Savage Love

Chapter One

        "Savage Love, did somebody did somebody—" I was cut off by banging on the bathroom door. I switched off my shower to hear what my best friend was telling me.
       "Gabriella, you almost done? I need to hop in! Please don't tell me you took up all the hot water," Abigail called to me.
       "No, it's still plenty hot! And yes, I'm done," I responded, hopping out with still soapy hair. I removed my towel from its hook and wrapped it around me. Glancing in the foggy mirror, I made out my wet, stringy, long, brown hair. I ran my fingers through it, successfully not running into any knots.
       I opened the locked door, and Abby burst in.
       "Finally! You took like... 30 minutes in there," She exaggerated. I scoffed.
       "I timed myself. I took 15 minutes," I ridiculed. Abby shrugged.
        "I've heard it both ways," She joked. Realization that she was being distracted brought her back to the situation and she closed the door on me. Without the warmth of the humidity inside the bathroom, I was struck by a sudden coolness. The ends of my hair tickled my back under the sagging towel, and I rushed to my room to put on a hoodie.
        Throwing on a hoodie and sweats, I sat on my bed. I squeezed the water out of my hair into the towel I had left on the floor. Unexpectedly, red dripped with the water. Alarm soon changed into panic, and I felt around. Checking my fingers, I saw a light faded pink, and recalled the fake rose colored dye I had put in before my shower. Feeling much more relieved, I continued to clear my hair from water.
       My hair was knotted but only damp by the time I was finished drying my hair, and I picked up my brush to smoothen it. As I brushed, I thought of how 'exciting' college was going to be today.
       Me and my roommate/best friend, Abby, shared a college with dorms. Turns out our neighbors are who I despised the most. Blake and Chandler.
I had dated Blake before, who I broke up with because he had cheated on me. With, guess who? Abby. Now Abby and Blake are dating. I was mad at the time, but Blake was the type of person would I didn't want to be around. I just wanted to stick around until Abby would realize it too.
Chandler, I hadn't dated. It's just the fact that he's best friends with Blake that I didn't like. Anyone, besides Abby, who hasn't realized how cruel Blake was is either stupid or rude too. Sure, that's very stereotypical and bias, but at this point I didn't care. Maybe I should get to know Chandler, but if I did Blake would get in the way. I have a nagging feeling Blake's only dating Abby to get closer to me. After we broke up, in front of his own girlfriend before Abby, he told me he wanted me back. Of course I turned him down, and so did his once girlfriend.
After brushing my hair, I decided to go grab my bag and wait for Abby when she came out of the shower.
I was growing bored of waiting after a few minutes, and peeked out of my dorm door. There, Blake was. And there, was a complete stranger. Of course it was a girl, of course.
I tried to listen in, and successfully eavesdropped on their conversation.
"How am I going to keep this from Abby?" Blake asked worriedly. The girl handed Blake something.
"Wow, this is beautiful, Carmen. But I'm not good at keeping secrets," Blake whispered.
"Don't worry, I'll be by your side throughout this," Carmen promised, closing her hand over Blake's on the object. Blake glanced around the hallway before finally making the object visible.
I already had my suspicions on what the object was, it could've been a trick rose that was made up completely of thorns, a bomb or some sort of weapon, but definitely not a sweet thing.
I didn't expect to see an ordinary black box. I wondered what was inside. Blake peeked inside, and I managed to catch of glimpse of something glimmering. Black, glossy box, something to keep from Abby, glimmering inside. Then it hit me. Was Blake going to propose?
I heard Abby's shower shut off and jumped, slamming the door. A wave of embarrassment washed over me, and I checked the peephole to see if he had noticed the convenient door shut. Of course, Blake had turned around, and slowly walked to the door. The ring was held in his left hand. He looked through the one-sided peep hole and as if he could see through, I ducked.
A knock sounded on the door, and I heard Abby's eager voice call, "Ooh, who is that?"
I took a few paces away from the door and responded with, "It's umm... nobody!" Abby appeared in jeans and a shoulder less crop top covered by a see through white veil.
"Is it Blake? Did you check through the peep hole?" She asked, her eyes lit up.
"Uh. Yea, it's Blake," I replied awkwardly. Abby ran past me instantly and opened the door. Just then, I realized she had made a big mistake.
Blake must've thought Abby had spied on them. And, Blake had the proposal ring in his hand. I darted in between them and sneakily pushed Blake's left hand behind his back.
"Let's walk to school together, shall we?" I offered. Chandler shyly glanced from each person as if he were to say something, but he stayed silent. The girl I had seen, Carmen, was predictably
        "I'm ready if you are!" I giggled awkwardly, feeling my face turn red.
"You're really off," Abby pointed out, studying my expression. I looked away to meet eyes with Blake. I signaled with my eyes that I knew about the proposal. I sensed the surprise in his expression.
"It's nothing!" I assured her.
"Okay, if you say so," Abby muttered, swinging around as she rolled her eyes. She slung her backpack over one shoulder, and let out a shallow, short sigh.
        "I'm ready. What about you guys?" She said, smiling.