Begin again : after

the new girl

"That's Tristan. I'm supposed to meet her."I heard Steph say as I flung her door open.

"You're late"I said and folded my arms, my eyes landing on a girl I've never seen before.

"I'm coming"Steph rolls her eyes at me.

"You must be new"I said to the girl and she looks up to meet my eyes, they eyed the books on her bed.

"Yeah...What's with all
the old books? Who brings books to college?"Steph tells her.

"Me... I guess."she says and I nodded.

"The bookish vibe. I like that"Steph said as I got a text from Tristan.

"Tessa this is Elizabeth, elizabeth this is tessa"Steph introduces us.

"See you around tessa"I told her as I left the room.

"All right, I'm out."Steph hits my arm as she catches up with me in the hallway.

"You were so cold to her, she's probably gonna get a room transfer"she laughs.

"I had a rough night last night"I shrugged and she sighed.

"He hit you again?"she asked and I looked at her.

"He won't be able to play football for awhile, so it's a win-win for me"she pushes me as we both laughed.

-------
Steph and I entered her room only to see hardin laying on the bed.

"You took your time."he said and I sat on stephs bed as she sits beside hardin.

"There they are. Hey, Tessa."she said, taking her keys and turning her attention to tessa. She looked a bit uncomfortable but that was understandable since she was only wrapped in a towel.

"Hi. Uh... Can you please ask your boyfriend to leave so I can get dressed?"she asked Steph and I laid down on the bed as I tried not to laugh.

"Uh, not my boyfriend."Steph said and stood up.

"What did you say to her?"she asked hardin and I looked at him.

"Nothing. I've been minding
my own business."he said and I scoffed , sitting up and looking at him.

"I find that hard to believe"I said , getting up and walking over to him.

"You have no faith in me whatsoever"he said, offended.

"None at all"I said , leaning over him and grabbing the book out of his hands.

"Okay, well, whoever he is..."Steph gets up and goes over to her.

"You're going out with us tonight."she tells her and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I don't know."tessa said.

"I'm trying to picture this one at a party. Just not seeing it."hardin said and I rolled my eyes, sitting beside him.

"Don't be rude"I told him and leaned against him.

"You're not gonna stay in here forever, right?"Steph asked her.

"Nope."tessa tells her and I stood, following Steph out of the room as I left the book on the bed and waited for hardin at the door.

"The Great Gatsby. It's a good book."he tells her, handing her the book back.

"I'd hate to spoil it...but it was all a dream."he tells her and just before he could leave the room she spoke up.

"Actually... it was all a lie."she tells him and I pulled him along.

"Well she told you, maybe you need to read the book again"I joked and he rolls his eyes.

"You wound me"he said and I smiled.

"You love me"I rolled my eyes.

"Unfortunately"he rolled his again and I huffed.

"Fine I'll go give my love to someone else"I said and tried to walk away but he pulled me back into his side, arm draped over my shoulder.

"Don't even think about it"he whispered as I grinned and rested my head against his shoulder as we walked.

"Could you two not be so obvious, I can smell the sexual tension all the way over here"my best friend trinity tells me as she joined us.

"It has been awhile since we last...."I covered hardin's mouth.

"Don't finish that sentence"I told him and he grinned, moving my hand away and kissing my forehead.

"Just date already"Steph said and I rolled my eyes.

"We're friends"hardin tells her.

"With benefits"trinity added and I gasped.

"Trinity!"I pushed her shoulder and she laughs.

"Did I lie?!"she asked me and I shook my head.

"We haven't done that in a long time...."I told her.

"Two months isn't that long"hardin pipes in and I looked at him, wide eyed.

"Who's side are you on?"I asked him and he laughs.

"Yours, I'm always on your side"he kisses my cheek and I rolled my eyes.

"You better be"I grumbled.