The Girl in the Boys' Dorms

Chapter Nine: Nerd meets player; sparks. Nerd meets second nerd; explosions.

The Girl in the Boys' Dorms - Chapter Nine: Nerd meets bad boy; sparks. Nerd meets second nerd; explosions. You do the math.

Triumph surged through me as I wandered into my dorm room, slamming the door shut behind me. The entire day had gone much better than planned. For once in my life, everything had turned out in my favor - and the icing on the cake had been when Alexa, along with her group of friends, had traipsed around the school, advertising my campaign to others. Wait, no, that had been nice, but the real icing on the cake had been when Lucie, face reddened in anger, had snatched the poster Alexa was trying to tape on the wall - a large picture of me, captioned with the phrase, You Know You Should, So Vote For Bailey Underwood! - out of Alexa's hands, and had demanded that she start supporting Evelyn, "like a smart, little freshman girl."

Wait, scratch that, the best part was when Alexa refused outright, Lucie threw a tantrum, and then stormed back to where Evelyn was standing, watching the whole scene unfold in horror.

Alright, so, a lot of good things had happened, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to choose one as my favorite. It was just satisfying to know that, after all the misfortune I had experienced on her account, I had gotten back at Evelyn. And even though that small victory had come at the cost of unconciously promoting Chase as my mascot, it was a wonderful feeling to know that I was ahead of the game.

"Oh, you're back." A morose voice commented from somewhere in the room, and I jerked my head forward. Lying on his bed, arms folded underneath his head, was Chase, his eyes scanning some invisible book on the ceiling. "Listen, I heard something really... interesting during class today."

He said this with a suspicious tone, and I felt my heart lurch. He was Lucie's stepbrother, she had probably gone straight to him when she heard Alexa choosing me over Evelyn because I was his roommate. And knowing Chase, he would be pissed. After all, it probably wasn't an incredible honor to be named as Bailey Underwood, the nerd of the school's campaign bribe. Alexa still hadn't forgotten the idea of weaseling a date out of him, and Lucie would tell him that in an instant. By the way he was avoiding my questioning gaze, it gave me the feeling that he wanted to ask me about something - something that he was both uncomfortable and irritated about.

"Lucie - " oh no, here it came. In about three seconds, Chase would tell me that Lucie had tattled to him, and that he wanted me to announce that he had nothing to do with me, in front of the entire school. " - was really upset that some people wanted to vote for you, instead of Evelyn. She said she scheduled a date with Evelyn for me, and that I have to meet up with her tomorrow night. The thing is," he took a deep breath, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me - I was off the hook! For now, anyway. "I don't want to go out with her."

"Well, of course you don't." I laughed, flopping down onto my own bed. "She's not exactly a ray of sunshine, is she?"

That managed to extract a smile from him, and Chase turned onto his side, so that we were now facing each other. "We used to date - like two years ago, that is - and it... wasn't as great a relationship as I would've hoped for. And honestly, I don't want to try a second time. Plus, I'm pretty damn sure she only wants to do this because she thinks it'll help her win Pageant Queen." He explained this nervously.

I shrugged. "I'm sure, too. Sorry about that."

"I thought you'd say that. And I was wondering - you know, since you already took it upon yourself to name me the poster child for your campaign - " he smirked mischievously, and I felt a surge of heat rush to my cheeks. So, he did know, and he had been messing with me the whole time. I bet, in the next couple minutes, he would manage to extricate a handful of favors from me, in order to repay him for my grievous mistake in choosing him as my campaign bribe. " - you could aid me in this little... problem of mine. Bailey," he paused for a moment, and I could feel the question coming on.