Nineteen

Chapter Forty-Eight

I feel my eyes begin to swell with tears at the thought. 

"What are the chances?" he says. He doesn't understand.

I turn my head to him. "But I just seen him," my voice cracks at the end.

He sighs like it's not a big deal to him, and its probably not. Why would he care anyway?

The drive back to the campus feels long. Maybe I should try and get a job, so I can move into an apartment far away from the school.

Or maybe I should transfer.

I push the thought of transferring back into my mind for now. There's no way I could go right at the beginning of the semester.

"I think you should come and stay with me," he says.

I'm taken back a little. "What? No."

"Yeah, you're going to," he says as he drives through the campus gate.

I cock my head at this. "No, I'm not." I don't know who he thinks I am.

"Just stay with me tonight and see if you feel better."

I have to admit, the thought sounds better than my dorm room. But I don't know if I should spend the night at a frat house with someone I barely know.

I grab my phone when I realize I haven't checked it all night. I have a message from Clark. 

"I'll be by tomorrow morning to walk you to class, Link told me about last night."

My heart tugs when I read Link's name. I forgot he was even there yesterday, and I never texted him to explain and apologize.

I reply with a simple "okay" and place my phone back where it was. 

"I think I'm going to stay at Clark's."

"The hell you are," he says.

"Excuse me? I don't know what your problem is, but I don't have to sit here and take commands from someone I barely know."

He grins at me and says, "you're brave when you drink, but you can stay with me."

My sudden burst of energy makes me dizzy and I don't feel like fighting him anymore. He takes my silence as an agreement, and he turns the truck down the road to the frat house.

I'm woken up by someone lifting me into the air. I flutter my eyes open before I realize that Collin is carrying me through a yard. The yard of the frat house.

"I can walk," I say into his chest.

"You can, but I already have you."

"Why are you so stubborn?" I whisper to him as he walks across the porch. 

He doesn't say anything, but I swear I can hear him giggle a little.

As soon as we make our way through the living room of the large house, I hear a familiar voice.

"I see you've brought me a lady back," Ryan says.

"Fuck off," Collin says. I giggle a little at his language.

"Is she drunk?" he asks as he follows us up the stairs. I think it's the stairs. I'm too tired and a little drunk to even know what part of the house I'm in.

"She's had a few." His voice is guarded. He isn't as comfortable with his room mates.

I slur out a sentence. "Hi, Ryan." I wave my hand behind Collin's neck.

"Hey, beautiful. Are you going to stay in my room tonight?" he replies.

I laugh, loud. "That's where he's taking me right now!"

He tenses as I say the words. "Hell no, I'm not."

I can hear Ryan laughing now. He's not so bad, I guess.

Inside of the room there isn't much decor. A plain bed set and no pictures, just a pile of stuff in the corner of the room.

"Does anyone live here? There's no pictures." I say as he lays me on the bed.

"I don't have any," he replies.

Just as he answers, I realize I don't have anything to sleep in. I don't even have a toothbrush.

Like he way reading my mind, he throws a pair of clothes at me from his closet.