*FREE WITH PAID BONUS CHAPTER*After being dumped by her boyfriend, Elodie Shepherd resigns herself to loving her older brother's best friend from afar, just like she always has, even though he only sees her as his best friend's immature kid sister.
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'College, bitches' ended up being a more sedate pace than I'd originally imagined.
Frat parties, underage drinking and all general fun was apparently reserved for Thursday-Saturday and while it was a Saturday, most students hadn't arrived yet on campus.
The frats and sororities were due to campus the next day and then after that would be the start of classes.
"Oh, come on. You can't tell me that black coffee is actually good," Phoebe protested with me after our full day of orientation and touring.
"It is! Come on Dory, tell her!"
We were engrossed in a fierce argument over the woes of coffee drinkers everywhere while walking into the famous campus diner.
It was no Waffle House, but it was the closest thing we had, and according to the 'locals', i.e. the sophomores still in dorm housing that we'd briefly met on our tour of campus, it was the spot to be on campus.
Phoebe was about to launch into a full on dissertation on the effects of caffeine on the nervous system and its detriments when my eyes fell upon the harsh fluorescent lighting pitching through the space and the jam packed interior that held most of the freshmen we'd met on our tour earlier in the day.
Apparently, they'd all had the same idea.
I packed my pamphlets for clubs and groups that I planned on checking out (mainly violence against women on campus and feminist unions) and scoped out the available tables for our group of five.
Zeke eyed Phoebe while edging around us, quickly scooping up a table closer towards the back where most of the students seemed congregated.
Sizzling bacon pops and shouts of orders filled the air as the savory and sweet dichotomy of the pancakes and sausages infiltrated my senses and I almost doubled over in ecstasy at the thought of all the deliciousness that I would soon be scarfing down my throat...
...until I realized that I should have been swaying on my feet for an entirely different reason.
In the booth at the very back surrounded by his countless friends and fellow basketball players, there sat Ben, bouncing a laughing girl on his knee like they were closer than the two of us had ever been.
I couldn't lie to myself in that instance, not when their presence was a jack knife to the heart.
Maybe it was the shock of finally, finally kissing Matthew after so many years of yearning and wanting, but I had to admit that with Ben, the crush had diminished. It had to, otherwise the love that I'd felt for him wouldn't have been real, and I would've been selfish for staying in a relationship when my heart belonged to someone else.
With Matthew, it was like he was a thorn in my heart, something always there and noticeable, but a thorn is a thorn, small and inconspicuous, at least, until it develops an infection.
