6. Give Me a Chance
Dillon
Dillon had promised himself that going to parties wouldn't become a recurring thing for him, but this one he couldn't miss. He'd made two new friends in Economy class today and they had instantly filled him in about a dorm party that was happening later tonight. The old Dillon Holden would've known about it before anyone else and made sure everyone knew he'd be there, but now he had answered reluctantly. He had recalled the person he'd been at those parties and didn't want to be that guy anymore â so he had vowed to cool it on the parties.
His father wasn't too crazy about the idea either as he had pointed out before Dillon had left for college. He had lectured him about how not to take this opportunity for granted and embarrass the family more than he already had. Sometimes he wished that he had a big brother or a younger one to take some attention off of himself, just once. Granted he had never complained about the attention as a young child, because who didn't enjoy being spoiled rotten? But then there were times when not even his best friend Charlie could distract his parents from taking their eyes off of him â and now with Charlie in England there was even less of a chance.
"Who is this chick we're headed to? Someone said she was studying art or music â whatever it was it sounded super hipster." Todd said while inspecting his shirt in the mirror.
Todd had nagged himself an invite but Dillon really didn't mind. If Todd got along with his new friends, Keith and Austin, they might not notice if he slipped away and headed home.
"Her name is Rebecca and she is a music major, but you do know music is a form of art, right?"
"Oh come on dude, don't pretend like you knew that shit until a girl told you." Todd dismissed and headed for his room.
He spread out on the sofa and flipped on the TV while waiting for his new friends to arrive for a little pre-drinking. I'm only having four beers tonight, that's it. His mind shot to Libra Jones and he quickly let his mind get occupied by her. So she also lived at The Arc but he hadn't gotten around to asking her what floor she lived on. He still couldn't get over how different she looked compare to when they'd been in high school. When he'd seen her today she had looked beautiful in that denim dress, but of course Dillon would never say that to her â she already hated him enough. Then his mind couldn't help but to shoot back to that night and he wondered if she hated him because she knew his involvement?
A bad feeling crept up his stomach and placed itself like a lump in his chest. The police hadn't contacted him for quite some time now and if Libra had known the truth he wouldn't be here now, but even if she didn't know she might have her suspicions. That's not the only reason she hates you Dillon, he reminded himself and played an internal montage of all the times he'd been mean to her.
"âearth to Dillon, Austin and Keith are here. How about you make yourself useful and help us to get some beers?" Todd, Austin and Keith were looking at him with puzzled eyes as they had just ripped him from daydreaming.
He quickly ignored the bad feeling, that had left a bad taste in his mouth, and headed to greet his new friends and then to the kitchen for some beers. One thing he owed his previous popularity for was how easily he made friends with seniors, who had happily provided him with alcohol.
"I just want to make one thing clear," Austin, the bulky blonde, said, "I have first dibs on Rebecca, seeing as she only personally invited me and none of you." A cocky grin spread across his face.
Dillon rolled his eyes and wanted to fire off a snarky retort but before he had the chance Keith, black haired but equally as bulky, beat him to it:
"You're embarrassing yourself Austin! She only invited you because you kept asking her about the party, plus she didn't even look at you when she asked the question."
"Well how about we make things interesting," Todd said and silenced the two, "first one of all of us to make out with Rebecca wins $30."
Now things had gotten out of hand and it was only the second day. These were the sort of stupid shit he used to do but now he wanted no part of it. Before everyone had cheered him on in competitions like these and he wasn't going to lie; he had loved the attention. But now everything seemed so different and he knew it only had to do with one thing and one person â that damn Libra Jones.
"Guys please; can't we just go and have a good time without competing?" Dillon groaned and saw that he had already had half his beer. Stress and nervousness usually did that to him, caused him to look for dangerous distractions.
"Moody because Rebecca didn't have time for you? Maybe you're just angry because you peaked in high school, buddy." Todd said with a teasing smile.
Dillon would not let himself get that easily provoked and instead of having an attitude about it he chose to chuckle at the absurdity. As far as he knew the countless girls who had been ogling him in Economy today would beg to differ about that statement. He hadn't been oblivious to the whispers that had followed him to the back of the classroom and that word that he'd heard so many times but no longer applied to him: 'player'. People would be surprised if they knew how many girls from his high school had fabricated stories of imaginary hook ups with him â and he wasn't complaining. It had served him well making people believe that he had a lot of notches on his bed post.
"He probably has his sight set on someone else. You should've seen the freshmen girls in class today; drooling all over pretty boy over here. It was almost disgusting." Austin declared but then laughed.
Told you, Dillon's eyes said to Todd who instantly kept quiet. Instead of gloating about he let Austin continue dragging up today's antics from Economy and didn't bother to correct any of the guys when they assumed Dillon had flirted back with some of the girls. Not only had he not cared to flirt back but he had outright ignored them.
"Now that we've talked some current events maybe we can head to Rebecca's? This is becoming quite the sausage fest." Keith interrupted Austin and motioned toward the door.
"I couldn't agree more. Let's get out of here." Dillon said and was on his feet before anyone else.
Rebecca's apartment was about the same size as Dillon's but she also shared it with three other girls so it felt a lot smaller. They had done their best to decorate the living room to a party like atmosphere and from what Dillon saw it looked very nice. The fireflies inspired lights made the place look cozy and intimate while their dining room table held drinks and snacks from everyone â even home baked goods, if anyone dared to taste one.
"This place is awesome!" Todd exclaimed and pushed past his friends to reach the drink table.
Austin and Keith were whispering about finding Rebecca and getting their bet started, something Dillon wanted no part of, but when someone else quickly caught his eye he dropped all thoughts of Rebecca and that $30 Austin and Keith were so eager to win. He weaved between a few people to get a better view of whom he thought he'd seen and stopped dead in his tracks when his sight was confirmed correct. Libra Jones was standing right in front of him, with the guy from the café, and she was looking absolutely stunning.
He couldn't believe the girl in front of him was the same wallflower from North Haven, tonight more than yesterday, he almost wanted to take a picture and send to Charlie but he reluctantly stopped himself. He studied Libra up and down and admired her figure in that black skirt, matching black tight long sleeve and those thigh high boots that made her legs look endless. Despite looking like a million bucks she did also look uncomfortable as hell in her clothes and even in her own skin. She had definitely dressed the part of a confident young woman but she looked anything but â he could still see the old Libra.
Dillon observed the party around him and the people attending it. This party wasn't that much different than the countless high school parties he'd been to and he knew that Libra had never set foot at one of those, if ever. This was probably her first party ever and the guy next to her looked unbothered about the fact that she wasn't comfortable. He watched her friend whisper something in her ear and then leave with another girl, leaving Libra looking like a wallflower in the middle of a crowded apartment.
Before he could think he was pushing his way toward her while keeping a trained eye on her to make sure she didn't go anywhere.
"Hey Libra, are you alright?" Dillon still felt strange saying her name but when her head popped up and her eyes landed on him he smiled. Libra was actually a beautiful name.
Her eyes widened when she had finally taken in the sight of him and she took a quick look around the room, perhaps searching for her friend.
"Y-yeah I'm alright. What are you doing over here?" She mumbled and let her eyes drop to her shoes.
Did he really have this effect on her? Was he making her so nervous that she couldn't meet his eye and constantly acting so defensive around him? Dillon closed his eyes for one second and internally shook his head when he realized that he had given her every right to be this defensive.
"I saw you over here by yourself and I thoughtâ"
"âyou didn't have to do that. You should go find your friends and hang out with them, I bet they're wondering where you are." She had retorted before he'd gotten a chance to finish his sentence.
Libra truly had no time for him it seemed and it was starting to annoy him how rude she had been these last two days. He had been nothing but nice to her and all he had gotten back was attitude and snarky comments.
"That's it," Dillon said and grabbed her elbow to pull her closer. Libra stumbled closer and put one hand on his chest to push him away and it sent an electric shockwave through him. "I have been nothing but nice to you since I first saw you yesterday, so why do you have this fucking attitude?"
His words were loud and harsh when he spoke but he'd had enough of her bullshit and needed to set her straight. The old wallflower was back, he could see it, because she had shrugged back at his words and her eyes had darted down to her feet again. He softened his frowned eyebrows and let out a hopeless sigh.
"I know you have every right to not like me and it's mostly my fault, but I have been trying to fix that. I am not the Dillon Holden I was in high school â so give me a chance to prove it."