Present
When I walk downstairs my legs are shaking, but Oliver is nowhere to be seen. He did what he needed to do, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he bailed already. I’ve known Oliver for years, and despite what went on between us in high school, he was always cool and collected. He never challenged me about my behavior toward him. I can’t find Dora anywhere. She is still probably with that guy Jacob.
The air downstairs is warm and dense. There are a lot more people in the room. Couples are spread in the corners making out in the rhythm of rock music. I walk back to the kitchen searching for Dora. I have goose pimples all over my arms and my stomach is in knots. I take my mobile and call her. She doesn’t pick up. I don’t know anyone at this party, so after half an hour of searching, I decide to go home. Dora is obviously having a great time, so there is no point disturbing her. She is a big girl and able to take care of herself.
The street is full of students. I shouldn’t be surprised; it’s the Fresher Week and people want to enjoy themselves. When I get to the apartment, my head starts spinning. I run to my room and start packing. Oliver has won. He wants me to leave, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. He always knew that I would choose Braxton. We’d talked about this for as long as we’d known each other. After the way I treated him in high school, he probably decided to pay me back by choosing the same university.
I pack all my stuff, wondering what I’m going to tell my mum. My head is aching so I lie down in my new bed. With the alcohol in my system, I decide to pack the rest tomorrow morning. By two o’clock in the morning I’m still not asleep. Dora hasn’t come home yet, but when I look at my phone I see that she sent me a text saying that I shouldn’t wait for her. I manage to drift off a few hours later.
I wake up in the morning with a headache. The memories from last night flow back to me, and I cringe thinking about my conversation with Oliver. I rub my sleepy eyes and look at my half-packed luggage. Tears of regret swell in my eyes when I think of the way I treated Oliver in high school. I meant to stop hurting him so many times, but I never did. I wanted to apologize, but something or someone always stopped me.
I hear laughter in the living room, and I wonder if Dora has a company. She has only been in Braxton for five minutes, but she’s already met her potential boyfriend and two new girlfriends.
I put some clothes on and smooth my hair. When I walk into the living room I see Jacob, who has Dora on his lap. They are so engrossed with each other that they don’t even notice me. I clear my throat to let them know that I’m in the room. It looks like my best friend has already marked Jacob as hers because he can’t seem to take his eyes off her.
“Oh, India, you met Jacob?” asks my friend.
Jacob finally looks at me. “All right, India?”
“Fine, thanks.”
I have to admit that I didn’t expect him to be friendly towards me. After all, he is Oliver’s mate—and from what it looks like, Dora’s new boyfriend, if I can call him that. And if she dates him, that will only bring more trouble for me. I see my half-packed suitcase and change my mind. Oliver can threaten me, but I won’t leave just because he can’t stand me.
“Dora, what time did you get back yesterday? I didn’t hear you come in.”
“She didn’t. She slept in my place,” Jacob says. Dora has an attack of hysterical giggles, and I roll my eyes. I can’t believe that she slept with him not even thinking about the consequences.
“Yes, Jacob just dropped me home. He’s got a practice session in an hour,” she informs me, stroking her brown hair.
“Great,” I reply and head to the kitchen in need of coffee. Once the kettle boils, my mind wanders off to the bathroom at the party and Oliver’s threat. He can’t make me leave. I worked hard to get here. It’s an easy decision, similar to the other that I made two years ago after Christian’s funeral. I’m staying whether Oliver likes it or not.
I spend the rest of the day with Dora, listening to her monologue about Jacob after he leaves for rugby training. I’ve known her for too long; she gets bored of men quite easily. Jacob is handsome, but I don’t see her sticking with him for that long. I keep quiet about my heated conversation with Oliver. It’s better to keep Dora out of trouble.
The next few days pass too quickly. I’m forced to spend most of my days in my room because Jacob is always in our apartment. Neither of them is shy, and they don’t care that I sit on the opposite sofa while they make out. On top of that, Dora isn’t that great in the kitchen, so I’m the one that ends up preparing everything. Now I have to cook more because Jacob has a healthy appetite. This slowly starts to drive me crazy. My best friend doesn’t seem to care. She has a new man in her life, she is away from her mum, and she can do what she wants. If I’d known this was the way she was imagining living with me, then I would have thought twice about it.
I haven’t seen Oliver around campus since our tense rendezvous in the bathroom, but I try to have eyes in the back on my head. It doesn’t take me long to discover that he is the captain of the rugby team. The posters of the team are all over campus, and he’s the only person everyone is talking about, especially girls. I feel like he’s already hunting me down.
My first rowing session is in a few days. The team hasn’t been formed yet, but I’m looking forward to getting rid of my frustration during training.
I choose law as my main degree. But I don’t have to make a final decision about where I want to take my career until my last year. Law always fascinated me. I also think it’s partly because I really like those TV shows about troubled lawyers and criminals. Mum warned me that I might struggle to get the license, but I’m willing to try.
Classes start a week after the Fresher Week. My timetable looks busy, and for the first few days I run between classes trying to find the right room. Today I’m relieved when lunch hour approaches. Dora has been texting me all day demanding to talk to me, but I didn’t have time to reply as I was so busy. I text her when I leave the lecture, saying that I’m heading for lunch. Dora is studying Business and Management. Her father works as a financial adviser so I think he influenced her to take on that subject. Dora isn’t very ambitious, but she seems genuinely interested in business.
The canteen is packed. I make a mental note to change my dinner schedule in the future. A few people stare at me more than usual as I walk in. I don’t know anyone in Braxton, so I’m surprised that people actually notice me. I load my tray with food and go back to find a seat.
“India. Hey, India.”
It’s Dora. She waves to me from the other side of the hall, so I follow. Unfortunately, she isn’t alone. Two Essex girls and Jacob are with her. My stomach tightens, but I don’t let them see that I’m uncomfortable. I should be used to that by now. Company always follows Dora.
“Hey, guys.” I greet them. The Essex girls nod toward me coldly. Dora feeds Jacob, who seems to be enjoying the attention.
“India, where have you been? I’ve been texting you all day,” she says.
“I had classes, like most people here, Dora,” I reply, smiling. “What’s up?”
“We need to talk.”
“I’m starving and I’ve got another class in forty minutes, so it’ll have to wait,” I say. “Besides, knowing you, I guess it’s nothing important.” I start eating my chips and curry. I have a rowing session this afternoon so I need a lot of energy. The Essex girls are eating their salads and eyeing my plate with disgust.
Dora purses her lips together, jumps off Jacob’s lap, and sits beside me. “It’s really important. Come on. Let’s move to the other table.”
“Babe, I have my history module in fifteen minutes,” Jacob complains.
“Yeah, babe, I’m in the middle of my lunch,” I say, mocking Jacob, who doesn’t seem to realize how silly that sounds. Dora isn’t a babe for sure.
“No freaking way, Indi. You need to listen to what I’ve got to tell you. This is really important.” She drags me away from the tabl
e.
I’m not in the mood for her stupid gossip. I get cranky when I’m hungry. We sit a few meters away from our table and more people stare in our direction. Oliver is like a god on campus, and all of a sudden he took an interest in me, so it seems everyone wants to know why I’m so special.
“Okay, you’ve got me now,” I say. “Just be quick. I need to pop into the library after lunch.”
“Did you have some kind of confrontation with our hot Oliver?” she asks, slamming her hands on the table.
My mouth goes dry. How the hell would Dora know about this? No one could know that Oliver threatened me in the bathroom. “No. We aren’t exactly on speaking terms.”
“Are you sure?”
“What are you getting at, Dora? Don’t you remember Oliver and I hated each other? And we still do.”
“I know, but I thought that you were doing that because you had feelings for him?”
I don’t like where this conversation is going. I don’t have any feelings for Oliver anymore. He is dead to me like Christian.
“He hit me with the ball, Dora. Do you think I’d be interested in such a loser?”
She tosses her hair behind and licks her lips, waving towards Jacob. “He is hot and every girl on the campus wants him. He changed, so I assumed that you also changed your perspective.”
“Nothing’s changed. I still want nothing to do with him.”
“That’s too bad because I always thought that you’d make a cute couple.”
“Don’t be delusional, Dora,” I tell her, getting angry. “Christian was my boyfriend and
Oliver was his brother. That’s the end of the story.”
“Fine, fine. I’m only teasing,” she says. “Here is the thing. I made friends with a few girls from the cheerleader squad for the rugby boys, and they told me something very interesting about Oliver.”
I hate when Dora gets all serious. She has that tendency of exaggerating the whole truth, even if it’s just the smallest thing. She’s doing that right now, like she needs to keep a secret but she can’t wait to tell me everything. “Dora, seriously, I’m not interested. I want to stay away from Oliver. I’m here to study. Fooling around is not on the agenda.”
She leans closer, touching my hand. Her brown eyes flicker with excitement. “You should be interested, because they were talking about you. Apparently Oliver made a bet over you with one of the boys from the rugby team.”
I shake my head, confused for a moment, then I start laughing. “A bet?”
She narrows her eyes, looking angry. “Yes, Oliver told some other guy that you will leave within a few months, that he will make sure that you do,” she says.
I stop smiling and look away, trying to compose myself. Violent emotions pull me apart and I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. Is it really possible that he could go that far, to make sure that I disappear from his life? My heart starts pounding way too fast, and I swallow hard. Then Dora turns to look over my shoulder, and I feel like the atmosphere in the canteen shifts. Girls are turning their heads, sending wide smiles across the room. My skin goes hot within a moment because I already know who is walking through the canteen. I don’t dare to turn around, but I can feel his blue eyes on my back.
The air changes when he is around, like he affects everyone.
“Are you done now?” I ask, looking her in the eye. Dora acts startled, her mouth hanging open.
Then I hear his voice and my stomach contracts.
“Jacob, we’ve got to rush.”
“Come on, man, I haven’t finished my food,” complains Dora’s brand new boyfriend.
“Don’t care. We got stuff to do,” says my enemy number one.
I tense my shoulders, praying he hasn’t noticed me yet.
“Hey, Oliver,” Dora shouts, giving one of her best smiles, “don’t try to steal Jacob away from me. I haven’t finished with him yet.”
I drop my head to my hands wondering why Dora has to be so stupid. It would be better if he didn’t notice me at all. No drama. Eventually I have to turn around, only because I don’t want him to think that I’m scared of him.
His eyes never dart on me. He is staring at Dora. “Sorry, Dor.”
Jacob mutters something under his breath, approaches the table where we are sitting, and kisses Dora very passionately.
I want to curl under the table and disappear. Oliver’s presence is giving me an anxiety attack. I’m suddenly drenched with sweat. Now he knows for sure that I stayed.
“Bye, babe, I’ll see you later,” says Jacob, ignoring me completely this time around.
Oliver is still standing in the same spot. The Essex girls are smiling, trying to gain his attention, but he turns around and stops by my food. He picks up the salt and empties it out straight into my chips and curry sauce.
“Enjoy your food, Indi,” he says with a smile and walks away laughing.
For a long moment I don’t even know what’s happened. I stare startled as sweat rolls down my back. Everyone in the canteen is staring at me in silence.
“And you wouldn’t even listen,” Dora says bitterly. “I told you so. He is going to do anything to make your life difficult.”
I shove my hands into my pockets, ignoring the stares. My mind is hollow. “I dare him try,” I say through the gritted teeth.
“India, he owns Braxton. Maybe you should try to talk to him?” Dora says, flexing her fingers.
I don’t respond. Instead, I pick up my tray and throw into the bin. Oliver just cost me lunch. If he thinks that he can bully me out of Braxton, then he is wrong. I’m staying and I’m not going to pay any attention to whatever he does.
“I don’t care, Dora. I’m here for myself not for him, and I’m telling you he will lose that bet.”
All About You (Love & Hate series #1) Page 4
