2. Eden
EDEN
“Sharma!” Kaan, one of my teammates, yelled as my best friend finally arrived at the party. As always, more than fashionably late. “Get your ass over here!”
Sharma, whose name was actually Lakshman, but nobody ever called him that, nodded at us as he pushed past Kaan’s sister and some other girl, making his way over to us.
A moment later, Sharma greeted the team, saying hello to every single guy, but my attention stayed elsewhere.
The girl next to Asiya was staring at me, at least that’s what it looked like.
Why was she looking at me? Probably just another one of many who would sell their firstborn to get with me, even if it was just for one night.
It was exhausting, really.
Wherever I went on this godforsaken campus, I was stared at. Fuck, we weren’t even on campus and I’d been offered at least five firstborns tonight. For a quick fuck.
The girl next to Asiya was still staring, but at this point, it might’ve just been because I was staring back at her. Usually, all these girls were quick to look away when I caught them staring, but not her.
It was weird.
To make it even worse, Asiya must’ve noticed because she laid her hand on the brunette’s shoulder, saying something that made the girl’s eyes widen so much that I could spot the difference from afar.
With her eyes now on Asiya, the brunette began to shake her head.
“Who’s that next to your sister?” I asked Kaan, nodding in the girls’ direction in an attempt to stay unnoticed. The last thing I wanted was for Asiya to know I was talking about her and her friend. The girl scared me shitless.
Kaan looked up, immediately rolling his eyes. “The Devil,” he answered. “Think her name’s actually Alana, though.”
“The Devil?” My eyebrows rose at my friend, waiting for him to explain the nickname but all I got in return was a shrug.
“I don’t know, man. Asiya calls her The Devil sometimes. I’m so curious to know why because she seems all quiet and shit, but my sister scares me too much to ask her a question about her best friend.”
I laughed. “Asiya is a sweet girl, Balik.”
She really wasn’t.
In his defense, though, he always thought my sisters were angels as well while I knew they were demons in disguise. Alright, Brooke—my older sister—was less of a demon than Nova—my younger sister—was. Still, both were very much demonic at times.
The biggest difference between my sisters was, Brooke was twenty-six now, living in a small house close to my parents, together with her husband, and was about seven months away from popping out their first kid, while Nova was sixteen.
Being a teenager was a nightmare, which, I believe, gave me the right to call Nova a demon. I should know, I was one at sixteen.
“You’re too old for her,” Kaan said, slapping me on the back of my head.
“I’m not sure when you heard me say that I’d like to date your sister, but if pretending I said it makes you feel better, then sure.
You’re totally right. Nineteen is super inappropriate, seeing as I just turned thirty yesterday.
” I wasn’t thirty, obviously, and it wasn’t even my birthday yesterday.
“Thirty, flirty, and thriving, or whatever they say.”
“They, as in 13 going on 30.” I swallowed a chuckle. “I’m surprised you even know that movie. It’s been ages.”
Kaan shrugged. “Don’t judge me, alright? I have a younger sister.”
My hands shot up as if he was holding me at gunpoint, and I could barely contain my laughter. “Dude, no need to get defensive. It’s a movie.”
“Whatever,” he muttered under his breath. “How do you know that movie anyway?”
“I have two sisters and a mom.” I winked at him just to fuck with him. Kaan was so easy to irritate, and I loved it. “Like I said, it’s just a movie. Nobody’s going to cut your head off because you’ve seen it.”
“I’d cut his head off,” a mischievous-sounding voice came from right behind me. When I turned around, Asiya looked right up at me, grinning like Satan herself. “Hi, Eden.”
“Asiya,” I said, feeling a shudder run down my back. A second later, my eyes moved over to the brunette girl next to her. She looked prettier now that she stood right in front of me. “And you are?”
The girl remained silent, but with every passing second, her cheeks turned redder.
“This is The Devil,” Asiya introduced just for the brunette to push her elbow into her friend’s side.
“I’m Alana,” she said and turned to Asiya. “Can we go now?”
That was interesting. “Not a fan of meeting new people, I see.”
Alana pressed her lips into a thin line, her cheeks reddening even more. I didn’t know that was possible.
“Don’t mind her, she’s just shy,” Asiya explained. “And by the way, Eden, we’re only here talking to you to elevate Alana’s social status. Don’t get any funny ideas inside of that walnut brain of yours.”
Part of me wanted to react to Asiya’s insult, another knew better. So, I chose to ignore it and instead, focused my eyes back on Alana, trying to figure out if she really wanted to be here.
I was good at elevating people’s status on campus, apparently anyway.
Each time I dated someone whom I thought was going to be the love of my life, I was disappointed to find out they were only with me to get themselves some form of fame out of it.
Tons of followers on social media. Have articles written about them on our University’s gossip blog.
Getting hit on by almost all the straight, single guys on campus. Some of them weren’t even single.
And after all that, I was getting blamed for sending hate waves my ex-girlfriends’ ways, when I never even bothered to look them up online after we broke up.
It was such a nightmare.
Alana didn’t look like she wanted to elevate her status. If I had to judge, she was desperate to get going and never be near me ever again.
Apart from that, something about her seemed a bit off. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, but she looked super uncomfortable, and I was sure it wasn’t just because of me. Or us. Or… this party.
Something about Alana told me that she wanted to get away. Far away.
And maybe buy some new clothes because while that dress looked hot as fuck on her, I doubted it was quite her size.
I could take her shopping if she wanted—hold on. No. That was so wrong of me to even think. I didn’t know Alana. I was charitable, but not that charitable.
“Now, why would you need to elevate your status?” I asked Alana, slightly cocking my head at her.
St. Trewery was huge, so in a sense, everyone was overlooked. Yes, there were ways to be noticed more often, become the life of the party, and get invitations to everything college-related.
And, okay, perhaps I knew a few people whose names almost everyone on campus knew, but I couldn’t imagine anyone genuinely wanting this. Living in the shadows must’ve been so much better than being recognized by people you’d never seen in your entire life.
Once the gossip blog talked about you, everyone on campus knew the worst things about you. And they’d never forget.
“She’s kind of—”
“I believe Alana can speak for herself, Asiya,” I interrupted her, not even bothering to look at her. If there was one thing I hated more than attention, it was other people assuming someone couldn’t talk for themselves.
So fucking annoying.
I was sure she could talk.
Alana gasped slightly, panic in her eyes. Or maybe she couldn’t. “Well, uh… It’s not that I, uh… You know?”
A chuckle wanted to slip past my lips, but I refrained from letting out a single sound. It was better that way. After all, I didn’t want to fluster her any more than I already had. “I don’t believe I do know, Alana.”
She cupped her own face with her hands, taking a few quick breaths. “Well, it’s just that…” Her eyes moved over to my friends, drawing my attention to them as well.
They were staring at her intensely, expectantly. God, that poor girl didn’t even have a chance to explain herself when my guys and her best friend were waiting for an Oscar-worthy reply.
I leaned into her, ready to whisper in her ear, when I got distracted by her overwhelming perfume.
She smelled so delicate, like something floral, but I wasn’t good with naming flowers—it was probably a mix of a few floral notes. It was sweet and warm, deep and soft.
Would it have been strange if I asked her which perfume she was wearing?
Yes, definitely weird.
“You know what I think?” I asked her, whispering so nobody around us would hear.
She nodded softly, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was just a reaction or if she truly wanted to know.
Either way, I told her. “I don’t think you want to elevate your status at all.
But I do think you look really hot in your dress, so my help isn’t even necessary to draw attention to you. ”
I stepped back, winking at her before I turned around and walked away without giving Alana the chance to talk at all.