Chapter 3 Lane
I stuff my hands deep in my pockets and stroll over to my friends. God, I love college! I toss a casual “hey” to two skaters and wink suggestively at the girls walking by. They smile at me and shake their phones. Hell yeah. I really love college.
“Heyyy!” Lewis offers up a fist that I bump.
“How you doing, blondie?” I tease, jerking my chin at his freshly dyed mop. “Your mom give you highlights, or what?”
“Nope! I let some Cali girl play with my hair while I played with her boobs. That was some vacation, man.”
Donovan swipes at one of his bleached curls. “You must have been very hungry.”
Lewis shoves him away. “I’m not one for dieting!”
I high-five Don and blow Adam a kiss as he straightens.
“The Campus Drivers are back in town!” Lewis announces, shouting it over to the other students and striking a series of bodybuilder-style poses. Enthusiastic whistles and jealous male grumblings wash over him.
Sorry, guys, but the world really is our oyster!
“Who’s the girl you dropped off?” Donovan points at my car.
I glance over. She’s still right where I left her. “A freshman.”
“They usually make some kind of effort for the first day,” Lewis teases.
I snicker, watching as she finally decides to make a move toward the main entrance.
“Her boyfriend dumped her,” I say flatly. “I found her on my stairs.”
What I don’t say is how she spent a day and night on my couch. I don’t want their imaginations running wild—scripts are my job, not theirs.
“What a saint. Come on, admit it: You gave her the first ride for free.”
“I felt sorry for her.”
“Grow a pair!”
Lewis squints into the sun. “She cute?”
“Meh. The brokenhearted type doesn’t give me a hard-on.”
“Right, I forgot you’re Mr. I Only Date Actresses now! Damn, when do I get a taste of your film industry perks, huh?”
“You wouldn’t make the grade, asshole. And you giving them all chlamydia is not a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Hey, you swore you wouldn’t mention that again!”
I watch as clusters of students drift toward the buildings, listening distractedly as Adam and Lewis tell us about their vacations. Those two are like twin brothers. They’re the only ones who are childhood friends, the rest of us have known each other for two years now.
“Ready for your third back-to-school frenzy?” Donovan claps his hands.
“It’s my fourth, remember?”
I’m a junior like them, but I’m a year older. I had to retake my freshman-year courses, which is how I met them. Just goes to show there’s always a silver lining.
“Why don’t we hang out tonight, guys? We need to get moving, get the app synced up with our schedules. How about we meet at your place, Lane?”
That’s Adam for you—always the serious one. Thank God for him!
I nod, shoving a piece of gum in my mouth. This is always the biggest headache of this job: fitting our slots around our various classes so we hit up as many customers as possible.
Lewis is already whining. “We’re meeting up with our coach after lunch. Hope he’s not going to go wild with the training sessions like he did last year! Hey, can’t you nudge him in the right direction, Donovan?”
“Dude, how many times do I have to tell you? Sure, Coach is my dad, but when it comes to campus, he doesn’t give a shit about what I say, so just let it go.
” Donovan shakes his head. “You just spent the whole summer with your finger up your ass, time to get back to work. We’ve got a championship to win! ”
“Men and their basketball…” Adam says mockingly.
Donovan flips him the finger. “Nothing comes before basketball!”
“Sure thing, Donny!”
The ridiculous nickname has us in hysterics.
Donovan is one of the most talented basketball players this college has ever seen and he’s captain of the team, which means he has groupies.
Lots and lots of groupies. They came up with the adorable pet name Donny all by themselves and refer to themselves as the Donnies. And that asshole laps it up.
“And on that note…” Lewis swings his bag over his shoulder. “My future awaits!”
“And what’s she called, this ‘future’ of yours?” I tease as I follow.
He smirks at me. “Jessica. She’s got potential, let me tell you.”
I smooth my hair back. “Amen to that.”
We part ways in the main hall, and I get back to fending off the girls.
This first week is usually pretty laid-back; it’s mainly geared toward the newcomers, while the other students come and go, getting themselves ready for the classes that start back up next Monday.
The morning rolls by, and I even have time to schedule three student rides. Did I mention I fucking love college?
Feeling my phone vibrate, I stop in the middle of the hallway.
“Yes, Carter?” I sigh; this is his sixth call of the day. “Dude, you need to stop stalking me, it’s exhausting. You know I’ll never love you, right?”
Love anyone, come to think of it. Relationships suck the life out of you: I plan on waiting until I’m forty or fifty before getting started.
“Oh, you’re breaking my heart, lover.” My friend pretends to sob through the phone before switching tone. “Can I swing by tonight?”
“Nope! Tonight us guys have our big meeting.”
“Urgh!”
“You’re going to have to do without me, sweet cheeks.”
“Bro, you already stood me up on Sunday!”
He has a point. I had to cancel my work session with Carter because of a certain Heartbreak curled up on my couch, and how no matter what I tried, there was no waking her up.
I left her to go and pick up my car from RJ that afternoon, and almost threw a glass of water in her face when I returned and found her in the exact same position.
Luckily for her, I was on a high from getting my wheels back, so I cut her some slack.
And that reminds me: Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard from her yet.
“Why don’t you come over on Wednesday evening?”
“How about tomorrow night?”
“Wednesday, and that’s my final offer.”
“Fine.” He sighs into the phone. “But I’m warning you, we’ll be needing the whole night.”
“You have a good day now,” I say before hanging up and heading back over to my friends in the park next to the medical wing.
“Where’s Lewis?” I fall back into the grass.
“Driving,” Adam replies, without looking up from his notes.
“We’re going to be doing some serious driving this year.
” Don stretches. “We’ve started off strong, I’m betting we’ll at least triple our sales.
Yesterday we had twice as many downloads in a single day than we did at the start of last year, and we haven’t even run the onboarding meeting for new students yet.
” He grins at us. “By the way, some guy came to see me this morning to ask whether we needed a fifth Campus Driver.”
“What did you say?” Adam and I ask in unison.
“I said yes.”
“Are you for real?”
His grin widens. “I said we need someone to wash our cars.”
“You’re such an asshole, Donny.” I shake my head, laughing.
I lie back and ready myself for a sun-dappled nap.
THE AFTERNOON SLIDES BY UNEVENTFULLY, and I make it back to my place at the same time as Adam and Lewis. A pair of chatterboxes, to say the least.
“Donovan finished his ride,” Adam announces. “I don’t know how he did it, but he got a twenty-dollar tip. He’s on his way over.”
I hold out a beer for him and fall back into my armchair, smiling.
“I forgot to call my mom.” Adam puts down his bottle. “Give me a second.”
“Send her my love!” Lewis calls out.
Adam retreats into my bedroom, and as I hear him shut the door, I’m hit with the sense that I’m forgetting something, too. I can’t think what. It sure as hell isn’t calling my parents. It’s not like they’d be interested in me starting my junior year, or anything that has to do with me really.
“This your new project?” Lewis is eyeing my notebook.
“Yeah. Carter is coming over on Wednesday so we can wrap it up.”
“You shouldn’t leave it lying around. If Don gets his hands on it, we’ll have to sit through his suggestions all night long! Still not interested in turning the second bedroom into an office?”
I wince, subtly enough for him not to notice. In a way, the room doesn’t belong to me. Nobody will ever live in it again, but I can’t deal with that fact, and so it stays the way it is.
THE MOMENT THE DOOR SWINGS shut behind them all in a chorus of “byes,” I help myself to a second beer.
Finally, some peace and quiet. Seriously, I have no idea how the three of them can stand living together. There’s no way I’d manage. I love the stillness of my apartment: not having to make an effort when a bad mood strikes. And this place means a lot to me.
I settle into my armchair and feel my eyes glaze over as I stare at the couch. I’m replaying the day in my mind. That was what I had forgotten!
Fuck! Heartbreak was supposed to be picking up her stuff.
I check my phone, but there’s no message from her, and considering it’s almost midnight, I guess she’ll call tomorrow.
I get up and make my way to the shower, when there’s a knock at the door. I peer through the peephole to make sure it’s not my horny neighbor and breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Heartbreak!”
She jumps and spins around to face me, biting the inside of her cheek.
“What are you doing here so late?”
“I… Today was a mess, time just flew by. I was out on the sidewalk and saw your light was on, so I thought it would be okay to come up.”
“Why didn’t you get in touch on the app?”
“You’ve still got my charger in your trunk,” she murmurs. “I was out of battery.”
“You’re pretty unlucky, aren’t you?”
“Seems that way…”
I bite back a grin when I notice how tired she looks. She’s still wearing that ugly sweater with the hood pulled up, hopping from foot to foot, glancing over her shoulder every now and then.
“So did you end up finding a room?”
It takes her ages to reply, as if prying out the words is painful.
“I’m here to pick up my bags,” she eventually says.
I frown and straighten, folding my arms over my chest.
“Did you find a place to crash?” I ask again, pinning her down with my gaze.
“Not yet,” she mutters. “But I’m sure it’ll work out.
Tomorrow I’m going back to see the secretary, and I plan on asking at the student council office, too.
” She forces out a smile, digging her hands deeper into her kangaroo pocket.
“I saw a motel down the road. That’ll do for now.
Other than the shared showers and the receptionist who smells like piss, it looks great. ”
“Want a beer?” The words come spilling out despite myself.
“I already had a few before I got here.”
“You drunk?”
“Not drunk enough.” She pouts.
“Come on, get in here! At this stage, I think it’s safe to say I’m not going to strangle, eviscerate, or cremate you, don’t you think?”
I open my door wide, and her uneasiness deepens.
“Grab yourself a beer and a shower, and I’ll drop you at your motel. Sound like a plan?”
She sighs and then steps into the apartment. “Just a shower, and I’ll hit the road.”
I watch as she dumps her shoulder bag on the couch armrest before perching on the edge, hands flat on her thighs as she gazes at the big painting above my sink. She’s as stiff as a board, and it’s like she’s trying to control her breathing so as not to move an inch.
“The bathroom is right at the end of the hall.” I yawn.
She scratches the side of her head. “I need something to change into.”
“Don’t move, I’ll go down to the car.”
“Just the blue bag will do. Don’t bother bringing it all up, it’ll only take me five minutes.”
I shake my head. By the time I get back, I can hear water running at the far end of the apartment.
I dump her stuff outside the door and wait by the window, pressing my forehead against the glass.
The street is silent, until a motorbike comes speeding past, setting the windowpane shaking in its frame.
I grit my teeth and try to block out the memories that have surfaced with the noise.
Pounding the wall next to me with a fist, I bring the half-empty bottle to my lips, desperate to wash away the thick clump I can feel sticking in my throat.
I take the gulp too fast, and beer goes spilling down my front.
“Shit!” I jolt back.
My T-shirt is soaked. I slam the bottle down on the coffee table just as Heartbreak appears in front of me, hair piled up in a towering bun on the top of her head.
Seeing her like this catches me off guard.
Her skin looks less pale, but the shadows under her eyes are as dark as her hair.
She’s practically sleep-walking—I’m sure I just saw her sway on her feet.
“Thanks for the shower, I needed that.” She tugs at her top. “I’m ready.”
She’s thrown that shapeless sweater back on over a pair of gray leggings that look just like the ones she was wearing earlier. I look down at my beer-drenched T-shirt.
“I need to change. If we run into any cops, they’ll throw me straight in the drunk tank, no questions asked.”
She runs a hand over the nape of her neck. “Okay.”
As I walk past her, she glances at my soaking clothes, wrinkling her nose and pulling a face.
“Let me get washed up and we’ll head out.”
I pull my T-shirt over my head, and she quickly turns away, walking toward the couch as she clears her throat.
I trot down to the bathroom and strip off the rest of my clothes.
The scalding water relaxes me, and I don’t want to stop.
I treat myself to a few extra minutes and then force myself out of the steam, wrapping a towel around my hips before heading into my bedroom, where I change into track pants and a tank.
Back in the living room, I’m feeling like I’m done with this day.
I stride over to the side table and scoop up my keys. “Let’s go!”
Opening the front door, I stuff my phone into my pocket and look over my shoulder when I realize I can’t hear footsteps. If it weren’t for that blue bag still sitting smack-dab in the middle of my living room, I’d have sworn that Heartbreak had pulled her vanishing act again.
“Hello?”
Leaving the door open, I stalk back over to the couch. I notice a pair of zebra-striped socks first, then folded legs. And then a tousled bun, and a few loose strands of hair falling over closed eyes.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I groan. “Seriously?”
I cross my arms over my chest. She’s asleep. Again! On my fucking couch! If she wasn’t so distant and evasive the rest of the time, I’d swear she was doing it on purpose. All I have to do is give her a gentle shake to wake her up, but I can’t muster up the will.
“Okay…” I sigh. I turn to shut the front door. “Here we go again. Night two.” I raise my eyes to the heavens. “Someone better be keeping count: I’ve done my good deeds for the next two years.”