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But I had my sights set on law school, trying to follow in my father’s footsteps once again—wanting to make him proud.
“Anyone else need a beer?” I asked, looking back at the guys. The party had barely started, but I already knew I was absolutely too sober for whatever shit they’d pull me into tonight.
Forest shook his head. “I’m gonna go hang out with Sutton. I drove, so…” He was always the designated driver around his girl, anyway.
James waved us off, clearly having spotted whatever fling of the week he was currently seeing.
“I’m down,” Adam agreed, following me into the kitchen.
“How’s your semester going?” I asked, cracking open the tab on the beer can. “How’s the new gig?”
My copper-haired friend gave a deep chuckle, taking a drink from his own can. “It’s good. Surprisingly.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Surprisingly? You’re the ma?—”
“Shhh,” he said, looking around us as if checking that no one had heard me, his eyebrows drawing downward. “Don’t blurt it out, man.”
“Because it would ruin yourstreet cred?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Exactly. It’s not like I signed up for it.”
I still hadn’t gotten the full story out of him, but I imagined it wasn’t something he readily wanted to admit to. Especially when it had ended up with him wearing a Chipmunk costume and running around at all our schools sports games.
That’s us—the Castleton Chipmunks. Everyone liked to laugh, but I thought there were a lot of worse mascots out there. At least ours was an animal.
I glanced back at Forest and Sutton before looking at Adam. “Do you ever wish you had that?”
“Hm?” He looked and shook his head. “A girlfriend?” A snort. “No. I’m perfectly fine alone.”
Shrugging, I rested my elbows on the countertop. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think it sounds nice. Maybe I’m just tired of dating apps and hook-ups.” Taking a swig of my beer, I looked back at my friend. “Maybe I just want what they have.” Not love, just… companionship.
Adam sighed. “What do you expect? That you’re going to lookup, and the crowd will part, and she’s going to be standing there? The girl of your dreams? That shit doesn’t happen, man. Not in real life.” He shook his head. “That’s a fairytale, not real life.”
“I didn’t…” Say that. I hadn’t, had I?
My eyes drifted around the room, taking in the silence that had settled between us. There wasn’t a specific person I was searching for, though I spotted many familiar faces and plenty of new ones, too.
A flash of blonde hair caught my eye, and I looked away, in a trance.Who was she?Our campus wasn’t that huge, but it certainly was big enough that I didn’t know everyone in this room.
I elbowed Adam in the ribs, getting anoofin response. “What was that for?” He groaned, rubbing at the spot.
“That girl,” I murmured, unable to take my eyes off of her. “Do you know her?”
“Who—” He started, before following the tip of my finger.
Her blonde hair was tied up in an elegant bun, a small tiara decorating it.
Adam shook his head, the movement lighting up his strands of copper hair. “I’ve never seen her before. Not that I pay that much attention. She’s not really my type, you know?”
I quirked an eyebrow, wondering what exactly his typewas,if not a beautiful girl in blue, whose dress looked like it was sculpted perfectly to suit her curves. To hug every inch of her body, and yet—she looked every bit a princess.
“She’s gorgeous,” I said under my breath, forcing myself to look away.
“So go say hi.” Adam quirked an eyebrow. “I’m sure she’ll fall at your feet as soon as she hears you’re the incomparableCameron Edwards.”
I made a face. “Don’t say it like that.”
“Alright.” He shrugged. “I’m going to go find Erikson. See if he wants to play a round of beer pong.”
