Always So complicated (Frat Boy)

Chapter 9

His body structure and posture was slightly intimidating. Tattoos were sprawled across his exposed collar bone and forearms, but his smile compensated for his dark appearance. It was sweet and caring.

He stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to present myself.

"Hi Sydney, I'm Harry," I blurted before my mind could think. "I mean, I'm Sydney." I replied quickly, not wanting to embarrass myself anymore.

Harry let out a small laugh before removing his flannel shirt on his way to the bathroom, revealing his chest. What on earth was he doing? I glanced at him awkwardly, I was definitely not used to seeing a shirtless boy in my surroundings. I felt my cheeks go plump red, as they always did when I was wrapped in an embarrassing situation.

"Oh sorry, I was running a bit late so I didn't have time to change." He said, pulling a uniform out from beside him.

I felt my cheeks turn even darker crimson as he said that and I tried to hide me embarrassment by returning to work and proceeding my search for a power point.

Harry seemed to notice my embarrassment and I could tell he found it quite amusing as he closed the door to the small bathroom.

***

We had little talk here and there as we cleaned the assigned rooms. I learnt Harry was part of a British exchange at my college, just like Serena, although I had never seen him on campus. He laughed when I ranted off about the frat house across the road to my sorority, without mentioning the blonde Irish one. He mentioned he knew a few and had already attended some of their parties, including Niall's famous twentieth.

***

A gust of wind blew through the doors of the hotel as we exited through the staff door into a little alley filled with graffiti and trash bags. Harry shivered as he rubbed his arms in the cold, enveloping himself in his hollister sweater. Autumn was almost completely over and it was evident that this winter was going to be a harsh one.

"Let's go get some coffee." Harry suggested, much to my delight, anything to warm my freezing limbs.

I smiled and shivered in response as we turned a corner into a large pedestrian road. We decided on a small cafe, isolated from the busy street. Harry settled on some complicated coffee mixture whilst I chose my usual hot chocolate with extra froth and sprinkles.

"Have you heard of Niall Horan?" I asked Harry. He said he knew a few of the cappas from across the road, and I might as well become familiar with the people in my surroundings.

Harry instantly broke into a mocking smirk. "Oh right, him."

Based on his facial expression, either Harry was good friends with him, or they loathed each other.

"What about him?" I asked inquisitively.

"He's the dumbest dickhead I've ever met." Harry laughed.

"How so?" I asked.

"Let's start off by saying he highly dislikes studying. He's never read a book, or opened one for that matter."

My mind instantly flicked to the night when he said he loved reading, especially the classics such as Charles Dickens. He was a dickhead indeed.

"Are you two friends?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I guess yeah, his uncle owns the hotel so that's how I got a job there. We've basically been good mates since freshman year of high school."

I nodded slowly as I stared at Harry.

"I need to get going" I said, standing up from my chair. "I've got a political history paper on animal farm due in a few weeks, and I need to get a head start."

Harry chuckled slightly and said "you, Sydney Evans, need to learn how to procrastinate."

I turned around and took a large breath of warm air before heading out into the cold rainy weather.

***

The allegory of animal farm mocks the Russian government...

No matter how hard I tried to focus on my assignment, I couldn't put my mind to it. I was thinking, childishly, about how my parents were doing back home. My sister's death anniversary was nearing and I knew it was a difficult time for them. I made a mental note to call them once I had completed my paper when Mila walked in silently.

"Hey," she said gently.

I jumped a little as she had startled me and I spun around on my desk chair to look at her. Her blonde hair was piled up in the messiest bun I had ever seen and the surroundings of her eyes were strikingly red. Something was wrong.

"Mila, are you all right?" I asked, even though the answer was obvious as if it were written all over her face.

She shook her head silently, unable to speak, and instead let out a heavy sob.

I sat down next to her on my bed, unsure of what to do. Comforting really wasn't my thing. Mila let out one more cry before sloppily pushing away the blonde hair from her face and talking.

"I hate Nicholas," she cried out " I purely, thoroughly, despicably, strongly loathe him with my entire soul."

"Mind if I ask why?" Although I had planned a long question in my head, I didn't feel like intruding too much.

"I thought he was the one, Sydney. I really did. We had some sort of relationship going I guess, like when we went to Niall's party, we went together, as a couple." I rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. I knew this wouldn't comfort much but it was all I could do at the time.

"And then, when I thought we were deep enough into the relationship, I sent him photos."

I instantly turned bright red with embarrassment. Even though she didn't mention what kind of photos had been sent, I knew well enough that they were the revealing kind of ones, and I didn't feel comfortable talking about that kind of stuff.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did he do with the photos?"

"He promised he wouldn't show anybody, and when I went to cinematography class, all the boys were howling, and looking at me weirdly. Eventually I heard one mention the photos." Mila was in an awful state and I couldn't blame her. It wasn't easy recovering from that sort of situation.

"Are you going to see a counselor? You know, to help you cope with the insults?" I tried suggesting some help, it's the least I could do.

"I don't know, I'm ashamed, really. I'm so embarrassed but I'll have to tell someone else other than you. Serena is avoiding me, along with Nicholas, and I'm sure Oliver already knows." Her tears had dramatically dried up but her features still remained dull.

I awkwardly hugged her after our conversation, and despite trying to return back to my essay, I decided to have an early sleep. I was sure my sleep would hold good advice.

Well I guess I broke my promise when I said I would update soon. Oh well, exams are coming so I guess I'll just take this slowly.

Hope you enjoyed 😊

Vic