Chasing Blue

Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR
INDIGO

M&M's are stuck in my teeth as Kolby and I walk through the showcase. I keep trying to get them out by using my tongue, and I've just about gotten them when the man that invited me here in the first place approaches.

I'm just a freshman at Calum, majoring loosely in the art field, I'm still not one hundred percent sure what I plan on doing after I graduate, but I love art, more than anything. One of my professors, who teaches an art theory class once every two weeks, took a liking to me almost immediately, swearing that I had some God-gifted talent. I wouldn't have even known about the show case if it wasn't for him, let alone have been invited.

Professor Hampton smiles jovially at me. Well, maybe more like me and Kolby, again, Mr Popular, and I smile back at him.

"Indigo!" He says, drawing me in for a light hug. He steps back and gives Kolby a once over, before extending his hand, "I don't believe we've met — I'm Ryan Hampton."

Kolby shakes his hand, plastering on a fake smile, eerily similar to Sadie's, "Kolby Bradford, sir."

                      He arches a brow, looking between us. I know that I had mentioned to him I would be bringing my boyfriend, and I also know that he had asked me for his name, so of course I had complied, replying with a smile and practically had hearts for eyes — Greer Evans, Professor! And he had smiled and nodded and said some nonsense about how he was such a great guy. Of course, at the time, I had happily agreed with him. Great. Now my professor thinks I get around. Fan-fucking-tastic.

               He makes some more small talk — asking Kolby about the championship game they had bombed, asking me how all of my classes are going, and if I've considered going through with the internship he offered me just a few days ago — before he meanders off to talk to more people. I recognize a few other classmates of mine, only one other freshman, though. And I happen to know that the only reason he got invited is because his parents own one of the pieces on display.

Kolby, to my surprise, plays the part of dotting boyfriend rather well. He's constantly getting me refills for my wine glass, and never once takes his hands off of me. Whether it's a soft touch hovering over my lower back, or the gentlest of grips on my forearm. But by the end of the night, I can tell he's itching to get away from the hall. Me, I had a blast. I got to talk to so many people in the art industry, some with really insightful advice, others just rich and haughty.

           As we climb back into Kolby's truck, I can't seem to erase the smile from my face.

           "How does Richie's, sound?" Kolby asks, but he's already pulling left out of the parking lot, the direction of the infamous Richie's. (And, to be fair, Farson, but that's just a technicality).

           I shrug. I'm already half buzzed from the wine, so I don't know exactly how he plans on drinking and somehow getting us home safely, but a few more drinks wouldn't kill me, and this is what I agreed to in the first place, "I don't care."

            Fifteen minutes later I'm jammed in a corner booth with Kolby and three of his teammates, one of whom being non other than Braden Krick, the very guy Sadie swears she's going to marry. He is hot, that I can say. He's taller than Kolby by a few inches, with coal black hair and these big gray eyes. Plus, he's covered in tattoos. Like seriously. From his neck to the top of his thighs, inked up. He has sleeves on both arms, one side in strictly black and white, and the other a variety of color, all mingling together to form a picturesque scene of some lost magic village or something like that.