Because of you (4 page)

“
Hi Ryder,” Paris says, stroking my arm. “Britney, Scarlett and I were just passing through and we wanted to say hi.” They look at each other and laugh. I turn my head to see where the mysterious beauty is heading. I’m surprised to see she also turns around, and our eyes meet. We don’t break eye contact until Paris pokes me in the ribs again. I turn back to her. “Did you hear what I was saying?”

“
Huh?” I ask, puzzled,
when I face
her again.

“
God, you never listen to me. I asked if you can pick us up before your practice. My car is in the shop, and I can’t go anywhere.”

“
Yeah, no problem,” I say absently and turn back to the other side of the hallway, but the mysterious blonde is already gone.

Aaliyah

Addison is already waiting for me in front of the classroom where we have a
class. “Hey,” I greet her as I walk up to her.

“
You’re late,” she responds, “everyone is already in there.”

“
Sorry, that wasn’t on purpose, but I crashed into a guy in the hallway and dropped all my books. It took forever to pick everything up.” His strong chest felt like a stone wall, his biceps tightening under his black shirt as he was helping me pick up my books.

“
Was he cute?” I bite my lower lip and nod.

“
Mm-hum, hot, I was barely able to take my eyes off him. I was
close to him for just a moment and I was already mesmerized by his eyes.”

“
Oooh, tell me more. What’s his name?” she asks as we walk to our desk. We set our books down and sit.

“
I don’t know, there wasn’t time to ask him. Three girls approached him and I left because I was in a hurry to get to you. But I’ll never forget how handsome he looked. Brown eyes, almost black, short disheveled hair and
a
stubble—he probably forgot to shave this morning. Very tall, with broad shoulders. Well, I’m sure he has a girlfriend, so…” I shrug and shift my attention to Professor Johnson, who has just begun his lecture. I can’t get involved with anyone anyway, not when Caden is still looking for me. Actually, I think I’ve seen the guy from the hallway on Saturday when I was getting coffee at the coffee house, he was there with a group of friends. He already caught my eye back then.

“
Well, he seems like every average guy here,” Addison jokes.

After the lecture, we each go our own way, since we have different classes. Before I turn down the hallway to the right, I see Addison run into the arms of no other than the guy I bumped into earlier. She kisses him on his cheek and I shake my head in disappointment.
I knew he has a girlfriend.
Such a handsome guy is never single. But weirdly, his eyes are not focused on her, they’re
fixated
at me. My heart starts pounding. Addison is explaining something to him, but he’s not listening to her. I turn around and hurry off to Sociology. I’m not going to be one of those girls who break up other people’s relationships. I know Addison is happy with Jackson, so I’ll just have to avoid him in the future.

I take my time putting away things I don’t need into a locker and walk home. Thank God I don’t have any more classes today, so I can take a nap. Since I’ve worked until 4 o’clock in the morning and got up at 8, I desperately need some sleep.

“
Hey, Aaliyah, wait!” I hear someone call after me and I turn around.

“
Noah, hi.” My mouth forms a wide grin. He stops, out of breath, and smiles.

“
I saw you leaving, do you need a ride? I am also finished with classes for the day.”

“
Umm, I don’t know, it’s not far. You don’t have to drive out of your way just to take me home. I can walk,” I try to excuse myself.

“
Oh, no,” he
waves
his arm, “it’s no problem. Come, at least I won’t be bored during the drive home.”

“So, what did you think of your first day? Was it too hard?” Noah asks as he turns right at a junction.

“
It was interesting, but also strenuous. Still, I can’t wait for tomorrow to work again. I’ll slowly get used to it.” He nods.
Justin Timberlake’s Mirrors
is playing on the radio while we sit in comfortable silence.

“
I was wondering…” Noah begins, but doesn’t continue.

“
What?” I ask curiously.

“
We're playing cards tonight
, not a lot of us—just
those of
us who live there, and I know Addison is coming, because Jackson will be there, so I thought you might want to come? Are you free?” I turn to him.

“
Um…” I don’t know how to respond. On one hand, I could use some company, but on the other hand, I’d rather be alone.

“
I’m not forcing you to go, I just want to get to know you better.” Oh, why not. I don’t know why I should always be alone. I came to college to find friends, and I’m going to do so. I offer him a big smile and nod.

“
Okay, I’ll be there. I can’t wait.”

“
Really? Great, I can’t wait either. Are you coming with Addison, or should I pick you up?” he asks just before I exit the car.

“
I’ll go with Addison. What time does it start?”

“
Be there around 7. See you!” Pleased, I nod and wave him goodbye.

A little after I get out of the shower and get dressed, Addison comes in the room. Sighing dreamily, she puts her purse on the bed and spins around. “God, my life is perfect,” she says as she comes closer. “Jackson just told me he loves me,” she shouts out with joy. “I haven’t been so happy in ages.” I give her a sincere smile.

“Wow, that’s so great. I saw today how in love the two of you looked in the hallway. I’m happy for you.” She flashes me a confused look, but only shrugs.

“
Speaking of Jackson, would you like to come to his place with me? They are playing cards, it’ll be fun.” I nod.

“
Yes, sure.” Addison turns and comes closer to me.

“
Wow, this was easy. How come you agreed so quickly?” I sit down on the bed with a T-shirt in my hands.

“
Noah told me about playing cards at his house and invited me, so I said yes,” I explain, shrugging my shoulders.

“
Noah, huh? He’s a nice guy. He’s been Ryder’s roommate for the last three years. Do you like him?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

“
He’s not bad, he’s cute—it’s just that he’s not my type. We get along great and work wonderfully together, so I think we’re becoming friends.” I pull the T-shirt over my head and reach
into
the drawer for socks.

“
Oh, too bad, otherwise I’d put my matchmaking skills to good use. You’d look cute together.”

“What are you going to wear?” Addison asks as I am putting on mascara. I turn my eyes to her.

“
What do you mean? I’m already dressed. We’re just going to play cards, right?” She examines me from head to toe.

“
Yeah, well, still. Some hot guys will be there, you can borrow some of my clothes, you’d look great in them.” That didn’t even cross my mind. But I’m not very noticeable anyway, and I don’t like being in the center of attention.

“
I don’t know… Okay, but I’m not wearing a dress, since I’m taller than you, it’d look too short on me. I don’t want to reveal too much.” Addison hands me black leggings with
a
lace trim that go below my knees and a colorful halter style top with
a
floral pattern reaching over my hips. I grab a pair of black pumps with 4 inch heel, which used to belong to Hope, out of the closet. I’m satisfied with Addison’s choice. The clothes are something I would also pick myself. I tie my hair in a ponytail and flat iron my bangs.

“
You look great, and I’m so jealous of your boobs. I’d give anything to have a pair like yours,” Addison compliments me, making me feel more confident.

“
There’s nothing to be jealous about, they just get in the way, especially when I go running,” I say, shaking my head. Addison applies some eye shadow on my eyelids, since I don’t usually wear it, and I’ve already put on mascara. Addison decides to wear something more daring, which is her style—a denim mini skirt, skintight turquoise blouse and turquoise shoes, hair down and curly. We grab our coats and we’re on our way to the guys’ house.

“Hey, Marc,” says Addison and throws herself into his arms.

“
Hey yourself,” he responds and looks to me.

“
Oh, let me introduce you to Aaliyah, my roommate. Aaliyah, this is Marc, my brother’s best friend.” We
greet each other and
shake hands. His hair is a little longer and he has a darker skin tone, he’s
Latino
and I bet he’s very popular with the girls. Marc takes us to a big room where there’s a huge brown couch in the middle
,
and two guys are sitting in the matching armchairs. Beer is on the table and they are staring at
the
television, playing a console game. The room has beige walls and I don’t see any paintings on them. I feel a gentle touch on my hips and I turn around.

“
You came,” Noah says and pulls me into a hug. Surprised, I hug him back.

“
Of course I came, I promised I would,” I turn around to examine the room some more.

“
Wow, this is a huge house.  How many of you live here?” Noah follows me.

“
Seven. You don’t even notice it, since there are just half of us here most of the time. But tonight only Mason is absent, he’s with his girlfriend.” I nod, and he takes me to the kitchen. The two boys I saw playing games earlier join us.

“
Aaliyah, this is Jayden and Jarrod, the twins
.
You two, this is Aaliyah, the girl I was telling you about.” The girl he was telling them about, huh, he probably told them we work together. I greet them, smiling.

“
What is a sexy girl like you doing with a guy like Noah?” Jayden asks as he looks at Noah. I blush, dropping my gaze to the ground, and shift my weight from one foot to another, but luckily Addison interrupts my embarrassing moment.

“
Hey, Noah, have you seen Jackson around?”

“
Yeah, I think he’s in his room with Ryder, they’ll be here shortly. Since you’re here now, help me carry these
snack treys
to the room, we’ll play cards there.” Addison nods.

“
Can I help?” I offer.

“
If you want, you can grab one tray, and I’ll bring the drinks.” We settle comfortably on the couch and chat. After
about
fifteen minutes, Addison gets up and runs up the stairs. I follow her with my eyes as she throws herself into a hug with the guy from the hallway, who I presume is Jackson. He kisses her on the cheek, and with his hand on her hips, they come closer. My heart is beating erratically as I know they are headed toward me for Addison to introduce us. I try to remain calm, since this is her boyfriend whom I happen to really like. And here I was trying to avoid him.

“
Come here, let me introduce you to my roommate. I’ve told you so much about her, you practically know her already,” she tells him with a smile, grabbing his hand. When his gaze lands on me, he also looks shocked. Hmm, shocked because he feels bad for checking me out while having a girlfriend who is her roommate, or shocked for some other reason? “This is Aaliyah.” We reach out to shake hands, my palms starting to get sweaty from nervousness.

“
Hi, nice to meet you. Addison talks about you all the time.” I try to appear unaffected, but when our fingers touch, I feel a strange energy pass between us, and I quickly remove my hand, moving back a step. I glance around me and sit back on the couch, looking everywhere except at him. Oh, how can I be so attracted to a guy who’s taken, a forbidden fruit? I shake my head and try to follow the conversation. I can tell the boys have known each other for a long time and that they’re good friends. Addison sits on
his
lap. I’m talking to Noah and Marc. When I finally muster the courage to look at the lovebirds, his eyes are focused my way, he’s ignoring Addison completely. Shaking my head, I get up and head to the kitchen to drink a glass of water and clear my head. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I’m thinking about finding an excuse to leave, so I won’t have to watch Jackson and Addison together all night.

“
Damn it,” I exclaim when I see Jackson standing in front of me, the bottle of water hitting the floor with a loud bang and spilling. “You scared the shit outta me,” I say to him and reach for paper towels to wipe up the water. He also kneels and together we mop up the floor. When we rise on our feet again and I throw the wet towels in the trash, I turn to him and nervously straighten my top.