Inside | Shane Harte

45 | Not a coward anymore

I wake up in the dorm room on a monday morning. The sun is once again bothering me, causing my eyes to tear up and a loud sigh to escape my lips. I annoyingly dry them with the palms of my hands.

I got here late last night but I still managed to be silent enough to avoid waking Crystal up. A quick view of the room reveals that she is nowhere to be found, so I loudly dig in my bags that I didn't have the time to pack up yesterday, trying to find some decent clothes. This is probably the first time I've ever not cared enough to prepare clothes the day before.

After I've put some clothes on I walk out of the room to almost crash into Crystal and... Trevor. I freeze as I lay my eyes on him, not really knowing what to do or how to react.

"Hey girl!" Crystal smiles and gives me a hug. I greet her back with a forced smile, impressed by my ability to hold back the urge of giving Trevor a good, hard squeeze in the balls right here and now. I give him a quick glance only to meet a pair of cold, emotionless eyes staring back at me.

"So, since you're here now I thought you would want to know what I decided to do about the record deal" I say to Crystal, and she nods at me eagerly. "I've accepted the deal"

"Oh my god! That's great news! Congratulations" she laughs and hugs me again.

"Thank you so much" I smile and she turns to Trevor with a  meaningful look. He just stands there quietly for a few seconds before Crystal finally pushes him in the side with her elbow.

"Congrats" he mumbles with a completely straight face and I really have to think about something boring and bite my tongue to avoid bursting out in laughter. That was the worst attempt of showing happiness for someone else that I've ever seen.

"Thank you, Trevor" I smile sarcastically before turning back to Crystal. After a few moments of considering whether or not I want to confront Trevor about the concert I decide that fuck it, I'm not a coward anymore. I will forever regret it if I don't put him in his place.

"Can Trevor and I have a moment, please?" I ask Crystal and she nods before heading into the dorm room behind me.

"So, where were you during our performance at the concert?" I ask him and he lifts an eyebrow.

"Well... Something got in the way" he says while lifting the corner of his mouth.

"Really? What was that?" I ask before taking one step forward.

"If you so eagerly wants to know, I saw a hot chick standing outside of the auditorium, just waiting for someone to taste her, so I took a bite" he says, lifting the other corner of his disgusting little mouth as well.

"You are the worst person that I've ever met" I say coldly and turn around to start walking away, not expecting any answer, when he once again opens his mouth.

"I thought that was Shane's title"

When the last word is spoken, I stop instantly. The anger inside of me becomes too much for me to handle, so I turn back, walk up to him and take a deep breath before slapping him in his face. Hard.

He doesn't utter a word as I turn back towards the entrance and exit the building. I've never hit anyone before, but I must admit; It was quite liberating. Especially when you've been holding some grunges against someone which eventually force themselves out.

I keep walking over the campus towards my building when Cora pops up in front of me with a guy that I could swear I've seen somewhere.

"Hey Kayla!" Cora greets me and I hug her.

"Hi Cora" I smile and turn my glance towards the guy with a suspicious look.

"Oh, right. Kayla, this is Lucas, my... Boyfriend. Lucas, this is Kayla, my best friend"

"Wow, are you two together?! Cora, why haven't you told me sooner?" I ask her with a giggle and she playfully rolls her eyes. Lucas is actually pretty cute with his blonde hair and dark green eyes.

"We've been seeing each other both in and outside of class for a while but now we thought that we might as well make it official" Lucas smiles against Cora and puts his arm around her neck.

"Right! I was in the same violin class as both of you, that's where I recognized you from" I smile. "You guys are the cutest"

"Thanks" Cora smiles. "So, what happened with your record deal?"

"Well, I accepted it" I smile eagerly and Cora's eyes light up.

"Really, Kayla? That's amazing. Congratulations" she smiles and Lucas does as well.

"Thank you so much. I guess it's a happy day for all of us" I say and they both nod.

"Yeah, well, we have to get to class or we'll be late. See you later, Kayla" Lucas smiles and I nod.

"Yeah, see you later" I say before starting to walk towards my building again.