After All

Chapter Four

            For the next week and a half, I was friendly to Ryan whenever I saw him, though I didn't go out of my way to search him out. My cool demeanor didn't deter him though. He brought coffee to math class for me and made sure to always sit in the desk next to mine. He whispered hints throughout class whenever I looked totally lost, which was a lot. He caught on to the lessons so quickly, I wasn't sure how we were even in the same class together. And all the while, I tried not to think about what he'd said to me. That he was sure I would fall in love with him. He didn't mention it again, but the way he'd been acting, I wasn't so sure he'd forgotten about it. Well, just because he believed it, didn't mean it was going to come to fruition.

But none of that mattered tonight. Tonight was Saturday and the night of the first big house party of the year. In Florida, all of our parties were either at teen dance clubs or held around a bonfire on the beach. I had never actually been to a house party before. I couldn't wait to experience the traditional college rite of passage.

Cassie and I spent hours getting ready, finding just the right outfit. Our body types were distinctly different, hers much shorter and curvier than mine, but we somehow still managed to share tops. We emptied our closets and threw all the clothes onto the bed, having a make-shift fashion show with the girls down the hall. We strutted down the hallways as clothes flew around the room in the background. Eventually, Cassie and I settled on bootleg jeans, wedges, and halter tops...mine red and hers blue. She put a little product in her hair to make the curls shine, while I straightened my blonde locks flat.

After shoving our keys and phones in our pockets, we walked upstairs to meet up with Alexis and Lisa so we could all walk over together. The party was on the outer edge of campus at one of the fraternity houses. It was an oversized Colonial on the edge of a wooded area that had been rented out to the male students. It must have been a gorgeous place in its prime, but the outside, and I assumed the inside, were now much worse for wear.

We got on the end of a long line snaking around the house to get in, already feeling the beat of the music vibrating in our chests. Apparently the frat hired a local band known to draw a crowd. The girls all wore their tightest jeans and tube tops, and the boys practically bathed in cologne. The theme of the night was hooking-up. Alexis eventually caught the eye of one of the overly muscled boys with Greek letters stretched across his chest, and we were waved in.

Once inside, we could barely move, sweaty bodies pressed tightly up against each other. Lisa led us over to the keg line, though I declined to partake. I tried beer a few times in high school, but being drunk never really appealed to me. And this party seemed like the last place I wanted to try it out.

The girls and I pushed our way through the crowds to an empty spot close to the band. The bass was a little loud, but despite that, they were surprisingly really good. We formed a little circle and swayed back and forth, moving in time with the music, belting out the lyrics to the cover songs we knew.

Suddenly, hands were on my hips and someone moved behind me. Ready to punch whoever it was, I turned around abruptly. I had never been a fan of the grinding sneak attack boys seemed to love so much. "Ryan," I screamed as soon as I recognized his face, "don't do that!" I swatted at his chest for good measure. "You have got to stop sneaking up on me."

"Sorry!" he put his hands up in surrender. "I didn't mean to. Though I doubt you would have heard me even if I called your name."

"That's probably true." For a moment I was overcome by the way his jeans hung low on his hips and how tightly his t-shirt clung to the muscles on his chest. His chestnut colored hair had a slight sheen of gel, though I could have still run my hands through it. Not that I was thinking about that or anything.