The Perfect Storm

Chapter 16

"Happy birthday, girl!" Chrissy squeals and I slowly open my eyes.

"thank you." I smile as I sit up on the bed.

"I got you this." She says, pointing at the large coffee on the table. The whipped cream is slightly overflowing with sprinkles covering some of the white. 

I look into the small bag next to the coffee only to see two bagels for me to enjoy. I smile before giving her a tight hug.

"I'm going to class, I'll see you after the weekend." She says with a smile before leaving the room. I take a deep breath before finally standing up and looking through my closet before picking out an outfit for today.

 I comb through my lashes with a dark brown mascara that compliments my facial features. My lips are painted with a slight tint of barely-visible pink lipstick. The floral print dress is hard to zip up even when I try with everything I got. As I attempt to zip it up one more time I hear rattling at the door. I turn around him horror to see Miles.

"Can't you knock?" I ask a little louder than intended. He stares right into my eyes, unsure of how to act, his eyes scan my body right before a smirk appears on his face.

"My bad, I thought you left." He says with a slight smile before he grabs something from Chrissy's bag. "How did you get in here? I locket the door." I ask, trying my best to hide what the unzipped dress is trying to expose. He smirks before holding up a key.

"Can you please leave?" I ask with hopeful eyes.

"now?" he asks, raising a brow.

"without zipping up your dress?" he smirks, slowly approaching me. I part my lips to speak, but quickly realize I have nothing to say.

 I turn around for him to zip up the dress. His hot breath hits my neck and I can feel the little hairs standing up. I try moving the rest of my hair with the one hand I have to spare.

"here, let me." He says and before I can agree I feel his his fingers pull away from the hair from my shoulders, sending shivers down my body.

"here you go." He says, zipping up slowly.

"T . . . thanks." I say stuttering. His eyes rake up and down my body before he finally says; "You . . . you look—"

"Madison?" A voice says, a voice I haven't heard in a while.

"J . . . Jace?" I stutter, I can't believe it. I'm finally seeing my best friend, right in front of me. It feels as though I haven't seen him in more than a while.

"you look beautiful." He says with a big smile as he ignores Miles. I feel my eyes water as I walk over to hug him, his grip feels harder than usual. "have you been working out?" I ask confused.

"yeah, I figured I'd use my spare time into something a little more useful than missing you." He smiles and I giggle.

 I glance over at Miles who's eyeing Jace in every possible way. I giggle before giving him another hug. "you look great." I say with a kind smile.

"ready to go?" he asks.

"yes," I say, spraying his perfume on my neck and wrists.

"this the perfume I gave you? I figured the college Madison would update her closet." He says with a laugh. I can't help but smile at his every word, words can't describe how much I've missed him.

"Lock the door after you leave," I say to Miles before heading out the door.

"This college is big." He says looking down the hall. I nod, I can't wait for him to join me next semester.

"That was—" I say

"who was—". Jace says at the same time I do.

Both of us laugh.

"you first." He says. "that was my roommate's boyfriend, Miles." I simply explain.

"By the look of it, he seemed to be your boyfriend." He says and my eyes are wide.

"what do you mean?" I ask confused.

"He looked like he was all over you." He says and I can see he's a little caught off guard.

"No, he's . . . trust me he's not at all interested." I explain with a giggle.

"we practically hate each other," I say but as the words leave my mouth flashes of him zipping up my dress run through my head.