CHAPTER 10
Eve
"M mmmm."
We wake on Monday morning still tangled up in one another. All of Sunday was spent in this same position. We barely got out of bed to brush our teeth and open the door for our food deliveries.
The stretching begins automatically, and I smile when I see his beautiful face staring down at me.
Placing his thumb on my chin, he pulls down, parting my lips.
He runs his thumb down my throat, between my breasts, and all the way to my clit where his fingers ensure that my day is started off with his name on my lips.
.............................
He's following me into the math building.
.. Where is his class? Where are all of his classes?
What's his major? What are his plans for the future?
Do they include me? My alter ego puts me in check with a calm the fuck down, Eve.
You're still not a full week into this thing and you're trying to plan a wedding.
Point taken, voice of reason. Point taken.
He could be a serial heartbreaker and do this whirlwind erotic weekend stuff with a new girl every week.
My stomach rolls and threatens to toss onto the floor at the thought of Adam with another girl.
Adam has been with other girls though. Gun to my head, my guess is a lot of other girls.
Adam pulls me from my revelry when he pulls me inside my class.
"How do you know where my class is?"
"That first day we met when you assaulted me in the hallway, you walked into this class."
"Oh, right. Okay. Thanks. Where is your class?"
He smirks and shakes his head as if I should get the joke he hasn't voiced. Still clutching my hand in his, he leads me toward the top of the stairs...toward...my seat. How does he know where I sit? He slides into the chair right beside me.
"What are you doing? Don't you have class this hour?"
"Yes. I do."
"Are you going?"
"Yes, Wildcat. I'm in my class right now."
"Wait." I look around, making sure that I'm in the right class. "You're not in this class. This is my class. I've been in here all semester."
"I know. You got yourself exempt from the mid-term last week. So did I. Only, I had to write down the equation, unlike you."
I stare at him, dumbfounded. How does he know I got an exemption? Why does he think he got one? Or that he would even need one?
"I've never seen you in here before."
"Hmmm. That's odd. Who is in this class with you?"
This will take a moment. Who is in here? I know Professor Stalk. He's definitely the instructor and then there's...Damn it. Is he really in this class? Am I really that self-involved?
I look around the large room. There are only a few people in here but, their faces are wholly unfamiliar to me.
"I don't know any of them."
"Okay. Just describe what one of them looks like."
"Uhm, okay. Sure. There's this one girl...she's average height, brown hair."
"Whoa! Calm down with the descriptors there, Wildcat. You don't want me thinking that you're secretly stalking the girl, do you?"
"Okay so I don't pay a lot of attention to people's faces."
"Could that be because you're too busy hiding your face and trying to go unnoticed?"
Ding, ding, ding. What do we have for him Johnny? Has this guy been watching me in here all semester?
"When did you notice me?"
"I first noticed you when you stole my drink.
" I interrupt him with a scoff, but he continues.
"And I haven't stopped thinking about you since that moment.
I saw you again when you tackled me in the hallway.
I followed you into our class, a class that I had no idea you were in, and I sat directly behind you.
You never even looked up. I watched you solve the most complicated math equation known to man.
..in your head without making a single mark in your notebook.
" He pauses, watching me intently. "Why did you stay? "
I'm thrown off by his question. He was here the whole time, watching me. I felt it . I remember feeling that same sensation that I had when I was in his presence each time before, but this time, I couldn't connect it to him because I didn't know he was still watching me.
"Why did I stay when?"
"Here. You were the first person to earn an exemption. Stalk dismissed you when you held up your little board, but you didn't leave your seat. Why?"
I squirm in my seat. He was watching me the whole time. Not just watching but studying me.
"I don't like to draw attention to myself. I...I'm different. I'm not well-received by...well anyone really. Vaughn and Eli aren't just my best friends. They're my only friends."
"What am I?"
I look at him, genuinely trying to figure out what he is to me.
"I don't know. What are you? What are we?"
"We're inevitable."
"Okay. Cool. Got it. When Roxanna asks me who I'm bringing home for Thanksgiving, I'll just tell her don't worry Roxy, we were inevitable."
"Roxanna?"
"My mother."
"So, you're taking me home for Thanksgiving?"
"No. I...No. That's not...I was giving an example. Are we friends? Are we a couple? A fling?"
His hand darts out and he grabs me by the nape of the neck, pulling me toward him.
"YOU. ARE. MINE. I am yours. You can call it whatever you want.
Call me your boyfriend if it suits your sensibilities but refer to us as a fling again and I will bend you over Stalk's desk and spank your pretty little ass in front of all these people. "
I nod my head vigorously. "Ok. Not a fling."
"Good girl." He kisses my temple and speaks with his mouth still on my skin. "So, Wildcat, what will you tell your mother about me?"
"Well, I don't actually have to tell her anything right now but maybe...boyfriend."
"Why are you not going to tell her about me now?"
"Have you told your mom?"
He narrows his eyes at me. He clearly hasn't told his mom.
The rest of class goes by quickly and we planned to go our separate ways in the hall, but Adam has clearly changed his mind.
He makes a show of kissing me and squeezing my ass in front of what feels like the entire school population.
He's getting exactly what he wanted too.
People actually stop and stare with their mouths wide open like we're dry humping instead of kissing.
My face is hot, and my heart is racing. I'm feeling dizzy.
I need to take my medication before I'm in full-fledged panic mode.
Adam has my bag on his back. Pulling away from him, I grab the bag before running into the bathroom.
Rifling through the contents, I find the bottle and take a pill.
I'm staying in this bathroom until I start to feel the medicine working.
About fifteen minutes pass before I can gather myself and walk out.
I don't realize that I still have the bottle in my hand until it's ripped from my grasp as soon as I walk through the door.
Adam . He's standing there with my medication in his hand and he's reading the label.
I reach out and try to take it from him but even without looking at me, he's way too fast and dodges my attempt easily.
"Eve, what is this?"
"Vistaril."
"I can see that. Why are you taking it?" He grits out.
"I...have social anxiety disorder. Sometimes, I just let it get the best of me, and I need the medicine then. I don't take it all the time. It's an as-needed kind of thing."
"Why did you need it just now?"
"Everyone had stopped, and they were staring at us."
"And you worry what they'll think about us?"
"It's not like that for me. I mostly don't care what people think about me.
It's more about...fear. I know it's irrational but, in the moment.
...it's hard to explain. It's when I feel like everyone's eyes are on me that I start thinking they could have the upper hand.
All these scenarios of how I would need to be quicker and stronger to protect myself start assaulting my brain and I can't think of anything else. "
"I googled you."
"You what?"
"I googled you while you were sleeping. They say you're possibly the greatest volleyball player in the country right now. Some say the best of our generation. There are pictures of you all over the internet. Your games have been televised multiple times. Do you have a panic attack every time?"
"I never panic when I'm playing. It's my emotional support activity or something. I don't really know but when I'm at the net, I don't think about anything other than my next move. I try to anticipate my opponents next move." My laugh is quiet and without humor. "I'm...just volleyball."
He steps into me, kissing me softly on the lips. "You are so much more than volleyball. Your teammates are blind for thinking that. It's their own short-sightedness that keeps them from seeing the real you. I see who you are. I'll be your emotional support boyfriend. Tell your mom that one."
I throw my head back and laugh and this time, it's full of humor.
I laugh loudly, and I don't think about who might hear me.
Adam is my emotional support boyfriend. The rest of the day goes by quickly and I don't have any other classes with my emotional support boyfriend. I know this because I keep my head up and pay attention. I am relieved to know that we do actually have a class together though. This means that I didn’t really lie to Vaughn.
Several people smile at me. People I have never seen before because I've kept this hood pulled down past my eyes until today.
In my last class of the day, a girl comes and sits beside me and starts talking to me.
She asks my name, and I learn that her name is Monolee, Mon for short.
The only thing I've changed is that I have been looking up out from under this hood in case Adam is in one of my classes and I think I ended up making a friend because of it.
It's definitely possible that I have been my own worst enemy.