Chaotic (Imperfect Perfection) (8 page)

“Absolutely,” they both replied
simultaneously, looping their arms through mine and quickly ushering me towards
the front door. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“So, please explain what in the
hell happened last night because I’m totally confused.” I finished the sip of
my latte as I sat down and hooked my handbag on the back of my chair. Callie
stared back at me silently as I took my time and drummed her pink nails
impatiently.

“Chill girl, at least let her sit
down before you start grilling her.” I scooted in my chair and was just about
to thank Zoey until I saw the stare-down she was giving me as well.

We had gotten home late last night
from the bar and had all passed out as soon as we got back. I was a little surprised
that they hadn’t made themselves stay awake just to interrogate me. I had
ducked out early this morning for my first class, so we were now just meeting
up before our afternoon classes.

“Well, I met Justin when-”

“Hold up,” Callie interrupted.
“Start at the beginning, don’t think we missed all of that flirting going on
between you and Nash. We need ALL the details.”

“Fine,” I huffed out, “but you are
going to be disappointed there. Nash and I are strictly friends. That’s it. We
were just catching up, that was all.”

“Ri-ght,” Zoey dragged out, giving
Callie a look like she believed nothing I had just said. “We saw the way you
two were together. You basically look like soul mates. Now, you know I’m not
the biggest fan of Nash but that’s mainly because of Mariah. I think you should
be the one to save him from her clutches.”

“Nash is a big boy, obviously he’s
happy or he wouldn’t be with her. But it definitely got awkward when she showed
up. That’s when I escaped to the bathroom and ran into Justin. He was
definitely a good distraction, but that’s all he was. I have no plans on seeing
him again.”

“Good luck with that.” Callie
snorted as she drained her frozen coffee and stood up to throw it away. “Justin
Parker is the biggest man slut on campus. I’ve heard that he’s slept with every
girl in the Sigma Delta sorority.” Raising her eyebrows, she leaned over and
added in a hushed voice. “And not just one at a time either, if you know what I
mean.” I choked on my drink a little bit, knowing exactly what Callie meant.
Gross.

 “He gets whoever he wants and then
leaves them wanting more. If he has you in his sight, you are definitely in
trouble,” she finished, her eyes sort of glazed over like she was thinking
about all of the different possibilities if Justin decided to focus on her.

Zoey quietly chimed in, humming
Taylor Swift’s songs, ‘I knew you were trouble’.

I snorted at her choice of song and
shrugged my shoulders. “I think I can handle him. This campus is big enough to
avoid him anyway.” I drained the rest of my drink and scooted out my chair. “Sorry
to cut this short girls, but I have a class on the other side of campus, so
I’ll catch up with you at home.”

I made my way across campus,
weaving in and out of the cluster of students that were gathered across the
pathway. It was definitely a bit overwhelming compared to MCCC, but I was
quickly beginning to fall in love with it. It almost made me wish that I had
started off at a four year college, but I think I really just needed that time
to myself to completely heal.

I walked into the auditorium that
my human studies class was in and headed towards the middle section. This had
to be my biggest class yet; it was only partially filled and looked to hold at
least two hundred students. I felt my heel catch someone’s bag in front of me
as I made my way to a seat and plummeted forward, almost kissing the ground
before an arm snaked around my waist and stood me upright.

A pair of amused gray eyes stared
casually back at me as I glared down at him. “You! What the hell is your
problem? Are you working some kind of voodoo magic so I’m always falling into
your waiting arms?”

“Seriously? Maybe we just have some
kind of connection. It’s not my fault you’re a bit of a klutz. I certainly
don’t mind catching you though.” Justin continued to stare back at me as I
stood there, anger bubbling up in my chest at his nonchalant attitude. I turned
to find another seat far, far away from him, but he stopped me, grabbing onto
my elbow. “C’mon, Della. Can’t we at least be friends? I promise I won’t
bite…yet,” he added with a smirk as I hesitantly turned around.

The professor walked to the front
of the room, setting down his briefcase, as I reluctantly plopped down into the
seat next to him. I couldn’t help but notice the line of at least five girls
sitting on the other side of him who all looked to be dissecting me with their
eyes. All probably wondering why Justin was paying so much attention to me,
over them. I really had no clue, but I didn’t care. He probably considered it
some sort of game since I wasn’t being very cooperative.

I tried to concentrate as the
professor went over what we would be doing for the semester but it proved
difficult with Justin sitting next to me. He seemed to not be able to sit still,
and his body kept inching closer and closer to mine. My whole body was tense
with the closeness, so when the professor ended class, I practically jumped out
of my seat, heading for the doors.

“Damn, I’ve never met a girl in a
hurry to get away from me before. I think I kind of like it.” I didn’t turn
around, just kept walking, but I could feel the closeness of his body keeping
up with my quick pace. “So, think you want to be study buddies? I have my own
place, so it would work out perfectly. I’m sure we could do all kinds of studying;
you’re an excellent subject.”

I glanced over quickly to see his
eyes roving every inch of my body and came to an abrupt stop. “Look, I don’t know
what game you’re playing, but I don’t want any part of it. So just forget me
and move onto the next one. Really, I’m a waste of your time. Because this,” I
motioned my hands between the two of us, trying my hardest to keep a straight
face as he gave me a twisted smirk, “is not going to happen.”

“What ever you say, Della,” he
backed up a few steps, holding his hands up in defeat. “Just know that I don’t
give up that easily. Ever.”

                                                                          
 **********

“Would you mind setting the table,
Della? I just have a few last minute things to finish up and supper should be
ready in no time.”

“Sure, Grams.” I pulled out three
place settings and began laying them out on the dining room table. My first week
of school was complete and had gone as smoothly as expected, I guess.
Strangely, Justin had left me alone for the most part and seemed to be moving
on from his infatuation with me.

Every time I saw him there was a
different girl perched on his lap or wrapped around his body. Honestly, it made
me a little sick to see those girls throwing themselves at him. Sure, he was
practically sex on a stick. He oozed manliness and trouble; it was something
you could sense as soon as he walked into the room. But didn’t those girls have
any self-respect?

A knock on the door broke me out of
my thoughts of Justin, which was probably a good thing, and I ran to get it.
Nash stood on the other side, a big grin plastered on his face, as he stepped
in with a small bouquet of daisies, handing them to me. I inhaled deeply,
playing with the white ribbon that tied them together. “What are these for
exactly?”

“Well, kind of as an apology,” he
said, shuffling his feet nervously in the entryway, “for the other night. I
didn’t mean to ditch you when Mariah showed up. She can be a little territorial,
if you didn’t notice.”

“Really?” I responded sarcastically
with a smile. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure she was a little surprised to
find you with another girl, even if we are just friends. I completely
understand.”

“Good.” A look of relief passed
over his face, and he finally came to a still. “Think we could talk outside for
a minute?”

“Sure. Grams, I’ll be right back,
I’m just going out front with Nash,” I yelled into the kitchen.

“All right, sweetie,” she yelled
back. “Invite him for supper if you would like.”

I closed the front door behind me,
taking a seat next to Nash on the porch swing where he was all ready sitting,
his lean arm stretched out across the back. I hesitantly sat next to him,
trying to make as little body contact as possible. Nash would really be just
the kind of guy I needed right now, but he was taken, and I didn’t want to step
over that friends line. “So what’s up?”

“Well,” he dragged out, scratching
at the scruffiness on his head, “I was just wondering what was going on with
you and that Justin guy, from the other night, you two seemed pretty…into each
other.”

“And why would that matter to you?”
I arched a brow at him, and his eyes shifted away from my face quickly. It almost
seemed as if he was…jealous.

“It doesn’t. It’s just I know the
guys reputation and he’s not someone you should be getting yourself involved
with. You deserve way better than him, Della, someone who will appreciate you.”

“Don’t worry, Nash.” I patted his
leg, swinging my legs back and forth. “I know his kind, and I’m most definitely
staying away. Thanks for your concern though.”

“Not a problem. I was also
wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime this week. I could introduce you
to the guys and show you the house I’m living in. It’s basically a bachelor
pad, but we do have a pool table. I think you still owe me a game,” he gave me
a crooked smirk, tapping me lightly on the nose.

“I don’t know. How would your
girlfriend feel about that?”

“Don’t worry about, Mariah.” He
stood up, reaching out a hand to help me up. “You were always one of my best friends;
just because I have a girlfriend now doesn’t change that. Tuesday night sound
good?”

“That sounds awesome.”

I rolled to the side of my bed,
banging at my alarm clock, but that didn’t seem to stop the persistent chirping
that was interrupting my sleep. After throwing it across the room and still no
silence, I finally realized that my phone was the cause of waking me up.

I crawled across the floor,
searching through piles of clothes before I finally found it buried under a
stack of books. I had been keeping true to my word about studying, and last
night had been a late one at the library with Zoey. So far, this was a lot more
challenging than MCCC.

“Hello,” I muttered into the phone,
scrubbing at my eyes that just didn’t want to open.

“Adelaide, are you still sleeping?
It doesn’t seem as if you are making
too
many changes.” My mother’s
frigid voice was like a splash of cold water, and I sat up abruptly, suddenly
wide-awake.

“Well, apparently I’m awake or I
wouldn’t have answered. And besides, it’s one of my late days, I think I can
sleep past,” I glanced at the clock, groaning when I saw the time, “seven a.m.”

“Yes, well I’m on my way out, so I
just wanted to check in and make sure you made it. I don’t expect any sort of
updates from your grandparents, so I guess I’ll just have to rely on your word.”
She let out a very unlady-like snort.

“Oh, how nice of you to check in on
me after almost two weeks of me being here. I’m doing just fine by the way. Behaving
myself and everything. Don’t worry I’ll call to inform you the minute I get
into trouble.”

“I’ve missed your sarcasm so much,”
she replied. “Well, anyway, just wanted to check in. Have you talked to any of
those so-called friends of yours since you left?”

“No, why would I? Most of them are
off at school and forgot about me anyway.”

“I wish,” she mumbled. “Apparently
your leaving without a word sparked a massive debate on the reasoning behind
that. It is truly embarrassing, and I’ve had to work hard to cover up for you.
I believe you owe me a thank you.”

“Right, I totally do.” My silence
following must have clued her in that a thank you wasn’t coming anytime soon.
If she was covering up for anyone, it was herself. I was tired of having to lie
about everything.

“Well, then. I guess we have
nothing else to discuss. It seems as if you haven’t had any kind of magic
transformation that I was hoping for. Call me with any updates.” Before I could
even say goodbye, the line went dead.

I tossed my phone on the empty spot
next to me and squeezed my eyes shut, hoping I could find sleep once again, but
what my mother said was gnawing at me. I knew I said I was done with everyone
back home, but I was still curious. I grabbed my phone and tapped on the
Facebook icon. I had hundreds of notifications and a few friend requests from
people I had met on campus.

One of Marley’s posts popped up
right away, so I quickly scanned it. Apparently, I had gotten knocked up and
had been whisked away to an undisclosed location until the baby was born. As
one of my best friends, she felt necessary to inform everyone. Right.

I tossed my phone back onto the
bed. I really didn’t want to look at it anymore. I was done with those people,
and I had a life to live here.

                                                                     
********

“Hi, I saw that you were hiring. I
was wondering if I could get an application.” The bartender at the sports bar I
had stopped by on my way to the bus stop did a double take, looking me over
with a tight smile at least three times before finally answering me.

“Honey, I’m sure this is a little
more grueling than what you’re used to. Why don’t you look at a tanning salon
or something? I’m sure that’s more your…style.”

I pursed my lips at the guy. He
clearly had a stick up his ass and was judging me based on what I was wearing.
Sure, my makeup and hair were done perfectly, and what I was wearing wasn’t
really waitress material, but I needed a job. My limited funds were slowly
dwindling, and I knew that waitressing would boost those up quickly.