College Girl

Chapter 25

Liberty's POV
Jeremiah and I sit in silence as we watch Straight Outta Compton in the movie theater. I made sure he bought me a separate bowl of popcorn because I'm not really into that "accidentally touching the other person's hand" crap. Plus, I don't like sharing my popcorn.

I find myself thinking about Trey from time to time during the movie, but I force myself to remain in the present. Jeremiah is a complete gentleman during the movie. He hasn't tried to make any moves on me which I appreciate.

Once the movie is done, we head to Giovanni's for dinner. This is probably the best Italian restaurant in CT.

"You still do like Italian, right?" Jeremiah asks as he pulls up to the restaurant.

"Heck yeah I do." I reply.

Once inside the upscale restaurant, we walk up to the hostess and Jeremiah gives his name.

"Right this way, Mr. Bordeaux." The hostess says while guiding us to our table.

I guess you can say I'm a little excited. This food is about to go down! Our table is located in a more secluded area,

"Wow, Jeremiah. This is really fancy." I say a little astonished.

He blushes,"Did I do too much? We can leave if you don't like it."

"No, no. I do like it, I just wasn't expecting this." I quickly explain.

"I am still in love with you, Liberty. I just wanna make you happy."

My heart stops a little. He's IN LOVE with me?! I don't know how to respond.

"Oh...um...thank you, Jeremiah." I stutter.

We order our food and the waitress leaves to get them.

"I really missed you, Lib." Jeremiah says while folding his napkin into weird shapes.

"I was only gone a couple of months..." I'm not going to say I missed you too because that would be a lie.

He frowns and says,"A couple months without seeing your face."

I need to find a way to change the subject.

"How's your internship at your dad's law firm going?" I ask, and he quickly begins to talk about that,

Our food arrives thirty minutes later, and that shuts him up. He looks up at me from time to time a blushes when I catch him staring. It's cute though... Once we finish eating, Jeremiah pays the tab and we're outta there. I allow him to put his arm over my shoulder as we walk to his car just because.

He drives me home, but grabs my arm before I leave.

"I just wanna say that I had a great time tonight with you." He says.

"Me too, Jeremiah." I admit.

I am kinda feeling him, but I can't be too blatant with that. I kiss his cheek before exiting his car.

"Bye." I wave at him while he drives away.

I finally turn and walk up the doorsteps to my home. My brother opens the door with a suspicious face.

"Who was that who just dropped you off?" He asks being nosy.

"It's none of your concern, Antoine." I respond while pushing past him.

Luckily, my parents are at church so it's just me and my brother.

"It was Jeremiah? Wasn't it?" He asks knowingly.

I give him a stank look and say,"Okay. Maybe it was, but you better keep your mouth shut! Do not tell mom or dad."

Antoine is already rolling his eyes.

"You really went out with him? Seriously, Liberty?"

"I'm an adult, Antoine. I can make my own decisions. Plus, I don't even see him that way. We were just catching up." I reply while walking into the kitchen.

He follows me there.

"You still have feelings for him, don't you?" He says.

I don't reply as I grab the gallon of water out of the fridge. I kind of like Jeremiah. KIND OF.

"Just a little bit." I sigh.

Antoine laughs in surprise.

"Shut up, Ant."

I roll my eyes and stomp up the stairs to my bedroom. The guy I really like slept with another girl. My ex is slowly finding his way back into my heart and it's all too much.

I lay on my bed and turn on some music. I think about the incident with Trey and begin to cry. Antoine knocks on my door.

"Go away." I yell.

"Come on, Lib. I just wanna talk." He says.

He opens the door and walks in anyway.

"Are you crying?" He asks.

No, I'm just sweating out of my eyes.

"I'm sorry if I made you upset. I was just surprised." He explains.

"It's fine. I was just thinking about some of the bull I went through at school this semester." I reply honestly.

"What happened?"

I sigh. I really have to tell him the embarrassing story?

"If I tell you, you can't speak a word to anyone. Don't get mad either." I warn.

"Just tell me." He says before jumping on my bed.

I slowly explain the story of Trey and I from the beginning. Antoine sits silent through the whole thing.

"And so I left without saying goodbye and we haven't spoke since." I finish.

"Wow. Your professor?" He asks.

"He was only 4 years older than me." I reason.

"Still your teacher though. You lived with him for like 2 months and did things with him."

"And I regret everything, but I had to escape Monte. He's crazy, Ant."

"I would've kicked his butt for you if you told me," he says.

I laugh at my brother's statement. His skinny butt would've been beat.

"Yeah right." I laugh.

"Now what?" He asks.

"What do you mean? I'm back home just chillin"

"Monte's crazy butt is gonna be back on campus waiting for you. I don't know, Lib."

I sigh and contemplate what he saying to me.

"After what he did, I don't think I can just go back to living with him."

"I know. You don't have to sleep with him. You need to think about your safety, Liberty!"

I groan in frustration.

"Maybe I should just transfer up here to Southern to finish."

I really can't go back to Howard with all that drama.

"Do what you think is best." Antoine replies.