"Cat, you have a room. Why the couch?" I whined as I walked in on her and Nolan half-naked and, I assume, about to engage in some love-making.
"Sorry," she stated, turning extremely red and holding her shirt to her chest to cover herself up.
"I'm leaving anyway, but I know Ivan and Maria are awake and I think Lorenzo and Lee are still in the house. They might wake up and come down at any minute. You might want to move this to a more private area," I suggested.
Catrin quickly gathered all their clothes and ran up the stairs. "Hey, did you take Statistics last year?" Nolan asked. He was standing in front of me at this point wearing only his boxers, and he clearly felt no shame about it. I, on the other hand, was completely embarrassed and shy about being subjected to there being only a thin veil of modesty between us.
"Yeah," I quickly responded.
"We were in the same class," he pointed out. "I sat behind you," he continued.
"I think Catrin is waiting for you upstairs," I encouraged, quickly exiting before he could make anymore chit chat about our prior class together while he was essentially naked in our living room.
Once I got outside, I walked to a nearby cafe, ordered the largest coffee they had, then sat down and people watched. I had made sure that I always kept a small notepad in my pocket so that I could record anything that came to mind, and was happy I remembered it this time.
Alone yet surrounded
Everything is quiet in this noise
All movement is still
There's too much movement in this poise
The numbness is painful
The joy is maddening
The fatal wound enlivens me
And in my fear I want to sing
Give me gold to turn to rust
Give me success to make a bust
Give me a thrill to make it dull
I can't see light through the still
"Ivy?" someone interrupted my writing. I looked up to see Grayson standing in front of me with someone I'd never met before.
"Grayson," I curtly greeted, not wanting to interact with him at all.
"Kristoff, this is Ivy. Ivy, Kristoff," he introduced the two of us. I gave Kristoff a nod, hoping they would both get the hint that I didn't want to suffer either of their company. Instead, they both took the liberty of sitting at my table. I quickly stuffed my little notebook into my pocket and eyed the two of them.
"What's going on?" I finally asked after a painfully long and awkward silence.
"Not much," Grayson commented. "How was your summer?" he asked.
"Not long enough, clearly," I stated, not bothering to mask my contempt.
"Hey, I'm sorry for all the crap that happened last year," Grayson apologized.
That was completely unexpected, and it took me a moment to re-enter the conversation. "No worries," I responded after chewing on my options for a short while.
"I need to go," Grayson stated, getting up. "Coffee's on me," he continued, throwing some money down on the table and leaving Kristoff and I alone at the table.
Kristoff was easy on the eyes, with a child-like face, light brown hair, medium toned skin and light brown eyes. I figured Grayson was offering Kristoff up as a repentant sacrifice. "You're not obligated to stay," I tried to relieve Kristoff. "I can handle myself on my own."
"I don't doubt that," Kristoff responded with a shy smile. Why was I suddenly so attracted to that smile? I shook my head. Undoubtedly, I was just looking for someone new to share a bit of my life with, considering Ivan might be a lot less available to me and Catrin was in a relationship already. I was probably just feeling really lonely.
YOU ARE READING
Weathered Love
ChickLit"You're not a burden," he said. "OK," I said, again, trying to play it off like I didn't care. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up the façade. I could feel the tears banging against the barricade just behind my eyelids, the sobs clawing at...
