A LITTLE INSANE. Rowan Laslow

001

A LITTLE INSANE.
Chapter two

Rowan's eyes glimpsed at her figure from the window of his dorm. Alice Ambrose. She was pretty much in every one of his classes—never alone, and always smiling. It was like she attracted attention to herself everywhere she went, and not negative or cynical attention—it was buoyant. Rowan was starting to think that people could just look at Alice and expect a smile to tug at their pitiful lips.

Alice held a red polka-dot umbrella in her hands as she strolled down the courtyard alone. Rowan smiled. He could see her dark hair blowing slightly in the wind as she walked with grace. He couldn't help but find the girl wildly mesmerizing. She was gorgeous—the type of attractive that was baffling, and made you want to look more than once.

Rowan couldn't help but fall for her more and more every time he saw her- it was a growing addiction.

"What are you staring at?" The voice of his roommate spoke out erratically.

Rowan removed his gaze from the window. "I'm not looking at anything."

Xavier's hands gripped Rowan's shoulders, gently shaking him with a grin on his face. "I knew it."

When Rowan grumbled, Xavier took his hands off Rowan's shoulders with a smug smile on his lips. "Did you ever return her bracelet?"

Rowan's thoughts ran, how could he forget? Her bracelet, she left her bracelet on the table after class.

Rowan stayed silent, and Xavier rolled his eyes, he didn't enjoy being the one to keep conversations going. "Well, she's alone right now. No friends. No distractions. Give her the bracelet and try to build up a conversation. It wouldn't hurt you, would it?"

Rowan took another peek at the girl. He couldn't seem to walk up to her and start a conversation. Not yesterday—not now—not ever. He thought maybe it was the intimidating presence of her friends at first, but now he deemed it was her, her as a whole. She made him nervous, the type of nervousness that makes your palms all sweaty, and your cheeks redden. Well, in Rowan's case—the loss of breath.

Maybe this would be an easy interaction. Maybe they could be friends. Maybe they could be more than friends. His mind roamed, like eyes on the pages of a book. "I should talk to her." The words came out in the tone of a question, he was acting on pure impulse—his heart was taking the place of his mind at the moment.

Rowan grabbed her bracelet that was placed on his desk, rushing out the dorm door.

The cold air nipped at the warmth of his body, leaving him a chill. He was in his school uniform, not at all dressed for the weather. His hair was quickly drenched in rain, soft haze on his glasses.

He was behind her now, his heartbeat fastening. He had gotten this far, if he chickened out now he'd never be able to forgive himself. Rowan felt as if he couldn't breathe. He pulled the inhaler out of his pocket and due to his wet hands, the inhaler dropped.

Shit.