In my eyes, he couldn’t get any lower. So, it was a total surprise when he stopped whatever he was about to say and backed down.
“You’re right,” he said. “We had no idea, but we shouldn’t have come here, to begin with, it was a little unfair. If you still want a place to stay and don’t want to share with me, then you can take my room, and I’ll sort myself out, instead.”
I blinked surprised at him. When I looked around, it was to find some of the guys gaping at him as well. After a moment, though, I narrowed my eyes at him and took a step back.
“No need,” I said stiffly. “I’ll work something out. You guys can stay here and go on with your party. I won’t be coming back tonight, so do whatever you want, but don’t touch my shit.”
I walked toward my desk and pulled out one of the drawers. I pulled my laptop and charger out, stuffed both in my bag, and decided I’d go spend some time in the library as I thought of what I was going to do.
My heart pounded fast in my chest, and I nearly ran all the way to the library because it wouldn’t slow down.
Chapter Seven
Elijah
I lay back on my bed with my hands behind my head and my legs crossed. I had another free afternoon, and I didn’t feel like doing anything. Logan was busy with Dana, so I was on my own. I was starting to get used to it, though.
It had been a few days already since I last saw Sophia, and I wanted to see her again. First, because I wanted to apologize. I didn’t know smoke bothered her that badly, and if I had…well, old me would have been a bastard and done it anyway, but when I saw her coughing, her face red and twisted in discomfort, her eyes misty, I’d felt a stirring of guilt.
Still, I couldn’t help but think she was hot, looking especially fierce when she glared and argued with me.
So…in the end, what am I going to do?
I had been thinking over and over what I was supposed to do about our online relationship. I’d tried to talk to her like I did online, but I’d forgotten she hated my face. Even when I tried to be reasonable, she could only act disgusted with me.
It bothered me. But, there was nothing I could do about it.
“Fuck,” I grumbled to myself, pushing to sit up, leaning back on my arms.
What would it take to change her image of me? Was it even possible?
“It fucking has to be,” I growled into the empty room.
When it was online, it was so much easier to talk to her. Even in a live chat, and not just leaving messages for each other, I had time to formulate a response to her, so even when she wanted to talk about what she thought were our mutual interests, it was easy enough to do some quick research before sending a response. That way, I could keep my image as the best match for her with little effort. But I wanted to find some way to get her to talk to me properly in real life. I already knew there was another side to her besides her snappy anger; I just needed to get her to let her guard down.
That right there lay my current dilemma.
With a huff, I got off the bed. I moved to my desk, where I had my laptop closed. I sat down, stretched my fingers out, and pulled the lid open, then turned the computer on.
After the incident in her room, I hadn't chatted much with Sophia online. She hadn't mentioned what happened that day to me, though, so I didn’t know whether or not to feel relieved. Sometimes, when she had something that bothered her, she’d tell Student X all about it, because she didn’t have anyone else to talk to.
I felt a bit guilty about that, too. I knew she and Dana were friends, and thanks to Logan, their relationship had changed a lot. I was vaguely sure, without Logan’s influence, she wouldn’t have had him call me to their room to hack Sophia’s computer. Then again, it was more like Logan invited us, and Dana didn’t say no.
After Sophia left us all in that room, Logan had broken out into a laugh, ecstatic to have made Sophia uncomfortable, and I’d wanted to punch him in the face, hard. I’d left not long after Sophia had, and I’d just barely stopped myself from running after her. Even if I had, the confrontation wouldn’t have gone nicely.
I…am starting to feel something for her, aren’t I? I thought with a sigh. Besides just seeing her as someone attractive and irritating, I was starting to care what she thought of me. Which was a bad thing, because she didn’t think anything particularly nice about me.
Well, the real me anyway.
The moment I had the site open, I pulled up my messages. I ignored everything else and read Sophia’s. She had sent three messages at three different times, with the first two being longer as she told me about her day. The last one had been sent about thirty minutes ago, and she was asking about how my day was. I tugged on my lip, thinking before I replied.
Not much to do today. I had a class early morning, but the professor couldn’t make it, so we only stuck around class for an hour to do some work he left for us. I don’t have any other classes today, so I’m resting.
I hesitated for a while before sending the message. She couldn’t figure anything from just that vague info. I’d looked, and I was positive she didn’t share today’s class with me, at least, and she might not have heard of it.
Oh. I’ve been busy since this morning, and I just got some time to myself. I’m at the dorm about to start on some assignments. My roommate is out, so lucky me!
I winced at the indirect mention of Dana.
That’s good to hear, I replied. So, are you free right now?
Sure, what do you need? she asked immediately.
I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then typed again.
I was wondering…do you still want to meet up in person?
We’d been chatting for nearly three weeks. It didn’t feel like enough, but she’d warmed up to me considerably online, and I thought it was time to take it to a new level. I didn’t know how her reaction would be once she knew it was me. I wasn’t even sure yet if I was going to pretend it was a coincidence on my end or not. Telling her the truth would work against me…but it might be worse if she just found it out on her own later.
Coming up with a decision wasn’t simple. After a long moment, she finally replied.
Are you interested?
I am. I was thinking we know each other enough already; I want to meet you.
Okay! When and where?
Her reply was immediate and eager, as expected. I thought of when I would next have free time. I had an upcoming game in the next few days, which also meant last minute practice. I was only free for the afternoon because I had practice the last three days. I’d been a bit preoccupied recently so I wasn’t even sure when the game would be seeing as the season was back on. I only got through hockey practice because I was so used to the game I did it on autopilot, though I wasn’t at my best form then, it was enough to pass.
Once I figured out a time, I sent the message to her. I got another one back, and smiled, felling a little anxious. Still, my bad mood from before got a bit better, and I put my computer off, then got back on my bed and closed my eyes for a proper rest.
As expected, things got a bit busy in the next few days. There was a lot riding on the game, and our opponents wouldn’t be weak.
On the day of the game, we both still had to sit through a class in the morning. If it had been in the way, we would have been allowed to skip, but since it wasn’t, we just met up afterward and headed toward the field. We could see people heading for the stands as we went to the changing rooms.
“Hey, do you think we’ll win this time?” Logan asked.
I slapped him in the back, hard enough to make him stumble a little, and he glared at me.
“What kind of attitude is that?” I said, grinning at him. “Keep thinking we’ll win and we’re going to win.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered.
“You ready to go?”
“Hang on. Let me see if Dana’s gonna make it out today. She said she’d make it to the stands for the game…”
I arched an eyebrow at him
but left him to his business. He and Dana were a thing now, even though he hadn't said it expressively, but he’d never been so infatuated with a girl for this long. I picked up my cell, but before I could do more than unlock the screen, they called for us. Something had me preoccupied, though. I looked at the time and date on my cell’s screen before putting it aside and heading out to the field with the others.
It wasn’t until we were about to start when it occurred to me.
Shit!
“Dude!”
I felt a hard slap on my back that, especially with my inattention, sent me stumbling. I turned back to see Logan grinning at me, probably happy that he got back at me for earlier. I could hardly care about that, though, and whatever look was on my face, he got clued into it.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning. “Did you forget something?”
“I did, actually,” I said grimly. “Logan, I’m sure that I asked Sophia to meet me today.”