Destined

Forty Five

Liz

I opened the door to Tyler and smiled.

"Liz, hey, killer costume," he said as I let him into the house.

I controlled my urge to roll my eyes at him. I bet he didn't even know what I was dressed as. An army marshal, by the way. My dad is one, I had the supplies.

"Thanks," I said closing the door.
"Where's Talia?" He asked.
"Her room,"
"Thanks, you're coming to the party, right?"
I smiled and nodded, "Of course,"

And he turned and made his way to his girlfriend. I didn't like Tyler very much. Okay, not so much that I didn't like him, he just didn't sit well with me. But he made Talia happy so I dealt with it. As long as I didn't have to be alone with him for very long. We had nothing in common so conversation would be scarce. Thing is, I didn't trust him. Not since before they even started dating. Since the day of that party in February. Since Roger.

The night of Roger's death....

I'd finally managed to use the bathroom. The line to get in was unbelievable. No wonder the guys kept coming out to pee in the bushes. Unfortunately, I didn't have the same luxury. I made my way outside, to Maddie whom I left by the swing.

"You haven't touched that cup," I referred to the drink in her hands that she'd been nursing since we got there about half an hour earlier.
She smiled, "I'm contemplating,"
"We're at a party, drink," I said and noticed Krissy step outside.

I waved her over and scooted so she could sit by us.

"Hey Krissy," I said.
"Hi," She answered smiling.
"Didn't think you'd be here after Professor Darke gave you a C," Maddie said, they shared a class together.
krissy laughed, "Talia is very convincing," Didn't we all know it?
"You'll ace the make up test, don't worry," I said as I noticed Matthew, a guy in my Adminstrative Business class walk by. "Isn't Matthew Crawley just...incredible?" I asked.

He had to be, by far, one of the nicest guys I'd ever met. We'd met in high school, he'd been a football player from another school and his team came to play ours. I'd been with Krissy when we'd all switched numbers and I hate to admit it but I think I got a little crush on him right then. Unfortunately, I believe he liked Krissy. Who wouldn't? Kristina Sanders is every guy's dream. She's beautiful and intelligent.

"I heard he's on the market, he and his girlfriend broke up," Maddie said. "Maybe he needs a shoulder to cry on"

I'd heard about Matthew and Alya's break up. Everyone was talking about it. No one liked to mind their own business. Some said she was so heartbroken by it, she'd dropped out of school. I hadn't seen her in almost a week. But then again, Matthew had been AWOL for about a week too.

"Ha, I doubt he needs that," I said, desperately wanting to be that shoulder.
"I dare you to find out," Maddie said to Krissy.
"What?" Both Krissy and I asked, mortified.
"Yeah," Maddie encouraged. "Go talk to him"

I couldn't fault Maddie. She didn't know about my long brewing crush on the guy. And Krissy and Matt actually spoke to each other here in university. I hadn't really spoken to him since high school, despite a few hellos when we met in class.

"About what? He's my friend, not a potential boyfriend," Krissy said.
"Figure something out," Maddie said standing up and pulling her up too.
She sighed, "Wish me luck,"

Like you need it.

We watched Krissy walk up to Matthew and the guy he was with. He wasn't facing us so I couldn't see his face but he was tall. He walked away from them almost immediately after Krissy reached them. Looks like there was someone out there who could resist the Sanders charm.