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Neal nodded, not looking convinced. I had a hard time paying attention during the rest of lunch because I kept wondering what Marcus would tell Simon.
Chapter Twenty
I had one more class after lunch so I called Simon as I walked over to the lecture hall. The phone barely rang once before he picked up.
"Where are you right now?" I could tell by the tone of his voice that Marcus had already spoken to him.
"I'm on my way to my marketing class."
Simon didn't waste any time cutting to the chase. "Marcus said he saw you and Neal looking pretty cozy eating lunch."
I sighed, knowing that this was going to be blown out of proportion. "Simon, I just met him for lunch at the student center. You know I have to keep close to him."
"I told you that I didn't want you seeing him without me around."
"Simon, be reasonable. You can't always be around. You have back-to-back classes all day today so I didn't want to bother you."
"Caitlin, I've been humoring you about getting close to California Ken. But I explicitly told you not to hang around him without me. He could be dangerous."
My temper started to rise at Simon's dictatorial tone and his mockery of Neal. "Simon, I told you before that you can't control me. I'm the one that has to protect Neal, not you. I explicitly told him today that I wasn't interested in him and that I was with you."
Simon's voice was low when he spoke. "I'm coming over tonight and we're talking about this in person."
I had invited Neal over to the apartment tonight to start helping me write a song for Simon. He wouldn't expect Simon to be there since this was supposed to be a surprise for him, but there was no way I was telling Simon that. As annoyed as I was by his high-handedness, I realized that would push Simon too far.
"What about Kendra? Is she going to twiddle her thumbs alone at your place while you berate me?"
"Don't use her as an excuse. I'll see you tonight."
I knew there was no way to convince Simon not to come over. I also knew that he would be much angrier if he saw Neal at my place without warning.
"Okay, but Neal is coming over tonight."
There was a prolonged silence, the tension so palpable that the air was practically vibrating through the phone.
Simon's voice was harsh as he asked the question he had opened the conversation with again. "Where are you right now?"
I glanced around me, as if I expected him to suddenly materialize. "Simon, I can't talk about this right now. I have to get to class. I'll see you later."
I hung up before he could respond, turning the ringer on my phone to silent before dropping it in my bag. A part of me felt guilty, that I wasn't being fair to Simon. If the roles were reversed, I would be feeling pretty crappy about Simon spending time with another girl. But I would understand that he was trying to save her life, not get into her pants. At least, I hoped I would.
I was grateful that my next class was a lecture so that I didn't have to really pay attention. I kept replaying the conversation with Simon over and over again, feeling worse and worse about it. Maybe I could blame it on the fact that I didn't have much relationship experience, but I felt like a lousy girlfriend.
I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't hear the door in the front of the lecture hall open. I was shocked when all of a sudden I saw Simon approach my professor, daring to interrupt his lecture. My professor looked less than pleased at Simon's interruption, but then he started nodding when Simon spoke to him, although they were too far away for me to hear what he was saying. Simon started scanning the lecture hall until his eyes stopped on me, skewering me to my seat.
He walked methodically up the aisle towards me as heads swiveled to watch him. I wasn't sure if they were watching him because of his intensity, his eyes never leaving mine as he walked closer, or if it was because they recognized the lead singer of the Henchmen. Simon was practically a celebrity at our small school and attracted stares wherever he went.
I was sitting next to the aisle so he didn't have to clamber through seats to get to me. I watched dumbfounded as he grabbed my hand, pulling me up. His action broke me out of my reverie.
"Simon, what are you doing?" I hissed, flushing as I felt everyone's eyes on me. "You can't just drag me out in the middle of class!"
Simon didn't respond as he pulled on my hand and I knew not following him would cause an even bigger scene. I just barely had enough time to grab my bag and coat before he dragged me outside.
When we finally made it outside the building, I ripped my hand out of his. "There is seriously something wrong with you. You can't just walk into class and drag me out! What will my professor think?"
Simon turned to face me, his blue eyes glittering. "I told your professor you had an emergency."
I made a sound of frustration at Simon's high-handedness. "Just because you gave an excuse doesn't make your behavior okay. I said we would talk about this tonight!"
