Cupidity (Sequel to Cupid's Daughter)

Chapter 7~ Face the Consequences... Or Don't. Whatever.

It took all of three rings for Sam to answer the phone, even though it was 3:15am and I hadn't expected her to pick up.

"Hello?" She mumbled, her voice thick from sleeping. 

"Sam, it's me." I informed her trying to sound cheery, but my voice cracked halfway through the sentence signalling that everything was not okay. 

"Issy? What's wrong?" My best friend asked, sounding alert all of a sudden as she heard the sadness in my voice. 

I took a huge breath and sat down on the kerb outside the entrance to Noah's dorm building, not even knowing where to start. I buried my face in my hands. "Sam I don't know what to do. MyprofessorsentafamouspublishermyessayandhewantsmetointernbutI'llhavetoleaveNoahandwegotintoafightand--"

"Woah woah, down girl. Take a deep breath Issy." Sam instructed, and I took another shaky breath in through my nose, "Good. Now, tell me again- slowly- what happened."

I wanted to scream, or cry, or do something to release the frustration that was bubbling up inside me. "My professor sent Peter Manolis, a well-known publisher, my article on corporate personhood and he liked it so much that he wants to publish it in his magazine." 

The line was silent for a moment. "Issy! That's incredible! Congratulations!"

I groaned. I wished that I could be happy about it, I really did. "No, Sam it's not."

"It's not?"

"No- I mean, it is! It's great. But he also offered me an internship at his office in LA." I told her, watching a car drive past a few yards away, it's headlights blinding me momentarily. 

"Oh."

I continued, "It would be for six months. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, it's a dream come true! But if I take it..."

"Then you have to leave Noah." Sam finished for me, and I could recognise her 'thinking voice' even through the phone.

"And I would have to defer Princeton for a semester, which is my dream too." I concluded, feeling even more lost than I did before. Since my fight with Noah, I was even more confused. At first I had been sure that I was going to take the internship, but after I thought about it more, I realized that maybe the fact that we were arguing was even more reason to stay. If I left, there would be bad blood between us and who knew when I would be able to see him again to fix things. 

I was so confused. 

I explained all of this to Sam and she listened intently, letting me get everything off of my chest. 

"Issy," She paused again, as if choosing her words carefully, "I think you need to go to LA." 

I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off before I could. 

"Listen, like you said, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Something like this might never come around again-- think of all the possibilities it could lead to, Isabelle. And I know things are rough with Noah right now, which quite frankly is up to him to fix since he's the one being the asshole, but if he really loves you then he won't let you pass this up. I won't let you pass this up." 

I released a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding and rubbed my arms for warmth, feeling the wrath of fall upon me. "I guess." I replied half-heartedly, unable to find the right enthusiasm. 

Sam sighed and I heard her yawn. "There's no choice here Issy. You know what the right thing is." 

"Thanks, Sammy. Sorry I woke you up." I apologised, wondering how the heck I was going to get home now. 

"It's fine, I was awake anyway." 

I rolled my eyes. "Sure you were. Night Sam."

"Night Issy. Love you."

"You too."

I pushed my phone back into my pocket and stood up from the kerb, brushing my hands on my jeans. Really, how was I going to get back to campus. The last train was at eleven pm and the next train wasn't until six am, and I didn't bring enough money to catch a cab back. It seemed like my only option was going to be to go back to Noah's dorm, as unappealing as that sounded. 

"Hey." A voice appeared from behind me, making me jump halfway across the sidewalk. I shrieked and whirled around, my breathing accelerating until I was almost at the point of hyperventilation. 

Wren chuckled, his arms crossed over his bare chest and a navy towel slung over his shoulder. His body was slick and his hair was plastered to his forehead, as if he'd just been for a run in the middle of the night. 

"What are you doing?!" I asked breathlessly, hand over heart as I tried to steady my breathing. 

"I was about to ask you the same thing. Why aren't you in the dorm with Noah?" Wren asked me, pulling at his towel so that it wrapped around his neck and rested on both shoulders. 

I cast my gaze downwards and scuffed my shoe against the gravelly sidewalk. "We... uh... I needed some air." 

Wren nodded solemnly, as if he knew the underlying meaning of my words. It wasn't that hard to figure out-- Noah and I were usually inseparable. 

We stood in silence for a moment before I lifted my eyebrow. "So... what are you doing out here?" I questioned again. 

Wren shrugged. "I like to workout at night. It's too hot and crowded during the day." 

I nodded slowly at his strange habit but didn't say anything, concentrating on stopping my body from shaking in the cold instead. 

"So, uh," Wren cleared his throat awkwardly, "Do you need a lift home or something?" 

I raised my eyebrows in shock. "Oh, no that's okay. My campus is like an hour away, it's way too far." I brushed his comment off but he shook his head. 

"Either you let me take you home or you come and stay in the dorm with me and Noah. Your choice. Either way, I'm not risking Noah murdering me if I leave you out here to freeze."

I sighed. The most polite choice would be to go and stay in the dorm with both boys, but I couldn't go back in there yet. I needed time to cool off and Noah needed to sober up before I could face him. Eventually I made up my mind. "Are you sure you don't mind driving me?" I asked in a small voice, staring at my feet. 

When I looked up, Wren was already walking towards his car.