“I’m a sophomore. You like this place?”
“Yeah.”
Despite my curt replies, he’s not taking the hint.
He drops his voice. “I heard you’re stuck for a place to stay.”
Now he’s got my attention, and he likes that. As he raises his eyebrows, they brush against a strand of hair that’s either very wet or very greasy. I don’t even want to know.
“My roomie just left me hanging, so I’ve got a room available,” he continues. “It’s just around the corner; the rent is peanuts. I was going to put an ad on the board, but I thought you might be interested.” He clears his throat. “You seem cool. Solid.”
He blurts the words out, his face suddenly flushed and clammy.My gut is telling me to say “Thanks but no thanks,” but this unexpected offer is one I should weigh up.
I’m about to ask for more details when I notice movement behind him. The Campus Driver jerk is walking over to us, his acolytes trailing behind him, and I raise an eyebrow. Donald turns to follow my gaze, and I swear I see him stiffen. He mutters something I can’t make out, thrusts a piece of paper into my hand, and evaporates. The page is folded in fours.
I blink a few times. I’m surrounded by four guys, all a foot taller than me.
“How you doing, Heartbreak?”
The nickname snaps me out of my lethargy, at least.
“Stop calling me that!” I hiss through clenched teeth. “I swear, you call me that one more time and I’ll punch your balls right off.”
As soon as the words come tumbling out, I slam my mouth shut, shocked by my own behavior. I’m a pretty chill person. I can’t remember the last time I lost my shit like this, except with my brothers, and that barely counts.
He gapes at me, stunned. And then he and his buddies burst out laughing.
“Wow! Turns out she does more than just sleep and cry,” he teases, raking a hand through his hair.
I feel like telling him he has no idea, but first I glance over to where I saw Kirk earlier. I catch him looking at me.Shit.
“In my defense, Your Honor, you still haven’t told me your name.”
I smirk at him. “Life’s a bitch, huh?”
“I mean, it’s kind of hard to do social niceties with a girl who spends all her time snoozing. You know you can get help for that, right?”
I swallow back the venom I feel like shooting his way. No matter how annoying he might be, this guy let me crash at his place for two nights in a row when he definitely didn’t have to. I practice my breathing while his friends watch on in silence, seemingly fascinated by oursparring. Aside from wanting to crush him, all I really want is for this whole thing to be over.
I sigh and hold out a hand. “Lois.”
One of his friends snorts, while another nearly chokes midway through taking a swig from a silver can.
“Lane,” the guy offers.
Is he messing with me? I’ve just made a huge effort trying to get us back on an even keel, and this jerk is still teasing me with his childish jokes?
“Oh, I get it!” I slow-clap. “Lois Lane. Very funny. I’ve never heard that one before.”
The tallest of them is laughing openly. “Damn, it doesn’t get much better than this!”
Another one of the guys slings an arm over his shoulders. “Shut up, Lewis. Let them finish, I’m begging you. Go on, dude.” He nods at the jerk.
“Lane.” His green eyes are boring into mine, and once again he says the words slowly, as if I were dumb. “My name is Lane.”
“Oh…” I nod. “Okay. Right!”
Great job, Lois!The queen of stupid has entered the building. Not that I’m making excuses or anything, but it is an unreal coincidence.
