Pieces [Wattpad's Editor's Choice]

7: eYe CoNtAcT

"So does he come with a name or are you gonna give him one?" Isaac gathered dirty laundry off one of the beds and tossed them to another corner in the room. Then he started picking up empty beer cans from the side tables and tossed them in the overfilling trash bag.

I helped him clean up, careful not to touch anything I didn't trust. This was another thing I didn't expect about Isaac: he always seemed so organized and "ironed" on the outside, whether it was whatever dress shirt he wore or his composure. But here, I couldn't tell which bed was his because they both were littered with clean or dirty clothes (I couldn't tell), beer bottles, and crumpled papers.

"Well," I said, "I feel bad asking him if he remembers his name if he has one, but I also don't wanna give him one because it's like naming a pet." As I reached for a shirt on one of the beds, I noticed it was a girl's blouse, lacey and red on the neckline and black everywhere else. I held it up. "So which girl did this belong to?"

Isaac glanced up but didn't react. He kicked some boxes under the bed. "I don't remember."

I tossed it aside. "That many girls, huh? Wow Isaac, I didn't know you were like that."

"No, actually. That's my roommate's bed. He doesn't introduce me to the girls he brings home. They're usually here when I'm either sleeping or out at the hospital volunteering."

I nodded. "How come he didn't bring one home tonight? Will he be coming back?"

"Nah. She wanted him at her place tonight. And Valentine's day usually carries over into the next morning with lovers, you know? He won't be back till later tomorrow."

"Ah. Gotcha." I finished clearing his roommate's bed, then went over to the other one against the wall, the one I assumed was Isaac's. I trusted it more than his roommate's, so I plopped down. "How come you're not with anyone tonight?"

"I'm covering for my roommate so he could be out right now. He works as campus security during weekends. But it's almost one in the morning so I'll end my shift early to stay here."

I watched him stuff dirty laundry in a white bag before leaning against the wall. Those dark circles under his eyes were darker than before. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and studied me.

Isaac Marks had always been attractive, but in the past couple years, his jaw had squared more and he grew a little stubble that didn't make him look like a slacker, but maybe a little edgy, a little rough. He went from a rocky Seven to a solid Ten in the few years that passed. I never understood why Luna would only want him for one night-let alone just for sex. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. One you wouldn't want to let go.

"If you weren't covering for him, would you be out with someone right now? Maybe at the party with her like your roommate is?" I asked.

"If I were with someone, I'd probably take her to a fancy dinner rather than a frat party. The party's just so...classless, you know? I mean, if you're single and looking to hookup, sure, that's the place to be. Or maybe if you just wanna chill with some friends. But if it's for a date, that's a pretty sucky date. I'd hope a girl would have the brains to leave me if I made the mistake of taking her to a frat party for Valentine's Day."

Isaac's words interested me. Dinner dates still existed? He thought his roommate was classless?

Did Ethan think we would potentially date? When he invited me that night we were studying together, the moment felt...intimate. He was lying on the floor, propped up on one elbow as he quizzed me on the notecards he wrote. I sat cross-legged in front of him, so focused on answering correctly that I didn't notice he'd stopped reading one of the notecards mid-sentence. And out of nowhere, he asked, would you like to go to the Valentine's party with me? I thought it was a date. I couldn't stop thinking about it. And then just a week after, he told me he wasn't that into me.