Bad Boy Judah

t e n

Get it together, Rosalie! I yell to myself.

I splash my face with cold water over and over.

It's only the next day and all I can think about is that guy. My mind swirls around his existence. His toxic words from last night replay and scatter in my brain.

The things I do to you is up to me...

I shake my head. The things that happened between us... is questionable. How could he be interested in me? I have absolutely nothing to offer.

Judah owns eyes filled with danger. I'm always thinking about him, although I shouldn't. He just spun my world, and I'm disoriented. I stare at my red-hot face in the mirror. Sighing, I get dressed and leave my dorm.

I drag my feet down the steps. As I reach the main door, Everest and his team of friends stand around. We make an awfully long eye contact. I'm afraid he might try to come and talk to me, so I quicken my pace.

"Hey, Rosalie," he calls.

I groan internally and keep walking. I reach the pavement, and he's next to me.

"Hi, Everest," I simply say.

"Haven't seen you in a while."

I shrug my shoulders, "I've been busy."

It doesn't sound like a big fat lie. I keep walking down the hill, hoping he'll join his friends soon. I even contemplate on the idea of calling Judah over to get Everest off my tail.

"Really?" he questions, "A few days ago, I saw you with that, um, guy. Same guy from the club. I wasn't sure if you knew him."

I look over to Everest and frown. Is he talking about Judah? What for? The trees are bare. Wet snow is all around.

"Yeah, I know him," I reply rather boldly, "Why do you care?"

"It's just..." he starts, "I've heard a lot of things about guys like him, you know."

"You don't know him," I say bluntly. I can't believe I'm defending Judah right now. I take bigger strides. "And I don't care about what you've heard."

He grabs my arm, stopping me in my tracks. I immediately pull back, nearly losing my balance. Everest sighs and shoves his hands in his pockets. I watch vapor escape his mouth.

"Those kind of guys are mobsters, Rosalie. The ones on the news," he blabs.

I give him a solid frown, "You must think I'm really stupid."

Some people pass us, walking their ways on the sidewalk. I make a short impatient laugh, fixing my bag pack on my shoulders. Everest just stares at me with a straight face.

"I have class," I finally say.

He looks away, and I walk away.

♠♠♠

I come back to my dorm from my last class of the semester. Next week are finals, and I don't feel prepared at all. I walk around my room, pulling out all my textbooks and notebooks. Hopelessness takes over, when I start skipping pages. How am I going to catch up? I stress and cram information into my head within the late hour. I read all the highlighted text and go over complicated definitions. I don't even opt to turn on some music.

The small moon in the sky reminds me that time is fleeting. I tap my pencil over the pages, planning on going to nun school.

Suddenly someone shortly knocks on my door. I stretch my legs and walk over to it. I swing it open.