by Ann Garner
“No one’s ever hit on me before.” I blurt out before I think about the words. I clap a hand over my mouth, mortified that they escaped.
“Now I really wish I wasn't doing such a bad job of it. Your first time should be memorable.”
Even I'm not dumb enough to miss the double meaning of his words. I know my mouth drops open a little bit and my eyes get big. I can feel them widen on my face. Cole is really laughing at me now.
This is how Grace finds us when she comes into the house with her hand securely held in Grant’s.
“What’s so funny?” She demands. “And where are Robby and Todd? They came in, didn't they?”
“They went out to wait for Marcy, which is the flavor of the week this week so try and commit the name to memory. At least for tonight.”
Grace wrinkles her nose and reaches up to run a hand through her hair. “Marcy Campton?”
“You know her?”
“Only by reputation. She was a year ahead of me in high school. She isn't the nicest person.”
Cole shrugs, “Robby won't keep her around for long anyway.”
They are so casual about the entire thing. I'm sure that I should be to, but I can't imagine wanting to be the type of girl that wasn't worth keeping around for more than a week.
Or course, I'm pretty sure that I am a throwback with this type of thinking, and I know my thoughts are influenced heavily by events in my past.
I hope though, that even if things had been different for me, that I wouldn't be okay with being someone's quickie.
The front door suddenly opens and seconds later Robby and Todd step back into the room with four girls trailing behind them. It is immediately obvious, at least to me, who short timer Marcy is, and who I’m assuming, two friends; that she brought with her.
The fourth girl is standing slightly apart from the others, almost as if she is trying to distance herself from them.
She’s a red head with light green eyes, and freckles decorating her pretty face. She's dressed conservatively, wearing a pair of khaki pants with a blue button down shirt. Her hair is pulled back away from her face. She smiles at something just behind me and seconds later I realize its Holden she's smiling at. This must be Ally.
She moves through the space separating her and Holden, sliding into him with a familiarity that indicates she's done that same move a number of times. Holden greets her with a quick kiss before tucking her against his side.
“Ally, this is Grace’s unfortunate roommate, Delaney.” he says with a smirk as Grace frowns at him. “I'm afraid I don't know Robby's friends.”
Being outside obviously didn't sober Todd up much. He is laughing loudly at something one of the girls is whispering in his ear, and it sounds like even his laughter is slurring.
Marcy and her friends are obviously dressed to go out. Short skirts, tight tops, heavy make-up. There is nothing left to the imagination when you look at them. I realize now what Grace meant earlier when she said I wasn't showing much skin.
Next to these girls I feel like I’m wearing a nun’s habit.
One of the girls, one whose blonde hair I can only hope is unnatural, snakes an arm around Todd and slides up behind him. Todd wiggles his eyebrows up and down while watching me.
Robby smacks the back of Todd's head when he notices the direction he is looking. “What did we talk about outside moron?”
“Hey! I didn't do anything.”
Robby is shaking his head as he makes introductions.
“Uh, this is Marcy, Kendall, and...” Robby looks to the last girl.
“Beth,” she says.
“Right, Beth.” Robby introduces the rest of us, pointing us each out in turn. Beth is the only girl of the trio who is unattached, as apparently Kendall does not share my immediate repulsion of Todd.
I watch as Beth's eyes land on Cole and how they light up just a little as she studies him. I know exactly how she feels when she looks at him.
It makes me want to punch her, which is ridiculous since half an hour ago I had no idea who Cole Marsh even was.
But still.
I think I could take her.
The worst part is that she's sexy and pretty in a way that I know I never will be. She carries an ease and a confidence around her that no matter how many changes I make, I will never have.
So, not that it’s a competition, but I feel like I've already lost.
Her blonde hair is much prettier than Kendall's, and hangs perfectly around her face. No freckles on her nose, which is cute and pert, and I want to think its fake, much like I suspect her breasts are. Her eyes a dark green, only highlighted by the expertly applied eye makeup.
She is wearing a pair of white shorts that stop several long inches above her knees, with a pink strapless top that shows off her assets, and her tan, beautifully.
She is everything I will never be, even with the new wardrobe Grace helped me pick out earlier today.
Robby convinces Todd, Kendall, and Marcy to grab some beers and head outside, but Beth settles in at the table with us, taking the chair on the other side of Cole; she slides the chair a little bit closer to him with a smile on her face. Cole smiles back at her, but he looks back to me.
Judging by the fleeting frown that crosses her face, this obviously pisses Beth off.
“Did you get enough to eat, Delaney?” Cole asks me.
I open my mouth to answer but Beth starts speaking first, “Oh, there's food? That’s great! We didn't get a chance to eat before Marcy was shoving us out the door to come here.”
She lays a hand on Cole’s arm, much like he had done to me earlier.
“Can you show me where everything is?” She traces one finger up his arm, her nails painted a bright bold red.
Standing behind her, Grace starts making faces. It's all I can do not to laugh. Grant can't seem to help himself and tries to turn his laugh into a cough.
“Sure, everything's outside.” Cole stands up and gestures to the back door. “Do you want a beer?”
“That'd be great.”
He looks back at me one more time. “Want me to bring you back anything?”
“I'm good, thank you,” I murmur as he follows her out the door.
“Oh. My. God.” Grace says, sliding into the chair Cole just vacated. “Could she be any more obvious? Where does Robby meet these girls? Sluts ’r us? Can you show me where everything is?” Grace imitates Beth with a breathless voice.
She shifts her body so that her breasts look like they’re about to spring free of her top. “How pathetic.” She settles back down in her chair and then pins her eyes on Ally.
“Tell me, Al, would Holden be able to tell me if you snore?”
I choke back a laugh as Ally stares at her in confusion.
Chapter Four
The common room is situated at the end of our hall, away from the stairs. It's not a very large room and only holds two round tables that seat four people each and a couple of reading chairs.
There is a soda and snack machine tucked into one corner.
Currently there are over forty freshman girls crammed into every inch of the room. I hadn't thought about that happening so neither Grace nor I had been in any kind of hurry to show up for the first hall meeting of the year.
So now I am sitting crossed legged on the floor, my knees brushing against Grace on one side and a slightly overweight blond sitting on the other.
I am claustrophobic and just being crammed into this room with these girls is setting me on the edge of a panic attack.
To make matters worse, it appears that Beth is a freshman and I am lucky enough to have her living on my floor. She is sitting at one of the round tables, laughing with the other three girls sitting with her.
I’ve seen her look my way once or twice so I'm sure they have at least mentioned me at some point in their conversation. I’ve seen the look a thousand times in the past. The quick cut of the eyes in your direction before they return to whispering about you behind your back.
Only I can’t imagine what Beth has to say to all her friends about me. Unless she’s somehow recognized me, which I highly doubt, the only contact we’ve shared is in Cole’s kitchen.
“Ms. Bubbly needs to get her happy ass going and get this meeting over with. This is not how I want to spend my night. Grant and I were going to go grab some ice cream.”
“Are you serious? This meeting can't be so long that you can't still go. How much can there really be to talk about?”
Haley passes around a sheet of paper with ten rules neatly typed out. It doesn't take long for the grumbling to start.
“No guys past eleven on weeknights? Are we children?” This came from one of the girls sitting at the table with Beth. “I thought I left my parents at home.”
Haley doesn’t seem surprised at all by the comments. “These rules are in place to help ensure our safety.” She starts, what I'm pretty sure is a speech that she's been told to give.
“No fire hazards?” Grace mutters next to me. “Seriously they don't think we're capable of not starting a fire when we light a candle?”
“Well, damn. I suppose that means I need to ditch the bag of match sticks I have stashed in my sock drawer before I'm found with contraband, huh?” I joke.
Grace snorts and the blonde next to me tries to swallow a laugh but ends up having a coughing fit.
“Are you okay?” Haley stops her spiel long enough to ask, displeasure over being interrupted evident in her tone.
The blonde coughs a couple more times, waving one hand to indicate she's fine. “Sorry, swallowed wrong,” She finally says.
Haley eyes her for a few more seconds before rolling right back into her speech. I try to look like I'm paying attention but I'm not quite sure why we have to have a meeting to go over a set of rules that are written down.
The meeting ends up lasting an excruciating forty-five minutes. The heat from all the bodies crammed into such a small space is making sweat bead and trickle down along the back of my spine before the last person asks the final question, because apparently the written rules aren't clear enough for some.
“Oh my God.” The girl next to me says once we are granted our freedom. “I think little Ms. Haley is on a power trip. I'm Jen by the way, and this is my roommate Mandy.”
“Grace and Delaney.” Grace points to each of us in turn.
“You're Cole Marsh's sister right? You look like him.”
“Hopefully not just like him since I have boobs, but yeah, Cole is my brother. Do you know him?”
How could they know him? We've been on campus like five seconds and since classes haven't started yet I don't think Cole has stepped on campus at all.
Mandy rolls her eyes. “I know of him. Beth Henson is in the room right next to mine. I guess she got to meet him the other day and it’s all she's talked about. She described him in very precise detail.”
Grace scans the room. “Oh yeah?”
Her eyes land on Beth who is still sitting at the table with her friends.
“He hasn't talked about her at all.” Grace smirks, “You should tell her that.”
“Really? She totally made it sound like they were going to go out again soon.”
Grace just shakes her head. “Cole doesn't do the dating thing so much, so I hope she doesn't have her heart set on it. He was probably just trying to be nice. It's a fatal flaw for him.”
I don’t want to stand here and discuss Cole’s love life, or lack of one, or lack of desire for one, or whatever the case may be.
“Grace, I'm going to head back. Are you still going to meet up with Grant?”
She pulls her phone out of her pocket and checks her texts. “Looks like. You sure you don't want to come? I think Holden and Cole are going. Ally has to work tonight.”
I shake my head. “I think I’m going to call it an early night since classes start in the morning.”
“Ok. I won't be too late.”
I head down the hallway; the chattering voices fading as I make my way back to our room. It shouldn't bother me that Beth thinks they are going to get together again, or that Cole doesn't do the dating thing either.
My goal for coming here wasn’t to start any kind of relationship. Especially since I wasn't sure I would voluntarily ever let a guy touch me again.
So I’m not sure why I can't shake the jealousy that rolls around in my stomach.
Chapter Five
I slip into the room twenty minutes before my U.S. History class is supposed to start. The room is completely empty, which is what I had been hoping for. I pick a seat in the very back. Placing my backpack at my feet I reach inside and pull out a new notebook and a couple of pencils.
I lay everything on the table in front of me and then reach into my bag and pull out the ridiculously expensive book I'd been required to purchase for the class. I'd read through the first few chapters last night, while Grace had painted her toenails and called me a nerd.
This was my third class that I was taking this semester, and the only one that had anything to do with my major, although for most it was considered a core class.
I have really never been able to put into words my fascination with history, and if it made me a nerd, well, I'd been called worse. It was like a calming drug for me. I hadn't been able to control a lot of things in my life, but history was already in the past and unchangeable. It didn't matter where I was, or what method of information I was using, I could rely on the fact that George Washington had been the first President of the United States.
Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket, I slide my finger across the screen to unlock it, and look at the icon for text. It was my mother again, telling me that having me this far away from her is stressing her out and giving her heart palpitations.
It wasn't that she missed me, or even her asking how I was. It was about her, as it always has been, and always would be. It isn't necessarily that she is selfish or spoiled, though it had taken me a long time to come to that realization. She is a simple woman, with simple thoughts and needs.
Once you realized how unintentionally self-absorbed she was, it was easier to ignore the callous things she said.
“Well, I know who my study buddy is going to be for this class.”
I jerk in my chair, stunned to find that half the room is full of students now, and that Cole and Robby are smiling at me as they settle into the seats on either side of me.
“Hey, Delaney,” Cole says with a smile as he yanks out his own copy of the ridiculously expensive history book. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“What are you doing here?”
Cole raises one eyebrow, and I realize how snappish my words came across. I flush in response.
“I mean obviously I know you're here for the class, but it's a freshman class, isn't it?”
“I told you I suck a history. So I put it off.”
“Me too.” Robby chimes in from the other side of me. “History sucks.”
I hear Cole laugh, but I've swung my head around to look at Robby. “Careful, Rob, Delaney’s a history major.”
“No shit?”
“None at all,” I say dryly.
Robby gives me a big smile. “Will you let me cheat off you?”
“What? No, you can't cheat off me, are you crazy?”
