16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Margot
There’s nothing like TU campus on an early fall morning. Even though it’s still the weekend, the quad is full of students hanging out, playing catch or just walking around. With my backpack full of our podcast notes, I head toward the media building.
It’s usually easy for me to blend into the scenery on this campus, but for some reason this morning, everyone’s got their eyes on me. Everywhere I turn, people are pointing, laughing and…taking pictures of me with their phones.
What the—, I look down at myself to see what all the fuss is about and that’s when I see it.
I’m naked.
I’m completely naked on the quad.
My face is a tomato as I try to swing my backpack around to hide the goods but then I realize it’s missing, too. When I try to run, my feet are glued to the ground. I whip my head around to try and find some salvation. I can’t believe it can get worse, but then I see him. Alex. Standing there with his eyes glued to my body. He’s taking me in, one slow inch at a time and there’s nothing I can do to stop him. His expression stays static until he reaches my face and then he smiles.
With slow, methodical steps, Alex approaches me. He doesn’t speak but his smile remains. As he nears, I realize it’s not a taunting expression; he’s not teasing me. It’s that genuine Alex smile, the one he’s given me when I say something funny or when I tease him. It’s like he doesn’t notice my embarrassment at all.
Alex shakes his head as he pulls a blanket from behind his back and drapes it around me. He holds it close in front of my body and leans in to whisper in my ear.
“Wake up, sunshine.”
My eyes explode open. I drag my hand down my face as my heart rate dies down. Just a dream . I tell myself. The second dream that Alex has appeared in. Groaning, I drag my notebook off the bedside table and quickly write down everything I can remember. Pulling myself from the bed five minutes later, I find both Danika and Sydney in the kitchen cooking up some pancakes.
I slam the book on Danika’s chest as I walk past her toward the coffee pot. She opens it with glee and immediately begins reading.
“Ah, naked on the quad. A classic.”
“My epitaph, at this point,” I sigh, pouring myself some of the fresh brew. “Keep reading, there’s a new addition this time.”
Dani is silent for a moment before she lets out a gasp. “A knight in shining armor!” She cheers in surprise.
“Who? Who?” Sydney asks, mid pancake flip. She cranes her neck to read over Dani’s shoulder.
“Who do you think? Margot’s new frat boy hottie boyfriend,” Dani teases, holding the book open and pointing to the part about Alex for Sydney to see.
“One, he is not my boyfriend,” I say, pouring almond milk in my coffee and taking my first sip. “And two, I know what the whole naked in public thing means, but what does it mean that Alex is there?”
Danika looks down at the book again. “I think it means you trust him. You’re clearly nervous about putting yourself out there, but with the podcast it seems like even your subconscious knows that Alex won’t let you crash and burn.” She closes the book and places it on the counter. “That’s actually kind of sweet.”
Regardless of Alex’s reputation on campus, my instincts about him haven’t been wrong yet. He hasn’t steered me wrong yet, about anything. Is it true that I really trust him to keep me afloat while my anxiety skyrockets during this podcast?
Sydney slaps a pancake onto a plate and hands it to me. “Are you gonna tell him about the dream?”
“Hell no,” I scoff, taking the plate and moving to sit in my usual spot across the kitchen island. Within seconds, both of my roommates have joined me with full plates of their own. “Thanks for cooking, ladies.”
Sydney nods with a smile and Danika mutters something like you’re welcome with her mouth full of pancake.
“So, when are you meeting him?” Dani asks.
“At three,” I sigh. It seems like a million hours away because of the early hour, but I know I’m going to be dreading when the time truly does come.
“What are you gonna do until then?”
“Something to distract me. Any ideas?” Danika takes a huge bite of pancake and then opens her mouth to speak. “Ah, ah,” I hold my hand up to her face. “Chew, swallow, then speak.”
Danika rolls her eyes at me but does what I asked. After a few seconds, she opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue to prove to me she’s finished. I grimace but allow her to proceed with her thought.
“I have just the thing,” Danika says, looking back and forth between Sydney and I with that expression that makes us regret ever saying yes to anything she says.
Half an hour later, Sydney and I share that look again as we strap the black vests to our chests and holster our loaded paintball guns to our backs.
“Leave it to Danika to take us to the last place I ever thought I’d be on a Saturday morning.”
“How are we even gonna do this, though?” Sydney asks, placing the helmet on the crown of her head. “There’s three of us, one will have to be on the opposite team all by herself,” she pouts.
“Actually, we were thinking guys versus girls,” a voice I had no idea I’d be hearing speaks from behind me. I whip around to see three smirking boys with their arms crossed across their chests. They encapsulated the very essence of 2000’s boy band aesthetic and I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Alex’s gaze drops to my mouth for just a second before jutting up back to my eyes.
“Right on time, gentleman,” Danika says, pride in her voice. It’s my impetuous roommate I whip around on next.
“You invited them?”
It’s Keith who speaks up next. “Actually, we invited you.” I look over to Danika and Sydney who nod with a feigned innocence.
Alex saunters up, grabbing his helmet from the table and holding it in the crook of his elbow. “Yeah, sunshine. You’re actually crashing my Saturday morning activity. We don’t do this every week, but when we can, we get our frustrations out on each other’s asses with paintballs.” In demonstration, Devon walks by Alex, whacking him in the butt with his paint gun. Alex gives me a wink before passing by me to grab his own rifle.
Dani comes up next to me. “Keith and I were talking last night at the party. He told me about their paintball game and it sounded fun.” She shrugs. “If it makes you feel better, Alex had no idea he invited us, either.”
I can’t admit to Danika the feelings I had when I saw Alex in the doorway. Shock, first, obviously. Then anger at her for not telling me he’d be here. Not that I would’ve done anything different. I’m wearing a casual outfit with light makeup on. Not that I care what he thinks of what I look like.
The next feeling was indifference, so Alex was here? So what? He’s my friend. Friends do fun things like this all the time. My last and most resounding feeling is determination. My roommates and I can be fiercely competitive if we need to. These boys don’t stand a chance.
Sydney rattled up next to us, all the gear sounding off like an orchestra as she walks. “You okay with this, Margot?”
Grabbing my helmet from the table, I stare out at the three boys, the tallest of which eyes me with amusement. I place the helmet on the crown on my head and use my palm to push it all the way down so the plastic visor is over my eyes.
“Ladies. Let’s roast ‘em.”
Nobody told me how badly paintballs hurt when they explode against your body. If I’m not completely bruised tomorrow, it’ll be a small miracle. On our last round, Keith took Sydney down with a ruthlessness that astounded me.
Devon was hit by Danika and Alex shot her while I used my opening to get Keith out of play. That left only Alex and I on the playing field.
Hiding behind a large pile of hay, I catch my breath and assess my surroundings.
“Come out, sunshine,” Alex taunts from what sounds like twenty yards away. Probably near the large wall painted to look like a school bus. “I just wanna talk!” He continues to shout and I know it’s a tactic.
I skirt a little bit down the hay pile until I’m farther away from where I picture Alex to be standing.
“We can call a truce if you want,” Alex’s voice is more distant, confirming what I thought. I had mapped the playgrounds out as soon as I walked into the arena so I know that if I keep walking around this hay pile, I can skirt along the outskirts toward where he’s standing and surprise him from behind.
Unfortunately for me, my aim isn’t very good. If I want to win, I need to be in front of him. Or at the very least, close enough to get a direct hit from a short range. Alex says something else and the more he talks, the more it confirms to me that he has no idea where I am.
Smiling to myself, I hear him shout to the guys waiting on the sidelines to help him out with my location but Danika protests loud enough that they don’t even consider doing it. I keep crouched as I walk around the outsides of the arena, keeping close to the out of bounds line but never crossing it.
For a second, I peek my head up and I see Alex standing exactly where I thought he’d be, looking back and forth for me, but I crouch back down before he gets a glimpse.
“I have a proposal, sunshine. Wanna hear it?” He sounds exasperated, but there’s still a sense of amusement to his tone.
I keep moving, slow enough to not be heard, but fast enough that I’m on the other side of the school bus wall in less than a minute. I stand up to my full height and Alex stands directly in front of me looking in the opposite direction. I could shoot him right then and there but there’s something about shooting someone in the back that doesn’t sit well with me. Not when I can shoot him right in the face , I think menacingly.
“If you wanna hear my proposal, you gotta come out,” Alex repeats, starting to turn in my direction and the second his eyes meet mine, I immediately pull the trigger, splattering his black jumpsuit with pink.
“I think we’ve heard enough,” I say with a smirk and I resist the urge to blow into the barrel of my gun even though I really want to. Distantly, I hear the sound of cheering coming from Sydney and Danika, and I can’t help the grin that erupts onto my face.
Alex’s face is still so shocked, I take a mental picture of the expression to save in the back of my mind. After a second, the shock transforms into something else entirely. Pride? He steps forward, placing his gun in the side holster and holding his hands up in surrender.
“Very well played,” he says with a bow of the head.
I give him a nod in response. “You too. Valiant effort.” We take off our helmets and start walking toward the exit. “You know, I’m kind of surprised we were able to beat you considering you come here all the time.”
“Maybe I let you win.”
I stop, but Alex doesn’t. He keeps walking, but he looks back at me with a sneaky smirk on his face. “Alex Reginald Prescott, you did not let me win!”
He stops, whipping around. “Reginald? That’s not my middle name.”
“I know, I don’t actually know your middle name, but I needed one to make my statement more effective.”
“And Reginald is what you came up with?”
I shrug, we continue to walk in silence until we reach the exit door where our friends are waiting on the other side.
“It’s James, by the way. After my grandfather.”
“Alex James Prescott,” I say. “Sounds very dignified.”
He scoffs. “Yes, that’s me. The dignified-est.” Alex opens the door and I’m immediately swept into a hug by Danika.
“You did it, babe! We crushed them.” She tightens the hug before releasing me. I take a step back out of the embrace.
“Yeah, well, Alex let me win,” I say with a defeated expression.
“Hey, hey. I never said that. I’d never let you win. I’m too competitive for that. I must not have been on my A game. Must’ve been distracted by something. I don’t know,” he mutters, walking off toward where Keith and Devon are standing buying waters.
I roll my eyes with a slight grin before turning back toward Danika and Sydney. “This was fun and all, but now I’m exhausted, bruised and completely dirty, so I think it’s time we call it a day, yeah?”
They nod and we head toward the door that leads toward the parking lot.
“See you, boys. Thanks for the workout. Better luck next time,” Danika blows a kiss in their direction and they hang their heads in playful shame.
“See you at three, sunshine,” Alex says. “I’ll pick you up.” I nod with a wave to all three of them.
Walking toward the car, Sydney throws her arm around my shoulders. “He calls you sunshine a lot,” she says, with a gentle teasing tone to her voice.
“He does,” I say. “It was annoying at first but now I’ve gotten used to it.”
“I think it’s adorable,” she says, releasing me from her hold and climbing into the driver’s seat. Dani had already called shotgun when we left the building, so I climb into the backseat and buckle myself in.
Dani looks behind her seat at me. “Do we need to start singing again?” She looks at Sydney pulling out of the parking lot. “I think we need to start singing again.”
“No, please god, no singing,” I groan, getting ready to cover my ears with my hands if necessary.
“Fine, no singing. But for the record, I agree with Sydney. Very adorable.”
I stick my tongue out at Dani, who returns the gesture right back before she turns around in her seat to face forward. She turns the radio volume up to twenty and starts belting out the words to Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy.
Looking out the window, I see the three boys file out of the building, Devon’s hand on Alex’s shoulder, all three laughing about something. I’m glad that Alex and I are able to hang out as friends and there’s no tension or any expectations. But I also have to agree with Sydney. The nickname is starting to feel adorable. I’m just not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.