expression. I shook my head and glanced down at my watch. “Are you going on the campus tour?”
“Yeah, you?”
I nodded, lifting my wrist for emphasis. “It’s in less tha
n thirty minutes so we should get going.”
“Fine with me,” she said, a grin spreading across her face. “Anything to get out of working.”
~ ♥ ~
During the tour I’d taken a few notes and tried to memorize where everything was. Camryn had spent most of her time making eyes at the tour guide. I couldn’t blame her. He looked like a younger version of Brian White.
It was close to lunch when the tour ended, so we decided to head to Angelo’s. According to the guide, not only did they have live music and poetry, but the best pizza for a hundred miles in any direction. Living in Chicago had spoiled me, so I had my doubts anything could compare.
Camryn walked next to me, scrolling through her phone.
I looked over at her and shook my head. “I can’t believe you asked for his number.”
She grinned from ear to ear. “Girl he was damn fine. Check out his pics on Instagram.” She handed me the phone which had a shirtless image of Omar, the guide, displayed on the screen.
I almost drooled at his well-defined, toffee colored body. “Good lord.”
“I know right?” She took the phone back and dropped it into her purse. “I am so jealous of your hair. Is that your real color?” She lifted one of my reddish curls from my head and examined it.
“Yes, and you shouldn’t be. It takes a lot to tame this lion’s mane. Half the time I look like I stuck a fork in an electrical socket. Don’t even get me started on what weather does to it. Let’s just say, me and fog don’t get along.”
“Well you have me now,” she said, draping her arm over my shoulder. Which was a bit awkward considering she couldn’t have been more than 5’5” even in heels, and I was 5’ 10” without them. “I can fulfill all your hair and makeup needs.”
We walked the rest of the way in silence with Camryn once again scrolling through Instagram. If it hadn’t been for me guiding her, I’m pretty sure she would have walked into something.
When I pulled open the door to Angelo’s a blast of cool air gushed out mixed with the aroma of fresh marinara sauce and garlic. As if on cue, my stomach rumbled telling me to hurry up and feed it.
Excuse Me, First Love (College Daze #1) Page 1
