Single Beauty

Chapter 6

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~Ivy's point of view~

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I'm walking with everyone back to the dorms, standing right in the center. The guys are asking me questions about my life. Ray hangs back, staying quiet. I disappointedly shrug it off. It's obvious he's not interested. As we turn around a corner, I see Kiri talking to someone animatedly. I squint at the guy.

Leo.

I panickily look around. Where can I go? Where can I hide? Before my mind can register anything properly, I notice Leo look up at us. His eyes meet mine and I suddenly stop walking. Ray bumps into me.

"Hey, why'd you stop walking? You alright?" I hear him say, but don't reply.

Leo's still looking at me. And I'm looking back. And then it hits me. I choke on my own breath and look away while I'm coughing. Taylor asks me if I'm okay and I nervously laugh.

"Yeah of course. It's nothing."

He nods and looks up. He sees Leo and walks up to him and dabs him up. I hear "Wassup bro, " and a clap sound. I secretly try looking at Leo again. I fail miserably.

He's still looking at me.

I cough again. The ground suddenly looks really interesting so I stare at it. I'm looking at a tiny ant and catching parts of a conversation when someone's hand brushes against mine. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I look up at Levi's light brown hair. "You sure you okay?" he asks me.

Damn, I didn't realize his voice was that good. It calms me instantly. I smile and nod at him. Someone taps me on my shoulder and I see Levi's smile falter for a second as he looks back. I turn around and see Hayden.

I break into a grin. "Hayden! What are you doing here?"

He smiles back and shrugs. "I was just on my way to the library, I thought I'd say hi." After Hayden says this, I remember that I left my books there.

"Oh, I left my books there. Do you wanna go together?" He smiles wider.

"Sure." I smile at Levi and quickly rush away before anyone else realizes I've left.

I thank my lucky stars and Hayden internally for getting me away from that place. When we're out of their earshot, Hayden and I start talking simultaneously. We stop at the same time and burst out laughing. "You first," I say. He shakes his head. "No, no, you go first."

I smile. "I was just asking you if you read books."

"Books?" He thinks for a second. "I mean... yeah. I guess you can say I do." I'm reminded of Leo and I feel dumb. Why am I even thinking about him?

I nod. "That's nice. Now tell me, what were you going to-"

I can never complete my sentence because he kneels down in front of me. "What are you-" My voice comes out a whisper, but then it dawns on me.

He's tying my shoelaces.

He's tying MY shoelaces.

I'm quiet until he's done and gets up.

"I could've done it myself." I say quietly. He shrugs. "Should I untie them?"

"N-no. That's okay. Th-thanks." I stammer out quickly. He nods. "Let's go then?" He's about to walk away when I stop him. "Wait."

He's surprised. "What?"

"Don't move." I reply. Going on my toes, I carefully reach out and pluck the feather in his hair. "There. It's gone now."

I throw the feather on the ground and look up at Hayden. He's stopped breathing. Like the life's been sucked out of him. I'm still staring at him. I know that we're closer than we should be. I know our noses are almost touching. I look at his face go red. He lets out a staggered breath.

Suddenly, I'm acutely aware of how close we're standing right now and step away from him.

"Sorry." I whisper.

I can feel the heat on my cheeks, but I choose to ignore it. He's about to say something but is interrupted by the loud noise of someone talking.

"Well, that was a cute little moment you guys had there."

I gasp and see Leo leaning on the wall. Hayden frowns at him. "Keep doing your thing, this doesn't concern you."

Leo laughs and starts walking towards me.

"Oh really?"

He wraps one arm around my shoulder. I think it does. Because she's my roomie after all."

I can't believe this is happening.

I'm standing beside Leo, wrapped by his arm. I can smell his cologne. He's so close to me. And I can't even move.

Hayden frowns deeper. "It's been like two days. Roomie, my ass. Look at her, she's so uncomfortable right now."

Leo fakes a concerned frown and looks down at me.

"Are you uncomfortable, roomie? Do you not like talking to me, roomie?" he asks, in a sly but sweet voice.

My mouth is dry. I ignore his question but don't move. Leo laughs and looks at Hayden. "She doesn't seem uncomfortable, Hayden."

I bend down and move out of Leo's grip, laughing nervously. "He's just kidding Hayden. I'll be back in a second."

I run the rest of the way to the library, grab my books and run back. Hayden is glaring at Leo, but he's just smiling.

I hand Hayden a book. "I found it for you. It's pretty late, you should get going. Bye."

I say all of this in a breathless sentence and Hayden glares at Leo once more before smiling at me and leaving. Once I'm assured Hayden's gone, I turn to Leo, furious.

"What are you trying to do?" I hiss.

Leo smirks and steps closer to me. "You're mad. How adorable."

I hold my ground. "Shut up. Why were you here?"

He steps closer to me and this time, I take a step back. "I was going to the library to get some books." He keeps walking nearer, and keep moving back. I'm about to retort but my back hits the wall. But he doesn't stop walking until he's almost closed the gap between us. He's standing so close to me that my words have been swallowed back. I don't know what to say.

He looks down at me.

"Can I ask you something?" he asks.

I automatically give him a short nod in response, even though I shouldn't. He leans lower, so he can whisper in my ear. His strawberry breath is everywhere and I'm disgusted. I don't want to be stuck here.

"Do you have any tattoos?" He whispers.

I'm so surprised that I pull back. I did NOT see that coming. "What?" I ask.

"I said, do you have any tattoos?" He asks, louder this time.

I aggressively shake my head in response. "Of course not."

He smiles and stands up straight again. "Nice, because Kiri wanted to know." He steps away and walks off like nothing happened.

I'm shocked, standing frozen in my place. This random guy, who's supposed to be my roommate for a while now, was practically in the position to kiss me because he wanted to relay a question that the girl who could possibly be his girlfriend asked?

I lean against the wall and scoff. I cannot believe him.

I gather my books tightly and storm towards the dorm room, crossing the casually-walking Leo in the hallway. I slam the bedroom door behind me and jump on my bed. I go under the covers without even changing.

I take deep breaths.

Don't hate him, he's just trying to get to you.

Don't hate him, he's just a jerk sometimes.

Don't. Hate. Him.