Stolen First Times

39. My First College Fair

*Edited*

"Hey, Mae," I said, elbowing my only friend. She cringed, giving me a dirty look before breaking out in a grin.

"Veronica!" She yelled, throwing her arms around me while we stood in the middle of our high school cafeteria.

Yeah, yeah. I know we already graduated, but we had to come back during summer break for the college fair which was pretty sucky if you asked me.

She held me an arm's length away and happily jumped up and down. "I haven't seen you all summer! How are you and Elijah doing?" She asked, striking a nerve.

I visibly flinched and she frowned, tightening her hands on my shoulders. Her brown eyes drooped as she pulled me closer to her, wrapping her arms around me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know..." She apologized, trailing off as she patted my back.

"It's alright. I need to focus on college anyway," I said, stepping back. She gave me a weird look like she couldn't believe what I just said and quite honestly, I couldn't believe it either.

I've never cared about school in my life, except for the last few months of school when I realized mostly everyone had already been accepted into a college. Mae and I had decided to turn our grades back around before sending in our applications.

"Oh, okay," she nodded.

"How are you and Allison's brother doing?" I wondered, looking around at the booths.

She beamed at me and said, "He's amazing! So unlike Allison, might I add." I chuckled at her comment and caught sight of the booth I'd been looking for.

"I'll be over there," I quickly said to her before darting off in the opposite direction.

"Hello there," a kind looking women with straight blonde hair greeted me as I stopped at her table, "Are you interested in Bryant University?"

Her name tag read, Nancy August, Admissions Board.

"Hi, yes I am," I replied as she handed me a pamphlet.

"Great. Do you know what you're interested in majoring in?" She asked with sincere blue eyes.

"Photography," I said, making her face light up.

"I think she means pornography," a deep voice leered behind me. Nancy August's poor eyes bulged as her cheeks reddened. A mixture of emotions from shock to disgust flashed cross her features.

I whipped around and smacked Elijah with my pamphlet. "What the hell, Eli!" I yelled.

"Excuse me, but this behavior is not tolerated at Bryant University. Please consider other colleges such as a community one, perhaps?" Nancy requested, turning her back on us.

My cheeks flamed a deep shade of red as I yanked Elijah out of the cafeteria under the curious looks of our classmates. He arrogantly leaned against the maroon lockers and crossed his legs at the ankles as his green eyes concentrated on me.

I jabbed a finger at him, accusing, "Why did you just sabotage my chances of being accepted into Bryant University?"

He shrugged. "Come on, Ronnie. We both know that you weren't going to get accepted regardless of what I just did," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I worked my ass off to improve my grades, I'll have you know," I spat.

"And I'll have you know, you aren't fooling anyone," he countered. I threw my hands up in the air at his comment.

"What do you mean?" I asked, exasperated.

He uncrossed his legs and took a step forward. I didn't dare retreat and stood my ground when his boots tapped my converse. My back stiffened when his fingers came up under my chin, reawakening feelings of when we had been together. It felt like a lifetime ago that he had touched me.

"You only want to go to Bryant University because Uriah goes there," he said, leaning down in my face.

I opened my mouth to fire back a comeback about why he even cared when he somehow got even closer. My breath hitched when his jaw grazed my cheek and his husky breath whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

"He's still in love with you, you know?"

I froze.

This time, I stepped away from him and leaned heavily against the lockers on the other side of the hallway. My heart raced at his words and at the back of my mind, I realized that I still had feelings for the other Reed brother.

Uriah was sweet, kind, loving, funny, caring, and just about every other trait that was the opposite of his brother. He had come home that time from college to ask me to come live with him since he still had feelings for me. I'd declined because I'd been in love with Elijah.

At least I thought I had been.

"You should go," I settled for saying, congratulating myself when my voice didn't waiver.

Elijah's eyes hardened, before softening as he hung his head. The midnight locks fell across his forehead as he let out a huge sigh. He picked his head back up, locking his intense gaze on me.

"Are you in love with him?" Elijah startled me by asking.

"What?" I gasped, placing a hand over my chest.

"Did I stutter?" He snapped.

I narrowed my eyebrows on him. "Why do you even care?" I finally voiced.

"I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you-"

He silenced me by closing the gap between our bodies and crushing his lips to mine. I didn't move until he broke away, standing a few feet away. With a look of remorse, he said, "Goodbye, Ronnie."

My jaw hung open as I stared at his retreating back. I yelled to him, "Where are you going? You can't just do that and walk away!"

Without turning around, he gestured at the cafeteria and responded, "The applications for Bryant University aren't going to fill themselves out, are they?"

I didn't think my jaw could drop any lower and feared it would unhinge when it did.

Was Elijah seriously applying for the same college his brother attended and the same one I had been planning on applying for?

I thought about the answer to that question for a few seconds before coming to a conclusion.

Of course he was doing just that.

He loved to get under my skin and what better way to do so than try to steal my first experience at college?

**********

Sorry for the really short update. I've been really busy since school just started and I've had loads of homework to do. I'll try to update whenever I can! Thanks for understanding. :)