The Campus Jock: A College Bad Boy Romance

by Serena Silver

  He looked at me, and I felt a sharp feeling in my stomach, are those the butterflies that people talk about all the time? Was I feeling butterflies thanks to a complete stranger’s eyes being on me?

  He seemed confused, so I tried to calm him down as much as I could despite being a stranger who is randomly sitting next to him in a hospital room and acting like she knows him.

  “Hey, you’re ok, you’re at the hospital, I found you lying on the ground in some lab, I called an ambulance, everything is okay now” I tried to be comforting.

  “Who are you?” he asked and I could see the fear in his eyes. They were wandering around the room as if he was looking for something.

  “I’m Lana, I’m a new master’s student, it’s my first week” I tried to explain.

  “Why are you here? There are bad people coming.” He said and grabbed my hand really hard.

  “What?” I had no idea what he meant.

  “They will get to us eventually.” He said while holding my arm really strongly and not having the intention to let go.

  He wasn’t making any sense, you could see in his eyes that he wasn’t a hundred percent okay, he was probably drugged, and I felt bad for being there in that moment. He didn’t know who I was and it probably seemed scary to him. Or maybe he was just crazy, or maybe he had hit his head, I was wondering whether I should call for help or not.

  I could see his eyes starting to tear up and before I got the chance to call for a nurse he grabbed my hand, looked at me (I felt those butterflies again) and said, “I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”

  “Sorry for what?” I asked as he had sparked my curiosity to a crazy amount.

  He got quiet, he was just holding my hand so tight that I thought he would break it. I must admit I was scared in that second. What could he have done that is so bad that he is talking about it right now? People say that when you are unconscious, you’re more honest than ever, could this have been the case?

  “I’m not a bad person, I’m sorry.”

  “What happened?” I insisted on knowing. I now realize that it was probably wrong to ask for information from a heavily drugged person, but I couldn’t help it. I’m pretty sure you would have done the same thing.

  He looked so scared I felt like I just wanted to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay. I was worried about him even though I didn’t even know who he was.

  At that moment I saw his eyes roll and his body started shaking, he was having what seemed like a seizure. I called the nurse as soon as I could, and then I was forced to go home and get ready for the beginning of my semester, I had a feeling it would be a long one.

  I had no idea how much my life had changed by this one interaction with Troy, I couldn’t have known how important he would turn out to be. It’s funny how we never realize how important some strangers can turn out to be.

  Chapter Three

  Back to school. I was trying really hard not to think about what had happened, but it was not that easy. I wanted to focus on my studies, be productive and show people how great I can be, but I was thinking about it all the time, I was worried about him. Could it be true what he told me, or was it just something random that he said because he was under the influence of drugs? I was seriously hoping that it was random because otherwise he would have a lot to deal with and I really wanted to know. The thought wasn’t leaving my head, I even had a dream about it. Every time I am really worried, excited, scared or just any strong emotion that a human can experience, I end up dreaming about it and not just once, but all the damn time.

  I was in class, and my lecturer kept talking about the consequences of cheating on exams. Everyone was just rolling their eyes because we knew that nobody really ever got caught cheating these days and suddenly my lecturer was Troy... my attention was suddenly drawn to him. After a few seconds I was talking with him, and he leaned forward and kissed me. His lips felt amazingly soft and were a perfect match for mine, then my mother was shouting from the kitchen that food was ready… dreams are definitely weird.

  Anyway, it is safe to say that I couldn’t really focus my attention on anything else and my friends were also quite sick of it, which I don’t blame them for.

  “Sounds like you have a crush on the sick dude” my friend Jonas could sound a little rude sometimes, but he was a great guy. He always helped me when I needed it, never even once turned his back on me.

  “Don’t call him that…” I still felt like it was kind of rude even though I knew he meant no harm.

  “So you admit! You do have a crush” he punched my shoulder slightly.

  “No, I do not! I don’t even know him, we only talked when he was unconscious, so that means he doesn’t know me at all.” I explained and grabbed my books from the desk. I considered having a dramatic storm out of the room

  “Are you coming to lunch with Amelia and me?” he asked. Amelia was his girlfriend and only the smartest person in the whole world. She studied Biochemistry and could solve a Rubik’s cube in seconds. I love talking with her because I always learn something new and I gotta say, for such a smart chick she is also incredibly easy on the eyes. Jonas was a lucky guy to be with her. Don’t get me wrong - Jonas is also attractive and smart with his deep sea blue eyes and Scandinavian tall body and blonde hair. But Amelia was a whole different level - she was a Goddess in all different ways you can imagine. She was also incredibly funny - any time we talked I ended up laughing at her stupid jokes, they were funny because they were often very stupid and illogical, even senseless at times.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there in about half an hour, I got something to do first” what happened that day made me completely forget to actually get my card which meant that I had been accessing the buildings by asking people to please open the door for me. Luckily everyone was nice and believed that I was a student there - lucky that I looked super young for my age, so there was no doubt there.

  “Are you going to see the guy?” He asked and gave me a smile that made me want to hit him in the face. I felt like he was making fun of my silly crush and I really did not want to admit that I had one.

  I had told them all about what had happened, I hated keeping secrets for them, I was used to telling them everything, and I think that is how it should be. They wouldn’t really be my best friends if I had to keep secrets from them.

  “No! I still need my student card; I haven’t gotten it yet…” I did need my card, but I also lied. I was, in fact, going to see Troy. I needed to learn more about that night. What was wrong with him, what was he talking about? I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

  “Alright, see you later,” Jacob said and headed toward the exit.

  After I had made sure that he could not see that I was also leaving, I grabbed my backpack and headed toward the lab.

  Before opening the door, I actually had a few thoughts about maybe not going in at all. Maybe it was none of my business, and maybe I should not have been meddling. But I really wanted to meddle… I felt something weird in my stomach, I needed to figure out what was happening. I mean what is the worst thing that could happen? I felt bad for having this sentence in my head. In horror movies that is what people think right before they are about to die. It is that one sentence that you should never think because the worst thing can actually always happen.

  I opened the door, and the only person inside the room was Troy. Standing on a table at the end of the room, writing something in a notebook and checking his computer every two seconds, he seemed quite busy. The room smelled like pizza because of all those empty boxes filling the recycle bin. It seemed like all he has been eating for days or even weeks was pizza. The room looked like it had not been cleaned for weeks - it was borderline dirty; I was super close to giving him the card of my cousin who had a cleaning company – he needed it.

  He looked at me from all the way across the room with a question mark written all over his face.

  “Can I help you? I’ve reserved the room for the whole month�
� he probably thought I was planning on staying and studying in here or something.

  “It’s me, Lana…?” I wanted to check if he remembered anything at all. He just shook his hand and raised his shoulders. Nothing. Even though I knew he was quite unconscious, I took the fact that he didn’t remember me personally. I mean, I should have been remembered.

  I walked up to him and looked straight into his eyes. Come on... Remember me!

  “What are you doing?” he asked and I could feel he was getting irritated by my noisiness.

  “I’m the one who called the ambulance” I explained and took off my backpack because it was way too heavy.

  “Oh, that was you?” He took off his gloves and gave me a handshake. “Thank you! Nice to meet you, I am Troy.”

  “Lana..”

  “I’m sorry you had to see that the other day.” he apologized as if it was his own fault that he had passed out.

  “Are you okay now?” I was genuinely worried for him. He looked at me like he was surprised that I had asked him that. Was that such a weird question to ask somebody who was just in the hospital?

  “I’m fine, yeah. Thanks. Do you want some money or?” That right there was the weirdest question I had ever gotten from anybody.

  “What the hell? Why would I want your money?”

  I asked, and he could definitely feel the angry tone in my voice.

  “Well, you wasted your time with me at the hospital, thought you may want some money for that. “Was he actually serious? I wasn’t his babysitter; I was a person who was worried about him.

  “That is bullshit! I saw a person lying on the floor, I called an ambulance, anyone would have done the same thing, I don’t want your stupid money.” I was actually getting angry, and then I realized... “So you do remember me! I never told you I was at the hospital with you.” Guess he thought he could pretend that he didn’t remember me and he could easily avoid my questions.

  “Look, I don’t want to talk about it” he put his gloves back on.

  “You told me some pretty crazy things, I need to know more.” I wasn’t going to give up now.

  “Can you please leave? There is a reason I have reserved this room, and that reason is definitely not so that pretty girls can come in and question me like I’m at the police station.” Did he just call me pretty??

  “So, you think I’m pretty, huh?” This may have been a serious conversation, but there was nothing wrong with joking around a bit.

  “That is really not the point. The point is that I need you to leave right now.” even though he was arrogant, he was still super cute. In fact, he was lucky he was so cute because I seriously doubt I would have been okay with anybody else speaking to me like that.

  “Fine,” I said, grabbed my backpack and stormed out.

  This really wasn’t what I expected, but he did think I’m pretty so I guess it wasn’t all bad. I definitely had a crush on the cute, mysterious guy that I found lying on the floor, and I was going to figure out everything about what he told me.

  When I got to the cafeteria, Jonas and Amelia were already there waiting for me. I could see them laughing while also eating from each other’s meals, they were so darn cute together, they kept holding their hands, and I thought that was very romantic. I was slightly jealous of what they had but also happy because I loved them both. I would never do anything to ruin their relationship, in fact, I would go out of my way to save it if it was ever in danger. I never felt like a third wheel with them, I felt just in place and comfortable with my two best friends who loved me very much.

  I was starving so sitting down at that table was probably the highlight of my day. I always had space for a delicious tuna sandwich and a nice salad.

  “Lana, get this!” Jonas said just as I took out the lunch from my bag.

  “What?”

  Amelia took a sip of her coke and took over the conversation.

  “Jonas told me about your new friend - he is in my biochemistry course.” what a small world.

  “No way!” I was about to know more about him, could definitely feel my excitement flowing all over.

  “Yes way, he is a total Brainiac. He is the smartest in the class, but he barely talks to anyone anymore…” her tone changed, and I could feel that she wasn’t saying something. Whenever she tried to hide something, you could always hear it in her voice.

  “Why, what happened?” I inquired.

  “His mother has cancer. We threw a fundraiser last year to collect some money for her treatment. We actually got a large amount, but money's not everything. I’ve heard that she is in bed all day now.” I really hated hearing that. Nobody deserves anything like that, it is the biggest and most terrible challenge that anyone would ever have to face.

  “That’s terrible…” I said and felt slightly bad for being so demanding with him earlier. I know that people who go through things like this never want for others to look at them as victims and I had no intention of doing that. I did, however, have the attention to at least try to be a bit more understanding about his behavior.

  “That’s exactly what I said when she told me” Jonas added and continued eating his hot dog.

  “Do you know why he has rented a whole room to use as a lab?” It did seem slightly strange. People often rented rooms in university but it was to form study groups and things like that, it was never for personal use.

  “Nobody knows… rumors are that he just likes experimenting. But, such a smart guy, who knows. He might be inventing a time machine, wouldn’t be surprised, to be honest,” Amelie joked, and all of us giggled.

  “Yeah…” maybe he was, and I could go back and pick up my card on time.

  I felt as if I needed to know more. My curiosity was growing, and I found it hard to stop thinking about him. His pretty face, shaking his hand. It was so soft, yet his handshake was firm and welcoming. I wanted to know more, and I was determined to get to know him. There was something about Troy, something special and different.

  Considering how this went, I decided to just get my student card and head home. After a lot of roaming around the building, I finally had the room for real this time. A few people along the way had confirmed where it was, and I was actually using the campus map properly this time.

  Inside were two women and a guy all looking at one monitor. They kept arguing about something, and I could see them browsing through books and being anxious.

  “The cameras are supposed to work…” the guy said. He was middle aged and was wearing a suit, I could tell that he definitely wasn’t a student. He seemed very ordered and proper, his suit was dark blue and the black tie he had made his look complete.

  “Look, I don’t know what to tell you, there is no data for Monday from 8 am to 5 pm, it’s blank. It’s like someone deleted everything or it was never filming in the first place.” He continued trying to defend himself, he seemed so nervous. It took me a few seconds, but I realized that was the date when I found Troy laying on the floor. Could this have had anything to do with it? I had no way of knowing really, and chances were that it didn’t, but I was just a kind of a paranoid person who always thought there was more going on than there was in reality.

  “No data for the cameras in the whole university or just some rooms?” one of the women asked.

  “All, the whole building,” he replies and put his hand on his forehead while taking a deep breath. “I am in so much trouble,” he added.

  “It’s not your fault.” one of the women tried to calm him down and patted his back.

  After that, they noticed I had been standing there the whole time, and all of them looked at me.

  “Can I help you?” one of the women, the younger one, who had really long, beautiful blonde hair that I was absolutely jealous of asked while the other people went away.

  “Um, yes. I need my student card.” I said and gave her a warm smile.

  “So, you’re Lana Wood, the only one whose card is still here, we were actually wondering if you’re alive,�
� she said and opened some drawer. The other two people in the room continued browsing while she was dealing with me. They seemed very nervous about not having any data from the cameras in school, I had no idea it was actually that important. I was under the impression that most of the time the cameras were just there and nobody ever really looked at them unless something was stolen.

  There it was my student card, finally. All blue and in perfect condition, I was excited to be able to open doors. The sky was the limit now. If I could open the doors in the university, I could do anything.

  “Thank you.” I grabbed it and put it in my wallet. I seriously needed a new wallet, mine was so big it took up half of my backpack.

  “You’re welcome, sweetie,” she said. I liked how even though I knew she had a really bad day she still managed to be nice to me. People around here were actually quite welcoming. They seemed to enjoy the fact that it was filled with people from all over the world.

  I finally had my card and was ready to call it a day.

  Chapter Four

  I tried to go on with my life like a normal person. However, getting him out of my head was an impossible task. I couldn’t stop thinking about how pretty he was, how he called me pretty, how mysterious and interesting he seemed and how all I wanted right now and then was to know what he did.

  I was having German class that particular morning. My lecturer was, in fact, a native German speaker but not the kind that you may be imagining right now. She had a special ringing in her voice and made German sound like the softest, sweetest language in the world. She was always dressed in bright colors and had a big smile on her face. Now, I knew nothing about her life, but I could just imagine how amazingly happy she must have been to be glowing so much every day. I loved German class because of how fun she always made it. I wasn’t that great at it, but speaking German was super fun for me. It always made me feel special knowing how to speak a foreign language, people say that you never really understand a culture until you speak its language and I was beginning to see how true that was.