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As much as I hate to admit it, I’ve had an insatiable crush on Eric since the second semester of my freshman year. He’s spent that entire time negging and teasing me, but he’s never told me to fuck off and leave him alone. That’s the only indication that he might like me back, and it’s weak at best.
Otherwise, he just picks on me.
And I hate that I kind of like it.
“I don’t remember,” I reply under my breath. “It’s not that old.”
“Looks fucking ancient,” he replies as we huddle together. “I guess nobody would want to steal it. That’s a plus.”
Angelique places herself at the helm of the group, kneeling down in front of everyone like she’s Beyonce in Destiny’s Child.
I do the best I can to match the same posture and confidence that the others have been practicing in group photos since they were twelve or thirteen. I didn’t have a lot of friends to take pictures with as a teen, and my expressions and smiles always feel forced and unnatural.
Just before he’s about to snap the picture, Eric takes off in a sprint in the opposite direction toward the fairground bathrooms.
“Seriously?!” I shout, unable to hold back my frustration as it finally breaks the seal.
“Oh my god, Eric,” Angelique calls after him playfully. “God, you’re such an asshole!”
She continues to giggle as Eric stops to glance back at me. He has that same sinister, blank smile that he’s had all night, tempting me to run after him in my brand-new shoes.
I knew it was a bad idea to wear these shoes tonight, but I saw what everyone else was wearing beforehand and felt intimidated in my old trainers. For once, I just wanted to feel like I wasn’t the most glaringly destitute person in the crowd, and now I’m being punished for it.
“Vera, stand up to him! Chase him down and go beat his ass!” shouts McKenna, who has been buried in her vodka water bottle too intently to notice much else happening around her.
They all know I’m not going tobeat his ass,but they’re right about one thing: I need to stand up to him.
I tense my jaw and take off behind him, watching as he begins to cackle at my perceived bravery. All I’ve done is add another element of humiliation to the equation, but it’s too late now.
Besides, I have no idea how far he’ll go in order to preserve this “joke”. What if he tosses my phone in the toilet?
I continue to pursue him, forcing my embarrassment down as I notice the weight of a hundred eyes on me.
2
Vera
“Eric! This isn’t fucking funny anymore!”
I’m beginning to lose my pace, wondering how the hell he’s able to outrun me on a diet of nothing but beer and pizza.
Eric has to be one of the most obnoxious men I’ve ever met in my entire life. He’s entitled, juvenile, and selfish.
And I’ve been obsessed with him since I got here.
I wasn’t the type to date much in high school. I wasn’t popular, and most of the guys in my class dated girls who were curvier than me. As I got older throughout the years, I figured that I wasn’t going to pull anyone worth dating in my hometown, so I just stopped trying.
Getting into a good college made it a hell of a lot easier to find people thatIliked. It didn’t make it easier to find people who were drawn tome,especially because I’m not from a rich family like everyone else here.
There are plenty of girls who came here just to find a future husband, but the guys they’re dating know that they come from rich backgrounds which makes it safer to marry them. If a guy from around here dated and married me, they’re view my poor upbringing as a liability.
I never expected any of them to give me any attention. So, when Eric started texting me freshman year, I was over the moon with happiness.
But nothing ever seems to have come out of it.
Only now do I realize that his intentions were never good, but right now, all I care about is getting my phone back. I can sort out my feelings for him later.
I used to be an athlete in high school, but that was before I spent the last three years working myself to the bone. All-nighters and an everlasting spring of black coffee have been the only constants in my life since then, so it’s no shock to me that I’m already getting winded.
