Chapter 6 #3
“Seriously, dude, what the fuck? You need to keep your damn nose out of our business.” Bradley is flailing his arms around like a crazy person.
He’s gone off the deep end. I decide to try to defuse the situation. “Alex, maybe you should go now.” I don’t want him to see this crap again today. It was embarrassing enough yesterday.
“I’ll leave when this dick leaves. I want to be sure you’re okay.”
Bradley grunts and looks first at me, then at Brooke. Her bored expression is long gone. Now, there’s murder in her eyes. The question is, who’s the target?
“Bradley, you need to go. When I’m ready, I’ll call you. But we aren’t getting back together. Not that we were ever really together. At least not like you were with her.” I use my thumb to point at Brooke.
Bradley looks shamefaced. He should. I walk past him and around Brooke to get into the dorm. When I turn to go into the sitting area, I nearly run into Alex. “I’ll go, but I’m taking him with me.” He’s pointing right at Bradley.
I touch Alex’s arm. “Thank you.”
With a nod, Alex turns to Bradley. “Come on, Brad. Let’s get out of here.”
“Oh, come on, Stella! What are you doing? He’s using you. He knows you’re vulnerable right now.”
I’ve had about enough of Bradley. Enough for a lifetime. “This is none of your business, Bradley, and besides, Alex is just being a friend.”
“It didn’t look like he was just a friend out in the hallway,” sputters Bradley.
“Well, he is, and it’s none of your concern. It’s time for you to go, Bradley. Alex wants to walk you out apparently.”
“I don’t need that dumb jock to walk me anywhere. This isn’t over between us, Stella!” he bellows as he heads out the door toward the elevators.
“Are you gonna be okay?” Alex asks quietly.
I sigh. “I’ll be okay. Thanks for helping, again. I bet you’re getting tired of saving the stupid damsel, huh?”
“I’m not tired of anything about you, Stella. I’m not sure I’ll ever get tired.”
I let out a small gasp because, well, that was so sweet.
“Will you send me a text so I’ve got your number?”
“Sure.”
“Promise? Will you do it as soon as we go?”
I don’t know why he needs it, but I’m not going to argue with him right now. I want Bradley out of here. “Yes. Promise.”
“Then, I’ll text you later.” As I walk him to the door, he leans down and gives me a light kiss on my cheek. “Talk to you soon, Pixie,” he whispers in my ear.
“Night, Alex.”
As he leaves, I shut the door and turn around to face Brooke. She’s glaring at me. What’s new? I cross my arms and wait. I know something is coming.
“What?”
“Oh, I don't know. I’m at a complete loss. Has something happened to the space-time continuum? I just can’t figure out how you have two guys fighting over you. You!” she scoffs. “You’re fat!”
In my experience, girls like Brooke are predictable.
All they have going for them are insults and hurtful remarks.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I don’t have anyone fighting over me. Well, Bradley is hanging on to something, but I don’t know why.
What I don’t get, Brooke, is why you’re still hanging out with Bradley. ”
“I’m not hanging out with him,” she snipes.
“I just don't care enough about any of this to give a damn about him or about you. It’s perplexing that he’s trying so hard to win you back.
I mean, did you even question why a guy like Bradley wanted to date you?
It didn’t cause any alarm bells to go off in that fat head of yours?
You can’t possibly believe that someone of Bradley’s caliber really wants to be seen with you.
” Her scowl turns into something much more sinister.
“I’ll tell you why he was with you. It’s because you're his ticket to getting a job at your dad’s law firm.
Not to mention, you’re going to make it super easy for him to make partner in record time. ”
I’ve thought about our relationship a lot in the last twenty-four hours.
He used to do everything he could to avoid being seen with me, except around our parents.
I had already figured out that he thought marrying me would get him a job, but I hadn’t gotten to the partnership part of the equation just yet. It all fits, though.
But Brooke isn’t finished. “The truth is, Stella, you disgust him. He told me he was dreading the time when he was going to have to see you naked and have sex with you.”
Okay, that hurts. A lot. Deep down I know that guys aren’t attracted to me, but I thought Bradley was the exception, that he really cared about me and loved me. He knows how insecure I am. I figured he was sensitive to my feelings.
My thoughts are interrupted when she says, “I don’t know what game Alex Emerson is playing with you, though.
but believe me when I say, you are not his type either.
” She’s silent for several seconds. I’m not sure what’s she waiting for.
“Well, aren’t you going to say anything, or are you just going to go into your room and eat your feelings?
That’s what you do, right? Eat your feelings?
” She snorts, and it’s as unattractive as her personality. “You must have a lot of feelings.”
In a surprising twist, Brooke’s offensive words don’t make me cry.
Nope, they make me angry. I want to tell her to go fuck herself, but that’s not the way I was raised.
Instead of engaging with her anymore, I walk toward my bedroom, but before I enter, I turn to Brooke.
“You know, I don’t understand why you’re so angry and hateful and why that hate is directed at me specifically.
I can’t imagine what made you the person you are right now.
Were you abused psychologically? Beaten?
Abandoned on the side of the road as a child? Raised by wolves? I just don’t get it.”
I don’t know anything about Brooke, but I suspect that her life was not filled with tragic moments but with a lot of overindulgence by her parents.
Brooke is a bully, a mean girl, and a bitch.
There’s nothing I could ever say to change her now.
“The thing is, Brooke, I don’t care enough to try to figure you out.
That ship has sailed. I just plan on avoiding you from now on, and I hope you can do the same for me.
I’ve only got to live here a month, thank goodness.
While I’m here, I plan to spend that time focusing on other things––not on you.
” I don’t wait for a response. I just walk into my room and shut the door.
Leaning against the door, I sigh with relief.
Living with that woman is so dang stressful.
No matter how much bluster I show, the truth is I’m not up for dealing with her for a month.
That’s when I hear her yell, “Fuck you!”
Nice. Real nice.
I collapse onto my bed. It’s been one awful day—no, it’s been two terrible days. Tomorrow has to be better. That’s my new mantra. Tomorrow will be better! Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I stare at it. Then I hear Alex’s voice in my head. Promise me you’ll text me.
“Shoot.” Before I overthink it, I search my contacts for his name. I laugh when I see what he used for his contact name. “Alex Emerson, Football God.” He’d put his number in my phone yesterday, and this will be the first and probably only time I’ll bother him.
Me: Hi Alex Emerson, Football God. This is Stella Matthews, average girl.
Yeah, sounds lame, I know.
Next, I decide the only thing that will actually make me feel better about all of this is talking to my best friend.
It’s strange, we only live across campus from one another, but it feels like miles.
In my contacts, I press Lily’s name. When she picks up, I start talking, and I don’t stop until I get to the last thing Brooke said to me as I shut my door.
“Holy shit, Stella. Poor baby. I can’t believe the crap that’s been going on over there. My life is boring compared to your drama.”
“I wish my life were boring. Trade ya.”
“I’d trade you on some of that but not all of it. Bradley is a grade-A asshat. You know I’ve always felt that way about him.”
Lily has known Bradley as long as I have, and she’s always thought he was a self-serving whiner.
She doesn’t restrict her censure to just Bradley though.
She has extended it to include his entire Northwestern University Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
According to Lily, ΣΑΕ is the douchiest frat on the planet.
Seriously, if you google “douchiest frat,” Sigma Alpha Epsilon was listed number one by Rolling Stone magazine. No joke.
“I know. I… well, I was just hopeful. You know I’m a dreamer. I prefer to see the good in everyone until they show me otherwise.”
“I think you’ve seen otherwise from both Bradley and Brooke. She sounds like Satan.”
“She is. She’s a beautiful Satan.”
“She may be attractive, but no way is she beautiful. Beauty comes from within. I know it sounds cliché, but I believe it wholeheartedly. My grandma used to say that to me as she tried to untangle my wild, red curls. I’d be crying because it hurt so much and spewing how I didn’t care if it was beautiful or not.
She’d remind me that it had nothing to do with my hair and everything to do with my soul.
Your roommate has a black soul. I can tell without ever meeting her. ”
Lily is beautiful though, her hair especially.
It’s a vibrant auburn that lights up like fire when the sun hits it just right.
Not only that, she’s got a head full of curls that people pay huge sums of money for at the salon.
They aren’t tight little curls, they aren’t big waves; they’re the perfect mix of both.
The curls flow halfway down her back when she lets them free.
But most of the time, she’s either got it in two braids or up in a tangled bun on the top of her head.
Lily’s nearly the exact opposite of me. She’s tall and lean, and I’m short and fat.
She’s five foot eight inches, and I barely reach five foot three.
She’s got no boobs or ass to get in the way of life or fashion, and I’m pretty much all boobs and ass.
Honestly, I’d kill for her bod. Of course, she’s adorable.
She almost exclusively wears black, she’s outspoken and loyal, and I’m so, so lucky to have her as my best friend.
“So, all of a sudden you’re some sort of clairvoyant? ” I ask.
“Yeeessss, my lovely. And I see your future so cleeaarrllly,” she says with a wavy, ghostly voice.
“I’m pretty sure clairvoyants don’t sound like ghosts, dork.”
“Thiiissss one does. I see your fuuuutttture, my beautiful Stella, and it’s got a big, strong athlete in it.”
Lily has always been able to make me giggle. “Stop. You know nothing. If you want to predict anything, predict whether or not I’m going to oversleep tomorrow. I need to hit the hay, doll. I’m beat.”
“Fine. Whatevs. Go to bed like a loser,” she says with a giggle of her own. “See you tomorrow in Life Painting. Ooh, maybe you’ll finally get to see a peen in real life.” She giggles some more.
I hang up on her after that comment. Peen? What’s a peen? Oh, wait… I think I know.
After pulling myself up from my bed, I pack my bag for my first day of college—after all, that’s why I’m here, right? I need to focus on school—and prepare for bed. Just as I’m finishing up, I hear my phone beep. Ugh, I hope that’s not a text from Bradley. I can’t take much more of that.
Alex Emerson, Football God: Hey, just wanted to check on you, Pixie.
Stella: Wait, is this Football God?
Yes, I’m teasing him.
Alex Emerson, Football God: Who else calls you Pixie? Tell me and I’ll kick their ass.
Stella: You sure are in the mood to do some ass-kicking today, aren’t you?
Alex Emerson, Football God: When it comes to you, Pixie, I’d slay dragons.
Oh, that’s sweet.
Stella: That’s sweet. Maybe I should come up with a nickname for you too?
Alex Emerson, Football God: Better than Football God?
Stella: Well, that one is hard to top, but since you seem to be my knight in shining armor, how about Sir Lancelot? I could just call you Lance for short.
Alex Emerson, Football God: No thanks, I know a guy named Lance from high school, and he’s a real tool.
Alex Emerson, Football God: How ’bout Adonis?
Stella: LOL
Alex Emerson, Football God: LOL? Really? You don’t see me as Adonis?
Stella: Can I call you Donnie then?
Alex Emerson, Football God: Sigh. Never mind. We can keep working on it.
Stella: No, I really LOVE Donnie!
Alex Emerson, Football God: Funny. Wait, if you LOVE Donnie....
Stella: ;)
Alex Emerson, Football God: Did you just wink at me, Pixie?
Stella: Maybe
Alex Emerson, Football God: I like it. You can wink at me anytime ;)
Wow, it feels like he’s flirting with me.
Stella: Well, I need to get to sleep. Big day in Stella-land tomorrow.
Alex Emerson, Football God: Stella-land, huh? I’d like to live in Stella-land.
Hmmm. What does he mean by that?
Stella: Sleep well, Donnie!
Alex Emerson, Football God: Sweet dreams, beautiful Stella.
What is going on here with Alex Emerson?
What’s his story? I should google him and the football team.
And I will. First thing tomorrow. Before going to bed, I change Alex’s contact information from “Alex Emerson, Football God” to “Donnie.” As I drift off to sleep, my mind wanders back to that kiss.
Wow. That kiss. Kissing Alex Emerson was a life-altering moment.
I mean, who knew French kissing was so amazing?
Oh, right, everyone. Everyone except Bradley.