A/N: Trying out a new story! The title comes from a Copeland song but I thought it was fitting...
I'm hoping to veer away from Out of My Hands (my last story) territory... meaning I've been out of high school for almost four years (gulp, I just aged myself hardcore there) and I figure it's time to move on. I hope you enjoy this!
Chapter 1
I was buried in my Psychology notes when the door flew open. I looked up and watched my roommate Natalie, who was giggling wildly; enter our room with a guy in tow. "Oh," she stopped giggling at the sight of me and then added, "I didn't think you would be here."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Surprise." I stated flatly, sitting back against my pillows on my bed.
"I thought you were going to over to your boyfriend's dorm," she remarked innocently as she moved closer to the guy, who appeared uninterested in our conversation as he looked around at the plain cinder block walls of our dorm room. I had a feeling I knew what he was really interested in…
I tossed my notes into my book and then snapped it shut. "I was just leaving." I announced as I got off my bed and slid my feet into my flip-flops.
"See ya," she said to my back, sounding completely disinterested in me now.
I turned off my computer and pulled on my sweatshirt as fast as I could, especially since the silence in the room was now tense and awkward… they were obviously waiting for me to leave. I swept my keys off my desk as I pocketed my cell phone and then exited without another word. I heard the door lock behind me and walked faster, wrinkling my nose as I retrieved my phone out of my jeans. I dialed my boyfriend Jeremy as I trotted down the stairs of my dorm.
It rang once before he picked up with a terse, "Hello." He sounding beyond tense and stressed out so I knew I had to tread lightly.
"Hey, it's me." I replied tentatively, trying to sound upbeat and cheerful as I carefully observed my surroundings as I crossed the campus. The rolling green lawns and pathways appeared deserted… but when you were a college age girl like me, you know better than to be caught off guard by someone.
"Hi," he grunted back. Okay, not exactly the response I was looking for, but oh well.
"Can I come over for a bit?" I asked him carefully, trying not to sound needy and desperate. Someone called my name and I jumped before returning the wave of a girl in one of my classes.
"Sure," he answered after a very hesitant pause, which I chose to ignore. "I'll send Patrick down to let you in."
"Thanks." I replied with relief. "Bye," we hung up as his red brick; nondescript dorm building came into view as I rounded the corner. It looked exactly like mine, which was no surprise since all the dorm buildings on campus looked the same… long, three stories high, with light pouring out over the grass from the stairwells at the end of the building. I headed to the center of the building since I didn't have a key to get into the stairwell.
I was almost to the entrance of Jeremy's dorm when it opened. "Hey Emily." Patrick slumped against the door as he nonchalantly held the door open for me.
"Hi." I replied, walking in past Jeremy's roommate. "Thanks for coming down."
"Yep," he replied easily as we crossed the common room to the door that led to the stairwell. A television blared the evening news, even though no one was watching, while one of the resident advisors hummed tunelessly to herself as she worked at the front desk. "So what brings you here? My sparkling personality?" he flashed a charming grin at me as he held the door open.
"No." I grumbled back as we began climbing the stairs to the third floor, where the boys lived. "Nymphomaniac Natalie kicked me out… again." The smell of chemicals was powerful in the stairwell… they must have just been cleaned. Our footsteps echoed against the plain white walls.
Patrick let out a low whistle in response to my announcement. "She never stops, does she?" he laughed as he ran a hand over his dark short hair.
"I know, right?" I grimaced in agreement. "She made this huge production out of being surprised to see me but hello, where the hell else would I be? It's only a Thursday night."
"Some people party on Thursdays," he pointed out conversationally, although I knew he knew what was coming next.
"Some people sleep around on Thursdays." I vented in reply, then pretended to think about it before I added sarcastically, "Oh wait… that's everyday when it comes to Natalie!" and then made another face.
He laughed again as we reached their floor. He held the door for me yet again before he teased, "So I guess I'll be seeing your early morning scowl tomorrow morning?" as we walked down the hall to their room. A few guys lifted their hands in greeting as we passed their rooms.
I was about to answer when I heard Jeremy answer tersely for me, "No." He didn't even look up from his work as we entered through the open door into their room. "I have way too much work to do," he took his glasses off and sighed.
"Lame!" Patrick sang as he sat down in front of his computer and went back to playing a computer game.
Jeremy sighed as he sat back in his chair and slowly ran his hand over his face. He finally looked up at me and grumbled, "Hi."
My heart went out to him at the sight of his exhausted expression. "Hi." I replied sympathetically as I moved behind him and then wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "How's it going?" I asked him after kissing his cheek hello.
"Another all nighter," he grumbled back as he picked up his glasses off his desk. "Why did I choose Architecture as my major?" he asked rhetorically before putting his silver wire frame glasses back on.
I studied his profile for a moment. The glasses added a certain amount of geek chic to his adorable features… it made me fall in love with him all over again. His dark blue eyes, accented by the dark blue collared shirt he wore, were weary while his thin blond hair was tousled, I already knew, from running his hand continuously through it. It was his patent "studying hard, working hard" nervous gesture. I felt another rush of affection for him. "You chose it because you're brilliant." I kissed his cheek. "And cute." Patrick snorted behind us but I ignored him… it was amazing, how you learned to ignore your friends' roommates. For a moment, it had felt like we were almost alone… almost.
"Thanks." Jeremy grunted back, looking at his work, distracted once again. Oh well.
We had been together since junior year of high school. Everyone told me that it was a bad idea to go to the same school as him, that we would probably break up our fall semester, that it would be ugly, and ruin our freshman year of college… but we had made it through, all the way to now, which was October of our sophomore year. Not without the occasional bumps and fights of course… we were a couple who were different individually, not the perfect couple. But, considering how much work he always had to do, it was remarkable that we had lasted this long. I guess it was because I understood how important his full-ride scholarship was to him… I knew that, one day, he would be designing amazing buildings, and that this would all pay off.
"Why don't you watch some TV?" he asked, shrugging me off. I knew better than to feel hurt… he didn't do it on purpose. When he had a lot to do, he got completely sucked in, and it was hard for him to focus on anything else. I quickly leaned back in to kiss him on the cheek again before I sat down on his bed.
Patrick closed all the windows on his computer at that moment. "Beer pong time!" he sang as he rose, pulling on his jacket while his computer powered down. He noticed me watching him, quirked an eyebrow, and then asked, not unkindly, "Want to come?"
"No way." Jeremy mumbled to his work, even though the question hadn't been directed to him, but he hadn't noticed since he hadn't lifted his head. "It's a Thursday night and I have an early class, plus an all nighter."
Patrick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know," he stated flatly. "I wasn't asking you, dumb ass… you won't come up for air until five tomorrow morning." Jeremy grunted in agreement as Patrick looked at me. "Emily?" he asked. "Are you up for it?" he saw my hesitation and jumped in, before I could answer, with, "Come on, Em! It's Thirsty Thursday!"
I suppressed a smile at the name and then shook my head. Frat parties weren't the thing to do when you were a girlfriend. "Have fun though." I smiled at him as I reached for the headphones on Jeremy's nightstand.
"Come on, Em!" Patrick repeated. "How fun is watching Jeremy work his ass off? Oh, wait, it's not," he answered his own question sarcastically. "I do it all the time."
So do I. "Frat parties really aren't my idea of fun, Patrick." I replied dryly. "I don't like being on the receiving end of the drunk grab ass game."
"You should go." Jeremy mumbled distractedly to his work.
Nice… he was suggesting, to his girlfriend, that she should go to a frat party with a ton of guys without him. "And get hit on by sleazy guys?" I grimaced, even though he didn't see. "No thanks."
Jeremy looked up, his expression annoyed. "Well I have a lot of work to do and you'll just distract me," he snapped back, surprisingly harsh, which made me physically recoil in surprise.
"Damn." Patrick muttered, watching us with unveiled interest. Great.
Jeremy sighed heavily and then rose from his desk. He turned to his roommate and asked him, "Could you wait outside for a minute? I want to talk to Emily alone." Patrick raised his hands as he backed out of the room with one glance at me. Jeremy shut the door behind him and then came over to sit down next to me. I gave him the big, reproachful, doe eyes as he did so. "I'm sorry," he said quietly as he sat down on his bed next to me. I relaxed slightly as he put his hand on my knee while explaining, "I have a bunch of work due tomorrow, I'm stressed out, and I took it out on you." I nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't like it if you went to Alpha Phi without me, but I want you to do something other than feel neglected while I try to get all this shit done," he touched my face affectionately. "Plus, you're so damn pretty that it'll be hard to concentrate," he smiled and I saw a younger Jeremy, from back when our relationship was still new, come out. I smiled back at him. "So why don't you call Melissa and hang out with her instead?" he suggested as he rose.
"That's a good idea." I agreed as he opened his door and called Patrick's name. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my best friend. "Hey." I said once she answered.
"Hey!" she sang back, sounding glad to hear from me. "What's up?"
"Natalie is at it again." I sighed, watching Jeremy and Patrick discuss something quietly.
I heard Melissa chuckle dryly. "Ah… if the bunk bed's a-rockin'…" she trailed off, knowing that I knew where she was going with that.
"Don't you dare come a-knockin'." I finished for her with a smirk.
"Do you want to come over? What's Jeremy doing?" she asked me.
"We'll talk about it when I get there." I replied instead.
"Okay, call me when you want me to come downstairs," she agreed, sounding curious, but didn't press, probably because she knew that Jeremy was nearby.
"Will do. See you soon," we said goodbye and hung up. The boys looked up as I hopped off the bed and walked over. "Mel says it's fine." I relayed.
"Okay." Jeremy nodded as Patrick checked his phone. "So I asked Patrick to walk you over there," he then saw the expression on my face, sighed, and then explained, "I can't… I have too much work to do."
Yeah, I was well aware of that. He had only said that ten times in the last ten minutes. "Okay." I managed to reply neutrally, although a childish part of me wanted to snap back in a petulant voice, "Fine." Maybe I would add a foot stomp in for good measure as well.
"Let's roll." Patrick checked his phone again.
"Okay." I agreed and then kissed Jeremy quietly. "Good luck." I smiled softly at him. He smiled back for a second, waved, and then went back into his room as Patrick and I walked down the hall.
We descended the stairs in silence but once we got to the common room, I spoke up. "Thanks for doing this." I told him quietly as we crossed the room to the door.
"Sure," he agreed, holding the door open for me. He shoved his hands into his pockets as we began to cross the law to Melissa's dorm. "How long have you been with Jeremy?" he asked conversationally. They had only lived together since August and I'm sure they never really talked about anything in particular.
"A little over three years." I replied almost automatically.
"Wow…" he muttered, sounding either surprised or amazed, I couldn't tell. There was a long pause before he abruptly asked, "How do you do it? He works all the time." I winced but he caught it. "Oops…" he muttered before asking softly, "Not the first time you've been asked?"
"Yeah." I nodded once before adding quietly, "No one said it was easy."
"I'm sorry," he said immediately, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable now.
I shrugged him off before explaining simply, "Jeremy is a part of me." I wasn't really sure why I was explaining myself but I did anyway. "We make it work."
"But-" he began as I heard male voices in the distance call his name. We turned to see a couple of guys waving in the distance. Patrick lifted a hand in reply but kept walking.
"You can go." I said immediately, especially since we were almost to Melissa's dorm anyway.
"I promised Jeremy," he answered firmly.
"But-" I began to protest.
"Come on, Em. I promised Jeremy," he cut me off quickly. "If I don't, he'll somehow find out, and then he'll kick my ass. How awkward would that make sharing a room, right?" he asked as we stopped outside Melissa's dorm.
"Okay, fine." I grumbled, trying not to sulk as I text messaged Mel and told her that I was here. "Never mind that I walked over here, alone, by myself, right?" I added dryly.
"I just don't want Jeremy to kick my ass, all right?" Patrick repeated but I saw a smirk flash across his features.
"You-" I caught sight of Melissa and grinned at her as she came to the door. "Hey." I said cheerfully as she opened the door.
"Hey," she smiled back and then her eyes flicked to Patrick. "Hey…" she said with a question in her voice.
"Hey," he replied and then smirked at me before explaining flippantly, "I'm just delivering Jeremy's damsel in distress."
"Hey-!" I began indignantly.
"See ya." Patrick waved nonchalantly before he sauntered away. "MATT!" he shouted, presumably after the guys who had been calling him.
I rolled my eyes and then followed Melissa into her dorm. "What's going on?" I asked her as the huge crowd of people in the common room burst into laughter, mingled with shouts.
"It's one of the girls on the third floor's birthday." Melissa answered, uninterested, before we entered the stairwell.
"Ahhh…" I muttered as we squeezed past a huge group of chattering girls.
"What's Jeremy up to?" she asked as we entered the second floor, although it sounded like she already knew the answer.
"What else? He's pulling another all-nighter." I tried not to sound so forlorn, I really did, but I was still stung from Patrick's question earlier.
"Mmmm…" Melissa responded blandly before opening the door into her room.
"Hey Leigh." I greeted Melissa's roommate as we walked in.
"Hey," she grunted back as she grabbed her headphones off her desk. It looked like she was working on a paper, judging from the word document opened on her computer and the various notes and books scattered around her desk. I had looked just like her last week, when I'd had a huge paper due for my History class.
Melissa sat down at her desk in front of her computer as I sat down on her bed. She turned on some music softly before stealing a furtive glance at Leigh, who didn't stir, and then swiveled around on her chair to face me. "What's Natalie up to?" Melissa grinned wickedly as she spun her finger through her dark brown, almost black, hair, although it was obvious that she already knew the answer once again as she tucked one of her legs under her.
"Shut up." I grumbled in reply instead of answering her.
"The bunk bed's arockin'!" she exclaimed gleefully.
"At least one of us enjoys that I have a slut for a roommate." I grumbled, ornery now.
"My roommate is boring. She always has a nose in a book." Melissa pointed out in reply without even bothering to lower her voice.
"Shut up." Leigh muttered behind her, accustomed to Mel's ribbing.
"How's that ten page paper coming?" Melissa half turned in her chair, only for Leigh to flip her off. She chuckled under her breath before turning around and commenting lightly, "That was nice of Patrick, to drop you off."
I smirked knowingly and then asked her dryly, "I guess it was an added bonus for you, huh?"
"Only because he's so damn hot!" Melissa sighed, a dreamy expression filling her face.
"He's hardly Brad Pitt." I teased in reply before clarifying, "You've only had an epic crush on him for three months now, right?"
"Crush, not really," she corrected. "I don't crush on frat boys… it's dirty," she wrinkled her nose and I nodded in agreement. Not about Patrick, that is, but about frat boys in general. "I just think he's hot, that's all," she shrugged nonchalantly. I mirrored her shrug and then batted my eyes at her with an over the top, moony expression. She laughed and threw a pen at me before turning to her computer to check her Facebook.
"He was on his way to Alpha Phi anyway and Jeremy was too busy to walk me over." I explained and then immediately regretted it, since I had just given her an opening…
…to bash Jeremy. "Seriously?" she demanded incredulously, turning her head to look at me with a look of mingled disgust and exasperation. "Your boyfriend has that much work to do that he can't walk you here? It's a ten minute walk, here and back, tops!"
I winced, annoyed, and not eager to have this conversation for what seemed like the billionth time with her. "He didn't have time." I grumbled in a tone of voice that clearly suggested that she drop the subject as soon as possible.
"Whatever, that's a bunch of bull," she has always been one to tell it like it is. She then perked up as she asked, "There's something going on at Alpha Phi tonight?"
"Yeah, it's the same thing as every night: it's called playing grab ass." I grumbled in reply, still put out by her attitude toward Jeremy (not that I was surprised by it, since she's always been one to bash him when she had the chance). She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Mel? Not tonight… I'm not in the mood."
"Emily dear, you're my best friend, but you also actually have a boyfriend, unlike me and the rest of our friends," she pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "Just because you don't want to go doesn't mean I don't!"
"Well…" I began slowly, knowing what already what she would say when I told her, but pressed on anyway. "Jeremy told me-"
"-to stay at home like a little old lady at the ripe age of nineteen?" she cut me off as she turned and raised an eyebrow at me.
"He's just protective!" I tried weakly.
"He just doesn't want you to have fun if he's not there," she interjected instead.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I muttered as my phone chimed the incoming text message tone. I picked it up and checked it… "Natalie is done. I'm going home." I said as I rose.
"You should come with us." Melissa said distractedly as she typed out a text message of her own, probably to the rest of our girlfriends.
"I'm too tired." I half lied. "I need to study anyway."
"Lame," she grunted but she half smiled at me anyway. "I'll call you tomorrow… maybe we can go out and have dinner tomorrow night."
"Sounds good." I agreed as I rose. "See you later, Leigh," she grunted bye back at me without taking her headphones off or tearing her eyes away from her paper.
"Hey Em?" Melissa said as I reached the door. I turned back, a questioning expression on my face. "Would you like me to call Patrick so that he can walk you back to your dorm?" she asked with a smirk.
"Shut up!" I exclaimed, waved, and then left her room. I quickly crossed the campus, looking carefully around, and then entered my dorm, relaxing as I walked across the common room to the stairs. There's nothing quite like crossing campus late at night in the dark…
I unlocked my door and carefully eased it open, hoping that I wasn't going to walk in on Natalie's naked new boy toy, but instead found Natalie alone, standing in the middle of our room, clad only in her lingerie. "Shit!" I complained as I quickly shut the door behind me. "Put some damn clothes on." I grumbled as I threw my keys down.
"We need to like… work on a system," she said slowly. "And whatever, it's not like you haven't seen it before," she scoffed.
I closed my eyes but it was too late: I had already relived the awkward memory of when I had accidently walked in on her wrapped up with another guy, going at it on her desk chair. "Thanks for that." I snapped at her.
"So what do you want to do?" she asked me flatly as I took off my sweatshirt and turned on my computer. "Do you want me to hang a sock on the door or something?"
"Nice." I rolled my eyes. "But a little conspicuous, don't you think?"
"Our neighbors definitely know." I was pretty horrified to realize that she was faintly proud of that fact. Our poor neighbors… "How about a note?"
"What will it say, Natalie?" I asked her before sneering, " 'I'm screwing some guy, come back later' ?"
She glared at me hatefully. "You're such a bitch," she grumbled as she turned away. I vigorously Febreezed the room in response since something definitely didn't smell right before I grabbed my shower stuff and went off to the bathroom.
When I came back from the shower, I was relieved to see that she was gone. I sat down in front of my computer and checked my email and my Facebook as I brushed out my hair. I finally yawned hugely before climbing into bed.
I was dead asleep before I woke up to an all too familiar noise. I groaned then rolled over so that I could face the wall and try to block out the squeaking noise from across the room. She really needed to give it a rest.
I started awake the next morning to Natalie's blaring alarm. The sun was shining through the cracks in the cheap blinds as I rolled over and looked blearily at Natalie's unmoving body. "Natalie!" I groaned once. She didn't move, of course… it was not a mistake that her alarm was so damn loud. "Natalie!" I yelled before launching one of my shoes at her. She groaned, rolled over, shut off her alarm without opening her eyes, and then rolled back over. I could hear her snoring quietly a few minutes later.
Of course she wasn't going to her 9 AM class, she never did… but she set her deafening alarm clock anyway. Why should today be any different? Especially after her previous night activities… although no one else was in her bed right that moment. Thank goodness.
I rolled over to go back to sleep, since my class wasn't until 10:30, but found that it was useless because I was too much awake. I sat up, grumbling to myself, and then rolled out of bed, deciding to use my time usefully.
I got ready for the day, grabbed my backpack, and then left my room. Natalie didn't even stir, even when I accidentally dropped one of my thick books on the floor. I glared at her sleeping form before I stalked out of our room. "Hey," a girl on my floor said with a sympathetic smile. She had seen Natalie and I have it out many times. Once I was outside, I checked my watch as I crossed campus (9:02), and then continued on to the library as I pulled out my cell phone. I smiled at people I vaguely knew from the dorms or classes as I walked and dialed Jeremy. But, after it rang twice, it went to voicemail… he had ignored my call. Nice. I hung up without leaving a message (why should I, when he rejected my call?) and gritted my teeth as that little voice inside of me, which sounded very much like Melissa, spoke up and suggested I break up with Jeremy.
It wasn't the first time the thought had occurred to me… it would be nice to have a boyfriend around more often, one who wasn't wound up so tight all the time. I also remembered, just as I had realized a few days earlier, that I couldn't remember the last time we had gone out on a date. We ate lunch in the dinning hall sometimes, sure, but an actual date, out to dinner, and maybe a movie? I couldn't remember… and that was sad.
But I told myself that I loved Jeremy… it had been three years, and I knew that he loved me. So I put it behind myself and trekked on to the library.
After a little more than an hour of studying, I sat down in my first class of the day, glad that it was a Friday. I probably would have to go home tomorrow… it was time to go see my family.
Three girls clothed in terrycloth sweat suits sat down in the row in front of me. The large lecture hall buzzed with quiet conversations but the only one close enough to eavesdrop on was the one that happened right in front of me. "We definitely have to go to that party tonight," the girl in the middle gushed.
"Definitely," her friends muttered before one of them snapped their gum. I hid a smirk as I pulled out my notebook.
Patrick plopped down to me a few minutes later. " 'Sup?" he grunted as a greeting.
"Hey." I replied and then asked him, already slightly apologetically, "Not to be a stalker or anything, but have you seen Jeremy today?"
Patrick nodded blandly as he pulled out his notebook. "He was in our room before I left for my last class," he relayed, obviously bored by the conversation.
"Oh." I muttered as our professor started class. I diligently took notes and paid attention, trying not to notice Patrick's constant fidgeting… that was what I got for sitting next to the boy with ADHD.
"This class is so damn boring." Patrick muttered as we rose once our professor dismissed us.
"You're just too ADHD." I shot back dryly as I gathered my stuff together.
"Hey, I'm take meds, and I can pay attention in other classes," he retorted petulantly. "It's boring, admit it!"
I paused and then admitted, "Yeah, it is. But it's History, what were you expecting?"
"Boring," he repeated himself.
"We have to learn it so that it doesn't repeat itself." I remarked wisely… but mostly to stick it to him as we walked out of the lecture hall.
"Nice," he smirked down at me. I had never noticed how much taller he was… although it wasn't really a surprise because I was only 5'4". He must have been well past six feet though… the top of my head came to his shoulder. I looked away as I considered how much I had always liked how Jeremy was only 5'10" or 5'11", even though he had always hated it… but it was so much easier to kiss him. "Em." Patrick nudged me just then and I looked up, startled. "Lost you for a second…" he remarked softly.
"Sorry." I muttered. "What were you saying?"
"I said that History was the easiest choice for my general ed," he answered, referring to the classes we had to take before taking our upper division.
"Me too." I agreed, waving at a girl from the dorms as she passed. I noticed the sidelong glance she sent in Patrick's direction.
If he had seen it, he didn't say anything. "What are you doing tonight?" he asked me as he dug his hands into his pockets while we walked.
"Oh, you know… the usual…" I said flippantly. "Normal stuff like give myself a facial, maybe paint my toenails, try to catch a free moment with my boyfriend-," we shared a look, "-have dinner with Melissa, fight my slutty roommate for our room…"
"Come on, Em," he began to wheedle me and I instantly knew where he was going. "Get a group of girls together and come to Alpha Phi."
"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "And what scintillating event is happening tonight, vice president Patrick?" yes, Patrick is the vice president of his fraternity. I waved to a girl who was in one of my Psych classes as she passed us.
"Beer pong, keg stands, and some dancing!" he announced in a booming television announcer's voice.
"Yeah!" I jumped in surprise as a group of guys who were walking toward us cheered and raised their fists in agreement. Patrick gave them each a fist bump as they passed… what a guy thing.
"New brothers?" I remarked dryly as we continued walking.
"The brand new pledge class," he nodded in agreement and then smiled at a girl as she passed. She slowly smiled back at him.
"Riveting." I teased him back.
"Hey, just because you've never been accepted by a sorority-" he began with the pious air of someone from the Greek system.
I cut him off almost immediately. "First of all, I've never rushed, and second of all, there's not a chance in hell that I would subject myself to living with a hundred other girls in a house." I corrected him sharply.
"Well excuse me!" he retorted, lifting his hands up in surrender with a smirk.
"Speaking of houses, why aren't you living with your brothers, el vice presidente Patrick?" I demanded with a sneer.
"Because, as much as I love Alpha Phi-" he stood up straighter and placed a majestic hand over his heart before high-fiving a passing guy wearing an Alpha Phi sweatshirt. "The house is a constant party. Jeremy actually shuts up," he lowered his voice as though one of his brothers was about to jump out of the bushes and report on him for speaking ill of a constant party scene.
"Why are we whispering?" I stage whispered.
"Because that's how I talk when Jeremy is studying," he whispered back with a smirk.
"I know that whisper so well." I remarked dryly in my normal voice, knowing full well that Jeremy could go two to four hours of non-stop studying without making a peep. The only indication that he was still breathing was that his pen moved occasionally and his eyes darted back and forth across the page.
"Speaking of…" Patrick said slowly. I turned to see Jeremy walking over to us, his expression grim. "What's up?" he greeted Jeremy cautiously.
"Hey." Jeremy grunted back, his expression still grim. He then turned to me and asked abruptly, "Can I talk to you?"
I paused, surprised and more than a little reluctant, before I answered, "Yeah, sure."
"Hey-" Patrick touched my shoulder. "-give me a call later."
"Sure." I nodded and then he walked away. I looked up at my boyfriend, who still appeared stormy, and asked him cautiously, "What's going on?"
He took a few breaths before asking evenly, "Since when do you hang out with Patrick?"
I blinked in surprise as the gears whirled in my head. "We're in the same 10:30 class." I answered slowly and then it hit me. Seriously? "Are you jealous right now?" I demanded. He didn't reply, only sighed, and looked away. "Seriously?" I demanded, almost incredulous. "Are you serious right now? I'm not even going to answer that… grow up." I turned away, thinking that he had a lot of nerve-
He grabbed my arm and turned me back around to look me in the eye and said flatly, "We need to talk."
I was quickly growing irritated. "Patrick and I are just friends, Jeremy." I stated flatly as I turned to go again.
He pulled me back and looked me in the eye. "This isn't about Patrick. We need to talk," he repeated coolly and I finally stopped to listen.
A/N: Speaking of college, I'm going to be late for class if I don't wrap this up. I'll try to write a more detailed note next chapter. I hope you guys like it... leave me a review with your thoughts!