“Autumn is hiding something,” she said. Her eyes moved below. Lifting her hands, she pretended to inspect her nails as if she were bored with our conversation. The very one she started.
“Most people do. Tell someone who cares.” I stepped around her and began to walk down the stairs.
“Ask her about what happened with her mom and brother,” she said, drawing out each word. “And her role in it.”
For a moment she caught me, but I knew better. This was what she wanted. If I acted indifferent about the whole situation, eventually she would leave it alone.
“I don’t care. Ask her for me,” I said. I walked into the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge. Two things were certain: I was drinking again, and I was not opposed to having a girl around.
“I’ll tell her you said that. I knew you didn’t care. I mean, why would you?” she asked, peeking into the kitchen. I held my hand up, waved at her, and dropped it. If looks could kill, I’d be dead. I’d never understood her infatuation with me. Maybe I was the only guy who’d ever told her no, and that hurt her self-esteem. Maybe she was obsessed with my image…That was something I could destroy.
“Hey, Josie?”
“Yes?” She looked at me, smiling as she stood in the doorway.
“I quit playing ball,” I said, and her face dropped.
“Why? You had scouts looking at you!” She looked like a five-year-old who had just been told Santa was not real.
“Turns out I wasn’t as good as I thought.”
Maybe the fact that I would be a nobody would deter her from her obsession with controlling me. She looked at me through narrow eyes before she stalked off. She might not believe me now, but she would see I was right. I walked back to my room, picking up the first book in my stack, smirking. This would throw Autumn off when she tutored me next time.
If Liam was right only one time in his life, it was last week. I’d changed. Or maybe he was wrong, and I’d always been this way. I stifled my personality. I read, watched movies, worked my ass off, and hid in my meadow to be alone. I went through the motions because I knew it wouldn’t always be like this.
After a short time of living my new life, I’d blossomed. It takes some caterpillars longer to transform. It took me nineteen years to become a butterfly.
I coated my lashes with black goo that promised to make look beautiful, then brushed my long, wavy red hair. My simple V-neck shirt was tight, much tighter than I’d ever worn. After falling in love with the person I’d become, I grabbed my backpack just as Josie and Sara barged through the door.
“Sara told me something interesting,” Josie raved. Her bell tone voice was almost too much for me this morning. Her hands were planted on her hips, and her friend was standing behind, bobbing her head comically.
“I’m sure she did,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t elaborate. Whatever gossip they were involved in or whoever’s lives they were ruining; I didn’t care to be a part of it. “I need to get to class. We can catch up later.”
“Liam is just going to drop you after you give it up,” Sara piped in from behind Josie.
“Uh, wait, what?” I asked, confused. As confused as I was, my stomach was in knots. In an instant I was that fifteen-year-old girl being taken advantage of.
“I saw you at the coffee shop,” she said, shooting daggers with her eyes.
“I’m tutoring him,” I said, bumping my brows together. They both visibly relaxed. Sara’s vindictive smile returned, and I braced myself for a second attack.
“Good…you aren’t exactly his type. We wouldn’t want our little friend getting hurt, now would we?”
I lifted three fingers to my lips, holding them there before I put them in the air. From the look on their faces, it was obvious they had never seen The Hunger Games. Still, I saluted them for trying to control the campus’ male sluts before leaving the dorm.
Huffing, I picked up my speed. This was fan-fucking-tastic. My roommate and her heartless friend were watching me now. Things just got worse on my end. Some days I thought Josie had a soul, but I thought Sara crawled out of the pit of hell to torture me.
“Autumn wait up!” a tiny voice yelled from behind me. Relief crashed into me like a fantastic wave, sweeping me into calm waters.
I stopped, waiting for Gabby to catch up. Her dainty purple glasses took up half of her face and her hair was braided to the side. She wore overalls and a band shirt underneath, but she was still easily the most beautiful girl on campus. Josie and Sara would kill for her natural, effortless beauty.
“Hey, Gabby!” I beamed, thrilled that she was here to keep all the negativity away. I barely knew her, and I had no experience being friends with girls, but I could tell she was the real deal.
“How was your weekend? I barely heard from you!” she asked, slightly out of breath from chasing me.
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I picked up shift at the bookstore and studied,” I said, frowning slightly. That was half true. I’d downloaded every season of Dexter on Netflix and I had been watching it like a madman. Liam had texted me a few times. Sometimes I answered him, but I mostly ignored him. “How was your weekend?”
“I just visited my parents,” she said. shrugging her shoulders, and then her eyes lit up. “But this weekend I hear there’s a party! We should go!”
I wanted to throw up in my mouth, but instead I surprised myself. What was one more party of letting people see my social awkwardness?
“Yeah, sure. That sounds fun,” I said, but I think my tone came off as a
