“So you can give me all the details, right?” I joke. “Where to eat, what professors are a nightmare, who has the best coffee?”
His laughter echoes in the night. “Yeah, definitely. Maybe I could show you around campus tomorrow? This place is huge. I got lost like fifteen times my first day—went into the wrong class too, and sat through half the lecture before I realized I didn’t belong in there, by that point, I was too scared to get up and leave.”
“What?” I gasp. “No.”
He nods. “Oh, yeah. It was so embarrassing. Luckily, I’m the only one who knew about it … until now.” He tips his beer at me. The action seems to make him realize I don’t have one. “Do you want me to grab you a beer?” He starts to get up before I even answer him.
I shake my head. “No, thanks.”
“Are you sure?” He starts to sit back down.
“Positive.” I tuck
my hair behind my ear. “And I’d be so grateful if you could show me around. I already got lost today and there’s hardly anyone on campus. I don’t know what I’m going to do on Monday if I don’t know my way.”
“I’ll take care of you,” he says with another one of those easy smiles.
Something about Ryland puts me at ease. I feel like I can trust him.
“What do you study?” I ask him.
“Sports medicine.”
My eyes widen. “Impressive.”
He grins. “What about you?”
“I want to be a stylist,” I say. “So I’m studying business and marketing and taking a few fashion design courses.”
He nods. “Can’t say I’ve ever met anyone who wants to be a stylist.”
“I like to be different.” I stand and dust off my jeans—Elle’s jeans. “I’m heading back in,” I say.
Ryland follows me, and we push our way through the bodies again. The amount of people here is a bit ridiculous.
“Follow me,” Ryland yells to be heard above the music. We end up in an empty room that’s most likely meant to be the dining room. “You wanna dance?”
I don’t, not really, but I find myself nodding yes anyway. He’s nice, and frankly, I don’t want to be left on my own.
Some super-fast electronic song plays, and I move my hips to the beat as best I can. Most people just sway or jump up and down, but that’s not my style. Ryland dances with me, mimicking my moves. Soon people are staring at us as we dance and I find myself smiling. This isn’t actually half bad. I end up wrapping my arms around Ryland’s neck and he grasps my hips. We move together, speaking the same language with our bodies. I smile up at him, sweat dotting my skin, and he grins down, flicking his hair from his eyes.
The music changes and we keep dancing. We dance through at least five songs before I have to take a break and get some water.
Ryland drags me back through the house to the kitchen and gets himself and me a water. I drink it greedily, emptying the plastic bottle in seconds.
“That was fun,” I yell above the din in the room so he can hear.
“Huh?” He bends down so my mouth is near his ear.
“That was fun,” I say again.
“Oh, yeah.” He nods and smiles before drinking more water. “Fun.”
I glance at my watch, and I’m shocked to realize nearly two hours have passed and I haven’t seen Elle.
I motion for him to bend down again. “I need to go find my roommate.”
“What does she look like?” he asks.