Nineteen

Chapter Forty-Five

Wear something pretty, his words play in my head as I look over my closet.

I don't have much and I especially don't know what he means by pretty. I wish I knew what he was going to wear.

I grab a yellow dress. It's pretty, but not too nice. But what is he wants it to be 'too' nice?

I just grab my phone and text him.

"What should I wear?"

I wait for a reply and soon enough I get one.

"Wear something nice, but not too nice."

Perfect. I take the dress off of the hanger and begin to get dressed.

After I'm completely ready, my hair is curled and makeup done perfect. My brown sandals match my dress better than I expected.

Right as promised, Collin knocks at my door.

"You ready?" he asks when I open, then his eyes rake up and down my body.

"Let's go," I reply and grab my things.

We begin to walk through the dorm building when I ask, "where are we going?"

He doesn't respond, he only looks at his phone and types something out.

When we get to the parking lot I use my keys and unlock my car.

"What are you doing? You're not driving on a date," he says as he unlocks his truck.

Honestly I had no plans on driving, I just wanted to show that I would, and could if I wanted to.

We get into his truck and he throws his things into the back. "We have to go by my house."

"I remember," I say.

We drive in almost silence.

When we get to the house, he turns to me and says, "stay here."

He jumps out of the vehicle and walks to the house. 

I wait.

And wait.

And wait some more. At this time it has been about fifteen minutes and I'm tired of waiting. What could he be doing?

I don't have the patience to wait anymore. I step out of the truck and start to walk to the house.

When I open the door, sure enough, Ryan is on the couch.

"Hey, babe. You here looking for me?" he says as be winks.

"Where's Collin?" I shut the door behind me.

"I don't know, but I'm here." he stands and walks over to put his arm around me. "You look great."

"Thanks," I throw his arm off, "but I'm here with Collin."

He looks confused. "Collin? Like Collin Kennedy?"

"Yeah, unless there's another."

"I didn't know he was dating anyone. He's gonna make some other girls pretty mad with the news," he says as he walks to the kitchen.

What? Am I not the only one?

Of course I'm not.

My energy has deflated to the floor when I decide to sit on the couch and wait. I no longer have a desire to go out anywhere.

When Ryan returns, he has another boy with him. I believe it is the same boy from the day at the food truck.

"Hello, Emory," he states when they both sit down.

"Hello," I say with a smile.

"Why don't you smile at me like that?" Ryan asks.

I ignore him until he says, "I can be just as good as Kennedy. I can actually stick to one woman."

My head turns to the side, facing him, anger clearly on my face. "Why do you keep saying that? Is there something you need to tell me, Ryan?"

His eyes almost fall to the floor. "No, I just want to make you aware of what a good guy I am."

I roll my eyes. I text Collin and tell him to hurry or I'm going home.

Right on beat, he comes running down the stairs into the living room where we are.

"You ready?" he asks as he shoves his phone into his front pocket.

No, I am not ready to go, but I guess we will.