AllFreeNovel
Share Us
More time to spend with him? I’m in. I look at him and nod in agreement.
We walk down the cobblestone path between the buildings on campus. The air is cold and the wind is biting but at the moment I don’t feel either one because Brad Matthews is walking beside me. Because he asked me to hang out with him. I’m positively giddy. When I look at Brad he’s got his hands shoved in his jacket pockets and his chin down trying to keep the wind from hitting his neck.
“It’s freezing out today. You’d like the spring semester would bring some heat with it.” He laughs at his own joke.
“You’d think,” I replay, because really I don’t know what else to say. It’s still more winter than spring at this point in the year but I guess he’s wishfully thinking. I should be too since I have to wear barely nothing in a few weeks for a spring football game.
“Hopefully it warms up by the spring football game. Do you usually go?”
He looks down at me as we walk side by side. “Yeah, I go every year. You twirl at them right?”
“Yep. Never missed one.” Because I haven’t. “This will be my third year twirling, it’s one of the events I can’t miss no matter what. Last year one of the girls was in a car accident the night before and she still had to come and try and twirl the next morning.”
He does a double take from looking at the path ahead of him, back to my face. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. We have events that we can’t miss. Our scholarships can be taken at any time and I’m one of the few who can’t afford to come here without it so unless I’m dead, I’m there.”
He nods his head thoughtfully. “Yeah, I get that. Money is tight in my family. That’s why I’ve got to really focus on school this next year. I need to get a scholarship, or at least a partial, to law school.”
“Have you always wanted to be a lawyer?” It’s one of the only questions I don’t think I asked him over break in our many conversations.
He shakes his head. “No, when I was a kid I wanted to be a firefighter and then when I got older a dentist. Then about three years ago, my sister went through a really bad custody battle for my nephew and her lawyer was pivotal in her getting full custody. After watching him in court, I knew I wanted to do that. I knew I wanted to help people that way.”
My heart melts a little bit more at the idea of him helping families in court. I look up and see the student center getting closer. I’m not sure what we’ll do once we get there but I’m up for anything: eating, hanging out and talking, getting some caffeine, hell I’d even sit and study with him if he wanted to. I see him eye the student center and then me.
“Nikki, you know I think you’re great right?”
My cheeks warm and I know they’ve gone red from the wind. Hopefully that’ll mask the blush. “No, but I’m glad to hear that.”
“I do. You’re awesome. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun talking to someone in a long time. You get me and you understand me and we have a ton in common.”
We’ve reached the outskirts of the student center quadrantand there’s relatively no one around. The weather is just too cold to hang out outside. He pulls the door open to enter the student center and I walk through, instantly feeling the heat of the fireplace in the center of the room.
“I need a boost before my next class in an hour. You want anything from theThe Mocha Joint?”
I think about it for about three seconds. “Nah, I might get something to eat in a few minutes though.”
He slings his bookbag off and sits it down in a chair close to the fire. “Watch my bag for me, I’ll be right back.”
I nod as I sit down in the seat next toit, pulling my coat off to warm my hands by the fire. I pull out my phone and think about texting Meg to let her know where I am but then I think better of it. If I text her now, she’ll start messaging me non stop wanting updates. I’ll have to wait till later to tell her. I put my phone back into my purse, zipping it up. When I sit back up in my seat, Brad is already coming back to the chairs. He’s holding a coffee cup and two small bags.
I help move his bag off the chair and set it down on the ground near my feet. He sits down in the chair and puts one of the bags on his lap and extends his hand to me with the other. I take it slowly, not knowing what it is or how to react.
“I didn’t know for sure what you’d pick but I went out on a limb and got you a piece of pound cake hoping you might like that.”
I curl my lips in my mouth in an attempt to contain a huge smile. I love pound cake and I think I even mentioned it in one of our conversations over break. “This is perfect.”
“Perfect cake for the perfect girl.”
Is Brad trying to kill me? I think his sweetness might just put my heart into overdrive. Now only if I could tell him that I want to be more than friends.
Five Days Later
“Ladies… ladies, please! Let’s all quiet down. I know we’re excited to all be back together but let’s get this meeting started.” Beth Ann hits the gavel again on the podium in another attempt to get everyone’s attention.
Yes. LetsI thought to myself as I sat in one of the side chairs watching all of my sorority sisters move around the room, settling into their seats. Most of them are eating some of the treats that were brought out for snacks. It’s the end of the first official week back on campus and that meant it was time to have our weekly chapter meeting. While I haven’t been in the sorority a long time, I’ve quickly learned this is the time used to voice any problems happening within the sorority, go over upcoming events and vote on any chapter business that requires a majority rule.
I shove another cheese cube into my mouth becausehonestly, the food is one of the best things about these meetings. Poor Beth Ann, the current President of the sorority, looks exasperated and it’s only the second meeting of the semester. A lot of the new pledges who just became sisters, myself included, don’t really care for her. To say Beth Ann is uptight would be an understatement. Her best friend since the second grade, Krystal is the Vice President and while I’m rather new there’s a strong rumble in the gossip jungle that’s already made its way to me that they’ll be ousted in the next election. For now, I’m sitting back and watching the drama unfold. I move on to the baby carrots on my plate as she finally has the room silenced.
