AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Six
Elena
Noonebotheredtotell me junior year of college was when things got real. The first two years were spent knocking out core requirements and dipping my toes into business management courses.
With the exception of my Spanish class, all my other courses were for my major. The one I was most anticipating was New Venture Research, Design, and Implementation. The name of the class could use a makeover, but from everything I’d heard, it was going to be an adventure.
Despite being my last class of the day, I walked in fresh as a daisy. I was ready to throw myself into this course, get my creativity flowing, and hone my business acumen—especially after the incredibly dry hour I’d just spent in quantitative analytics. Surely someone could present the information without making me want to saw my own ears off. Dr. Chen had not been that person. The only thing keeping me awake was the fact that I’d been running late and had to take a seat in the very front row. No surreptitious napping for me.
New Ventures was a smaller class with only twenty-five students. Rows of long tables were built on risers. I took a spot smack in the middle. I was early, so as students arrived, I checked everyone out. Some I vaguely recognized from other business classes. Some were new faces.
A group entered together. The first two blondes were Kayleigh and Abby, friends from last year. I used the term friend loosely. I hadn’t hung out with either of them since Kayleigh disrespected Zadie and I slapped the shit out of her. I’d been done with that crowd at that point anyway. The slap had just punctuated my exit.
Some forethought on my part would have been nice, though. Considering we shared a major, I’d be seeing those girls for the next two years whether I liked it or not. From the glare the two of them shot me, they didnotlike it.
Which made sense, considering a handful of guys from Pi Sig followed them into class. I should have said formerly, since the frat lost its charter last semester. I’d had a helping hand in making that happen, so they probably weren’t going to enjoy sharing a class with me either.
Wow, I was racking up enemies left and right. It was like high school all over again, except I didn’t have a posse of sycophants and a psycho boyfriend to insulate me from them.
If nothing else, this semester would be interesting.
The group took up the row behind me. I could practically feel them boring holes in the back of my head. My lips curved at the corners, amused. A lot of people might’ve disliked being hated, but I found power in it—especially since these people hated me for calling them out. They might not have seen it that way, but I knew the truth.
New Ventures was everything I’d hoped it would be. Professor Seavers was more than I’d expected. My mind was going a mile a minute, which was why I wasn’t paying attention as I walked down the aisle to the steps. If I’d been paying attention, I would have noticed the foot sticking out from the aisle above mine. And then I would have dodged it instead of walking right into it. If I’d been paying attention, even if I’d tripped on that fucking foot, I would have been able to catch myself before I went down.
None of those things happened. The errant foot caught me in the shin, and since I had my laptop under one arm while digging through my messenger bag, I had no way to brace myself. The tumble seemed to take forever. It was as if I could count the carpet fibers individually in the time it took for my face and shoulder to collide with the ground. And then, time stood still.
I lay there, hoping to sink into the carpet and disappear. I hadn’t felt the pain yet, but from the way my head had bounced off the floor, I knew it was coming. When I didn’t disappear, I resolved myself to dying in this spot.
Unfortunately, some hero stuck his hand out to me, helping me off the ground.
“Oh my lord, are you okay? You just went down flat.”
The guy winced as he looked me over. He looked to be about twelve, maybe thirteen if I was pushing it. Several inches shorter than me, and undoubtedly several pounds lighter, he was a small guy with black hair that stuck up all over, wearing a neatly pressed pair of khakis. In high school, I would have dismissed him as a nerd. Now, I knew better. He’d probably be the next Bill Gates or something.
I pressed a hand to my head and whipped around to the aisle above mine. Kayleigh was slack-jawed. Abby was a little less stunned. One of the guys they were with leaned over the desk to peer down at me.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Do you care?” I retorted. “You didn’t when you stuck your big boat of a foot in my path.”
He held his hands up. “That wasn’t me. You just tripped. We all saw it.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, willing the tears pricking at the backs of them to stay away. My head really hurt, dammit.
But I was Elena Sanderson. I didn’t let the bitches get me down.
“I recognize you.” He was handsome, in a generic way that did nothing for me, much like the guys my parents were always setting me up with. “Your name starts with aD. Don’t tell me…is it David? No, that’s not it. Devon?”
He shook his head, cocky smirk engaged. “Nope.”
I snapped my fingers. “That’s right. It’s Dickweed. How could I forget that? So catchy.”
Smirk fading, he stood to his full height, no longer pretending to be concerned. I turned my back on all of them, facing the guy who’d helped me up. He was holding my bag and computer out to me.
“Thank you for helping me,” I said with as much sincerity as I could muster.
“Sure, sure.” He pointed to his forehead, then mine. “You might want to get some ice on that. It looks like it’s going to swell.”
