Finding Amity

Chapter 10

The first week of classes went by quickly. All classes were the same icebreakers over and over again. Hadiya and Birdie were beside me in every class and, aside from the influx of pretentious rich kids in the subject, I was enjoying myself. My eyes lit up every time a teacher explained what we'd be learning in our course.

I missed this. I missed new classes and new people and not getting those weird looks and whispers behind your back that came with experiencing something tragic. I was actually going to enjoy school for the first time since the accident.

Toy-Land had even called, asking me to come in on Sunday morning for an interview. It seemed that everything in life was going peachy.

Except...

My mind kept running back to Isaac. He was rude and disrespectful and truly an awful person, but I kept thinking back to the way he said "I'm just an asshole". It was almost like he was guilty.

I found that Pippa was barely in our dorm, only returning on Friday afternoon to beg me to go to another party. This one was a small gathering at her friends apartment. She promised it'll be less chaotic than the frat party and assured me no one will care if I'm sober.

I agreed for one reason, and one reason only. Isaac was a puzzle, and I was determined to, piece by piece, figure him out.

I dressed myself this time, pulling on some blue jeans and a tight black henley shirt.

The party was at Marley's apartment, a little rundown two bedroom on the top floor of a brownstone townhouse. Inside her apartment, a tiny spinning rave light hummed from the corner of the open plan living area and a soft indie song played from the tv.

Harry sat next to Danny on the ratty sofa, both of them passing a joint back and forth. Marley was next to the rave light, dancing to the slow music. I secretly hoped I would not have to get up and dance at any point. Flashbacks brought me back to the elementary school dance where people made fun of me and imitated my bad dance moves. Cruise was sitting at the dining table and Isaac sat across from him, neither speaking to the other.

"I thought this was a party." I whispered to Pippa.

"Marley's roommate Jess is upstairs with her friends. When they get cold they'll join. For now, it's just us." She smiled.

Pippa joined Harry and Danny on the couch, taking a quick hit off the joint and coughing up a smoke cloud. I, wanting to stay away from the weed, took a seat at the table between the two boys.

Isaac gave me a short glare before turning back to the tv, watching the music video playing. Cruise, however, turned to me and smiled.

"Hey, Amity." He grinned. "How was your first week?"

"Pretty good." I answered. "But we haven't exactly gotten into the course work or anything. I hope I can stay on top of it all." Isaac rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you can." Cruise said encouragingly, Isaac rolled his eyes at that too.

"You guys are sitting together." I noted, grabbing Isaac's attention. "You didn't seem like friends at the last party."

"We're not." Isaac grumbled at the same time Cruise said, "We are.".

"Pippa said you all went to high school together. Did you pick the same university on purpose?" I bulldozed through the awkward moment.

"Pippa and I wanted to stay close to home." Cruise explained. "And Isaac got in on a local scholarship program."

"Don't fucking talk about me, Cruise." He growled. I shot him a angry glare.

"Its the truth! Plus, she doesn't give a shit. Do you, Amity?" Cruise continued. I shook my head.

"You think I care about what she thinks of me?" He challenged. Cruise shrugged, turning to the tv.

"I got in on a scholarship." I stated. Cruise turned to me to acknowledge that he was listening, but turned back to the tv without saying anything.

"What are the conditions of your scholarship? Make out with our resident dumbasses so their fragile masculinity doesn't crumble from rejection after rejection." He joked, lightly slapping Cruise on the cheek.

My mouth dropped open. Cruise was one of the nicest guys I'd met this year. He was confident and charming and so friendly to everyone and Isaac just disrespected him over and over again.

"Whatever." Cruise muttered.

"No!" I stepped in. "Not "whatever". Why are you so hung up on that? It was a game, fuckwit!"

"Fuckwit?" He asked, clearly amused.

"If the shoe fits!" I shot back.

Isaac looked down at me, a small cheeky smile pulling at his lips. The grin grew wider when he notice me looking at them.

"Isaac." Cruise cleared his throat. "Can I speak to you outside?"

"No."

"Now!" He barked. Suddenly, Cruise was not afraid of Isaac.