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“It would’ve been better if our paths never crossed.”
“Hard agree.”
He walks me to the door of his bedroom, and I expect him to stay there and shut it behind me, but no, he walks me all the way to the front door. That door he slams shut, and I wince.
It’s a long, lonely walk back to my dorm, and I get a bit mixed up and lost a bit. It’s getting darker and darker the later it’s getting, and I just want to go to bed.
So much for celebrating surviving my first day. Well, surviving is right at least. I’m alive, so there’s that at least, but fuck me. Things could not have gone worse with Rob.
CHAPTER8
The next morning,I’m awake before my alarm goes off. Whereas I had an eight o’clock class on Monday, my Tuesday and Thursday schedule has me starting at nine-thirty. I roll out of bed immediately, and I hop in the shower.
No sex dream last night, which is probably a good thing, but actually, I’m just as frustrated as if I had one. Maybe I just didn’t remember it, but I can’t help thinking back to the dark gray sheets on Rob’s bed. For some reason, those sheets looked really soft and inviting, but I’ll never know now if they’re as soft as they appear to be.
I need to just put him out of my mind. This campus is huge. There are a ton of students here. What are the chances that I’ll keep running into him? Especially considering he’s a junior, and I’m a freshman. It’ll be fine.
I’ll be fine.
I hope.
Even though I take my time in the shower, I’m ready to go well before I actually need to, but considering how many times I got lost yesterday, I figure it would be better to leave now than to risk cutting it too close. Once I know my way around campus, then I can leave closer to when class starts. For now, better to be safe than sorry.
Gah. I guess that’s my motto now. Safe, not sorry. It’s not how I used to be. Before Erika left and her father killed her mother and tried to cover that up, I was just a carefree, happy high schooler with no cares in the world. Erika and I and our friends were on top of the food chain, so to speak, but here, I’m nothing. I’m a small fry, and that’s what I wanted. It’s some of the reason why I picked Juniper College. I wanted to be somewhere that I could blend in.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to allow anyone to do what they want to me.
I also won’t allow anyone to talk smack on me either. Not that I think Rob would do that, but if he does…
I won’t tolerate that, and I will find a way to put him back into his place.
If there’s one thing I can’t abide, it’s disrespect.
And lying.
And being a general asshole.
All of those are why I’m not on speaking terms with my father and while I never want to see him again, not even for his funeral. Speaking of, I do wish him dead. Terrible, yes, but he’s not the man I thought he was, and I will not,will not, allow him to ruin my life or my mom’s or my brother’s.
After making sure I have everything—keys, purse, backpack, cell—I’m out the door. Lauren’s still asleep, so hopefully, this can be the start of my smoothing things over with her. Even if we’re never friends, it’ll be nice if we’re at least civil with each other.
I hurry down the stairs and out of the dorm and head toward Dixon House. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, my courses are all related to my major, but Tuesdays and Thursdays have those fun courses required of a liberal arts school. I get wanting the students to be well rounded, but I doubt I’ll enjoy these classes much.
Walking toward me is a guy with auburn hair and brown eyes. I squint, trying to figure out why he looks familiar.
“Do you have to scrunch up your face like that?” he asks me, his tone snide. “I bet that’s your ‘O’ face, isn’t it?”
I gape at him. “You must be one of Rob’s friends,” I mutter, piecing things together.
My heart falls. If Zac—the auburn-haired one is Zac, right—is being nasty to me, it has to be because Rob is talking about me behind my back. Wonderful. And clearly it’s not all good things he has to say.
“One of his best friends,” he corrects. “I’ll always have his back, and if a girl is going to treat him like shit—”
“Is that what he said?” I ask sweetly. “Because he sure didn’t feel like shit this summer.”
Zac doesn’t seem surprised at all to hear this. “You have to learn some respect,” he says.
“Respect is a two-way street, and I’m afraid I don’t even know your name, so… If you want my respect, how about we start over and pretend none of this dick-measuring contest bull happened?”
