Rigs Redding University: Bexley

Chapter Five

BEXLEY

I hit the mailboxes, have no mail, and then head to the school store for microwave popcorn and waters before heading back to my dorm.

Artemis wants to walk out to the party Marx invited us to over at the Old Homes but I don't really want to. I'm not sure I'm up for more drama tonight. Then again, I'm fully planning on doing one of two things. I'm either going to sit and watch movies in my room with the door open or I'm going to go take over the student lounge downstairs and see what happens. The Resident Advisor, or RA, lives on the first floor, Smith Barnes, his room is actually directly below mine and he arrived today I know because we all got an email about it.

I'm curious to see how Smith deals with me and how the other guys in the dorm deal with me too. Weirdly, after meeting Orion I'm not necessarily expecting a lot of trouble from other dudes in the dorms. We'll see though.

I'm secretly hoping that Eli and Phoenix will decide to stay in but it sort of sounded, from the way Marx and Dewit were talking, like this party is one the guys attend at the beginning of the year every year. So. I'm not getting my hopes up high. It also sounded fun.

So.

I don't know if I'm being a fucknut for no reason and I should go or what. I feel fucking feral after that run in with Willa Klerik though and I'm a little worried about my self-control.

No one messes with me on my way back to the dorm but I'm under no illusion that it's because I'm so tough or some shit. It's because Chance Hoby and Kolt Bauer followed me out of the dining hall - yes, I asked Phoenix who the dudes who sat behind us at the team meeting were - met up with Marx Wellington and Dewit Osten and followed me back to the Quad. Granted, Marx's brother Mitchell lives in one of Quad buildings diagonal to mine, and they could've only been going there.

How did I find out that Mitchell lives over here?

I stopped and asked where they were going.

I was walking all slow and shit to see if they'd walk past me. I was going really slow. Like, painfully slow. Like so slow it probably seemed like I was not actually walking or maybe like I was lost or something.

But. They did not pass me despite my desperately slow pace, so I asked if they were following me and Marx said his little brother lives in the Quad too but maybe, maybe, they were also making sure that I got home without being molested.

And he said the word molested. And he looked at me like, duh.

So now there's that.

I don't necessarily have the luxury of a buddy system like Artemis and the other girls, so pepper spray and a rape whistle it is!

Or I'll be forcing Artemis and Tamsin to walk my sorry ass home when it starts to get dark out earlier. It's September so it's not bad right now, maybe around 8pm it gets pretty dark and probably it's around 7pm when the sun goes down. I'm not sure. I haven't paid attention to when sundown is until this moment.

For my safety I'm now contemplating when it fucking gets dark, like, to the minute.

Welcome to Rigs Redding, ladies.

This is some legit fuckness.

When I get to my dorm, I let myself in with my key and look at all four of my Safety Stalkers as I ease through the door, alone, and close it firmly behind me so they can't come in.

And then I feel monumentally dumb.

They just walked me the fuck home because they're worried about something.