Romance: The Campus Player: A College Romance

by Caroline Lake

  Amanda smiled. “Thanks a lot, Stacey,” she said, getting out of the car, as Stacey also smiled and drove away. Amanda stood in front of her cabin, her backpack in her hands, the keys ready to open the door.

  Chapter 9: Unforeseen Problems

  The cabin was the same as she had left it a few days ago. Amanda unpacked and put everything in its place. She had brought food and some clothes. There was nothing else that she’d need. Sitting on her bed, she looked around, smiling. She was in the forest, near the man of her dreams. She didn’t know where he was, nor where he lived, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to find him in the city, so the best place to look for him was the forest. Suddenly her phone rang. It was Stacey.

  “Amanda?” she said, as soon as Amanda picked it up.

  “Yes? Stacey? What’s happened?”

  “I’m afraid you must stay there for two days instead of one,” Stacey said apologetically. “I just got a phone call and it turns out that there are problems at the seminar and I am needed tomorrow the whole day. I just called Andy, to ask him if he can get you tomorrow, but he was only available today, for an hour. So if you want, he can come and get you in an hour.” She said in one breath.

  “Oh, Stacey, don’t worry, it’s not a problem at all,” Amanda said. “I brought too much food anyway, so I will be fine for two days and nights.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want Andy to come and take you from there in an hour?”

  “I am absolutely sure,” Amanda said, smiling. The suggestion of staying more than one day was appealing.

  “Okay then, Mandy, see you in two days. And sorry for this!” Stacey said.

  “It’s fine, Stacey, I’m great. See you!” Amanda said and hung up.

  Sighing, Amanda closed her eyes. Now that she was much closer to him, a strange feeling of fear crossed her mind. She was a bit scared to meet Roger again. What if he wasn’t the good guy she had thought him to be? Now, that she was alone and was going to spend two nights in the cabin, she got uneasy.

  Shaking the negative feelings off Amanda brushed her long hair and got out of the cabin to go and see the construction. She wanted to know how many days the workers still had to work and when exactly the hotel would be ready to use. Walking the distance towards the construction site was refreshing, as the morning was cool and the sun wasn’t high in the sky yet. In her short jeans and a white shirt, Amanda was pretty. She reached the construction site and couldn’t believe her eyes. In those several days the building was almost ready. It wasn’t a big hotel, just two stories, and the construction process was coming to an end. They were already working on the patio, the front yard and the building decorations. Amanda was happy to see it. She noticed that in about a week the furniture would be beautifully arranged inside, too, and her hotel would be ready.

  There were several workers there, busy on the different parts of the small building. One of them noticed Amanda standing under a tree and approached her.

  “Hello,” he said, and Amanda recognized him. It was the worker whom she had seen before, winking at her. He was the one that Stacey had noticed and had told her about.

  “Hello,” Amanda said. She looked at him and noticed that the man was looking into her eyes intently, as if trying to seduce her.

  “Kevin,” he said, stretching out his hand.

  Amanda looked at his hand, not knowing what to do. She didn’t want to touch his hand, but on the other hand, it wasn’t polite of her to leave his hand in mid-air. While she was thinking, Kevin withdrew his hand, saying: “Amanda, right?” Seeing her startled face, he smiled and added: “I remember your name. I just wanted to double check.”

  “Oh, okay,” Amanda managed to say.

  “So? Are you here alone?” he asked her.

  “Well, um… no,” Amanda said. She was getting more and more uneasy by that worker and his sly questions. She was starting to get unpleasant thoughts about the nights that she was going to spend in the cabin.

  “I see, I see,” Kevin said.

  “I… I wanted to check the construction,” Amanda said. “When will you finish the entire project?”

  “In a week maximum,” Kevin said, pointing to the building: “See there? 99% of the work is already done. I guess in a few days your hotel will be ready.”

  Amanda managed a smile. “Thanks, that sounds pretty nice.”

  Kevin looked at her smiling and smiled, too. He came one step closer, confusing Amanda a little.

  “Amanda,” he said, standing right in front of her, “I memorized your pretty name the moment I heard it. I learnt it by heart. Your name is as pretty as your eyes,” he said, fixing his gaze on her eyes, making her squirm. Amanda’s breathing grew faster. Kevin was closer.

  “As pretty as your lips,” he stared at her lips. Amanda pressed her lips together. “And they look like sweet cherries.”

  Kevin held Amanda by her arm. Amanda didn’t know what to do. She was scared to death, and she also acknowledged that she was alone in the forest with a bunch of workers who probably hadn’t had any girl in a month.

  “Sweet cherry lips, which I’d love to taste,” Kevin advanced, seeing that Amanda wasn’t moving. He came closer and closer, until he was face to face with Amanda. Amanda jerked her hand free and turned to run away, but Kevin held her hand. “Wait, cherry lips, where are you going?”

  “Let me go,” Amanda said through gritted teeth.

  “But I like you,” Kevin said.

  “I don’t,” Amanda marched to the direction of her cabin, got inside and locked the door.

  ***

  Her scent… the familiar, sweet, enticing, head-spinning scent was fresh and near. Roger could feel that Amanda was near the forest. He walked quickly towards her cabin, but when he reached there, she wasn’t there. Following her scent, he advanced towards the construction site and stopped still behind some trees. He stopped short in his tracks, as something unbelievable was happening there, in a short distance from him: there was a man, standing close to Amanda, holding her hand, murmuring to her, while Amanda was standing still, letting him touch her hand and stand so close to her. His nostrils flaring, Roger felt anger and jealousy fill up inside of him, threatening to spill out. Instinctively he wanted to go and kill the man in one blow, but he contained himself and decided to watch more, forcing his eyes to look straight ahead at the girl of his dreams, flirting with another man. It was a painful sight, but he had to see it, he knew, because he needed to know if Amanda loved him or their passionate sex was just a pastime for her. Roger watched with pain, with frowned forehead, seeing how the man came closer to kiss Amanda’s lips – his Amanda’s lips. But at that moment Amanda jerked her hand free and marched off, in the direction of her cabin. Of course she didn’t notice him, as he was hiding behind the trees, but he managed to catch a glimpse of her face and noticed that she was frowning and angry. It gave him hopes. Slowly, Roger followed Amanda to the cabin, and when he got there, she was already inside, with the door locked.

  ***

  Sitting down on her bed in the cabin, Amanda closed her eyes. She was agitated. The worker – Kevin, as she remembered – was disgusting to her. Well, he wasn’t ugly or unpleasant, but he was flirting with her, which was so wrong, taking into consideration the fact that she was in love with Roger. Amanda opened her eyes. Then her eyes widened with surprise and disbelief, as she could clearly see Roger standing outside the cabin right in front of the window, looking at her. Amanda got instantly turned on, the wave of emotions and memories swiping over her entirely, as she looked at him, starting to burn with desire. But something was wrong: Roger was looking at her in a different way. He wasn’t smiling, and his eyes weren’t smiling either. He looked menacing. He was serious. Serious and strict. The initial pleasant emotions that flooded Amanda turned into anxiety. Why was he looking at her like that? What was wrong? Could it be that he didn’t love her? Could it be that he was a dangerous person and wanted revenge for something? Amanda’s eyes got wider with horror, as fear
started to slowly creep over her. She could stay that way forever, but Roger came near the door and knocked on it. It was a sign that he needed to speak with her, she thought. Shaking the bad thoughts out of her mind, Amanda slowly got up, still a little shakily and walked towards the cabin door. She opened it tentatively and looked at Roger, trying to understand what his expression meant.

  ***

  “Hello, Amanda,” Roger said in his deep and sexy voice, burning a fire inside Amanda, melting her completely.

  “Hello, Roger,” Amanda said, not being able to contain her passion while looking at him. She looked into his eyes, lips, each and every feature, remembering their hot kisses and hugs.

  “Amanda,” he said calmly, “I need to speak with you.”

  She closed her eyes, not knowing what it meant. Why did he want to speak with her? And about what? She wondered.

  “Sure,” Amanda mumbled, scratching her forehead slightly with her finger. “Where?” she added.

  “Let’s go for a walk, Amanda,” Roger said and gave way for her to get out of the cabin. She got out, closing the door, and they started to walk through the forest, towards the waterfall.

  There was awkward silence between them. Roger wanted to find out her true feelings about him. It was of utmost importance for him. He didn’t know how to start the conversation though. When they were near the waterfall, Roger stopped and said:

  “Amanda, there is something very important that I need to tell you.”

  “Yes?” Amanda asked, looking at him with her innocent blue eyes.

  “Since the moment that I saw you, something changed in me,” he said. It wasn’t easy for him to say such things because he had never been in love before and had never said such things to anybody. Now he was facing that challenge, standing in front of a petite pretty girl and saying things, which made him vulnerable.

  Amanda was silent, looking at him. Roger continued: “I have never felt this way for anybody, Amanda. You’re the first one in the world. I feel like I can’t breathe when you’re not around.”

  He could hear and see Amanda’s breathing becoming faster. She had blushed, too. Her eyes had acquired a special sparkle, threatening to burn him alive.

  “Amanda,” he continued, taking her shaking hands into his own. “I want to know what kind of feelings you have got for me, if any. I know it may be early to ask this type of questions, but we have had a very passionate encounter, which was not a joke, so there must be something that you feel for me. Whatever it is, it is some kind of feeling, and you’re feeling it,” he added. “Please tell me what it is.”

  Amanda couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Roger was kind of saying he was in love with her. Now it was her turn to tell him about her feelings. She was as confused as she could ever be. She wanted to spill everything out and tell him that she couldn’t live without him, that she hadn’t spent a minute without thinking about him, that she couldn’t sleep without having fantasized about him for a few hours beforehand, and so on. But there were issues inside her mind, as well. She was worried if he was the right person to be trusted, or if she was doing the right thing. After all, he was still a mystery to her, and she didn’t even know who he was. There was another thing, too. The worker, flirting with her. She was now afraid to go to the construction site, as that worker was there and who knows what surprises he could have for her. She wanted to let Roger know about it.

  Chapter 10: Shrieks and Cries

  Amanda looked into Roger’s eyes and said:

  “Roger,” her own voice seemed a bit laid off and unnatural to her. “I… don’t know.” Roger raised one eyebrow.

  “Roger,” Amanda continued, “I don’t know you at all. There is nothing that I know about you and it makes me feel distant from you.”

  Roger nodded. It seemed that he understood what she was talking about. Amanda took a deep breath.

  “Roger, besides feeling distant from you, there is something else that I feel,” Amanda said. “I feel like I can trust you. Those two feelings are so contrary to each other that it seems crazy, but it’s like that. I trust you so much, that I can tell you all my secrets,” Amanda chuckled.

  Roger smiled. “And do you have any secrets that you’d like to share with me?”

  Amanda hesitated for a second, but then she said: “Well, yes, there is.”

  Roger didn’t say anything. He was waiting for her to talk.

  “Roger,” Amanda said, “there is one worker on the construction site, and...”

  Roger’s face tightened. The thing, which was bugging him since the moment he saw Kevin flirting with Amanda, was coming to the surface. It was untamable anger.

  “Well, he tried to kiss me today, and said unpleasant stuff,” Amanda said, blushing. “I am a bit scared to go to the construction site, in case he’s there. I’m afraid.”

  “I saw him flirting with you. Didn’t you like what he said or did?” Roger asked through clenched teeth. The memories of Amanda’s encounter with Kevin became fresh and vivid again, making Roger’s blood boil in his veins.

  “Oh, you saw it?” Amanda asked in surprise. “Were you hiding somewhere nearby?”

  “Yes,” he answered in a low voice, adding: “Amanda, you didn’t answer my question. Did you like what he said or did?” Roger could feel anger accumulating in him in such a speed, that he was surprised. It was getting dangerous. Not having shifted in a day, Roger could feel the jealousy, anger and the urge to shift becoming intolerably strong.

  Amanda looked at him incredulously. “Of course, not,” she exclaimed. “He wasn’t pleasant to me at all.”

  “Amanda,” Roger said, starting to shake, “please go. Go away. Get away from here.” He was afraid that he would shift unwillingly, in front of Amanda’s eyes, and it was the last thing he wanted her to see.

  Amanda shook her head, looking at him with wide opened eyes: “Why, Roger? Why are you asking me to go? What’s happening?”

  The shifting process was starting; he could feel it. However hard he tried to suppress the urge, it was impossible. It was stronger than him; it was more powerful than anything else. Of course the jealousy and the anger fueled the urge to shift, he knew it, and there was nothing he could do.

  “Roger, please tell me why you want me to go?” Amanda said again, holding his head with both of her hands and looking close into his eyes, trying to find an answer there. She knew she would die if it turned out that Roger didn’t want to be with her. She realized that what she felt was more than love and more than passion. It was a more powerful form of love. She had to let him know about it. She thought it was her last chance.

  “Amanda, run away! Go away!” Roger shouted, as he felt the process of shifting starting for sure.

  “Roger, no!” Amanda shouted, still holding his head with both her hands. “I won’t go anywhere from here! I won’t go away from you! Even if it means death, I will stay! I love you, Roger! I love you!” Amanda was shouting in the top of her lungs. It was the cry of her soul, which needed to get released, to come out, to be free.

  Amanda’s shrieks about her love gave Roger new emotions, which only accelerated the shifting process.

  “I love you, do you hear me?” Amanda shrieked, as she moved closer and enclosed his lips with hers. A very passionate kiss. And a strange one, too. During the kiss Amanda started to feel that Roger was becoming a very strange creature – his lips becoming hairy and contorted. She stopped the kiss and looked at him closely. Roger’s face was covered in dark brown hair, he had dangerously sharp teeth and his fingers were slowly turning into claws.

  It was impossible, Amanda thought. It seemed like a bad dream. A big brown bear was standing in front of her, where Roger had been standing a minute ago. And even if it wasn’t enough, the bear stood on its hind legs and howled with all its might, turning and running off into the forest, disappearing from her view. Her eyes big with fright and shock Amanda felt dizzy. Everything turned black in front of her eyes, as it seemed to her that she fel
t earthquake. It was a never-ending earthquake, making her head spin around and around. Eventually Amanda collapsed onto the ground, as she fainted.

  ***

  Amanda opened her eyes and looked around: she was in her bed in the cabin. She had a headache and didn’t know what had happened to her and why she was lying down with her clothes on, in the afternoon. Amanda closed her eyes. Suddenly memories started to come into her mind, like water drops. Memories of Roger turning into a bear… Amanda shook her head, making it hurt more. “No, it can’t be true,” she thought. “It was probably a nightmare.” But she clearly remembered what had happened there, in the forest. It didn’t seem like a bad dream. It seemed like reality. Roger was a bigger mystery now to her. “I must have hit my head when I fainted,” Amanda thought through pulsing pain in her head.

  She sat up in her bed with difficulty and looked around: Roger was sitting on a chair in his shorts, in the back of the cabin. He was silent and calm. He was looking at Amanda, his eyes kind and with somewhat apologetic expression in them. For a minute there was silence, as Amanda was looking back at him, trying to think of something to tell him. Something that would make sense. It wouldn’t make sense if she asked him: “Are you a bear?” It wouldn’t even be polite. It would sound absurd.

  As if reading her mind and saving her from much torture of formulating the right question, Roger said:

  “Amanda, you saw it yourself, so there’s nothing that I can keep a secret from you anymore. I am a shifter. I can shift into a bear. Now you know it all.”

  It took a couple of minutes until Amanda was able to move or speak. So it wasn’t a bad dream, after all. It was as crazy as it sounded, but Roger was a bear. A half-bear, so to say. Amanda sat upright in her bed, trying to get accustomed to the new and strange idea.

  “Amanda, I live in the forest, and that waterfall is my shower in the mornings,” Roger said, smiling. “I don’t have any family left, and I don’t have any friends, either. Today I was out of control because of jealousy and anger, so I shifted against my will.”