Trustless Love

Chapter 3

Lying in bed, tangled up in my maroon down comforter, I open my eyes to a dark room. I can only hope that I have another good two or three hours before I have to get up and get ready for orientation today. I squint my eyes trying to look at the neon green numbers that are on Mandy's side of the room.

8:50 A.M.

Shit...after helping Mandy walk back to our dorm around two this morning, I assumed we would run late, and she is never late. Plus, the blackout curtains we hung in our room don't help with the matter. Mandy insisted on those since she had afternoon classes and wanted to sleep in. Today will be the day they bite us in the ass.

"Mandy..." I try to say as hushed as possible since I know she is going to have a raging headache. "You have to get up. We have orientation in an hour and we still have to get ready and try to eat."

"Ughhhhh, noooooo. Can't I just skip this part? I feel like I'm dying." She moans as she slides her hand up to her face and moves the satin facemask up to her forehead.

"Sorry babe, that's not how it works. Gotta go to this so they know we actually came early. Plus, we get all kinds of free stuff, remember? Like food, t-shirts and all kinds of other crap. Who doesn't love free stuff? And as you continue to lay in bed, we are wasting time that could be used to eat or get ready. So move your ass, I've got aspirin for your headache."

It takes another five minutes for Mandy to actually get out of bed. She swings her legs over the side, takes the aspirin that I laid on her nightstand and chugs half a bottle of water. I never would have thought I'd see two girls get dressed and ready as fast as we did. Literally in ten minutes, we were dressed in Rainsville University t-shirts with jean shorts and flip flops, messy buns and light makeup for the day. Since we will be attending an orientation rally and then taking tours on campus, we figured it'd be the most comfortable thing.

After meeting up with Stephen and his roommate Dustin, we all sat down together in the middle section of the universities basketball arena. Slowly everyone started filling in the empty seats. Five minutes before the rally was supposed to start Stephen and Dustin started talking to a guy that was sitting behind them. Looking over at him I realize it was the guy from the party.

Oh heavens...

I wonder if he remembers me.

As soon as I go to look away from him, he catches my eye for the briefest second.

Shit...

"Hey you!" He says playfully as he leans over my way. "Fancy meeting you here. So you're a freshman too eh?"

This is the point in which I realize I have no clue what his name is. If we did discuss it last night at the party, I totally don't remember, but I'm pretty sure we didn't. Especially since we didn't talk that long before he was beckoned by his roommate. After that, I didn't see him the rest of the night.

"Yeah, I am." Duh, or why else would I be here, I sarcastically thought. "So how do you know Stephen and Dustin?"

"Oh, we are in the same dorm. Actually we are like two rooms away from one another. Pretty cool huh?"

His California accent comes through and makes me shudder. That is definitely not something I am used to hearing here in the South. I realize that I've been staring this whole time at him, but how could I not? He is just...gorgeous. But then I realize he's gone from that gorgeous smile to a puzzled look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asks concerned.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm perfectly fine." Wow, could I be anymore lame right now. "But yeah, really cool that you all are living so close together. That could be trouble." I say with a small laugh.

"Yeah, not sure how much time I'll be spending in my own room. My roomie is kind of a druggie, so I may be over at their place more than not. Maybe I'll see you around there sometime."

As soon as he finished his sentence, the lights dimmed, and a video starts playing on the jumbotron. I face forward and think about what he said. Does he just assume he will see me because I'm friends with Stephen and Dustin or is he hoping to see me just because he wants to? I look back over my shoulder at him and find myself hoping for the latter.