Kelsey left the stall first, fixing her hair before heading to the door. Though I couldn’t see her, I knew she was peeking out, making sure no one would see us both leave the bathroom. Within a moment, she said, “It’s clear.”
I walked out with her, and we returned to her work station. Kelsey didn’t have a laptop—I’d discovered she’d come from a family with hardly any money to pay for things like that. As it was, she’d told me she was taking on a bunch of loans to be here. I could only imagine how badly that would set her back once she graduated and had a degree.
Kelsey was busy outlining a paper that was due in two weeks for her midterm for her sociology class. I offered to help her, even offered her my own laptop, but she turned me down. I think she didn’t want to accept help when it came to these things because she viewed them as a sort of handout. Accepting a handout in her eyes was a cardinal sin. She was the type of person who refused help, wanting to do everything on her own.
It was something I could respect, but everyone needed help every so often. It was a fact of life. Humans as a whole weren’t like other animals. We needed society, community. We needed each other, and if we didn’t have each other, we went crazy.
Kelsey sat at the end of computer tables, and I’d pulled up a chair beside hers. The library was a mostly quiet space, so anytime we talked, we had to whisper.
“You sure you don’t want to use my laptop? You could work on your term paper in your own room instead of being here,” I told her, knowing she’d turn me down. I’d only known Kelsey for a month and a half, but during that time, I’d come to know her well.
“No, I’m fine here.” Kelsey turned her brown gaze to me. “You don’t have to stay here, you know. You can leave me to work in peace.” A suggestion for me to get the hell out of here, that she couldn’t focus while I sat next to her. Got it.
“Fine,” I mumbled, getting up. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class, unless you want to get breakfast?”
“Dude, you know I’m not a morning person.”
I smirked. Of course I knew that, I just liked getting her attitude, teasing her was half the fun. “All right. Class it is.” I gave her a chaste peck on the cheek. I left without saying anything else. We still refrained from calling each other our girlfriend and boyfriend. For whatever reason, labeling it felt like jinxing it.
And that L-word? Neither of us had said that, either. Once that word was said, there was no going back. The last time I said it, I was a liar. This time, I didn’t want to be—and I wouldn’t be, if I was saying it to Kelsey.
It was impossible not to fall in love with that girl.
It was early afternoon, and my classes were done for the day. I meandered back to the house, passing a group of guys lounging in the living room. They were all on their phones, watching something, their interest peaked. When I walked in, they only glanced at me. I paid them no attention, heading right up to my room and falling onto my bed.
I stared at my ceiling. This…this year was turning out to be not nearly as awful as I’d anticipated. Kelsey was a random, yet welcome addition to my life, even if she was Mel’s roommate. I knew I had to tell her about what happened, but I wanted to be sure we were good before I told her. I wanted to be certain that Kelsey wouldn’t leave me because of it. If she did…I didn’t know if I could take it. Now that I’d had her, I didn’t want to know what life would be like without her.
Selfish of me. Insanely selfish of me, but it was true.
I wouldn’t get my wish; Dean made sure of it.
Chapter Sixteen – Kelsey
Friday night, and Levi and I were supposed to meet in the middle of campus and actually go on a date. Yeah, like a real date. Like dinner and a movie or something. I wasn’t sure what we were doing or where we were going, but all I knew was that Levi had a car since he was technically a sophomore, and he was paying.
Yeah, I’d told him I didn’t have money to spare, and I meant it. Felt ashamed admitting that to him, but it was the truth. I didn’t like talking about money, or my lack of it. Felt like a charity case when I did, and I always worried that he’d think I was asking for a handout or something. I could only imagine how Ash felt at Hillcrest.
Last I knew with her, she was getting back at a dick named Sawyer, dying his hair pink. Juvenile? Totally, but it was hilarious. That was…a little while ago. I hadn’t talked to her in a bit, mostly because I’d been too wrapped up in Levi.
Hah. Sounded ridiculous, didn’t it? Me and Levi, together. Things were…actually going pretty well. I didn’t dare call him my boyfriend, but besides the label, he kind of was. He was the only one I’d been with at SCC, and strangely, I had no inkling to drop him.
I hadn’t told Mel yet. Felt like she’d suspect me of being on Dean’s side, or that she’d tell me Levi was just playing me for Dean or something. If that was true…oh, Levi would be in for a world of hurt. He’d
