by J. Nathan
I tensed, the sound of my name on his lips like fingernails to a chalkboard. I quickened my pace, not in the mood to be reprimanded yet again.
“Stop, God dammit!” Chase growled, stepping ahead of me quickly so I had to stop.
“What?”
“I should be asking you the same question.”
“I submitted that paper last Sunday the same way I submitted it today.”
He cocked his head, disbelieving.
“For all I know, you went in and removed it. You’re the only other person, besides Professor Irons, who had access to it and could’ve done it.”
“Why would I do that?”
I scoffed. “Seriously? You sent an Uber Saturday night so I could watch you make out with Chantel.”
His eyes tightened.
“You could’ve saved me the time and just sent the live stream I’m sure you’ve got set up.”
His brows pinched together. “I didn’t send an Uber.”
I cocked my head to the side.
“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about.” The bewildered look in his eyes couldn’t be faked. He wasn’t kidding.
A cold chill scampered up my spine. “But you texted me.”
“So?”
“So? Then there was an Uber outside my dorm, and the driver said my friend sent it to bring me to your frat.”
“I’m not your friend,” he countered.
The twinge in my stomach gave me pause. What was wrong with me? He was right. We weren’t friends.
“And why would you get in a stranger’s car in the first place?” he asked.
“I thought…”
A sarcastic laugh escaped him. “You thought I wanted you at the party that bad I’d send a car for you?”
A blush crept up my neck and into my cheeks. When he said it like that, I felt so stupid.
“And you came,” he said, confused. “Why?”
I tipped up my chin. “I don’t back down from a challenge. When I’m pushed, I always push back.” I swung around and hurried away from him. I was embarrassed and hurt and confused.
If he hadn’t wanted me at the party, why had he texted me? Why, when I arrived, had he stared at me the entire time? And, if he hadn’t sent the Uber to pick me up, who had?
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next day in Art History, I slouched down in my seat in the lecture hall. I hadn’t seen Chase since the embarrassing run-in after class yesterday and planned to avoid him at all costs.
“Are we gonna talk about you getting into an Uber you didn’t call for?” Chase asked from behind me.
Dammit. I closed my eyes, pinching them tight for a long moment.
“Just pointing out how yet again you put yourself in harm’s way.”
I twisted in my seat to find him leaned forward in the seat behind me. “You’re in someone else’s seat.”
Exasperation clutched hold of his face as he shook his head. “Getting into a car that you’ve been told is an Uber. That you’ve been told is from a friend. That you’ve been told is taking you to a frat—is fucking dangerous.”
I scrunched my nose. “Why do you care?”
“Because you’re oblivious.”
“I’m not the one who forgot where my seat was.” I cocked my head. “Do these lapses in memory happen often for you?”
He growled, sitting back in his new seat and crossing his arms.
I smiled, laying on the sarcasm. “You know, I’m starting to totally see what Chantel sees in you.”
His lips slipped into a cocky grin that would’ve melted my panties had it not belonged to a complete asshole. “Are you referring to my pretty eyes or hot body?”
“Oh, no,” I said, laying on the sugar sweetness thicker. “It’s your unwavering charm. It just exudes from every part of you. You’re like a ray of sunshine. Like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Like snow falling on Christmas morning.”
His smug grin remained firmly in place. “What can I say?”
“Nothing.” The phony smile slipped off my face. “That’s your problem. As soon as you open your mouth, you suck.” I twisted back around and tried to ignore the fact that he had decided to now sit behind me—likely shooting daggers at the back of my head during the entire lecture.
At the end of class, I contemplated my next move as I gathered my things. Contemplated ignoring Chase. Contemplated making one more comment. But before I could carry out any move, he disappeared.
***
“So, what happened to you Saturday night?” Valerie asked over dinner that night. She’d had sorority stuff the last three nights, so we hadn’t eaten together—hence her asking me about the party the first chance she got.
“What do you mean?” I asked, pushing my fork into my chocolate cake.
She popped the fry into her mouth. “One minute you were there, the next you were gone.”
I shrugged. “I thought I wanted to be there.”
“Something changed your mind?”
I nodded as I ate my cake, hoping she’d let my response go without question.
“Did it have something to do with Chase?” she asked.
My guilty eyes widened. “Why would you say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I saw him staring at you.”
I averted my gaze.
“And, you were staring at him,” she said.
I looked back to her. “It was a misunderstanding.”
“Do tell.”
“We have some classes together.”
She leaned closer, her chin now resting in her palm. “Oh, I like where this is going.”
“No,” I cut her off. “This isn’t going anywhere.”
“I don’t understand. He’s not technically dating Chantel.”
“You can’t tell her we had this conversation,” I said, suddenly nervous whatever I said could get back to Chantel.
Valerie popped another fry into her mouth. “Oh, I’m no fool. It would be both our funerals.”
“It’s not even like that. I just thought he was challenging me.”
Her brows furrowed. “Challenging you?”
I sighed. “We didn’t get off on the right foot. At that very first party, the first weekend, he told me not to come back to the frat house.”
Her mouth hung open. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Some stupid reason about putting myself in bad situations. Whatever the case, I thought he was challenging me to show up.”
“Then he made out with Chantel in the middle of the dance floor once you got there?”
“You saw that?” I asked.
“Everyone saw that.”
“Yeah, but they hook up,” I said, confused.
She lifted a shoulder. “So, she says.”
“What is it with you and Chantel?”
Her face fell slack. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t seem like you like her.”
She scoffed. “No one likes her. We tolerate her.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re sisters. But, she’s a lot. And her mood swings are impossible to keep up with.”
“I feel the same way about Chase.”
“What made you think he wanted you at the party?”
I closed my eyes, embarrassed to admit it. “I thought he got me an Uber.”
She gasped.
My eyes locked on hers, scared to ask but needing to know. “What?”
“I sent the Uber,” she admitted.
“You?”
“We usually hire one for the night to bring us back and forth from our sorority house—or the dorms now—whenever we’re ready to go. I hoped you’d change your mind about the party, so I told him to head back and wait in case you did.”
I buried my face into my palms feeling like a complete and utter fool.
“I’m so sorry, Sophia.”
“I’m such an idiot.”
CHAPTER NINE
“Go skydiving,” Chantel said as I walked in
to our dorm room after my afternoon classes the next day. She’d been even busier than Valerie, so I’d seen her even less than Val.
I figured she was on the phone, so I closed the door behind me quietly. But when I turned, I found her sitting on my bed with my jar. “What are you doing with that?”
She held up the mason jar I kept hidden under my bed. “Oh this?” she asked innocently, though she was clearly far from innocent. “I just found it.”
“Under my bed?”
“This is our room. I thought we share things?”
With heat rising into my cheeks, I walked toward her with my hand outstretched. “May I have that back please?”
Ignoring my request, she pulled another small piece of paper from inside the jar and unfolded it.
My pulse slammed hard against my skin. “Chantel?”
“Visit five new states,” she read. “Boring.” She tossed the paper to the side and pulled out another piece and unfolded it.
I reached for my jar but she pulled it back.
“Lose my virginity.” Her eyes instantly jumping to mine. “You’re a virgin?”
I grabbed the jar from her hand. “This is not yours.”
“But we’re friends,” she said. “Aren’t we?”
“A friend doesn’t invade someone else’s privacy.” I grabbed the papers she’d opened and shoved them back into my jar. With a now shaky hand, I closed the lid and held my jar tightly to my chest.
“You’re clearly embarrassed,” she said, offhandedly. “Don’t take it out on me.”
My eyes widened, appalled by her nerve. “You’re the one who snooped through my personal things. How would you feel if I did that to you?”
She looked me dead in the eyes. “What’s mine is yours.” Her words, mixed with her warning the other night, told me what this was really about.
With my jar in hand, I grabbed my backpack and yanked open the door. Without another word, I let the door slam behind me. I hurried down the hallway and away from my room, my heart racing the whole time.
Had she wanted me to find her looking through my jar?
Was she sending a message that she could do what she wanted when she wanted to?
I climbed the stairs to Valerie’s room and knocked on the door. She opened it, smiling once she found me standing there. “Hi.”
Tina was in the room, so I stepped back, not wanting to go inside.
“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked, noting the indecision on my face.
“Can we go somewhere and talk?”
She slipped out of her room and closed the door. “What did Chantel do?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s so stupid.”
“Come on,” Valerie said, leading me to the stairwell. I followed her down to the first floor and out the back exit of the dorm to the small pond. “She won’t come out here.”
We started walking around the walking path surrounding the pond and made our way halfway before sitting on the first wooden bench we came to. I pulled off my backpack and placed it and the jar down beside me. Still feeling riled up, I gazed out at the pond watching two swans floating by side by side.
Valarie’s eyes cut to mine. “You gonna tell me what Chantel did? I assume it has something to do with that jar.”
“I walked in on her going through it.”
“And it’s something important to you?”
I nodded.
She didn’t pry—like a true friend who knew I’d open up when I was ready. Even though we’d only known each other for a short time, I knew Valerie was a true friend. She was someone I could talk to and rely on.
“It’s just a bucket list of things I want to do before graduating. But some of them are really personal.”
“Like getting nipple rings?” Valerie bumped me with her arm, letting me know she was joking.
I laughed. “Something like that.”
“Why do you think she did it?” she asked.
I shrugged, though I was fairly certain I knew.
“So, what are you gonna do about it?”
“I’m not sure. I’m so mad right now that she even did it.”
“You should bleach one of her favorite shirts. Or, wait, cut her hair while she’s asleep. Or, better yet—”
“You’re starting to scare me.”
We shared a laugh. And, as much as I appreciated her trying to make me laugh and lighten the mood, I still had no idea what I was really going to do about this problem with Chantel.
“Was Chantel like this last year?” I asked. “Or do you think she’s just acting out because your house got shut down?”
“She’s definitely gotten worse.”
“Do you think Sydney Lane’s death changed her?”
Valerie’s eyes shot to mine. “What?”
“No one’s mentioned Sydney. Not you, not Chantel, not anyone. But I’m sure losing her last year must’ve been difficult on all of you.”
Valerie closed her eyes, pained by my words. “She was a great person,” she whispered.
“There are a lot of great people who struggle with mental illness,” I said.
She didn’t look at me, though I could see her eyes opened and focused on her shoes. “Her family doesn’t believe she struggled with any illness.”
“That’s why they’re having it investigated?”
She nodded.
“What do you think?”
She shrugged. “They’d know their daughter better than anyone.” Valerie pushed herself to her feet. “We should probably head back now.”
“Oh,” I said, realizing I’d made Valerie uncomfortable and she was done answering questions about her dead sorority sister. I grabbed my backpack and jar and stood, following her back to the dorm in silence. “You wanna get dinner?” I asked when we neared the back door of the building. “I really don’t want to go back to my room yet.”
Her mouth twisted as she considered my question. “I’m not really hungry.”
“Oh.” What the hell? She was always hungry. “Okay. I guess I’ll just…see you tomorrow.”
She nodded before walking back inside the dorm.
I didn’t feel like eating alone in the crowded dining hall, but there was no way I could go back to my room feeling as unsettled as I did in that moment. Chantel pissed me off, and I needed space.
CHAPTER TEN
I ended up at the campus coffee house, taking a spot at the back corner table. The place was dead save for a few scattered people seated alone. I didn’t bother popping in my earbuds, opting to eat my bagel sandwich and drink my coffee to the natural sounds of the whistling milk steamer and random orders being called.
Once I finished eating, I released the lid on the mason jar and pulled out the papers Chantel had so carelessly opened. I folded them back into the smaller squares they’d been in since I’d written each wish.
Had I overreacted? Did some people just not understand boundaries? Or, had she purposely done it to get a rise out of me? To punish me for—
The chair across from me scraped loudly back, and Chase dropped into it.
I said nothing, in no mood to banter with him right now. I closed my jar and pulled it closer to me.
“What’s that?”
“Your girlfriend didn’t already tell you?” I snapped.
His blank stare told me she probably hadn’t.
“Never mind.”
“You don’t like her, huh?”
I lifted my coffee to my lips. “Not today.”
He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “What’d she do?”
“I don’t feel like talking about it.” I sipped my coffee and avoided his eyes, hoping he’d take the hint and leave.
He didn’t. He remained in his chair staring at me from across the table.
“What?” I snapped. “Why are you still here?”
He glanced around the quiet coffee house. “Can’t a guy get a cup of coffee?”
My eyes landed purposely on the empty space in front of him on t
he table.
“Chase the Great!” the barista called.
Chase smirked, and my eyes couldn’t roll far enough back in my head. He stood and grabbed his coffee. I expected him to take off, leaving me to wallow in my anger, but he returned to my table, making himself comfortable in his chair.
“So, what’s in the jar?” he asked.
“None of your business.”
“Is it why you’re mad at Chantel?”
I drank my coffee so I didn’t have to answer him.
“You’re different than she is. I think that’s why you two won’t be friends.”
“We won’t?”
He shook his head. “She needs people she can walk all over. People who obey her. You’re not like that.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Was that some kind of twisted compliment?”
“Oh, don’t go getting crazy now.”
I snickered.
So did he.
I tapped my hand on the top of my jar. “My bucket list is inside.”
He examined the folded papers through the glass jar. “Looks like a lot of things you plan to do. You think you can do them all?”
I shrugged. “It would be a pity not to try.”
His eyes lifted to mine and something I’d never seen before flittered across his face. Admiration, maybe. “Tell me something in that jar.”
“Why?”
“Because now I’m curious,” he dead-panned.
I contemplated his request. As much as he rubbed me the wrong way every time we spoke, we were partners for the semester. We would be spending more time together. What was the worst that could come from opening up a tiny bit? “I want to drive in a convertible along the coast.”
His head hitched back. “That’s it?”
“What were you expecting?”
He shrugged his big shoulders. “I don’t know. Something crazy, like skydiving.”
“That’s in there too.”
“Why a convertible?”
“Why not? I’ve never been in one. And I love the ocean. I just thought it would be an amazing experience.”
“You need to aim higher.”
My brows hitched up. “I do?”
“That jar’s filled with wishes. And, you seem like a determined person. Why not aim for the stars?”
I said nothing as I stared back at him, more confused than ever before about who the real Chase Reed was. A frat boy with a chip on his shoulder? A protector of meek girls in libraries? A deep guy offering advice in a coffee shop? Satan?
