Witness

10| New Normal

Grabbing our luggage and making it to campus was a smooth process. Jaxon had ordered me to stay close to him at all times— a relief because the perv from the plane tried to stand by me at baggage claim until he took note of Jaxon. He was quick to step between us, acting as a wall so that Brennan wouldn't be able to see me behind his large frame.

It was nice to see Jaxon in action, not that Brennan was anything like the people I needed real protecting from.

I felt a little bad that Jaxon had to grab most of the suitcases since my arm was in a sling, but again, he was a huge guy so I figured he'd be fine.

Our trip from the airport was mostly silent, as the only conversation that happened was when Jaxon would bark orders at me or fill me in on safety protocols. I tried my best to understand everything he was saying, but I really only got it after he broke it all down. I didn't need to know all of the technical aspects of it anyway.

I was thinking about everything Jaxon told me as we made our way through campus and found our dorm. He let out a huff as he settled all the bags onto a luggage cart, holding out a hand for the one bag I had been carrying.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, unsure why he was reaching out to me. If my mind wasn't so preoccupied with everything going on, I definitely would have understood but again... I was distracted.

"Your bag," he snapped, "let me take it."

His tone helped me to get with it quickly. "Right, sorry..." I muttered as I passed it over to him. "Thank you for carrying everything... I'm sorry I'm not much help."

Jaxon just nodded at me as he began pushing the cart. "Stay close and follow me, we're going this way."

I did as I was told, silently waiting for the elevator as I stood beside him. I kind of wanted to say something to him, anything, but I just didn't know how to approach him. I normally was okay with silence, in fact, I preferred it the majority of the time, but with Jaxon I found the silence to be uncomfortable.

As we entered the elevator, and I watched it pass floor after floor, I found myself trembling where I stood, shifting my weight from foot to foot.

"Don't be so nervous. Just remember your notes and it'll be okay," Jaxon spoke up from beside me.

I could only nod in response to his kind words. Again, he had just snapped at me about my bag and now he was trying to comfort me? What was this guy's deal?

It wasn't long before the two of us stood outside my dorm room. I was hesitant, but after a very inconsiderate "Go" muttered from Jaxon, I found the nerve to insert my key and enter my room.

It was nice. Well, nice by dorm room standards I supposed. It was small, but it was set up efficiently with two lofted beds, one against the window and the other against the wall; each of which had desks underneath them. There was also a closet to my right, and another to my left, and in the middle was a futon against one wall with a mini fridge and TV across from it. I didn't have long to soak in my surroundings before my roommate climbed down from her bed by the window to come and greet me.

"Hi, I'm Hannah!" The girl said, offering me a hand. She was tall and curvy, and had the brightest most genuine smile on her face. I admired the way her blonde hair cascaded down her back and the way her brown eyes seemed to provide some sharp contrast against her light skin and light hair. I definitely thought Hannah was pretty, and in such a natural way. I envied her confidence and energy immediately as she continued to speak.