Always You

Chapter 6

Sierra

A few brisk knocks at my door woke me up with a snap. I reached for my phone on the night stand and glanced at the screen; 10:30am. Gosh, I've been sleeping that long?!

My thoughts jumped to last night and my breathing picked up; Ezra is next door. Could this be him? My heart skipped a beat at the thought as I got up to open the door. But before I even got to the door, the handle turned and I was face to face with a very cheery Jordan.

"Oh good, you're alive!" She mused. She stepped forward and gave me a big hug. "We were starting to worry about your when you didn't return our texts last night and we didn't see you at breakfast this morning."

"I'm fine, I must have been super tired – I didn't realise I've slept in so much," I admitted.

"How are you feeling? Do you want to talk about it?" her eyes softened, searching.

"I'm not feeling too bad, actually. I don't even want to think about him, he's not worth my time and heart break."

She nodded in agreement, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Anyway," I smiled. "How was last night?"

Jordan's mouth twitched at the corners, indicating she was holding back a smirk. "Pretty amusing watching Harper ward off a swarm of guys. Some of the pick up lines they used... So cringeworthy!" She made a face.

"Oh really? That bad?" I said, eyebrows raised.

Putting on a sleazy expression, she continued in a deep voice, ""Excuse me, but are you Jamaican? Cos jer-makin-me-crazy"". This resulted in fits of giggles from both of us.

A few pick up lines later, and after our laughter had died down, my stomach grumbled as if there was no tomorrow. "Someone's hungry!" Jordan winked.

"Just a little, I forgot I never had dinner last night," I realised. "I should probably get dressed and go grab some food."

"Good idea – I'll meet you at the cafeteria in 15? I'll grab Harper too."

"Sounds good!" I agreed.

As soon as Jordan got out the door, I threw on a t-shirt and shorts, and dusted some light make up on my face. Looking at my unruly hair, I pulled my hair in a simple ponytail. With 10 minutes to spare before meeting Jordan and Harper, I sat down at my bed and reached for my phone on the bed. My hand landed on the flannel shirt Ezra lent me last night. If I don't return it now, I may forget and end up keeping it in my wardrobe forever. Grabbing the shirt and my purse, I stepped out of my room.

I lifted my hand to knock on Ezra's door, but a voice stopped me just before it made contact. "Who are you and what are you doing with my boyfriend's shirt?"

Surprised, I turned my head to see a girl approaching, pointing at the shirt in my hand. She had straight, fiery red hair and bright green eyes, which bore into my own as she stepped closer. "I could recognise that shirt anywhere, I bought it for him for his birthday," she added, seeing my confusion.

"Oh, he lent me the shirt because it got a little chilly last night, that's all. Don't worry, nothing happened between us," I panicked, thinking of reassuring words to say. "and my name is Sierra," I smiled, extending my hand and offering a handshake.

She narrowed her eyes, "uhuh. Well Sierra, I don't suppose you're planning on keeping it then?"

"Oh, no, not at all! I was actually just about to return it." I said defensively.

"Sure. Well, I can give it back to him, it's all good." She said coolly.

"Oh yeah," I stammered, "yeah of course." I extended my hand, handing her the shirt.

"Thanks." She said with a forceful smile, shoving the shirt into her handbag.

Deciding now was not a good time to hang around, I turned to walk away just as I heard Ezra's door open behind me. 

"Oh good morning Taylor!" Ezra said with a cheery voice.

"Hi Ezra! Thanks so much for last night," I heard her say, just as I turned around the corner and descended down the flight of stairs.