The Upperclassman

Chapter 6

"Where the fuck have you been all summer, man?" A sandy blonde guy pulls Lawson away from me and brings him in for a half hug. "The Vineyard was wicked and you missed out on some serious tail," he says with a huge smile as he rubs Lawson's hair.

I don't want to be introduced but I also hate standing here awkwardly. I quickly glance at Lawson. He doesn't look amused. As I'm about to turn away and join Sarah I hear his reply .

"You know I was here working on some extra credits," he replies seemingly annoyed.

Interesting. This hottie would rather be here taking classes instead of partying with all of his rich fraternity friends on the beach? Or is he doing so poorly in school that he had to make up the credits over the summer?

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were a fucking nerd," and he's the only one who laughs.

Lawson starts to turn back towards me and I sigh with relief, when suddenly the douchebag throws his arm around Lawson's shoulder and begins to pull him away again. This is the second time tonight he has ruined my time with this hottie and I hate him.

"Don't be such a baby, Law. Now come on, the guys are over here waiting for you and they bought shots," He slurs as he almost stumbles away with Lawson in tow.

Lawson turns his head and gives me a quick wink and a half smile, but I can see his eyes have lost their sparkle and his smile doesn't seem as bright.

***

I wake up the next morning with a pounding headache.

Lawson's friend that Sarah was talking to all night kept buying us drinks. After the third sex-on-the-beach, the night became a blur.

I look over and Sarah is still passed out, lightly snoring. I grab my phone and see that it's 10 o'clock. We only got home six hours ago.

I put down my phone and snuggle back into my duvet. I try to piece the night together. I remember pulling Sarah away from that guy's mouth when the bartender yelled last call. And I remember walking to get a slice of the best pizza I had ever had. I tried to remember how Sarah even met that guy?

Oh yeah. I remember Lawson getting us in and leading us to a table of people. I remember that awful guy pulling Lawson away from me right before we kissed.

Holy shit! We almost kissed!

His perfect face flashes in my mind and my stomach does a flip. I feel annoyed with myself that I've only seen this guy twice in my life and he is making me feel this way.

I feel the emergent need to vomit. I run to our en suite and make it just in time. I expel everything from last night and instantly feel better.

I also feel satisfied that it was the alcohol making my stomach flip, not him.

***

Me and Sarah spend our last day before classes snuggled in our beds watching movies. She won't stop talking about Ben, the guy she met last night, and what a great kisser he was.

I can't help but feel jealous that I don't have a kiss to gossip about too.

I keep replaying the scene in my head. His devilish grin and the way he barely licked his bottom lip as he lowered his face to mine. His emerald eyes going dark as he looked at my lips.

I mentally block out the last part when he is pulled away and try to imagine what would have happened if that douchebag would have left us alone.

I bet his lips are so soft and would just melt into mine. I bet his mouth tasted minty and I bet his tongue would expertly find mine. A stirring feeling starts in my core as I close my eyes and try to take this fantasy further.

"Hello! Earth to Ellie! Aren't you going to answer that?" Sarah stares at me.

I didn't even realize my phone was ringing.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Guess I didn't hear it," I mumble, embarrassed that I was so lost in my own head.

My screen tells me it's an incoming call from Grayson. I decline.

I feel bad ignoring him, but I'm ready to move on.

In four years of dating, Grayson never created the feelings inside me that Lawson has created in just two days.

My phone buzzes in my hand, alerting me that he left a voicemail. I click play.

Hey Ell. It's Gray. Shit, you know that. Sorry. I don't know why I'm being so weird. Um, I just wanted to call and see how you were. You can call or text me anytime. I miss you, Ell. Um. Okay, yeah. I'll just talk to you later. Bye.

I feel bad that Gray is having a rougher time than I am. He doesn't sound happy. For a moment, I feel guilty for breaking up with him. I have to stop that. It's time I start doing things for myself, not for others.

I delete the voicemail and force my mind back to the movie that's on.

Around 7 o'clock, Sarah asks if I want to order pizza. While we're waiting, I take a shower and get things ready for the next day. Sarah comes into the bedroom as I'm trying to decide on the perfect first-day-of-college outfit.

"So, what was up with you and that guy last night?" I can tell she's been dying to ask this question all day and she's trying to sound as casual as possible.

"What do you mean?" I ask, playing dumb.

"He literally got us into the bar and was all over you and then just disappeared," her words spill out quickly and I can tell she is truly curious.

"I really don't know." That's the truth.

"And then when we were getting pizza, Ben told me that you should stay away from him," She lowers her head and glances up at me, like she is unsure what my reaction will be.

"What. I don't remember that at all. Why would he say that?"

"He wouldn't tell me exactly. Just that he is known as a pretty big player around campus."

What does "a pretty big player" mean exactly?

"Well like you said, he disappeared. It's not like we're getting married. Besides, you were the one with your tongue down Benny Boy's throat all night," I smirk at her and she giggles.

A knock on the door tells us the pizza has arrived. We eat quickly, ravenous from our hangovers wearing off.

After approving each other's outfits for the next day, we both climb into our beds to try to get some sleep before our early morning.

I toss and turn, nervous for the next day. I finally find sleep as I think about Lawson's lips touching mine.