LAILAH
TEN
“You have got to be fucking kidding me! Do you need glasses or something? Or are you just that much of a klutz?” a voice I distinctly remember from earlier that night said.
I looked up, greeted once again by those disdainful blue eyes, but this time he was soaking wet. Brayden appeared beside him, shocking me even more. How could someone so kind be friends with this asshat?
“Micah,” Brayden said, smacking him on the backside of his head. “What the hell, man?”
The guy I now knew as Micah rubbed the back of his head and scowled at Brayden.
“I’m so sorry, Lailah, I don’t know what comes over him. When he’s in public, he forgets how to act like a human,” Brayden said, trying to manage his friend's blunder.
“Why are you wet?” I asked, still not able to get past that fact.
“Matters that don’t concern you,” Micah grumbled. “Come on, Brayden. We need to get back.”
“I hate to do this to you again, but I do have to go,” Brayden apologized. He turned to go but then paused and looked back at me. “I hope you decide to reach out sometime soon. I would love a chance to really sit down and talk with you.”
“I’ll see where I can fit you into my schedule; I promise,” I said as he walked off after Micah.
“What were Micah and Brayden doing here?” Cami asked as she walked up behind me.
I looked over my shoulder at her. “I have no idea. Wait, is Micah one of The Manor guys, too?”
“Yeah, he’s Brayden’s best friend. They grew up together, they’re like brothers,” Cami explained.
“The building is clear, you can all go back inside,” someone shouted from the front of the building.
“How was your family dinner?” I asked as we walked back into the dorm. Cami shrugged. “Everything okay?” It was unlike her to be so quiet about things—good or bad.
“It’s fine, Lala. Things are just changing faster than I’d like,” Cami said cryptically as we got on the elevator.
“What does that mean? Do you think I’m going to abandon you for some guy? Is that what this is about? I haven’t even texted Brayden since he gave me his number,” I said, making sure that Cami knew she was number one in my life.
“You haven’t texted him?! Lala, do you know what a bitchy thing that is to do to a guy?” Cami said, pulling me out of the elevator on her floor. “You like him, right?”
I paused to think about that; I did like Brayden a lot, but I could also say that I had a thing for Parker too after the party.
“Yes, but he’s not the only one I think I like,” I said, deciding to be honest with her and myself.
Cami raised her brows at this announcement. “Oh, well, I guess that does make things more interesting. Still, you’re not dating anyone, so there’s no harm in trying out a few different guys before settling on one, or both.”
“Both,” I said, shocked. She opened the door to her room, holding it open for me to follow. “Why would I pick both? There is no way I could handle seeing two guys separately. Also, that’s a dick move to make. Way worse than not texting them at all.”
“Lala, honey, this is twenty-twenty; if you want two boyfriends, who’s to say you can’t?” Cami challenged. “Hell, I could have a girlfriend and a boyfriend if I ever cared to.”
I laughed at the excitement on her face at the idea. “I couldn’t even make a relationship work with one guy, how could I manage to keep two guys happy?”
“See, that’s where you're wrong,” Cami said, waving a finger at me.
“It’s not your job alone to make anyone happy in any relationship, ours included.
They take effort from both sides. If you’re the only one paddling the boat, then you’re just going in circles.
You need your partner—or partners—to put in the same, if not more, effort. ”
“Where were you four years ago when I needed to hear that?” I asked, sitting on the edge of her bed, which was the only clean surface in the room.
“You have to go through the bad to understand how good the right thing is,” Cami said, flopping onto her bed behind me. “Let’s have a sleepover since you're already here, it’s one a.m., tomorrow is Tuesday, and we both have late starts. It’s perfect.”
I shrugged, looking around the room and seeing how every surface was covered in clothes, accessories, and food wrappers. “Um, I don’t see anywhere for me to sleep. I think there might be a couch under that mountain of clothes.”
“Sleep next to me, the bed’s big enough, and I promise not to turn you into a lesbian after a night with me,” Cami teased.
I laughed, shaking my head at her. “I wasn’t worried about that; who's to say I won’t take advantage of you and add you to my growing list.”
“Don’t tease me with things that will never happen, Lala, it’s just cruel,” Cami said, wriggling under the blankets and making room for me.
“Sweet dreams then, it’s the only place that would be able to happen,” I said with a giggle, glad to finally dish back some of the sass I always got.
The next morning, I woke with Cami wrapped around me like an anaconda.
I had to pee so bad, but any time I moved, she would hold tighter.
Finally, when I’d tried to wake her up nicely—and failed, I decided I needed to resort to desperate measures.
I readied myself, knowing it was going to hurt, then rolled off the edge of the bed and landed on the floor.
“Fuck, I’m up, what happened?” Cami said, popping up from the floor, ready for anything.
I started to laugh as she turned from side to side, looking for whatever caused us to fall out of the bed. “Serves you right, I needed to pee,” I said, picking myself up off the floor and heading out of the room.
“Not cool, Lala, see if I ever invite you for another sleepover,” she yelled as I left.
I took the elevator up to my own room and grabbed things I would need to shower and get ready for the day.
When I glanced at my clock, I was surprised to see it was only eight-thirty.
I had plenty of time this morning, since my first class didn’t start until eleven.
I couldn’t be late. It was a hands-on lab class for chemistry that I needed to do well in.
I headed down the hall to shower, passing by a bunch of girls who were putting on their makeup at the large mirror over the sinks.
As I walked by, their chatter died out, and they watched me with stony silence.
I ignored them and set my clothes on the bench outside the shower so they wouldn’t get wet.
I grabbed my towel and shower things and stepped into the first open stall.
I took my time letting the hot water run over my skin, enjoying the luxury of not being in a hurry for once.
I even took the time to shave my legs while I let a deep conditioner sit in my hair.
Finished, I wrapped up in my towel and walked out to find my clothes were missing.
The only thing left in their place was a Post-it with leave The Manor boys alone or else written on it in angry block letters.
How charming. I crumpled the note up, glad that I brought my towel in with me or else I would’ve been left with nothing.
The calm that I felt in the shower was thrown to the wayside as I stormed down the hall back to my room.
When I got there, I realized that one of the things they took was my Notre Dame sweatshirt.
I threw on some clothes and ran around the dorm, trying to find where they put my clothes.
I finally went around the back of the dorm to where the dumpster was and opened the lid.
Sure enough, they had thrown all my clothes away.
How dare those fucking bitches do this? What the hell had I ever done to them?
I didn’t ask for The Manor boys to decide to talk to me.
I would love it if they stopped talking to me after this.
I paused at that thought. Did I really want to let some insecure bitches control what I did or who I talked to?
Nope. Now I wanted to spend all my time with those guys just to piss them off. I think I’ll go text Brayden right now.
Heading back to my room, I tossed the clothes into my dirty basket so I could wash them later.
I grabbed my phone and scrolled down to Brayden’s number.
Riding on the high of my anger, I typed out a simple message asking him when he would be free.
Then I decided I was way too worked up to get anything done.
I needed to do something to relieve all this stress that school had built up in me.
I thought back to the last time I’d gone for a run and realized it had been almost three weeks.
That was part of my problem, I always found I handled life better when I ran.
I switched into running clothes, selecting my favorite tank top that said, “I’m a ray of fucking sunshine.
” I piled my still-wet hair on top of my head and slipped my room key into the pocket of my shorts, zipping it closed.
The last thing I needed was to get locked out of my room.
I looked at my phone and decided against taking it with me.
I just wanted to be left alone. I looked over the school map that I had from orientation and saw that there was a path running around the school property.
It looked like an easy three miles and hard for me to get lost on.
I decided to go down the stairs to get my blood pumping and ready me for my run.
When I reached the bottom, I stretched out my legs a little, so I wouldn’t get a cramp along the way and headed off.
Once on the asphalt path, I zoned out, letting the sound of my breathing and the slapping of my shoes on the ground be the only things I focused on.
The pure joy of running filled me like a long-lost friend.
I needed to make this a routine again, it would keep me from losing my shit while stuck in a building of evil women.