Death of a Waterfall (The Hayden Falls Saga) (11 page)

"And what about Alex?" Teghan asked after a pause.

"What about him?"

"He's made it perfectly clear that he's not supportive of me getting involved with Donnie."

"Not supportive? That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. Take off the rose-colored glasses, sweetie. Alex is your ex-boyfriend. He'll never be supportive of you dating anyone. As far as he was concerned, you two were going to get married, have kids, and live happily ever after. The only thing you can do is talk to him."

Teghan folded her arms on the table and let her head fall to them. "It's easier just to ignore them both."

"And hope it goes away? Let me know how that works out for you." Annabelle patted the back of Teghan's head. "Come on. We're gonna be late for class."

Teghan rose and followed Annabelle out of the dining hall. The first class of the afternoon was Biology and they had it together. They headed toward the east end of campus where all the academic buildings were located. "Isn't it just my luck that Sloyan Hall is the furthest building from our dorm?" Teghan said.

"Stop complaining," Annabelle said. "The exercise won't kill you."

"I didn't say it was going to kill me, but this is where most of my classes are, and it also happens to be...What the hell?" Teghan stopped behind a large group of people crowded around the marble fountain in the quad. They squeezed their way closer to the front. "What's going on?" Teghan muttered.

"Lambda Delta Pi is about to introduce their new pledges," the girl standing next to Teghan said. `

"And all these people are here to listen to this announcement?" Teghan asked.

"Just watch. You'll see why all these people are here." The girl smiled. "I'm Harmonie, by the way."

"I'm Teghan. This is Annabelle," Teghan said.

"Nice to meet you," Harmonie said. "Oh, here they come."

Teghan saw the excitement in Harmonie's eyes. She had no idea what the big deal was. So a fraternity had new pledges. Big deal. It's not like it didn't happen every semester. And then she saw them. Twelve guys dressed in animal print pants with matching jackets and no shirts walked through the crowd and stopped in front of the fountain. The first guy in the line had an old school boom box in his hands. He picked it up, pushed the play button and held it over his head. The beat to LMFAO's
Sexy and I Know It
blared from the speakers.

Eight other guys walked into the quad dressed in black gym pants with white snaps down both legs. They all climbed onto the ledge of the fountain and stood, waiting for their cue. It came moments later. The guys on the fountain flexed their arms in various muscle man poses. No wonder there was such a crowd of people, she thought. Teghan glanced at Annabelle, mouthed the word wow, and fanned herself with her hand. Annabelle giggled. In complete unison, the guys tore off their pants to reveal fluorescent, spandex underwear. "No way!" Teghan said. "That's Logan." She pointed to him in the line of guys dancing on the fountain.

"That guy from the party?" Annabelle asked.

Teghan nodded, her eyes getting wider as the poorly choreographed routine continued.
Too bad he's a horrible kisser. He's got one hell of a body on him.
Donnie puts all these guys to shame though. God, what I wouldn't do to see him right now.
Teghan blew out a breath. The pledges turned around so that their backs were now to the crowd. They laced their fingers behind their heads and shook their asses in a circular motion. They all jumped and turned back around repeating the move.

"I'd like to introduce Lambda Delta Pi's newest pledges," the guy with the boom box said. One by one, the pledges stepped forward as their names were announced. "Come on out Friday night and wiggle your stuff with us."

The pledges jumped from the fountain and filed out of the quad. Logan, however, walked straight up to Teghan. "Hey, Teghan." He smiled. "You disappeared Saturday night. What happened?"

"Hi, Logan." Teghan glanced down at his crotch and tried not to giggle. "Yeah, sorry about that," she lied.

"So, can I take you out sometime?"

She hesitated. "I don't know, Logan."

"Oh."

Teghan felt bad turning him down like that. It's not like she was seeing anyone. She and Donnie definitely weren't a couple. "Maybe we could have lunch tomorrow or something," she offered.

His face lit up. "I'd really like that."

"Okay then." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, I gotta get to class."

"Will I see you at the party Friday night?" Logan asked.

"Maybe." She smiled and waved to him as she walked away.

"You can't seriously be considering going out with him?" Annabelle said.

"I'm not. I just felt bad for him. It's only lunch. No biggie." Teghan shrugged.

"Trouble," Annabelle said with a shake of her head.

"So lunch with Logan is trouble, but seeing Donnie isn't?" Teghan pulled open the door to the lecture hall. She'd been in classes for a week now, yet the size of the lecture halls never ceased to amaze her. There were over two hundred seats arranged stadium style. In the center of the room stood a single lectern that looked, from where she stood, like the size of a cardboard box. Half the seats were already occupied. They took two seats at the front of the room.

"That's not what I'm saying. Having lunch with Logan while you've got unresolved issues with Donnie and Alex is trouble."

Teghan simply shook her head and sat silently. As usual, Annabelle was right, but she wasn't going to tell her that.

~ * ~

Teghan and Annabelle had lunch with Logan for the past three days and it was rather uneventful. Logan approached their table, a stupid smile on his face, and a curvy brunette following closely behind. "Hey," he said, setting his tray of food on the table. "I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. Harmonie Frazer."

"Hi, again!" Harmonie said sitting next to Logan.

"Again?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, we met the other day during your, um, performance," Harmonie said.

Annabelle and Teghan laughed as Logan's face turned red.

"Right," he mumbled.

"Logan told me you're both freshmen?" Harmonie asked.

"Yup," Annabelle said.

"Me too," Harmonie said. "Well, kinda. I should be a sophomore, but I'm technically a third semester freshman."

"What?" Teghan asked.

"Yeah, I really messed up my first semester. Partied too much and flunked all but one of my classes. So, my second semester I was on academic probation. Thank goodness I did better. Now I'm finally taking my second semester freshman courses even though I should technically be taking my first semester sophomore classes.

"I never realized just how hard college was gonna be. My dad tried to tell me, but I just didn't listen. Well, let me tell you, I'm listening now. I only party on the weekends now, and I go to
all
of my classes. Having a boyfriend is simply out of the question. They just take up too much time. Don't you agree? I bet you have a boyfriend though, don't you? Or a girlfriend? Hey, that's cool with me too. I don't judge. College is about exploration, right?"

Teghan drummed her fingernails on the table and listened as Harmonie rambled on. She'd nod at the appropriate times and offer a lame, "wow" as necessary.
Holy hell, is she ever going to shut up?

"So, you going to the party tomorrow night?" Harmonie asked.

"Yeah, we're thinking about checking it out," Annabelle said.

"We should go together!" Harmonie squealed.

Teghan shot Annabelle a conspiratorial look. "We have that, thing, Annie. Remember? With my sister?"

"What thing?"

Teghan rolled her eyes. As smart as Annabelle was, she could be really dense at times. "Never mind. I'll call and cancel. What time does the party start?" she asked, turning toward Logan.

"Nine," he said.

Teghan nodded and smiled. "I guess we'll see you at nine then." The idea of going to a party with Logan wasn't very appealing, and the thought of him trying to kiss her again turned her stomach. Maybe she'd get a case of the flu or something.

~ * ~

"I really don't see what the big deal is," Annabelle said after she and Teghan left their afternoon biology class and headed toward their dorm.

"You didn't find Harmonie the least bit annoying?"

"Of course, but there's going to be plenty of people there. It'll be easy to lose her."

Teghan laughed. "Your problem solving skills are amazing."

Annabelle rolled her eyes. "It's better than your lame 'we got that thing' excuse."

"Whatever. That so would've..." Teghan stopped. Her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her head, and her jaw was stuck open. She looked at Annabelle, who wore a smile the size of Texas.
Okay, breathe. Annie sees him too, so I must not be dreaming.
What the hell was he doing here? And why was she excited when she should be furious?
Because I haven't stopped thinking about him and his rock hard body. Or his brilliant green eyes. Or how soft his lips were every time he kissed me. Shut up!
Teghan shook the thoughts from her head. "Donnie?" she said.

He stood from the step he'd been sitting on. "Hey, Teghan."

Chapter Ten

Teghan led Donnie to a trail she and Annabelle had discovered during one of their first days on the Hayden Fall University campus. It was a beautiful winding path that ran parallel to the ocean. During the few times she'd walked it, it had never been overly populated, and she'd always wondered why more students didn't use it. Teghan admired the beauty of the ocean, savoring the salty breeze that brushed over her and getting lost in the music of the birds. She inhaled deeply; an aromatic mixture of ocean water, freshly cut grass, and Donnie's cologne swirled in her nostrils. It was heavenly.

"I'm sure you've been really busy, but I don't buy that you couldn't take a minute to answer my texts," Donnie said.

"What do you want, Donnie?" She tucked her hands into her back pockets, keeping her eyes down as she walked.

"For starters, I want to know what I did to upset you."

Teghan sighed. "Look, you seem like a nice enough guy but--"

"That's the kiss of death," Donnie said.

She forced back a smile and met his gaze for the first time since they'd started walking. The green of his eyes danced in the sunlight. He stopped, folded his arms over his chest, and looked at her. She chewed on her bottom lip, stopped beside him, and rocked on her heels. "You don't realize how much is at stake for me. If I get involved with you, I'm going to lose everything again."

"So this is about Alex," Donnie said.

"I told you, it's always about Alex."

"When does it stop being about him and start being about you?" He reached for her and she stepped closer to him.

"I don't know," she said softly. "I just don't want to go through what I did this past summer. It was pure hell."

"Tell me about it."

"What?"

"Tell me what happened this past summer." He laced his fingers through hers and started to walk again.

"Well..." She cleared her throat. No one, other than Annabelle, had ever asked her what happened. It was a little unsettling, and she wasn't quite sure where to begin. "I broke up with Alex almost a year after he'd made that deal with my father. My dad was furious with me and did everything he could to convince me to stay with Alex. At first, he tried to bribe me, and when that didn't work, he threatened to cut me off from my trust fund and the family."

"Your dad threatened you?"

"Yes. It pissed him off that for the first time in my life, I was disobeying his wishes. But I think he was more pissed that he couldn't buy me." Teghan exhaled loudly. "My family was literally divided. It was me, my sister, and my mom against my dad and Trevor. Of course, Trevor had reason to be angry with me."

Donnie shook his head. "No, he didn't."

"If Trevor had done something to cause Annabelle to take off for months on end, I'd be furious. I don't blame him for his reaction to things."

"You're very forgiving, Teghan."

She shrugged. "I had to be. I was the cause of everyone's pain."

"Your family is supposed to support you. Not blame you and make you feel like shit because they don't agree with your decisions."

Teghan glanced at Donnie. His eyes were dark and his face was tight with anger.
Wow! He really cares.
"Yes, but the decision I made didn't affect just me and Alex. It affected my entire family, and that wasn't fair."

"What's not fair is you living in fear." Donnie stopped walking and squeezed Teghan's hand, causing her to stop as well. "Everything you do, every decision you make, is made for them."

"It's easier that way." Teghan lowered her head.

Donnie raised her chin with his finger. "Easier for who?"

She stared at him for a moment. "Why do you care so much?"