9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
B rooke didn’t post often, but every time she did, @youseeme commented. She wondered who they were. Was it the same person who called all the time, even at odd hours during the night, and hung up before she ever answered? The calls had stopped. Maybe whoever it was finally realized they had the wrong number?
Maybe it was just an annoying telemarketer.
She didn’t think so. Then again, those calls had really amped up her imagination. Especially after she could have sworn she saw someone in her bedroom window the night of the picnic just as the fireworks went off.
She’d checked her room that night, afraid she’d find something creepy. She didn’t notice anything out of place or missing.
Was she hallucinating? Not likely.
So who would be in her room?
Some random guest who got lost trying to find the bathroom, heard the fireworks, and rushed to her window to get a look?
Yeah, she made a lot of excuses for that sighting and the calls.
Now she had some random person leaving her comments. They were nice comments. Not threatening in any way. Except for the subtext. Because the comment that she looked better today than when she had dinner with Mindy Sue implied that they knew her. Saw her before and after her new haircut.
The account only followed her, no one else. Odd. Maybe creepy. For the most part, she didn’t engage except to heart the comment, so they knew she appreciated it, like when she posted a picture with her new haircut all styled to perfection and her new makeup highlighting her green eyes and long lashes months ago.
@youseeme: Love those grasshopper-green eyes. I see the happiness in them. And the satisfaction that you know you look hot!
The comment made her smile. It made her feel good. It made her feel seen.
When she posted a picture of her stack of books for this semester, they commented…
@youseeme: Smart and beautiful! You’re killing me.
That gave her a sense of satisfaction. She wanted to be seen for more than her looks.
“Are you going to take the pic or what?” Mindy Sue asked.
They’d just finished getting dressed up for the Halloween frat party they were going to tonight. Mindy Sue dressed in a sexy devil costume, accentuating her bust and ass with the long forked tail coming from the back of the body-hugging pants and bustier. Brooke rocked a sexy white micro-miniskirt and belly-baring halter top that showed off her boobs to perfection. White wings and a golden halo floating atop a headband completed her sexy angel outfit.
“Brooke?” Mindy Sue bumped her hip to Brooke’s.
“What? Sorry. I got lost thinking about how @youseeme always comments on my stuff.”
“Don’t give him another thought. He’s had weeks to ask you out and he hasn’t. Which means it’s probably not a he but a she . Someone you know but aren’t that close to who’s just being nice.”
Brooke blew it off and held up her phone. Mindy Sue put her arm over Brooke’s shoulders, narrowed her eyes, and gave an evil look with pouty red lips, holding up her hand in the universal rock-on sign with her middle and ring fingers down, thumb, forefinger, and pinky up.
Brooke smiled angelically, her eyes soft and bright and twinkling with joy.
She snapped the picture and they both laughed at how they looked the part for their costumes.
Brooke immediately posted the pic, telling herself to just have fun and not think about anything else.
Mindy Sue checked her phone. “Let’s go. Julie and the guys are all waiting downstairs in front of the dorm.”
They grabbed their stuff and headed out.
The second they walked out the dorm’s double doors, they heard Julie, Jeremiah, Marco, Adam, and Simon catcall and whistle.
“Smokin’ hot, babe.” Marco gripped Mindy Sue’s hips, pulled her close, and gave her a deep kiss. Luckily she wore a really good red lip stain or it would be all over her and Marco’s faces.
Simon and Adam spoke at the same time to Brooke.
“You look amazing.”
“Sexy as heaven.”
She laughed, turned, and moved her shoulders up and down, showing off her wings. When she looked over her shoulder, they were both checking out her ass, which was barely covered by the miniskirt.
Their comments and the look made Brooke feel really confident. So different from the girl who used to wear baggy T-shirts over her jeans to hide her shape. She hadn’t even realized that’s what she’d been doing, because she didn’t want the guys on the ranch to tease her about how she’d filled out. But she wasn’t a little girl. Not anymore.
And she rocked that costume with sass in her step and a swing in her curved hips as they all walked over to the frat house to join the raging party.
And her admirer had appreciated it.
No sooner had they walked into the crush of partygoers and grabbed a round of shots and drank them down with a “Let’s party,” a notification lit up her phone.
@youseeme: DAMN! That body is rockin’. You sure know how to strut your stuff.
The comment made her think, definitely a guy. It also made her smile. And wonder if whoever sent it was looking at her right now.
She scanned the room, looking for anyone staring back at her.
A few people. Mostly drunk frat boys.
She didn’t have time to worry about it. Mindy Sue and Julie pulled her into the crowd dancing and she got lost in the music and the beat and having fun.
Five songs later, they all grabbed a beer and watched beer pong.
Julie, who was dressed as a cheerleader, bumped into a guy dressed as a football player. They seemed to hit it off immediately and were doing a shot together. Must be fate.
Jeremiah, Simon, and Adam had snagged seats on a sofa and were scoping out all the girls in the room.
Mindy Sue and Marco were making out next to her.
She was wondering how long she’d be the third wheel to her two girlfriends and downed the last half of her second beer.
She tapped Mindy Sue’s shoulder to get her attention. “We need a group pic.” She pointed to Adam, Jeremiah, and Simon on the sofa and Julie and her football hero doing yet another shot.
“I’m going to get us more shots. Back soon.” Marco took off for the booze. She and Mindy Sue went over to the other guys.
“You guys having fun?”
Adam nodded and sipped his beer. He didn’t seem to be a big drinker. He looked cute in his Harry Potter costume. It suited him.
Simon grinned up at her. “I like watching everyone get wasted.”
“I’m wasted.” Jeremiah gave her a dopey grin.
Marco arrived with the shots on a paper plate.
Brooke took one. So did everyone else.
“Happy Halloween, fuckers!” Marco called out, holding up his shot.
They all drank.
Brooke snagged the arm of one of the girls nearby. She didn’t know her name. Didn’t matter. She was too drunk to care. “Hey, can you take a picture of all of us.” She handed the girl her phone and turned to her friends. “Group pic. Now!”
Mindy Sue pulled Marco close and kissed his cheek, his hand on her lower belly, indecently close to being right over her girl bits. Julie snuggled up to the side of her football player. His name was Mike. Maybe Mark. Something with an M. Brooke was two shots and two beers in, so it was hard to remember, let alone hear anything above the din of the party. Anyway…she somehow ended up lying across the laps of Adam, Jeremiah, and Simon on her side while they held their hands up like they didn’t know if they were allowed to touch her. She was smiling and laughing as the girl with her phone said, “Cheese,” and snapped the pic.
Brooke tried to figure out how to get off of the three guys without shoving her ass into Simon’s crotch, kicking Jeremiah, or gripping Adam’s thigh, and ended up belly flopping on the floor in a fit of giggles.
Some guy in a toga rushed over, took her hand to help her up, then kissed her right on the lips, surprising her and sobering her up a little.
He grinned with glazed eyes. “If you kiss a fallen angel, she has to grant you a wish.”
She was working without a filter thanks to the alcohol. Knowing what guys could be like at these parties, she answered with, “Let me guess, you want me to fuck you.”
His eyes gleamed with mischief. “Oh, I definitely want you to take me to heaven.”
She couldn’t help it, she cracked up. And so did everyone around them. It was a joke. He was being silly. The moment passed with that seriously cheesy line. Though in that moment she’d thought of the one man who made her feel like being with him would be heaven and it killed her mood.
The girl who took the picture handed back her phone. “I hope you like it.”
“Let me see,” toga guy said.
She pulled up the picture and loved it. It showed them all having fun as a group. They’d gotten together a few times because Marco brought his friends, so Mindy Sue brought hers. It worked. It was fun when they all got together.
She posted the pic.
Toga guy was still next to her. “Want to get a drink?”
She shook her head. “I’ve had enough. Thank you though.” She turned to Mindy Sue. “I’m ready to head home.”
“I’ll walk you,” toga guy said, holding out his hand again.
She hesitated.
Mindy Sue leaned in. “Marco and I are ready to go.”
Toga guy raised a brow, silently asking her again if he could walk her home.
She shrugged and said, “Why not,” because Mindy Sue and Marco would be with her.
They said goodbye to Julie, her new friend, and the three guys, who promised to look out for Julie.
She walked out with toga guy, blissfully happy to be out in the open air and quiet after the din of the party. “So, what’s your name?”
“Rob. And you’re Brooke.”
“How’d you know?” She slurred most of those words.
“I heard your friends call you that.”
Mindy Sue and Marco walked just a few paces ahead of them. Mindy Sue kept looking back and grinning at her.
Rob bumped her shoulder with his. “Listen, I’m sorry if I came on too strong back there with the kiss and that line. I was just having fun.”
“It’s fine. I get it.”
He asked about her major, her classes. She asked about his. It was nice. Normal. But she just wasn’t interested.
She didn’t get that funny feeling in her belly.
Well, her belly did feel funny, but that was all the booze she’d drunk.
Outside her dorm, they stopped just far enough away from Marco and Mindy Sue to give them privacy while they face fucked and said goodnight to each other.
Rob stared at her like he could see right through her skimpy clothes. “I’d like to see you again.”
She let him down easy. “I appreciate that but I’m really swamped right now with school and starting my own business. Thank you for walking me home. I really appreciate it and it was nice meeting you.”
“Maybe we’ll see each other again and I can change your mind about a date.”
She grinned and headed for the door, not wanting to encourage him further.
The next morning she woke up to a comment from her admirer and it chilled her.
@youseeme: What the fuck was that, letting that guy kiss you last night? You’re mine!
How did they know about that random kiss?
She should have ignored the comment. But she couldn’t let it go.
@brookebanks: You were there? Do I know you? What’s your name?
It took two hours to get a response. She wondered if whoever was sending the messages realized their mistake in letting her know they were close enough to be at the same party.
@youseeme: I saw you there. You saw me. I was right in front of you and you kissed that drunk asshat instead. Then you went home with him!
He added a red rage face to that comment.
She shouldn’t have felt like she needed to defend herself, but she replied…
@brookebanks: The guy was a gentleman after kissing me without permission and walked me back to my place, apologized, then left.
Another reply came through right away.
@youseeme: I’ve only ever been nice to you. I care about you. I’ll show you. And when it’s the right time, I’ll reveal myself to you, and you’ll know what I know. You’re mine.
@brookebanks: If you know me…if we’re friends…then tell me who you are.
@youseeme: Soon
Now she was really creeped out. And annoyed.
She gave up. She wasn’t interested in someone who couldn’t answer a simple question. If he liked her, wanted to be with her, then say so. Let her make the choice if she wanted something more. But this…it felt childish. It felt a little…not exactly creepy, but definitely off.
But this person knew her. They obviously liked her. A lot. But why not just ask her out?
She assumed they were shy. Maybe even that they thought she wouldn’t return their feelings for some reason and wanted a chance to let her grow to like them without them having to put themselves on the line in such a big way.
Great. Now I’m making excuses for them.
After that exchange, they still commented on the photos she posted. She let them know she saw them by hearting them. But she didn’t comment back to them specifically anymore. If they wanted to talk, they needed to step up and make the effort in real life and not hide behind their screen.
And truthfully, she was still trying to figure out life without the possibility of a romantic relationship between her and Cody.
They’d barely spoken the last few months, but he had agreed to let her use her trust fund money to start her businesses. That was something.
He believed in her enough to let her risk the money, not that it was that big of a risk. The building was a good investment all on its own. Still, she wanted to prove to herself and Cody that she could make this work.
Too bad she couldn’t make him see that they could work together, too.