Chasing you | ✓

Chapter 43 - Royally lucky

The first day of finals was rough. I had one exam in the morning and one in the afternoon and tomorrow was going to be the same way. Since a lot of our classes are dance classes, at least we don't have as many exams as a normal student would on finals week. Most of the dance classes are graded through participation and progress over the semester. The competition for the summer internship at LADC on Thursday was the only physical exam we had to pass.

Jack and I had been practicing like crazy and it finally felt like the routine was solid. However, the punching feeling in my stomach that I felt every time the competition crossed my mind seemed to be permanent. 

It wasn't really the excitement about the internship that had me so rattled. It was because I knew that if I screwed up a move or didn't feel like I did the best I could, I'd never get over the disappointment in myself. 

All I wanted to achieve on Thursday was some sense of happiness over what Jack and I had created together. Getting to be one of the top five couples was less important to me. 

My dread shifted into excitement when I knocked on the door to Alpha Phi. Jack and I had decided to hang out at the frat after our finals, maybe catch a movie. A part of why I was excited was because this was the only time since our day in Malibu that we would spend alone together without dancing. 

The other part that excited me—the part that had made me change outfit three times before I felt confident enough to leave my dorm—was that Jack and I would be hanging out alone in his bedroom.

The implications of that made nervous butterflies flutter in my stomach. 

Seeing the frat in daylight on a weekday was quite different from how I usually saw it. I wasn't used to seeing the front door closed for starters, but I figured I shouldn't just barge in despite how well acquainted I'd gotten to the house. 

When the door remained closed, I raised my fist in a knock a second time and bumped it hard against the wood. I squinted against the sun and glanced around the surprisingly clean yard. Only a few brown patches of dirt in the lawns revealed the true nature of the property. But now, on an afternoon during finals, no one seemed to be interested in getting into the frat except me. 

The door clicked and I whipped my head around with a smile. When I got face to face with Freddy, I had to take a step back to take in the sights.

Freddy usually dressed well, but the crisp green polo and slacks he was wearing gave quite a different impression of him than his usual one. Especially together with the messenger bag slung over his shoulder and the leather-bound day planner in his hand. 

The first time I met him, he'd made a quip about working out every day. At the time I'd thought it was just something he'd said to impress me—the constant drinking and partying didn't lead me to believe otherwise. But seeing him now, the way the short sleeves of his green polo hugged his thick biceps and how the scent of shampoo and shower steam seemed attached to him, I wondered now if he'd been telling the truth. 

In broad daylight, Freddy Callas was like Clark Kent without glasses. No wonder girls found him irresistible. 

"Hey, Allie," Freddy said and grinned. "You here to see Jack? He's in the kitchen."

"Yeah, I am. Where are you headed off to, looking so professional?"

Freddy frowned. "What do you mean? It's finals week."

"I just didn't have you pegged as someone who dressed up for school," I said, feigning indifference.

"Now, now." Freddy stepped through the doorway and slung an arm across my shoulders. "I can't have you looking at me like that when you're here to see Jack. It would kill my boy to know you're pining over me. You made your choice, and now you'll just have to live with the regret of missing out on all the things I have to offer."