180 Degrees- Completed

Chapter Thirty Five

"So what happened between you and James then?" I guess we were finished with the small talk about college and majors and minors and how we were now. 

"He thought I cheated on him when I didn't. I'd text him a few times but he hadn't checked his phone, I walked into the party and there he was, tongue down another girls throat." I shrugged. 

"Shit." I nodded, sipping from my glass before eating some pasta. "What a dick move. Did he not even try to call you?" I shook my head. "I get the whole plot line thing now." I snickered, smiling at him. 

"That was on Eve's live. He was watching so I bet he's going to pop up somewhere. I'm glad I don't have a reason to see him until this weekend."

"The weekend?" 

"Oh.  You know, parties and everything. Our groups kind of cross over so we're always at the same place. My friend will be flying in from Stanford so I'm going to show her around before I kick her ass at volleyball on Monday." I smirked. I wasn't going to go easy on them just because of Iz. I wonder if Penny will be coming. That will be really interesting. God I hope she comes for the weekend and stumbles into me talking to Oz. That would be the funniest thing in the world.

"You're very competitive." 

"Really bad." I nodded. "What about you? Do you tend to go out on weekends?" 

"Sometimes. I'm normally more of a bar guy but I've been to the kind of parties you go to. They're fun." 

"There was a mention of there being a live bad this week. Karaoke which could be fun if I have a few too many and the girls force me up." He raised an eyebrow at me. 

"I'd love to see you up on stage again." I choked on my drink, putting the glass down and flushing bright red.  "What?" 

"Nothing." I smiled, shaking my head as I caught my breath. "So. No one seems to know a lot about you Grayson." He chuckled, sitting up in his chair. "Apparently the whole music department is in a daze watching you wander around." 

"Are they? Didn't notice." The smirk across his face indicated he did know. He knew how the girls spoke about him and he had them swooning with just one glance. I got it. It would have me in a choke hold too.  "What have you heard?" 

"Not a lot. Not a thing actually until after you left and then all I got was you took a gap year. That's all anyone knows apparently."

"Well it's true at least."  His emerald eyes seemed to lighten as he looked up at me. I knew that green was my favourite color long before I caught his eyes. But right now, sat here as they turned a light forest green in the daylight, I didn't have a second doubt that this green was my favourite. He had the smallest amount of gold running through them. God I could sit here and count those flecks forever. "I was on tour with my dad." 

"Oh fun. What was he doing?" I took a deep breath, putting some food into my mouth so I could focus on something other than the way this guy had me tripping over my own feet after an hour. 

"He's in a band, has been since college. I go with him when I can." 

"That's really cool." He nodded. I didn't want to pry too much. "My parents are psychiatrists so I can't really say anything on that front." He chuckled. "Do you enjoy it? Going on tour?" 

"Yeah. It's loads of fun. Definitely pushed me to go down the music route." I nodded. "What are your plans after college then?" I looked at him and stared. 

Out of the 2 months I'd been here, not a single person had asked me that. What my next plans were. No one seemed to care enough to look that far into the future and honestly it was still a little foggy. 

"I don't have a clue. It depends on this year, if I can change my major next year with my parents finding out, how volleyball goes. There's a whole host of things that I have to work out. But I've got 3 years right? That's plenty of time to work it out." 

"Why don't you want your parents to find out if you change your major? Are you not enjoying psychology?" 

"I never wanted to take it in the first place. They pay my tuition all my bills, keep money in my accounts whenever I need it. I need to keep them happy so I don't have to over work myself for 3 years." He nodded. "But if I can't change without them knowing then I guess I go into the same line of work as them. I'm sure it'll grow on me." 

"You can't do something you hate for the rest of your life Avery." 

"And I can't pay for college so it's a stale mate." I shrugged. "It's fine. I'll work it out. It might suck but whatever, I'll sort it."  He shook his head, sighing as he did. "What?" 

"Nothing. Do whatever you have to do right? Even if it leaves your soul dry and empty." 

"Exactly. Needs must. Life isn't as clean shaven as some people seem to think it is. I learned that at a very young age." We stared at each other awkwardly for a good few seconds. "Well this took a sharp turn." I snapped the silence in half and he chuckled. "Almost got awkward then." 

"What are you doing this week?" 

"Classes, Assignments, practice, movie night with my friend, practice." He chuckled. 

"Practice twice?" 

"I have practice 3 times a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday and Wednesday run late, I don't normally get home until like 9pm, depending if we go out after or not. If we do it's later. Then Friday's we try to get out by 6 so we can get ready to go out or do whatever we plan for the weekend." 

"And this weekend you have your friend over?" I nodded. "So what about Thursday?" 

"What about it?" 

"Come out with me again." 

"Dinner and a movie?" I gave him a sly little smile as I sat back in the chair, crossing my arms gently. "Just dinner and a movie. There's a drive in not too far away and I know some nice restaurants like an hour away." 

"Okay." I sat forward putting one hand beside my plate and resting my chin in the other. "Dinner and a movie. Are we talking fancy dress up or?" 

"Dressy casual." I nodded as he sat forward, putting his hand in mine. There was that feeling again. The same one from him being close to me back by the stage. My heart skipping every other beat as I felt the heat rising to my cheeks. I looked down at our hands and back at him, the smile on his face causing his eyes to shimmer like starlight. "You okay  Avery?" 

"Yeah I'm - Fine." I laughed nervously. "I'm fine." He let out what could almost be classed as a laugh before adjusting in his chair. He didn't take his hand off mine for the entire rest of the meal. And not once did my body calm from it. Not as time went on. It didn't get worse or better. It just kind of stayed, hyper aware of him and his touch.