"HADLEY, WAIT!" I spun around and saw James jogging towards me with a smile on his face, books in hand. With every grueling moment, my heart raced and I wished that I just kept on walking.
"James, hey."
After a few seconds, we both sprouted simultaneously, "I need to tell you something."
We both laughed it off and once again simultaneously spoke again, "You go first."
"Um, I'll go first," I said gently. He waited for me to continue as I drew in a deep breath, "Look, James. I know that you don't have a roommate."
"How did you find out?" He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as a flush of pink poured onto his cheeks.
"Ava."
"I'm sorry for lying, Hads. I didn't know if you were going to say yes, and I didn't want things to get awkward if you said no." He stuck his hand in his pocket, looking down at the ground as he lazily kicked a tiny rock to the side.
"It's fine, James." I added, "I had a lot of fun last night."
His head perked up, a smile curling up his lips. "Really?"
I nodded, a soft smile also playing at my lips.
"Well, Hadley, would you like to hang out again and see a movie with me tonight?"
"I'd like that."
"Great. It's a date."
â
"TODAY, WE'RE OFFICIALLY starting our symbolism project," Professor Hyatt announced as people poured into class.
Giant easels, each accompanied by an art palette and blank canvas, sat in place of where our desks were. I took my usual spot near the window, leaving the easel to my left untouched. I watched as the rest of the students walked in, but no sign of Milo.
Professor Hyatt closed the door and began giving instructions on what to do while I took out my supplies. After I began lightly copying my image onto the blank canvas using a pencil, the door swung open, surprising everyone who had been working quietly.
"Sorry I'm late. I had to help someone get to class," Milo apologized, slightly out of breath. A pressure formed in my chest hearing those words, reminding me of my awful deed. His soft black hair was slightly disheveled and when he turned to look at the class, his eyes immediately landed on me and he sent me a soft smile, causing my heart to palpitate. I looked away briskly as I felt heat creeping up my neck and onto my cheeks.
After being informed of what to do, Milo looked for an easel to sit at. There were a few spots open since some people didn't show up, and my pulse began to race as I hoped that he would pick the easel next to me.
The heavens above must've heard my prayer because Milo made his way to the empty seat next to me, getting a whiff of his lavender scent, sending my brain into a mini-frenzy.
"Hey," he whispered, a friendly smile in his face.
"Hi." I shot him a quick smile before turning back to my sketch.
A frown curled down on his lips, "Is everything okay?"
"Yup. Just peachy," I chirped a bit too enthusiastically, indicating how badly I was lying through my teeth. Milo gently tugged on my arm, forcing me to turn towards him. The contact made my heart jump out of my chest, and I had to steady my breathing as much as possible, which ended up making me take shallower breaths than normal.
"If this is about what happened to Nicole, she's not mad at you and she's recovering quickly. Don't beat yourself up about it, okay?"
I nodded and gave him a tight-lipped, solemn smile. He removed his hand and I could feel my skin craving his touch again.
For a while, we didn't say anything to each other, solely focusing on our work. The more focused and into my drawing I got, the farther the thought of Nicole moved to the back of my mind, and I began to relax. I didn't even notice Milo stealthily leaning towards me before catching him through my peripheral vision.
"Hey, no peeking," I playfully chided. I shifted my easel at an angle where Milo couldn't see and he chuckled, doing the same.
Every once in a while, I would peek at Milo, him mirroring my actions. Every time we looked at each other, we instantly broke into quiet fits of giggles, earning a few glances directed our way. A bubbling, giddy sensation rose from my stomach to my chest, which made my smile grow even wider.
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"I FRICKING HATE him!" Ava screamed over the phone. "I swear, if he doesn't show up in five, I will personally go to his dorm and cut hisâ"
"Okay, I get it!" I interrupted before she could finish. "You don't like him."
"Oh, no. I more than dislike him. I hate him."
"Calm down, Ava. Hate is a strong word."
"Shut up," She grumbled. Ava was obviously not in the mood.
"We were supposed to meet at the library and start researching for our project, but here I am. By myself in the library. Sitting at an empty table with no Hunter!"
As I strolled through the quad, leaves floating to the ground as the wind gently pried them off from branches, Ava continued to exasperatedly babble on about how her partner, Hunter, was an hour late for their meet-up. Lord, help me, I prayed.
"Hey."
"Oh, Jesus," I jumped as an arm swung around my shoulder. I looked up to find James staring back at me with a sly smirk, grateful to have an excuse to end the call with Ava.
"What?" said Ava on the other side of the line.
"Nothing. Sorry, I really wish I could help, but I have to go. Call me if you need help with anything else, though. I'll see you back at the dorm. Bye."
I could hear Ava's loud protests as I pressed the red button. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I slapped James's shoulder, also feeling some nervous butterflies fluttering in my belly because of our close proximity.
"Ouch," James feigned pain, holding his shoulder. "What was that for?"
"You scared me!"
He merely shrugged. "Not my problem you're easily spooked," he replied, still wearing a sly grin.
"Whatever," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. "So, what's up?"
"The sky."
"Wise ass," I whispered under my breath.
"Hmm?" He hummed playfully.
"Hmm?" I replied shortly.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch what you said," James joked.
"I didn't say anything," I said innocently.
"Oh, really?" His eyebrow quirked up.
"Really," I confirmed, feigning a confident smile.
"Okay, whatever you say," James finally surrendered, putting his hands up in the air. "So, where are you off to now?"
"Back to the dorms," I sighed. "I just finished rehearsals for dance and I'm exhausted. What about you, going back to the dorms too?"
"Can't," a small frown curling his lips down. "I have a Calculus class in about," James looked down at his other wrist, the one that wasn't around my shoulder, and checked his watch, "twenty minutes."
I frowned, wearing a puzzled expression, as we continued to head towards the dormitory.
"Then why are you heading this way? Your calculus class is in the other direction." I peeked over my shoulder, pointing behind us. After asking him which direction he would be headed for his next class numerous times, I became accustomed to which of his classes were where on campus.
"Well, when I saw you, I thought I'd walk you to wherever you needed to go next," James grinned, showing off his perfect smile. Those words made my heart skip a beat, causing me to shy away from his eyes and suddenly my shoelaces became more interesting.
"Are you blushing again, Hads?" James teased, hearing the giant smirk plastered against his face.
"No," I bursted unintentionally, which only caused my cheeks to grow a deeper shade of red. Hastily looking to the side, I realized that we had made it to the dorms, breathing out a sigh of relief.
"Well, here's my stop." I slowly slipped out from under James's arm and stood in front of him, his arm falling to his side. When I met his hazel eyes, they held a certain intensity to them, boring past my eyes and into my soul.
For what felt like an eternity, we stood there in silence, staring at each other. "Well, don't let me hold you up. You only have about," I took my phone out from my back pocket to check the time, "seven minutes left to get to your class," I chuckled nervously, which caused the air between us to suddenly become weighted with awkwardness.
"Right," he cleared his throat. "I'll see you later on tonight then," stated James. Oh crap, that's right.
"Yup," I softly smiled, to which he did the same. He turned around and slowly made his way in the direction we just came from, strolling casually as if he had all the time in the world.
Just before he turned the corner, he looked back at me one last time, offering a small wave. I returned the gesture and watched as he made a left and disappeared behind a building.
Spinning on my heel, I walked through the dorm entrance and called for the elevator before stepping inside. Standing outside my shared dorm, I fumbled around for my keys before proceeding to unlock the door after finding it at the bottom of my book bag.
When I entered, I saw Nicole and Milo sitting on the couch, Nicole snuggled against Milo's chest as they watched a show on her laptop. Nicole's head whipped towards the door and offered me a smile, "Hey."
Milo glanced at me and also sported a smile towards me, a tight squeeze suddenly filling my chest.
"Hi," I responded, looking to the both of them.
"There was a package for you at the door." She nodded her heads towards my room. "We left it on your bed."
After muttering a "thanks," I proceeded to my room, feeling Milo's eyes stealthily watching me leave the room. I tried to shake it off though as I entered my room and stared at the package on my bed. As I inch closer, I peered down at the package.
To: Hadley Summers, the medium-sized butter colored envelope read on the front. I looked for a return address, but there was none. Curious, I pulled the flap up carefully. Peeking inside, only a thin piece of paper folded in half was placed in the envelope.
I took it out and unfolded it, reading the short, yet disturbing message:
To: Hadley Summers
for I am warning you
so that history doesn't repeat.
but he himself is not sweet.
From,
Anonymous
My mouth gaped open, eyes bulging out of its sockets.
"What the..."
"Are you okay?" A voice behind me sounded. My heart leaped out of my chest and scurried away as I clutched my hand to my chest.
Although the adrenaline was still coursing with full force through my veins, I breathed a sigh of relief as Milo stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame with one arm. His eyebrows were knit together as he intently studied my rigid posture.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I ruffled a hand through my hair and smoothed out my shirt, casting my gaze to the floor. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't I just come here to say hello?" Milo wiggled his eyebrows playfully. I gave him an incredulous look. "Okay, fine. I was a bit curious about what was inside the envelope. It looked pretty sketchy with nothing on the outside but your name."
I mean, he was right. As I thought about it, I became even more distraught. How did the letter even end up at my door in the first place? No clues were left on who it could've been...except for Milo and Nicole. I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but there weren't exactly a lot of possible suspects at the moment.
"So, what was inside?" asked Milo, pushing his body off the frame as he tucked his fingers in his jean pockets and took a step into the room.
"Um, nothing. Just a secret admirer note." Folding the paper back up, I placed it on my bed without turning my back on Milo. Doubt pooled in his eyes as his lips twitched into a subtle scowl.
"Interesting" was all he could respond with.
Although I didn't voice my suspicions, I was determined to find out who had done it, "Who dropped off the package?"
Milo shrugged, "Don't know. It was already here when Nicole and I came here after her journalism class. It was just propped against the foot of the door."
I simply nodded in response as the gears in my brain shifted, inadvertently rolling in my lips as my eyebrows scrunched together.
Although oblivious to it at the time, this was just the beginning of what was to come.
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A/N: hello everyone! PLOT TWIST; I bet you didn't see that coming ;)
I hope you enjoyed (please vote if you did) and thank you again for your support! â¡
-Karlee ð