Masqueraded Identities

Chapter Three

After dinner, it was back to the dorm to hit the books. Despite the semester having just started, I already felt overwhelmed with reading and bookwork. I was probably going to be up all night. Granted, it was sort of my fault because as soon as classes had ended, Tay and I played extreme ping-pong for two hours instead of get a head start on our homework. Oops.

I had also run into Ryan, again, at dinner. He had snickered, "How was class?"

So, being the mature, reasonable person I am, instead of replying, I just twisted his nipple. He stopped snickering after that.

I didn't run into Mark, though, which disappointed me more than I thought it would. Although he was cute and friendly, I had just met the guy.

I had been reading my geography book while laying upside down on my bed when Tay came barging into the room.

Her eyes were wide, almost as if she had seen a ghost.

"What?" I asked, looking up for a moment from my reading.

 "Why the hell are you upside down?" she asked, distracted from her current dilemma.

 "I like lying upside down," I replied with a shrug, going back to my reading.

 "Well. Okay. Anyway! There was this giant spider outside, and I started jumping up and down screaming, and then came Ryan Hutchins to the rescue! He squashed it for me, gave me a wink, and walked away! I don't even know where he came from but the gesture was sweet. I mean, what if it had been venomous? He risked his life by killing it for me."

"I almost flipped off the bed. Does that count as a near-death experience?" I replied, the blood starting to rush to my head. I decided it was time to sit back up like a normal person. I wasn't really in the mood to pass out that day.

"Did you not hear me?! Ryan WINKED at me!" she exclaimed in exasperation.

"If I winked at you, would you freak out that much? Also, when was the last time you saw a venomous spider up here?" I asked absentmindedly, flipping the page of my book.

She groaned. "You are impossible!"

I put my book down and gave her a big, cheesy grin. "I'm sorry. That's really awesome. Maybe he's not that big of a dick, after all."

Tay's mouth dropped open. "He is not a dick! How often do I need to explain that to you? He just comes off strong, sometimes. He is a great man, honest."

"Some man. I bet I have more armpit hair than him," I replied.

Tay rolled her eyes, but laughed anyway. "You're such a jerk!"

I shrugged. "I prefer the term sarcastic."

"Did you finish your homework?" she asked, plopping next to me on the bed.

"Other than three more pages of geography reading, yes. Did you?"

"Yep. I need to get a few more things from the computer for a project that's due Friday, but otherwise, I'm good to go!"

I held out my hand for a high-five. "Nothing gets work done like the unbearable stress of procrastination."

I whipped out my phone to see the time. Seven-thirty.  The night was still young!

"Want to go swim?" I asked. Yes, my freakishly rich school did have an indoor pool.

"Sure!" Tay replied, jumping up to get her suit out of a drawer.

Tay and I were heading to the pool, bathing suits underneath our clothes and towels in hand, when I ran straight into Mark.