LAILAH
SIX
The next few days went by smoothly, and I didn’t have too many problems getting lost. I made sure that I never went very far from the places I recognized and called Cami if I doubted my surroundings at all.
Which, unfortunately, was all the time. Cami was a good sport though, and helped me find my way around.
The plan we had set in place the first week worked flawlessly.
It was only week one, and a few of my professors had decided to assign homework on the first day. I was looking over an English assignment at the coffee shop while I waited for Cami, when a shadow fell over my textbook. I assumed she had arrived.
But when I looked up, I saw Brayden instead.
“Hello,” I said, smiling. I was happy to see him again.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said, looking from the textbook to me.
“Nope, not at all. I was just glancing over this assignment for one of my classes. Would you like to sit?” I asked, gesturing to the chair across from me.
“Truly, I would love to, but I’m just grabbing a coffee before my Student Council meeting.” He gave me an apologetic look.
“No worries, I’m glad you stopped to say hi. Maybe next time we can actually chat,” I said, hoping he would agree.
“For sure, maybe we could even plan the next time.” He pulled a pen out of his bookbag and wrote his number on my open notebook. “Feel free to text me the next time you’re coming here, and I’ll try and meet up with you.”
Oh. My. God. Did Brayden just give me his number? I nodded, the only answer I could give because I was so nervous that my tongue began to stick to the roof of my mouth.
“Medium latte for Brayden,” the barista called.
“That’s me.” He turned to go and gave me a parting wave.
I waved back because I didn’t know what else to do.
Once he was gone, I propped my textbook up on the table and hid my head behind it so I could freak out in privacy.
Could I have been any more awkward? It’s not every day that a gorgeous, sweet guy gives me his number.
And I couldn’t think of one thing to say?
“Um, hello? You okay back there, Lala?” Cami’s voice asked from the other side of my book.
I peeked over the top of it to find her sitting across from me. “How long have you been there?” I asked.
“Long enough to get tired of listening to you mutter to yourself,” she retorted. “Wanna tell me what’s up?”
“Nothing much. Except one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met just gave me his phone number,” I said, almost hysterical.
Cami reached out with both hands and slammed my textbook closed. “I cannot have this conversation with you while you’re hiding behind an English textbook. Now, start at the beginning. Where did we meet this guy?”
“On the grounds tour. When I was with my group, I got distracted and ended up separated from them. I tried to find them again, only to get lost.”
“Why am I not shocked?” Cami said, resting her head on her hand and giving me a knowing look.
“Shh! If you’re not going to be helpful, no comments from the peanut gallery,” I said, frowning.
“I’m sorry, are you calling me small?” she said in mock horror. “Just kidding, I totally resemble that remark, you know, because I’m short and all.”
“Anyway,” I said, “I ended up by the reflecting pool, and he found me sitting there. He helped get me back to the rest of the group”
“Wait. That’s it? He found you and then brought you back to the group? What kind of romance is this? Nope, I’m using my best friend card and vetoing this guy.” Cami reached over to rip off the corner of my notebook that had his number on it.
I lunged forward and pulled the notebook away from her.
“No, that’s not all. He shared his favorite story about that ornate fountain in the reflecting pool.
Then, he kept asking me questions and wanted to know more about me.
He was so easy to be around.” I felt butterflies bouncing around in my stomach.
“So, what’s your next move? Are you going to text him, or are you more a talking-on-the-phone kind of gal?” Cami asked, seeming to change her mind about writing this guy off.
“Who says I’m going to do anything about it?” I grumbled.
Cami laughed. “Oh, Lala, you kill me. Of course, you’re going to do something about it. Look at you; you’re twitterpated for sure.”
“I am not,” I said, slapping the notebook back down on the table.
“Oh girl, if I were you, I’d be all over that like a monkey on a cupcake. When was the last time you had your biscuit buttered?” Cami asked, leaning in closer.
“What?” I was totally confused.
“You know! Bumping uglies, a good old slap and tickle, Netflix and chill.” Cami raised her brows higher with every phrase. “Wait. Hold the phone. Are you a virgin?”
“No. Well, I don’t think so. I’ve only done it once.” I could feel my face burning with embarrassment.
“Okay, let’s take this all the way back to the basics. Did he sheath his sword? If the answer is yes, then you are no longer a pure maiden.” Cami was grinning at me.
“Yes, he did, and it was awful. I’m not really interested in going through that again.” I was shivering at the thought of it.
“I may be more into gal pals, but I do know my fair share about sex. If you hated it that much, then that asshole was doing it all wrong.” Cami scooched her chair closer to me. “Now, tell me the whole story with all the ugly gross bits, so I can smash his face in for you.”
“His name is Freddy.”
“I hate him even more now,” Cami said. “Sorry, go on.”
“He was on the football team at my high school. We ran into each other all the time because I was on the track team. We trained at the same time after school, the track was around the football field. It was about two months through my freshman year when he started trying to get my attention. He was a junior and one of the best players on the team.”
“Scratch that, football makes me despise him more than his name did,” Cami cut in.
“Are you going to let me tell this or not?” I snapped, frowning at her.
Cami mimed by zipping her lips closed and tossing away the key. Then she motioned for me to continue.
“He asked me to the homecoming dance for our first date. Of course, I said yes. How many freshmen got the chance to go with an upperclassman who was also on the football team? After that, we dated for about six months. He was charming and funny, of course, he was fit with all the training he did for football. I didn’t care for the other guys on the team, but he seemed to be a little more interested in the world outside of football.
He would even let me drag him to the museums in Chicago in the spring. ”
Cami rolled her eyes at this but kept her mouth shut.
“I’m sure you can guess at this point that he asked if we could sleep together.
We’d made out, of course, and we had gotten in each other’s pants, but never more than heavy petting.
My parents had always told my siblings and me about how they waited until marriage.
They’re so in love, it will make you gag.
I always dreamed of having a love like that.
Somehow, Freddy had convinced me that sleeping together would deepen our relationship. ”
Cami laughed, and I did too, thinking of it from Freddy’s perspective.
“I finally gave in, and he came up with some lame plan to leave prom early. Freddy had picked a place for us to go afterward. When we got there, I discovered it was a pool house at one of his teammate’s houses.
He didn’t make an effort to make it look nice.
There wasn’t anything romantic about it, it was just a place we could be alone.
” I paused and closed my eyes. Now that I was reliving the moment, I realized I’d been an idiot.
“I remember thinking I couldn’t change my mind because if I did, he would have dumped me for sure.
So, I went along with every awkward, painful moment of it.
It ended fairly quickly, and he just left, making me think I had done something to make him upset. ”
Cami’s arms wrapped around me, and she hugged me tightly. “I’m so sorry, Lailah.”
I could feel my throat begin to tighten, and my eyes stung with tears as I remembered that night. “That’s not the worst part,” I continued.
“How could it possibly get any worse?” Cami asked, leaning back to look at me.
“It turned out that the only reason he was interested in me was that my two ex-best friends from middle school had spread rumors that I was a slut. Obviously, Freddy realized that this was a lie, but then he made a bet with the football team that he could take my virginity at prom. If those girls hadn’t spread those lies, then he never would have taken a second look at me.
Needless to say, I spent the rest of my high school days as a “slut,” and I was endlessly teased by the whole football team.
” I brushed away the tears that slipped out.
“Why would anyone do that to you?” Cami demanded.
“One of the girls had a crush on my older brother, and I thought I was being a good friend by telling him about it. When I went back and told her that he was interested in another girl at school, she freaked out on me. They decided that I wasn’t good enough to be friends with them, so they cut ties with me after that. ”
Cami tackled me with her another hug and would’ve knocked me out of my chair if it wasn’t for the wall behind me. “You have me now. I’ll never let anything like that happen to you ever again. Any guy that even looks in your direction will have to be vetted by me before they can even talk to you.”
I laughed at Cami’s protectiveness and soaked up every ounce of it. Meeting her and becoming friends had been a dream come true. “Same goes for me. Any girl who thinks she can just waltz into your life will be cleared with me first. We’ll protect each other.”
“Preach, sister!” Cami yelled across the café, causing everyone to stare at us. “Now, tell me the name of this mysterious fountain man. I’ll need to check him out.”
“Actually, you already know him. It’s Brayden.” I looked at Cami out of the corner of my eye.
Cami paused and looked a little shocked. “Huh.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, exasperated.
Cami shrugged her shoulders. “I would just take it slow, no matter who you decide to make a move on. This time though, you’ll have me to do some investigating. As for Brayden, he’s got a huge white-knight complex, but there could be worse things about a guy.”
I grinned because I had experienced his white-knight skills the other day. I mulled over what she said about taking it slow though. It was only the first week of school. There was no need to jump into anything. I looked down at my watch and noticed the time.
“We better get to the dining hall if we want to get dinner before it’s all picked over. I really don’t want to have another PB&J sandwich,” I said, stuffing my school books into my bag.