by Jami Wagner
“Sir, this card doesn’t work,” the brunette behind the counter almost whispers to me.
I shake my head.
“It does that sometimes. You can manually enter it,” I tell her.
“Been using the plastic too much?” Winston asks. “I swear you use that thing more than my own mother. Shit, more Amazon boxes appear on her doorstep than flies.”
I chuckle.
“I don’t use it that much.”
“Sir,” the woman says again, “I’m really sorry, but it’s not working.”
“Fine,” I say and hand her another card.
Her response doesn’t change.
What the hell?
I reach for a third card, but Winston drops one onto the counter first.
“I got it.”
I slap him on the shoulder. “It’s about damn time you paid for a meal,” I joke.
I tuck my wallet into my back pocket and make a mental reminder to call the bank.
There’s no way all my cards stopped working.
Shit. It’s probably because I used that sketchy ATM outside the movie theater the other night. Goddamn scammers are everywhere these days.
“Finally,” Mark shouts as Winston and I step outside. “How about letting me take the wheel this time?” Mark points to where my car is parked.
“Whoever catches them first gets to drive,” I say and toss my keys into the air.
Chapter Two
Lennox
Libraries are one of my favorite places. They’re quiet. They’re full of information. They have more worlds boxed up into one building than the Star Wars galaxy. Being here makes me feel like I can do anything or go anywhere.
Unfortunately, right now, Kass has plans that don’t include my enjoying this hour of free time.
“Lennoxxxx,” she whispers. “Are you done yet? I’m tired of studying.” Kass stretches her arms over the table, lying her head on one of them to look up me. She bats her eyelashes quickly and sticks out her bottom lip.
I press my lips together to hide my smile. Kass, tired of studying? That never happens.
“Lennox,” she whispers again.
This right here is exactly why Kass and I have been best friends since the day I met her three years ago. We’re opposite in every conceivable way. She has short, straight, bright blond hair while mine is a long, curly brown that is so thick that wearing it in a ponytail for more than an hour gives me a headache. Her eyes are blue. Mine are brown. She loves to party. I love to study. She’s loves to flirt, mostly with Mark. I wouldn’t even know where to start. The list goes on.
“Twenty more minutes,” I say. If I don’t pass this English literature exam next Monday morning with a B or better, my GPA will drop. That’s one step closer to losing my scholarship, which I can’t afford. That’s another way we are opposite. Her parents are paying her tuition while mine is paid only by keeping my grades up.
“You said that twenty minutes ago.” She reaches over to shut my book. “It’s just a party, Lennox. One night out won’t kill you.”
“It might,” I say. Going to a party of any kind has never been my thing. I went to a couple in high school, and that was only because Winston had a crush on Lesley, the head cheerleader, and he somehow convinced me that going to these parties was the only way to get her to notice him. Must have worked, too, because after the second one, they were a couple and they lasted a whole three months before she cheated on him. Three months seems like a long time in high school. Or maybe just to me since I’ve never been in any type of relationship.
“Oh, stop it. You said you’d come. Last semester I didn’t beg, but this time I will,” Kass says, pressing her hands together in front of her heart.
I shake my head.
“I’m only going because Winston and Mark agreed to come with us,” I tell her, opening my book to find where I left off so I can write the page number down in my notes. I’ll go for an hour or two, then go home and finish reviewing this chapter. After that, I’ll do a final read-through on the essay due Monday for the journalist program. That will leave the entire weekend to get ahead in a few classes.
“Yay!” she shouts, causing me to jump. Note to self: if I want to chance getting kicked out of the library, bring Kass. Otherwise, study alone. “I’ll owe Winston big time,” she adds.
Nothing against her, but, without Winston, I would more than likely stand in the corner the entire time—Kass would be off with Mark somewhere—not talking to a single person, resting a red cup in my hands while the beer inside it goes warm. People would give me looks, and I’d pull out my phone trying to find a way to look busy. I’d have to get creative since I don’t have a smart phone that can keep me occupied with Facebook or Instagram. But Winston will chat with me the whole time so I won’t be the weirdo in the corner.
“The boys will meet us there. They’re just waiting forTripptopickthemup,” Kass says so quickly I don’t make out the whole end of her comment. But I did catch something.
“Tripp what?” I ask.
“He’s coming with us.” She smiles. “You should just always assume it by this point.”
She laughs.
I groan.
Of course.
“Please tell me he’s leaving Sydney at home,” I say.
Her nose wrinkles and she looks away.
“Is this you trying to convince me to go or to stay here longer?” I ask.
“I can’t say much for Sydney, because I have no idea why you don’t like her, but eventually you’ll have to forgive Tripp and be friends with him.”
“Never.”
And I don’t like Sydney because she’s with Tripp. Simple as that.
“It was years ago, Lennox.”
“He called me poor and said he doesn’t associate with peasants, Kass.”
She nods slowly before rolling her eyes.
“Yes, and then he was forced to, and he hangs out with peasants all the time now. He’s changed.” Her smile is so big I can’t help but return it.
“He may seem like he’s changed to you, but to me, not even a little bit.”
“Why does it bother you anyway? You’ll spend the whole time with Winston.”
True. I sigh as I start to stuff my books in my bag. Kass clutches the one book she brought to her chest.
An apology wouldn’t kill Tripp, but we’ll never know. He’s is the last person I know to admit when he’s wrong.
“Does it bother you that Winston is always following you around?” Kass asks. “I mean, I know you guys are close and all.”
“No. He’s protective. That’s it.”
Has been ever since we met at sixteen. My mother decided she didn’t want me, and Winston’s parents fostered children. I ended up in his home. I had to go to a new school, and Winston was new there, too, and the first and only friend I had until graduation. He stayed friends with me when I eventually moved out and started college a couple years behind everyone else because I couldn’t afford it. Now we’re twenty-one and he’s the only person I trust besides Kass.
“Maybe you two should just do it and he’ll back off,” she says as simply as if we’re talking about trying a new flavor of ice cream.
I stop walking, and it takes her a few steps to realize it. She turns around and I say, “Hey, I take offense to that. One, we are just friends and that isn’t anywhere in either of our heads,”—well, I mean, it’s not in mine—“and two, I feel like you’re implying I’m a bad lay who would make a guy back off, and that isn’t fair.”
“How can I imply you’re a bad lay—which, that’s just so weird coming out of your mouth—when you’ve never had sex?”
I take one giant stride and my hand covers her mouth faster than it takes for my brain to decide that’s what I should do.
“What happened to your soft library voice?” I ask.
She shrugs.
“So, are we going now?” she asks, pulling my hand off her face.
“Ugh, yes. Let’s go.” Espec
ially before she blurts out something more about my lack of sexual experience. Hearing it once is bad enough. Not that we don’t talk about it, but in a library, my safe place, yeah, no we don’t.
“Okay, but first let’s go to my dorm so we can change,” Kass says.
“What wrong with my outfit?”
“Nothing,” she says, “if you like being single.”
“I do, as a matter of fact.”
“Don’t lie to me.” She laughs.
“It’s not that I want to be single,” I start as we exit the campus library, “but more like I don’t have time for anything other than being single.”
“Sure, whatever.” Kass laughs off my explanation and changes the subject to how Mark misses the East Coast and she doesn’t and she thinks he’s silly. I just listen; I clearly don’t have any advice for her. The only thing I could offer would be to prepare for him to leave. It’s the only advice I have for anyone.
“All right, let’s see what we have,” she says once we are in her room. She has a dorm mate, but from what I’ve heard, Mark sleeps here more than her.
“Do you want a dress?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I’ll just wear what I’m wearing.”
“A skirt?”
I give her my best yikes! face. She rolls her eyes and then cheers.
“I have the perfect outfit!” she shouts. “There is no way the boys will be able to resist you in this.”
When she shows me the outfit, I nod. I’m not looking for a guy for anything, but I’m still a girl and looking and feeling pretty is something I enjoy. I don’t do it often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it.
Twenty minutes later, we are out the door, and I’m feeling more confident than before. One hour will go fast. I mean, how bad could it be?
Tripp
I never thought I’d actually enjoy a college frat party. Growing up in New York, it was easy to sneak into the clubs, and with the money I have, it was hard not to have a good time every time I went out. Fast cars, fake IDs, girls, backstage passes, drinks ... if I wanted it, it was mine. Here, I spend a whole hell of a lot less and still have a great time. Which is good considering I tried to buy booze tonight and my card still doesn’t work. Not to mention my banker hasn’t returned my calls and I haven’t been able to withdraw cash. Account frozen was all the teller told me. How much did those thieves try to steal? Must have been a hefty amount to freeze my account for more than a few days. I’ll know more as soon as my father calls me back.
“Hey, Tripp,” a blond girl whose name I don’t know says, waving as she walks by me. Her yellow dress inches higher with each click of her nude heels. She’s hot, but the look in her eyes tells me it’d be too easy. I can’t speak for all men, but I really do enjoy the challenge of a woman who plays hard to get. Plus, I have Sydney. Challenge or not, she doesn’t expect much from me, and that makes goodbyes in the morning a whole lot easier.
“You stand there and do nothing and somehow the girls just appear out of nowhere, giddy as shit to see you,” Winston says, glancing around the room and sipping the beer in his hand. “Some nights I wish I knew how you did it.”
I copy him and then clasp a hand on his shoulder. “The first step would be not hanging around a girl who is just a friend at this party all night.” When the guys told me Kass was bringing Lennox, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to help me figure out Winston would devote his entire night to her, no questions asked.
“Dude, you’re going to have to get over my friendship with Lennox at some point,” he says. “She’s actually a really good person despite all the shitty things you two say to each other.”
Could have fooled me. I’ve never experienced nice Lennox since the day I met her.
“Hey.” I raise my hands in surrender. I’m not going to argue with him about her again. “I’m just saying. If you want to find a girl to flirt with and do whatever else with, it will be a lot easier to do without Lennox by your side all night.”
His jaw ticks as he stares at me, but he nods.
“Parties aren’t her thing. I can’t just ditch her,” he says.
“It’s easy. Watch,” I say, spotting Lennox, Kass, and Mark heading our way. Mark and Kass are doing this dance walk thing as “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE plays in the background, and Lennox is behind them looking like she wishes she could be anywhere else. Typical Lennox. Why the hell did she even come?
Winston follows my gaze. “Don’t be a dick,” he says quickly.
I laugh, opening my mouth to in fact say something dickish when Lennox appears from around Mark and Kass. All the words on my tongue vanish as I stare at her.
She got on heels, wedges I think Kass calls them, and a pair of shorts that would more than likely show off a sliver of her ass if she were to bend over, and a dark blue, cut-off T-shirt that shows just enough of her stomach to tease every guy in here. Her hair is pulled into a bun, and her lips are pink and shiny and plump, and why can’t I stop looking at them?
I pull my gaze from her lips to her legs.
Damn it.
They move to her stomach.
Shit.
“Everything okay, Tripp?” Kass asks. “You look confused.”
My gaze flashes from Lennox’s belly to her eyes. She’s glaring at me. Now she’s crossing her arms, pulling my gaze to her low-cut top.
Oh hell.
“Everything is fine,” I say, moving my focus somewhere else. To anything else. Ah, this bowling trophy on the mantel is great. Second place. That’s fantastic.
“Okaaaaay,” Kass says. The five of us exchange looks—well, four of us anyway, because Lennox is still glaring at me.
“Do you want a beer?” Mark asks Kass.
“Yeah, I’ll come with you,” she says. “Anyone else?”
Lennox shakes her head while Winston and I hold up the beers we already have—thanks to the keg someone brought in. I should go with them before I do or say something stupid. But they are out of sight by the time I realize this.
“How did Kiss manage to convince you to wear that?” Winston asks. Annoyance is written all over his face.
Lennox shrugs but finally looks at someone who isn’t me. I let out a breath.
“Once Kass sets her mind to something, you know it hard to convince her otherwise. Plus, I kind of like the shorts,” she says and spins. “What do you think?”
They are great.
Perfect.
“I think they are … not you,” Winston says.
“True, but I think that’s why I kind of like them,” she says.
Desperately needing to change the subject, I say, “Well, if you ask me—”
“She didn’t,” Winston cuts me off. I chuckle.
“Well, if you ask me,” I continue, “your whole presence in this outfit is definitely going to be a buzzkill for Winston to meet girls tonight.”
Lennox’s bottom lip drops open, and Winston groans.
“Seriously, Tripp,” Winston starts.
“Hey, you said you wanted to meet some women tonight, and I said hanging around Lennox isn’t going to help, but that was back when I assumed she would show up dressed frumpy as usual. Now that she’s dressed to make every man’s mouth water, women definitely won’t come up to you when there’s competition.”
Neither of them says anything. They both just stare at me.
“Did you just compliment me?” Lennox asks, and my head jerks back. I try not to cringe because I definitely did.
“You looking hot one night doesn’t fix your personality. You’re still the dullest person I know.” The words fall off my tongue before I can stop them.
“Wow,” Lennox groans out. I catch the brief moment her tongue sweeps over her lips.
I bet they taste sweet. I bet they’re soft. I bet she’d like it if I bit that bottom lip.
Shit.
“Wow isn’t the word I’d use to describe you,” I say. Lennox and I need to stay in negative territory.
Her
lips part, drawing my attention once more as she gasps. Then she turns and walks off.
“Fucking a, Tripp. Can’t you just be nice once?” Winston asks, taking a step after her, but I reach out the stop him.
“I was being nice. She’s gone now, and if I’m not mistaken, there is a blonde headed your way.”
I point to the woman.
“Fuck,” he says quietly, but remains in place until the blonde first says hi.
When their conversation takes off, I quietly step away.
A glance around the room shows nothing but a packed house and intoxicated people all around me. Kass and Mark are just through the doorway to the kitchen. He’s got his arms on each side her as she’s against the counter. She’s laughing at something he said, wrapped up in their own world as usual. Winston is still behind me talking up the blonde; they are closer now though. My eyes continue to survey the room till they find what I’m looking for.
Lennox. Standing alone in the corner.
I should go over there and apologize, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Our relationship has never been one where we make nice, so I would probably make it worse.
The blonde in the yellow dress catches my eye again, wiggling three fingers at me from across the living room.
“Tripp.”
I twist to see Sydney approaching me.
“I’ve been calling you,” she says when I’m within distance to hear her over the music. Her hands are on her hips.
“Really?” I ask, pulling my phone out of my pocket. Three missed phone calls in the last five minutes. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she says and presses a kiss to my cheek. “Oh look, there’s Misty.” I follow her gaze to Miss Yellow Dress.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” I say as she moves toward her friend.
“Meet you at your place?” she asks.
I nod.
“Yep,” I say and leave the party quickly. Staying isn’t an option. Not when Lennox is still here. Guilt isn’t something I’m used to, and right now, I need something to easily distract me. Heading home until Sydney shows up will have to do.
Chapter Three
