i - Love at First Glance [The Chaver Trilogy]

Chapter Two

Chad was at his apartment like dorm room studying for his physics test and hoped Ever had gotten home alright. It had been about two hours and every time his phone went off, he kind of hoped it was an unknown number that just so happened to be Ever.

Ithan drunkenly strolled through the door with a beer in his hand and Chad rolled his eyes as he looked up from his physics book as he sat in the living room, "What in the world were you out doing for two hours after you closed up shop?"

"I was having some drinks. I went to some party that was going on not too far from here," Ithan slurred and stumbled over to the couch.

"How much have you had? You know you have a huge test tomorrow right?" Chad scolded and Ithan sighed obnoxiously, setting his beer down.

"But tomorrow is Saturday...why did Professor Simmons have to give us a test on a Saturday?" Ithan whined.

Chad slammed down his physics book in irritation, "Tomorrow is Friday, Ithan. It's your fault if you get a damn hangover in the morning. I'm not waking you up for that test. I'm going to bed, I hope you gave Ever my phone number like I had asked. Good night, Ithan," he got up, grabbed his phone and his notes and stormed off to his bedroom. He felt bad for yelling at his best friend and roommate, but he needed to learn a lesson for being stupid.

"By the way Chad, I forgot to write your number on her receipt, so you're out of luck with that," Ithan slurred, stumbling to Chad's bedroom door.

Chad grew more furious with his roommate by the second, "You are such an idiot, Ithan," he said before throwing a pillow at him and turning off his light for bed.

He tossed and turned, thinking about Ever. Chad sat up in his bed confused, "Why am I thinking about her so much? I don't want to be in a relationship right now, with how my last one ended..." he whispered to himself. Chad crawled out of bed and went to the living room where Ithan had passed out on the couch. He shook his head in disappointment and grabbed his jacket and shoes. He needed to try and clear his head. He opened the dorm door and saw Ever standing at their doorstep, holding back tears. "What are you doing here? How did you find my dorm?"

"My roommate never came to get me...she went to that stupid party...so I went to the park nearby and ate my cold dinner on a bench, ended up getting my stuff stolen by a homeless man and then I almost started to walk home in the dark, but realized you were closer than my school...I managed to find your dorm from the front desk...I'm sorry to intrude Chad...." Ever choked, still holding back tears. She was shivering and had her hands shoved in her jeans pockets.

Chad guided her in the room and wrapped her up in a blanket his mother had made him a few years back. It had the milky way galaxy on it, "I can make you some hot cocoa if you'd like," he offered. Ever nodded subtly and covered her face with the ends of the blanket she held, letting out her tears in quiet sobs.

"Why the hell do I hear crying? Chad are you really crying over that girl, because I didn't give her your number on the receipt?" Ithan asked a little louder than he meant to. His hair was a mess and he smelt like booze. He looked over to his feet and saw a girl sitting there, with a blanket covering her face. "Where did she come from? Chad! Do you know why there is a girl sitting at my feet?!"

"Would you just shut up, Ithan? You're going to wake the whole hall," Chad told him. He realized he was referring to Ever and rolled his eyes, "Dude, that's Ever, from dinner. Go to your bedroom and sleep, drunk ass," Chad spat from the kitchen. He poked his head out from behind the wall and looked at Ever worried.

Ithan grumbled as he got up to go to his own bedroom, "Don't be stupid out there," he shouted.

Chad just rolled his eyes, "Ignore him, Ever. He can be a real jerk when he's drunk..." he said looking over to Ithan, who drunkenly managed to get to his room. "Sorry about him," he apologized, moving his attention to Ever. Ever looked up and tears still were falling. Chad rushed to her side and became even more worried. "You're not okay. What's really wrong?"

Ever shook her head, not wanting to tell what really was wrong. She clenched her phone so tight, she felt like she was going to break it. Her eyes grew heavy and hard to keep open. "Can you take me to my dorm?" she asked softly, still feeling like an intruder.

Chad lowered his head, "I can, but I don't think you're fit to be in your dorm alone, Ever. If you have classes in the morning, I can take you." he offered.

"No...I should really get back to school. My roommate will be worried if I'm not there when she is," she lied. Her roommate wasn't worried, she betrayed Ever by going to that party and it would be hard to earn her trust back from that.

Chad sighed in defeat, "Fine, but only if you tell me what's wrong," he said. He was starting to get really worried about her, which was normal for him, but he wasn't sure why it was so soon.

This had gone on for a few hours until Ever fell asleep on the couch. Her phone had fallen on the floor when she got comfortable and she didn't bother picking it up. Chad was curled up on the other side of the couch, fast asleep. He woke up, startled by something from outside. He ended up falling off the couch and Chad made sure Ever wasn't woken. She wasn't, but Ithan was. "Everything okay out here?" Ithan asked sleepily, coming from his room.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just fell off the couch," Chad said rubbing his head, since it hit the coffee table. He noticed Ever's phone lying face up on the floor and he picked it up, making sure she didn't step on it when she woke up. He accidently pushed the side button and the screen turned on, bright as the sun. He noticed her phone wasn't locked and saw a text from someone named Drake Hunter. He read it to himself softly, "I never wanted you as a girlfriend Ever Moore. I'm FWB with your roommate so why would you ever think I'd want you as a girlfriend, Ever. I don't date people I went to highschool with...you're such a clueless, hopeless romantic, Eve." Chad read. He took his phone out and clicked his social media app called Portrait. He searched the name 'David Hunter' and he was the first one to pop up. He clicked it and scrolled through his posts. He saw a video and a post about a party. He clicked on the comments and saw one from Ever. Chad wanted to punch David in the face. He hurt Ever's feelings, but why was he getting so attached right after his breakup with his ex, that's what he didn't understand.

"Dude, everything alright?" Ithan asked sleepily. He had a hangover and looked over to see Ever still there on the couch. "What is she still doing here?" he looked at Chad surprised.

"She fell asleep...we were talking and I noticed she was starting to fall asleep, so I let her," Chad explained, not telling Ithan what he had found. It wasn't his place to be snooping and he didn't mean to, it just happened. "Let her sleep, Ithan. I'll take her back to her school tomorrow morning before the exam."

"Fine, but just give it a few months, okay? You just split with Kimberly and she was very unpleasant."

Chad looked at his roommate shocked, "Since when do you speak properly? And I wasn't going to ask her out, we just met. We are just talking, that's not a bad thing, dude."

"No, but I just don't want you rushing into things...again. And I started speaking properly because of this girl from England who is in my history class..." he said a little embarrassed. Chad held in a laugh and went to his bedroom, after setting Ever's phone down on the coffee table face up.

"You are so desperate, Ithan. Go back to bed. We have to be up in two hours." Chad shut his bedroom door and crawled into bed, falling asleep the instant his head hit his pillow.