Bet Me

Chapter 19

Savannah POV

"Wake up beautiful." My eyes flutter open to stare at James hovering shirtless before me. After out date, we spent the rest of the night at his place. "I made us food." He says excitedly as I see him rushing over to the kitchen.

I slip his checkered pajama pants on and one of his over sized sweatshirts as I lazily follow him to the open wide kitchen in his apartment. "Someone's excited about pancakes." I examine the big plate of them on the table before me.

"Someone isn't excited enough about them." He points out as he takes his seat across from me and digs in. "See, you have to know I love my food." He grins a smile full of chewed up pancake and syrup. I couldn't help but smile wide with my morning breath and messed up hair. "So." He continues, "I have a proposition for you."

I pick my head up from my plate and realize I'm stuffing my face. I see him stare back at me. "Hey what did you expect? These are good."

"Move in with me Savannah."

My fork hit the plate hard. "What?"

"You complete me. Having you here last night was a feeling I don't want to go away. Without you, I'd feel lonely. Without you is nothing I never want to be."

I felt a pit grow heavy in my stomach. Suddenly, I was no longer hungry. "No." 

"No? I thought you'd be thrilled."

"First semester is almost over and you're wanting me to move in? You do know for the holidays I'm visiting my family, right?" I push the plate away and take a sip of the orange juice in the blue plastic cup.

"For a week or two and I could go with you."

"But what about yours?"

"Savannah, you know that's not what this is about." James looked hurt. His jaw tenses up. "You're scared I'll change my mind and leave. Or worst of all, you'll get too comfortable and one day you'll come home to see me banging some chick you have class with."

My fists tighten up and my cheeks get red hot as I watch him get up from the table pacing back and forth. I wasn't sure what to say, he somehow knew exactly what I was thinking. 

"And you're right." He continues, "I would have, with any other girl. Before I met you." He stops, his bangs lay over his eyes just a little. He looked so cute standing there, but also hurt. He walks up to me and kneels down. "I just want you here with me." He whispers, "And if this is me begging then so be it." He pulls out a shiny key from his back pocket and lays it on the table next to my hand. "This is yours, Savannah."

It took everything in me to not burst out crying as I stare at the key that lay so steadily on the table. A small object had such a greater meaning than I ever imagined. "What if you're wrong, and I do find some girl here one day?"

James takes my hand into his. "You saved me, Savannah. I can't let my Angel go like that. I will never hurt you. I won't ever lie. I can promise you that." He continues. 

"I have to get to class." I remembered as I look on the wall for a clock. I rush back over to the bedroom and get ready in a split second. The white dress felt a little damp on my dry skin from the night before. 

"You know I have clothes, right?" James peers from the door. 

"Yuck. You keep clothes from your one night stands and wash them? Isn't that a bit creepy? I couldn't imagine being one of those girls."

"Hey you'll never know when you need some in handy." The way he winks should make me mad but all I wanted was to jump into his arms, take the key and kiss him until I was late for class. I couldn't though, my stubbornness wouldn't have let me get off that easily. 

James reads my mind, he makes his way to the door as he slips the key in my hand. "If you change your mind, let me know. See me after class today?"

I nod as I make my way out to the door. Something about the clarification I gave James made me feel uneasy. 

"Oh Savannah?"

"Yeah?"

"Technically you're one of those girls now." He giggles whole hardheartedly as I roll my eyes and push the door open.

✿

My pen scurries furiously on my notebook as I try to keep up with the lesson our professor teaches us. Usually I love his lectures but today my mind is so focused on this morning that I can't get myself to focus. 

"Okay class, that's all the notes we're going to take today." He looks over at the clock on the wall. "I want to discuss your final before I let you go. As you know, finals are in about a week and a half. For your final I want a 5 page paper I will give you two options for a prompt. You can either talk about something ugly that you found the beauty in or something bad that you did and why or why not you regret it." The whole class groans and he pauses for a moment. "Now the reason I picked these two is because they're perspective prompts. Especially when we experience a new situation, like college, often our perspective changes. I would like you to focus on this semester, though. Don't think of something that happened your freshmen year in high school, your'e in college now." He looks back up at the clock. "You may go."

"Do you think he just wants us to snitch on ourselves?" A group of guys walk past me, talking about the final essay as I grab my bag and make my way out into the hallway. I breathe heavily not having a clue on what to write my essay about. I sensed a writers block coming on.