What We Take Away

Chapter 1 | Cassie

August 30th, 2005

A loud buzzing noise pierces the air outside. 

Sabrina and I live in the room directly across the boys' bathroom. Unfortunately, this means that whenever we're in our room, we are less than ten feet away from college men urinating, showering, or doing whatever it is they do in there. 

And tonight, Zac Peters has decided to shave his head.

With a sigh, I scan the textbooks scattered across my desk. Classes began today and though I already feel like I'm behind, I'm too distracted to keep reading. I push myself away from the desk and poke my head out into the hall.

The boys' bathroom door is propped open. Zac bends over one of the sinks with a pair of clippers in hand, trimming his hair. Questions form in my mind as I watch fuzzy, light brown hairs float down to the sink and onto the tiled floor. 

Why didn't he get his hair cut before coming to college? And what kind of person brings electric clippers with them to school?

Suddenly, he glances up and flashes me a warm, dimpled smile. 

My cheeks flush as I realize how attractive he is. Alarmed and embarrassed to have been caught staring, I disappear into my room and shut the door.

Zac's good looks have been stirring up dorm gossip ever since orientation a few nights ago. Our resident adviser Tim, a disgruntled pre-dental student gathered us in the hallway the night everyone moved in.

"Welcome to college," he announced without fanfare.

All thirty-five of us stood awkwardly with our backs against the painted cinderblock walls.

"Here's the deal," Tim continued. "Copper Hill is known for two things – outstanding academics, and outrageous parties."

Several people turned their heads and twittered eagerly. Tim sighed with irritation and held up a hand.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," he drawled. "My floor, my rules. And I report everything to Doralis, the hall director. Trust me when I say you don't want to be on her radar. Look – I know most of you will end up at a party by the end of the next week. But it's my job to enforce the rules. So, if you're drunk, don't cause trouble or I'll write you up. We have a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol possession. Observe quiet hours, respect your neighbors, and don't get caught."

The boys at the opposite end of the hall snickered as they exchanged looks and elbowed each other. I made a mental note to myself to avoid them at all costs.

I noticed him then because he was the only one who didn't have a stupid grin on his face. Instead, he leaned casually against a doorframe and surveyed the rest of the floor through a pair of dark Aviators. I suppressed the urge to laugh. 

What kind of person wears sunglasses indoors?

As if he could hear my thoughts, he flicked his Aviators away from his face. He had warm, brown eyes and the fullest lips I've ever seen. But I avoided his gaze. Because Zac Peters is not exactly the type of person I'd befriend.

From that day on, the girls on the floor would not stop talking about him.

"Did you see him the other night? He was walking around shirtless," Becky Shea breathed with excitement while a few of us chatted in her room. "He's sexy as hell!"

"He's one of those preppy New England boys who could be on the cover of a magazine," her roommate Jenna Barker nodded. "His proportions are perfect for modeling."

"I thought he was an athlete?" Kelsey O'Hare interjected, shaking her blond bangs.

"He is," Morgan Leahy asserted. "I overheard from someone else he's on the Men's Track Team."