by Lily Roberts
For the briefest moment, I thought he’d actually snap at me. But the pup wasn’t as dumb as I expected; instead, he flashed his teeth at me with that same, oh-so-charming aura he’d had been honing for years. “Sure do, Squiddy-kins. Old pals in high school and all that.”
Officer Tark looked as convinced as a faceless statue, but luckily, desk guy seemed reassured by this. “You’re certain, Miss Burton?” He grinned at the rhyme, though quickly settled into a somewhat formal expression at the lack of mirth from the rest of the room. “You don’t have to be scared of him if you want to speak up.”
“What, scared of this guy?” I strolled forward with intent, arm wrapping around his shoulder as I forced him to hunch over. “I was only scared that I might have hurt the wimp.”
Scott laughed, “Yeah, thanks for taking it easy on me.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to knock you out off the big game,” I tease. We both glance between the officers with bated breath, all while Denise gives me a, ‘girl you’re absolutely crazy’ look. But, after a few seconds, desk guy starts to laugh. It’s a weird mix between a wheeze and a cough, like Santa if he’d come down with flu.
“Harvey, you ain’t seriously buying this,” Officer Tark began.
Desk guy—Officer Harvey—holds up a hand. “Kids these days have all sorts of weird ways of expressing feelings. But don’t let it get out of hand, you two. It’s all fun and games until someone walks away in tears.”
“Oh, of course!” I pull my arms back to my sides, letting Scott stand up straight at last. “We know where our boundaries lie, right, Scotty Dog?” I suddenly understood why he always used to call me an animal name; the look on Scott’s face was priceless.
“Those lines are crazy deep in the sand.” Scott reassured. “Promise you won’t see either of us in here again.”
There was a beat of silence. Then another. The two officers looked between each other, having some sort of telepathic conversation the rest of us weren’t privy to hear. Finally, Officer Harvey nodded as Officer Tark stepped out of the doorway.
“Hey, don’t feel like you can’t visit us!” Officer Harvey said. “We’re always here to help if you folks need it.”
“Head off to where you’re headed,” Officer Tark stated gruffly. “I insist.”
She didn’t need to. Grabbing Scott’s hand, I motion to Denise to follow us out. “Thanks again, officers!” I called back, pointing in a teasing manner to Scott. “I’ll make sure to call you first if this one acts up again.”
“Bye-bye for now, Miss Burton!” Officer Harvey waves as the doors buzz shut behind us.
Sydney practically dragged me behind as we all ran back to the dorm building. No one was even out of breath once we got there—this other chick must’ve been the sporty-type, too—and for a second, we all just huddled around, shaking with whatever nerves were still left over from that ordeal.
Finally, I spoke up. “You were gonna rat on your ol’ Scotty Dog?”
Sydney gave me a hard shove. “You’re the one who kissed me out of the blue, idiot! And how the hell was I supposed to know you weren’t going to do the same?!”
The girl I didn’t know suddenly let out a loud yawn. “Oh, wow, that late already? Gee, Syd, I’ll meet you back in our room. You, uh, do this.” She gestured her hand toward me, keycard suddenly in her fingers as she swiped herself in, the door closing almost ominously behind her. Then, it was only the two of us.
“Well?” Sydney crossed her arms over her chest, positively irate with me. “So, what’s the scam here? You got one of our old high school friends to rat me out?”
I should be grateful she hadn’t pressed charges against me, but God damn, that huffy stance of her just brings the worst out of me. “Um, excuse you, princess, but you don’t own all rights to go to this school. It’s not a crime to come here, you know.” I wanted to bring up what she’d said earlier, that I’d never turn her over to the police for something as stupid as a slap (no matter how much my cheek still ached after the fact).
Sydney’s eyes narrowed at me. “I don’t believe you. You barely could hold onto a C+ back in high school, let alone have the attention span to write the admissions essay.”
I popped the collar of my jacket, slicking my hair back as I adopted the greasiest, Italian-stereotyped voice I could muster. “Ey, I just know a guy who knew a guy, yah dig, doll face?”
Sydney’s nose crinkled. “Ugh. Just let me wake up from this nightmare already.”
I shrugged, smiling. “Guess we’re just destined to die together, huh, Squid?”
Sydney’s eyes shot daggers at me, but the smile on her face would’ve made me think otherwise about myself. “Ooh, no way, Scotty Dog. I’m just glad this campus is damn-well big enough that I’m confident I’ll never see you again.”
Ouch. She could really sting when she wanted to. “So, do I at least get a good-bye kiss?” I asked. “Maybe a love tap?”
Her hand barely rose above her chest before I turned tail and sprinted across the lawn. “You better keep running, Scott Sawyer!” She yelled as she attempted to wrench off her shoe. “Or I’ll give you a matching handprint on the other side of that big, idiot face of yours!”
“Is that a promise?” I laughed, barely ducking out of the way of her incoming tennis shoe. I was so tempted to turn around and snag it, but visiting campus police twice in one night just wasn’t sitting right with me. So I kept running, nothing but the night sky to watch my back as I got all the way to my own dorm building.
---
I couldn’t even believe how terribly that exchange went.
I was convinced I’d never see that girl again, and it tore me apart inside. After that dance, I thought she’d left my life entirely, moved on to some other planar field and abandoned me on this lonely space rock.
But, no. Sydney Burton was here, in the same college campus as me. And in the span of less than thirty minutes, I’d managed to piss her off. To the point where she’d probably made it her mission to never run into me on campus.
As I stumbled into the dorm room and flopped head-first onto my bed, all I could do was let out an irritated groan. Smooth move, dumbass. Couldn’t have played it any better than that.
“All right, be straight with me.” I immediately sat up, surprised to see Derek sitting in his bed, laptop in lap with a bag of Cheezy-O’s beside him. He slid his headphones down around his neck, and pointed an accusatory, cheese-covered finger my way. “Who dared you to kiss that chick on stage?”
I stared at him, dumbfounded for a minute. “I…thought you didn’t go to the pep rally?”
Derek simply responded by turning his laptop screen my way. He had a TubeTube video pulled up, paused just at the moment I leaned in to kiss Sydney. I was mentally kicking myself; of course someone was filming the event. Derek’s eyebrow cocked, as if to ask again.
I let out a loud sigh, flipping to my back so I could stare up at the ceiling. “What makes you think someone dared me?”
Derek laughed. “’Cause I don’t peg you for an idiot. Who just randomly kisses a stranger on stage like that?”
“She’s not a stranger,” I began, immediately regretting it as I hear a squeak come out of Derek. I sit up; his whole face is curled into the biggest, most idiotic smile.
“That was Sydney, wasn’t it?” he asked giddily. “Oh my God, please tell me I’m right? Tell me you were stupid enough to kiss the girl who, by all of your accounts, hates your guts!”
I let out another loud groan as Derek busts out into laughter. “It’s not that funny,” I protested.
“Dude, yes it is,” Derek laughed. “That’s like, the saddest thing I’ve ever heard, man!” He doesn’t even try to duck away from the pillow I sent flying at him. “Aw, come on; I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I think it was very sweet you made passionate love to your kickball rival.”
“Don’t say it like that,” I grimaced. “It was just a kiss.”
“That’s not what the comments say,” D
erek remarked as he turned his computer back his way. “You’re the meme of the hour. Half of the world’s cheering you on while the other half’s roasting you for that slap. Speaking of,” He looked up again, scrutinizing my facial area specifically. “You think it left a mark?”
I pulled my covers up around me, muffling Derek’s snickering. I just wanted to sleep and bring this nightmare to a close. As much as I hated to admit it, Sydney was right. This campus was huge; slim to none that we’d cross paths again. Judging by Derek’s reactions to what I assumed were a continuous stream of comments from the video, maybe that was for the best. First day of my new life, and my past just had to come and slapped me shitless.
Tomorrow would be better, though. If the Universe was just, I’d never see Sydney Burton again.
I kept running into Scott Sawyer. Again, and again, and again. Only a week had gone by and I’d already run into him ten times. Ten. Sure, I expected us to cross paths around the gym and the field area, and okay, we were bound to run into each other in a few public spaces, like the library or the food court. But on my way to class? While I’m heading out to the nearby gas station for something sweet? It seemed even the most recluse of places would house a wild Scott.
“Yo, Squid,” he called out while I was out reading on the green one day. “I didn’t think you needed to take the time and study. What, your GPA slipping from a 4.0 to a—gasp—3.8?”
I shot him a glare, quickly packing up as he and his new football buddies gathered around for an impromptu game.
“Wait, you’re running away from a game?” He jogged towards me, ball tucked under his arm. “Come on, Syd, I promise these guys aren’t scary. You can handle them for sure.”
I honestly couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or teasing, still. “Not everyone is planning to drop out in the first week of college, Scott.”
He shrugged as I turned my back to him and stomped away. I’m pretty sure he said something about, ‘taking a break,’ but with Scott, taking a break lasted all day, every day.
I thought maybe I could avoid him at the gym if I got my cardio done earlier in the morning. But, lo and behold, there he was, running the opposite direction my way with the sun barely breaking through the sky. “Sydney, Sydney, Sydney,” Scott scoffed. “Don’t you know jogging counterclockwise around the campus builds more muscle and makes you less dizzy?”
Every part of me wanted to shove him into the nearby pond. But we were headed opposite ways. I’d just change up my route, easy as that. At least, until he turned around and started to tail me. “What the hell, Scott!?”
“What?” He called back. “It’s easier to run with a rival! I’m so gonna pass you, Sydney Burton.”
“God damn it, this is supposed to be a warmup jog—!” Nope. Not with Scott. It turned into a full-blown sprint around campus, leaving us both in gasping heaps at the end of it. And an invite to the smoothie bar.
“The loser should treat the winner, after all,” Scott winked.
Now I pushed him in the pond as we stood to leave.
God, he was even at the girl’s dorm, of all places. I ran into him, technically, but that was one situation I didn’t want to get engaged in. God knows what horrible reason he was there for.
I had the most minor of faith in Scott to know he wasn’t just creeping around campus to find me. That was…way outside of what I considered the norm for him. But after a week or so of these incidents, this was seriously getting out of hand. I mean, how does someone wake up one morning and think to themselves, ‘yeah, I’m going to go to the pool at this specific time today, exactly when the person I love to pick on is gonna be there, too?’ It just doesn’t happen.
I couldn’t get Denise to believe me until Scott appeared miraculously during my lunch period. Three different times over the course of three days. He was ‘getting a snack’ every time, shooting me a grin as he headed back to the fields for practice.
“Seriously, girl,” Denise twirls a bit of alfredo on her fork before shoving it into her mouth, eyes still watching on Scott as he left. “You’re not gonna consider the whole, “stalking” aspect?”
I shook my head. “Unless he somehow got access to restricted files? Like, they told us during orientation that our schedule is under lock-and-key; no one knows it but us and our professors.” I poke my salad a few times before giving up and just pushing it away. “Denise, be honest. Am I just crazy?”
Denise opens her mouth, smiling, before reconsidering whatever joke she was about to make. I must’ve looked really desperate, because she went from teasing to sympathetic. “Sydney, you’re fine. You probably just notice him from a crowd because he’s the only guy you really know. Like a Find-It book you’ve done a hundred times?”
“I guess…” It made sense, actually. Even after a week, Denise was the only other person I could confidently call a friend. Even my fellow soccer players’ names escaped me now and then. “Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I’m just fixated on finding him everywhere I look.”
“Right,” Denise nodded. “And besides, it’s not like you two have stopped to chat for long.”
Also true. We had literally zero classes together, so it really was just coincidence that we kept bumping into each other. “Honestly, I wouldn’t even calling it, ‘bumping’ into him.” I admitted. “I just sorta, pick him out from the crowd sometimes.”
“I refer you back to my Find-It comparison.” Denise twirled another forkful of pasta and popped it into her mouth. “Just relax. He’s seriously got you worked up. I’m not sure that’s in a good way.”
Like hell I’d let him. I pull my salad back my way, stuffing bits of chicken and greens into my mouth. “Fffk hmm!” I said through a mouthful of food.
“Yeah! Whatever you said,” Denise laughed. “Slow down, there, Squid. I don’t wanna break a rib on you doing the Heimlich.”
A shudder rolled down my spine at the cringy nickname. “Don’t call me that, okay?” I asked. “Scott always used that to make fun of me.”
“Pfft, screw that,” Denise said. “I think it’s hella cute. And you might as well wear it like a badge, you know? Take away what power he has over it, like he does with your, ‘Scotty Dog’ jab. Besides squids are super intelligent. Maybe smarter than most humans.”
“Huh.” I swallowed noisily, going for my cup of water to wash it all down. “Never thought of it like that before.”
“Well, when you’re forced to run with a team of boys who keep calling you, ‘Barbie,’” Denise winked. “You learn to play just as rough, with a touch of grace.”
“That sounds like an oxymoron,” I laughed.
Denise laughed as well. “I didn’t say I was getting a master’s in psychology. But, seriously, don’t let him freak you out.” She suddenly snaps her fingers. “Okay, plan; when you’re done with Journalism this afternoon, let’s hit up that new frozen yogurt place. It can count towards your mile-per-day!”
“Are we gonna run there?” I asked.
Denise just shrugs. “I mean, fast-walking is like running, right?”
I snorted with laughter. “Yeah, sure. But sounds good. Meet you at the dorm?”
“See you there!” Denise slides her tray up into her hands and goes to dump whatever’s left into the garbage, leaving me to myself for a few minutes before class. She was right, of course; Scott had ruined my school career up until this point, and I would be damned if I let him keep doing it. With the last few forkfuls and a chug of my cup, I deposited my own dishes and made my way to Journalism.
Damn, but did it ever feel good to be running on a field again. I’d played plenty of casual football during the summer, but something just felt right doing it in uniform. Outside of that one, weird linebacker who caught my kissing escapades, the rest of the team was pretty chill. You had your occasional who thought talent scouts somehow snuck into private practices, but outside of those particular blowhards, and that one linebacker, I was settling in pretty well.
We’d just finished a few
drills and were all hanging out around the cooler set up by a nearby snack bar, something I usually looked forward to so I could get to know my teammates better. Unfortunately, it seemed everyone couldn’t stop talking about the, “incident” during last week’s pep rally, and boy, was no one shy about grilling me.
“So, she was an old flame or something, right?” One of the safeties asked.
“Nah, man, didn’t you hear?” the wide receiver pointed my way, water sloshing along the rim of his cup. “Cooper totally dared him to.”
“Cooper did no such thing.” By the grace of God himself, our fullback himself came up to the cooler for a drink. The guy was built like a bear, supposedly with the temperament to match. I wondered if the guys meant that literally, or in the sense that he was just this big ol,’ papa bear figure. His demeanor suggested the ladder, but the tone of his voice just barely crossed the line of the former. “And maybe if you give the poor guy a chance, he’d actually tell you ladies instead of listening to you gossip.”
A series of red faces cropped up around the cooler. Bear or not, I was liking Cooper already. “Yeah, well,” I rubbed the sweat off the back of my neck with a nearby rag. “I recognized her name from the roster, and…well, we’ve known each other since elementary school.”
Some of the guys snickered while others gave sympathetic nods. I even saw one guy scoff and pass off ten bucks to another. “Tell me you two attended the same college on purpose?” The safety from before asked.
“I didn’t know our new guy was gonna be our personal rom-com channel, too,” the wide receiver teased.
“Nah nothing like that. She,” I chuckled, surprised at how wounding the action felt in my chest. “Ah, no this is pretty much the Universe out to get me sort of shit. I’m pretty sure if she didn’t hate me before, she’ll be glad to string me up, now.”
“Hey, nothing wrong with a kitty that’s got claws.” God, that wasn’t a voice I’d forget anytime soon. There he was, having seemingly appeared from the miasma himself; the linebacker from the stage. Now that it wasn’t pitch-black, I managed to get a good look at him. He wasn’t half bad-looking for a creep, and I hated to admit that to myself. Curly-dark hair, well-kept facial hair, and these crazy blue eyes I’d swear were enhanced by color contacts. A total dreamboat, as the girls (and guys) might say. “I mean, if you’re not into that, you could always get her de-clawed, yah know?”
