Better Believe It

Part 1

 "Hey, Ames," I heard someone calling me from behind. I turned around to see Chase Austen pushing his way through a crowd of people, coming towards me. "How's it going?" he asked once he finally reached me.

"Not too bad," I answered vaguely. "And since when did you get the right to call me 'Ames'? My name is America."

It had only been a month since I started at Stanford University, but apparently so did Chase. We both ended up at the registration office at the same time, on the same day, to collect our dorm room keys. He followed me to my dorm room, just to know where it was, and every morning since then, I would find him standing outside waiting for me. I didn't know why he was sticking to me like glue, but I was beginning to miss my personal space.

"Oh come on, Ames," he said shrugging off my rather rude tone of voice. "We're all buddies here right?"

"No actually, we're not all buddies here," I said sounding even harsher than before. "Why are you even hanging out with me?"

I could clearly see the shock on Chase's face; the way his eyes were wide with surprise and his mouth slightly agape. I wouldn't say he wasn't handsome; his dirty-blonde hair sticking out in all directions, like he had just got out of bed, his bright blue eyes that told so many different stories every time I came into contact with them, and his overall physique was a sturdy, muscular one. But I couldn't care less of how bad he felt. It had to be done, for my own peace of mind.

"What do you mean 'Why am I even hanging out with you'?" he asked, a bit awestruck. "You seem like a nice girl so I want to get to know you more."

I didn't know what to say at first, but then he mumbled something under his breath that I had to ask him to repeat himself.

"And I like you," he said, blushing like a girl that had just admitted she slept with stuffed animals even at the age of 20.

"Excuse me?" That was all I could muster up. The anger in me had just about reached its boiling point, but I didn't want to explode in the middle of the crowded hallway. I kept my mouth shut, trying to calm down, but I still couldn't believe what I had just heard. He liked me? Since when? And why? He didn't even know me. And out of all the girls around us that he could have chosen, he decided he wanted me?

"I think you're beautiful, sweet, funny, smart," he carried on blushing like a lunatic, not even bothering about the distraught look that I probably had on my face, "and I think you're special. Why don't you give me a chance?"

He thought I was beautiful? I didn't even think I was pretty, let alone beautiful. I was just an ordinary girl, with ordinary brown eyes, and ordinary brown hair and an ordinary body overall. I wasn't one you could call special. Chase was anything but ordinary, so I started wondering whether this was some kind of prank that he was trying to pull on me.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked, finally finding my voice to speak. "What the hell are you on about?"

"I'm being serious, America," he said, and for once I actually saw it in his face. The hue of his eyes had changed as he came closer to me, and it was so captivating that I found myself stuck in its trance. "I like you, and I want to get to know you better. It'll be just like one of those cliché fairytales in which the guy and girl meet at college, start liking each other and then have a happily ever after."

That was it. Those few words he said brought me out of the trance and back to reality. Cliché? Fairytale? Happily ever after? What the hell was this guy made up of? Disney princesses?

"I don't believe in fairytales."

That was all I said before I walked off to class, leaving Chase standing in the middle of the hallway with a puzzled look. Concentrating in my Sociology class proved to be hard, with all the fairytale nonsense racking my brain. And the rest of the day, I kept my head low, secretly hoping that I wouldn't encounter Chase again.

I was actually feeling proud of myself that I had gone through the rest of my day without being pestered by him, until I came back to my dorm room. There he was, standing right outside door number 18 – my room – with his arms crossed and his gaze fixed at his feet. He looked up at me as I approached nearer, looking distant as if he were in another world, but then he smiled.

I'd be lying if I said his smile didn't take my breath away, because it felt like my lungs literally stopped working. But I ducked my gaze, to stop myself from staring so intently at his perfectly aligned teeth and the slight dimple that appeared in his left cheek.

"What are you doing here?" I asked trying to keep the exasperation out of my voice as best as I could. I don't know why I cared all of a sudden about hurting his feelings. Was it because I thought he was more of a girl than I was? Who knows?

"I didn't see you all day after our chat in the morning, and I wanted to see if you were alright."

I looked up at him, only to see him still smiling at me. I wanted to wipe it off his face, and also to tell him to get lost, but I just couldn't congregate any courage to do that. What was this guy doing to me?

"I'm fine, as you can see," I said trying my best to sound sweet, but was failing miserably with all the venom seeping through my words. "You can go back to your room now."

He didn't move, so I began unlocking my door. When I entered my room, I quickly tried shutting the door before Chase could come in, but damn he was fast.

"What are you doing?" I asked slightly afraid of the outcome.

"What I should have done this morning."

That was all I heard before he rammed his lips onto mine, pushing me up against the nearby wall. I stared at him in stupor for almost a second too long, but then I gave into the kiss. It was hard not to. Chase had amazingly soft lips, and to say he was a good kisser wouldn't do him justice. I closed my eyes and kissed him back, to which he reached up with his hand and cupped my cheek, pulling me closer – if that was even possible.

The kiss went on for about two minutes until breathing became a necessity for the both of us. We both were breathing hard, and I was still trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. Silence fell between us as we stared into each other's eyes, not wanting to speak. To be honest, I hadn't the slightest clue what to say.

"Do you still think fairytales don't exist?" Chase asked breaking the ice, his eyes a startling cobalt, trained solely on mine.

"I don't believe in fairytales," I whispered back to him, my mind still in a haze.

"Well, you better believe it America," he replied, before turning on his heel and making his way out the door.

I watched him leave with a stupendous expression on my face, and stared long and hard at the door that he shut behind him. After I regained consciousness, I quickly rushed to lock my room door and practically threw myself on my bed. After that unexpected turn of events, I doubted I would get any sleep. And I was right.