What the hell is he talking about? Moving her in?
“First, her name is Candi.” Taking a deep breath, I try to calm down. I don’t like that they call her ‘that chick’ because she’s so much more than that. “Second, things are going great. As much as I didn’t want to put my name in, I’m glad I was picked.”
Julian and Trace start making kissing noises while continuing to play their Xbox. Which I’m glad of because they don’t see me coming when I smack the back of their thick skulls.
“Fuck, man!”
“Shit, that fucking hurt, Jax.”
Gavin just smirks at his friends’ discomfort and uses it to his advantage, making them complain about their game once more.
“I’ll tell you what,” Trevor leans back against the couch bringing his beer to his lips, “You got the best deal out of that. That Polly chick…” He shakes his head, not bothering to finish his sentence.
“C’mon, how bad could it have been?” I’d known that he didn’t want to do the damn thing, but he had no choice, just like me.
“Shit, man. She’s something else.” He takes another gulp of his beer, draining it of its contents before tossing it on the floor next to him.
Gavin speaks over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving the screen. “Dude, let it go. He’s been bitching about it for weeks. The most we ever get is that he can’t stand her.”
I eye my friend as he shoves himself off the couch and heads toward the kitchen for another beer. We’ve been friends for three years, and I can tell something’s up, but I won’t bug him about it anymore.
Eventually, the guys drag me into their video game and the next several hours are full of “fuck you’s” as we take turnsruining each other’s game. Trevor never joins in, just leans back on the couch and downs beer after beer.
After hours and a couple of pizzas later, I walk back to my dorm room at Thorn Hall. There are four dormitories on campus: Stone Hall, Ridge Hall, Thorn Hall, and Meadow Hall. Each one has a special meaning for Rosewood, and Rose Prairie as a town. I find it all corny, but that’s what you get when you choose a small-town college.
As I walk back to my room my fingers fiddle absentmindedly with the phone in my pocket. The urge to speak to Candi is gnawing at me and I give in. Her beautiful smile fills my screen as the phone rings and I’m momentarily stunned by the fact that she’s all mine.
“H-hello?” Her voice is scratchy with sleep and I curse myself for walking her up.
“Shit, sorry Sweetness, I didn’t mean to wake you up. Go back to bed.”
She exhales a breath into the speaker and whispers, “Did you just call me Sweetness?”
I scoff, “I guess I did.” Her laugh reaches my ears and tugs on my heart. “Is it bad?” I’ve wanted to figure out a nickname for her for awhile now and I need to find something that fits.
There’s silence at the end of the line, immediately making me regret my choice.“Um, let me sleep on it and I’ll get back to you.”
“Sounds fair.” At least it wasn’t an outright no.
Candi yawns into the phone, “Is everything okay?”
Shoving my free hand into my pocket, I sigh. “Yeah. I just wanted to hear your voice I guess. How was the roommate date night?”
Bed springs screech and I hear the soft creak of a door closing on the other end of the line. “It was fun. The movie was super cute and the food was good. I think Polly really needed it after what happened on Valentine’s Day.”
“I’m glad you got to spend time with her.” Then something that Gavin said pops into my mind. “Hey, when did we first meet? It was at the bench right?” For some reason, I need to know the answer to this.
She pauses for a moment, “If you want to get technical, then yes, we were first introduced to each other at the bench. But we ran into each other on my first day on campus. My first minutes on campus actually.”
My steps falter just as I step into the circular path that holds the fountain. “Wait, we did?”
“You don’t remember?” She doesn’t sound mad or shocked, it’s more like she expected it. She expected that I wouldn’t remember.
“Tell me about it.” It’s more of a demand than a question, but the thought of me not remembering someone who has become so important to me so quickly makes me angry at myself.
“Okay.” There’s a soft echo of her voice, and I realize she’s stepped into her bathroom to keep from waking Polly up. “I had just gotten to campus and was walking through the entryway of Stone Hall. I was distracted and the next thing I knew, I was smack against you and your arms settled around me to keep both of us from falling over. You welcomed me to Rosewood and showed me to the RA station, then you and a bunch of baseball players carried my stuff to my room.”
Howthe fuckdo I not remember that?
