I hum in approval and grab two more for good measure as Julez continues to chuckle beside me.
“Wow, you're adorable,” he says, making me scowl at him, but that only makes him laugh harder.
“Hey, Julez, baby!” Someone yells as we turn away from the desserts, and I see Julez go stiff. It only lasts a moment before he relaxes, and a wide, fake smile pulls at his lips as he turns to look at the girl behind us, who I assume called him.
She’s pretty, with long dark hair, rich tanned skin, and fuck-me eyes.
The same perfect, pretty kind of girl that used to throw themselves at Jordan.
She doesn’t even glance my way, and that’s probably for the best. Most girls don’t seem to like me, and they like me even less when I’m ‘in their way.’
Thankfully, the cafeteria is pretty self-explanatory.
I move to walk around Julez to a table, but he stops me. His arm snaps out, his hand wrapping around my bicep.
“Where are you running off to, Pookie?” he asks, turning away from the girl who was mid-sentence, talking to him about some upcoming party.
I glance from Julez to her just long enough to see her eyes narrow and her jaw tick before I turn my attention back to him.
Great.
I’m sure this will end fantastically.
“I was going to have a seat. I don’t need a guide to find a table.” I pull my arm free of his grasp and miraculously don’t spill my tray, but it doesn’t matter; I don’t make it far before I’m stopped again.
Julez sidesteps so that he’s directly in my path, and I nearly slam into him.
“What kind of friend would I be if I let you sit alone on your first day?”
Is that what we are? Friends?
He bats his eyes at me, and I really look at him. For a second, I thought he was teasing me, but now I think it’s more than that.
“A bad one.”
The smile that curves his lips is breathtaking, and I swear the girl who called him is going to crack a tooth if she doesn’t unclench her jaw soon.
“Sorry, ladies, duty calls,” Julez says, offering them little more than a wave before he turns and heads toward the table on the far side of the room, leaving me to follow or be left to the wolves.
Wonderful.
I feel her gaze even after I’ve sat down, having cowardly put my back to her.
“Thanks, asshole, now she’s going to be ruthless all year,” I whisper-yell at him as I shove another cookie in my mouth, and damn it, it’s so good I almost forget that I’m mad.
Almost, but not quite.
“Nah, Rose couldn’t hurt a fly if she wanted to. She’s a pampered princess.” He waves me off as he tucks into his own mac and cheese.
I chance a glance over my shoulder, but really, I don’t have to. I can feel her glare as she attempts to burn a hole through my head.
Bullshit, she looks like more than a pampered princess.
“But thanks for that. I owe you one.”
I turn back around with a sigh, feeling the weight of the day as it attempts to crush me, and I haven’t even started classes yet.
“No, you don’t. I could see the way you were nearly begging me to save you. I would have had to be a monster to leave you to her.” I stab my mac harder than necessary and only get a single noodle to pop into my mouth.
