BOOK 1: The Bad Boy's Roommate - EDITING

7. "So, you and Reagan, huh?"

Winter is finally setting in, and I manage to enjoy myself as I walk to Starbucks alone. The snow hasn't managed to lay on the ground yet and melts the second that it touches the floor, but it's falling slowly, adding a delicate touch to everything it lands on. Getting out of the house and taking a short walk is exactly what I need. I manage to direct my thoughts from Reagan for the 15 minutes that it takes me to get to Starbucks as I walk with my earphones in, my iPod on full blast in order to block out the world around me.

Brianna is sitting in our usual window seat when I arrive, allowing her to look out onto the streets so she can people watch. Watching people from inside of a shop has always something that's facinated me, especially in a busy area that's full of shops. Even though it sounds slightly stalkerish, which it probably is, I've always found people so funny when the weather outside is bad and they're scuttling from shop to shop, struggling to keep their umbrellas up the wind and rain.

She's already ordered for me when I sit down and take off my coat, slinging it over the back of my chair as I do so. Brianna smiles at me, like she knows something I don't. A pang of fright hits me right in the stomach. Brianna simply stirs her coffee with the wooden stick that's she's holding loosely between her thumb and index finger. She loves the fact that I'm squirming.

"So, you and Reagan, huh?" she asks casually, taking a sip of her coffee. She holds the mug in front of her face while she swallows, then places the drink down in front her her, keeping her hands wrapped around it.

"What about him? He annoys me, I annoy him. It's that simple," I laugh. I take the lid off my hot chocolate and watch the steam as it dives out the top into my face, heating up my cold, flustered cheeks.

"I think there's a lot more to it than that, El," Brianna smirks. She loves all this getting people together thing. I bet next week she'll be standing at my door thrusting wedding rings at Reagan and I.

I shake my head, deciding that my drink is now cool enough to consume. I get a little bit of the cream on my nose and lick it off with my tongue. I came here to get away from the thoughts about Reagan, but suddenly that's all she wants to talk about. The other day she was too scared to knock on my door in case he answered and warned me about him on my first day here. I'm telling you, this girl is nuts.

Brianna chuckles to herself. She takes a bite out of the huge muffin that's sat on a plate in front of her and offers it to me. I take it from her and pull a few pieces off it, then them into my mouth. She laughs, and I assume I look like some sort of hamster with my mouth full; that's what my mum always used to tell me when I was really little and had not yet developed table manners.

"No, but seriously. Is there anything going on between the two of you?" Brianna questions. She looks slightly worried, which makes me a little scared actually. Has she fallen for Reagan herself? Maybe she's just watched it happen to others and doesn't want me to go the same way. After all, she is supposed to be my friend, so she's probably just looking out for me. I'd be a bit miffed if she wasn't trying to look out for me at all. She's used to this whole university thing, but I've only been here for a few weeks, so I'm still a bit clueless as to how things work around here. At the moment it seems that people don't get involved with relationships, but instead go for the whole hooking up thing, which has never really interested me before, probably because I've always been so mature.

"Brianna, I can promise you that there's nothing going on between me and Reagan," I say. I make sure that I look directly into her eyes as I say this so she knows I'm not lying to her. I place my hand on my chest where my heart is, faking being dramatic in an attempt to lighten the mood. Brianna bites her lip to stop herself from laughing as she's trying to have a serious moment with me, but I refuse to talk about Reagan to her, or to anyone for that matter. If my mum or dad found out what I was up to while at university, they would probably have a fit and demand that I come home right away, which is pretty much why I have been ignoring their messages for the past two weeks. I would have to go and visit them soon, I don't want to completely cut them off just because I'd moved out.

"Okay, as long as that's the truth." Brianna mutters. She puts her muffin back down on her plate and sighs, sticking her belly out and rubbing it with both hands.

"How many of those have you eaten?" I ask as I laugh at the pained expression on her face.

"This is my fourth one." she giggles, moaning when she stops laughing as she must have pulled something. She starts laughing in agony again and shoves the plate towards me. I quickly realise that I haven't had anything to eat today apart from an apple and shove the muffin into my mouth, welcoming it's chocolately taste with open arms.

Brianna drops the whole Reagan thing now and stares out of the window, cooing at a toddler that's trying to walk through the snow with her mum. I turn my head in the direction of the child and smile, but then finally get bored with the little family as my eyes roam the busy street.

"Awh, look at them," I say as I point towards a young couple holding hands as they walk through the street. The girl is a lot shorter than the guy, who towers over her as he carries the shopping in her free hand. They look completely smitten with one another. Brianna smiles over at them and rests her face in her hands, looking jealous as hell. We both sit in the window of the coffee shop staring over at them longingly, wishing that we have what they have.

The boy's eyes divert from his gorgeous girlfriend over to the window of the coffee shop where Brianna and I are sitting. He smirks and my stomach transforms into a bundle of knots.

"Brianna, look away," I hiss, looking down into my empty cup. Brianna does as she's told without asking why, and soon enough, the boy and his girlfriend are gone.  

Brianna turns away from the counter where she was pretending to eye up the board with the list of drinks on it and raises a questioning eyebrow at me. I bite the inside of my lip and ignore her looks, taking one final bite of my muffin before I decide that I can't be bothered to eat any more. I push the plate away from me and lean back in the chair I'm sitting in as I resume with my people watching, this time making a great deal of effort to not stare at people.

"What was all that about?"

"What?"

"You know, with that couple. I know we were staring at them and it was a little creepy, but why did I have to look away so quickly?" Brianna asks. She messes around with some sweets she's just pulled out of her handbag, probably deciding that's she's not as full up as she first assumed. She chews on them and crosses her left leg over her right one, examining her high heeled boots as she does so.

"Nothing," I retort a little too quickly. Brianna's face soon breaks out into a knowing smirk.

"That was Reagan, wasn't it?" Brianna clarifies. I shake my head and look back down into my cup in shame as my cheeks catch fire. Brianna laughs out loud. "It so was! Look at you, you're a nervous wreck! Did he see you?" she splutters through the food in her mouth.

"Okay, fine, it was him. And yeah he did see me, that's why he smirked, I just didn't realise it was him at first 'cause he had his hood up," I finally admit. Brianna is practically glowing as she sits beside me, now watching me as opposed to the people wandering around in the cold on the other side of the window.

"Why didn't you smile back then? Jealous are we?"

"No." I retort defensively. I cross my arms over my chest and screw my nose up.

"Well why not be a little friendlier to him then?"

"Because, I don't really wanna see him right now,"

"Why not?"

"Because,"

"Because what?"

I huff, crushing the paper cup that contained my hot chocolate in my gloved hand instead of smacking Brianna straight in the nose like I feel like doing. Brianna falls silent beside me, seeing that I'm getting annoyed with her relentless questioning. She waits patiently, knowing that I'll finally give in and tell her what's troubling me. Even though we've only known each other for a few weeks, she has pretty much worked out how I tick; at the moment, I can't say the same for her. She still does things that surprise me; I've never known anyone like her.

"Look, I may have had a dirty dream about him last night and I'm having a bit of trouble looking at him in the eye now, okay?!" I spit. Brianna instantly hushes up; her face is now so shocked that I'm wondering if she's even consious.

"Oh. My. God. Really?! That's brilliant!" Brianna giggles. She grabs my hand and begins to laugh, looking right into my eyes the same way that Reagan did in my dream. "Tell me everything!"

Hi everyone, sorry for the crappy chapter - it was mainly a filler as didn't really have many ideas today. I hope you're all well, who's looking forward to Christmas?! Please comment/vote and let me know what you think. Also, sorry for the lack of updates lately. Thanks for reading (: