One Chance (10 page)

“It’s a long ass drive,” I say as drop my bags to the floor.

“God I’ve missed you,” she says as she comes and gives me a hug.

“Missed you too buddy.  How was home?”

“Ugh, same old shit.  How was yours?” she asks with a look.

“Good.”

“You didn’t drive back to campus, why is that?” she asks curiously.

“Oh Liam and I decided to carpool.”

“Liam huh…does he know?”

“No and he never will.”

“I’m not saying anything, but I was just curious.  I can’t believe he didn’t put it together.”

“He was pretty drunk that night and I was gone before he woke up, so he probably thought he imagined it.”

“Could have, though
, that would surprise me.”

“Oh
, he was surprised when he saw me with brown hair that’s for sure and that I go here.”

“I think it’s hilarious.  So did anything else happen with dream guy?”

“No,” I say looking quickly away.  I hate lying and I suck at it.

“Nice try, spill it bitch,”
she says as she flops down on my bed.

“You can’t tell a single soul.  I didn’t even tell Kenzie.”

“I won’t.  You didn’t tell Kenzie about sleeping with him either.  Your secrets are safe with me.”

“Good
, because I need to tell someone,” I say as I sit down on the bed beside her, telling her moment-by-moment what happened.

“I feel like I’m about to hear round two happened,” she says excitedly.

“No.  We were just lying in bed talking and he asked me about making out with guys because I do that every now and then, there’s nothing wrong with it. Before I know it he’s kissing me.”

“Holy fuck.  I’m so jealous right now.”

“Don’t be.  It started to progress tops off kissing, but when I moved my hand down to unhook his jeans and he stopped me.”

“No
, he didn’t,” she asks in complete and utter shock.

“Yep, he cussed and said this could never happen again, he’s
with Meg.  So it stopped, I got dressed and we went to sleep, the next morning he was gone and for the next few days he completely ignored me.”

“Then how did you end up driving back with him?”

“He told me what time to be ready to go yesterday, so I figured what the hell, at least it would give us a chance to talk about what happened.”

“How was the car ride?”

“The first nine hours were hell.  He was a complete asshole.  I should have driven myself.”

“And the last hour or so?”

“We were fine, talked about school, the sorority, and football.  It was nice.”

“
Do you think he’s going to marry her one day?” Quinn asks out of nowhere.

“Ugh, yeah I
do.  They are perfect for each other.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Seriously?  Star quarterback, President of the Sorority house, they are both gorgeous people, that’s how it works,” I say feeling anything but happy at the moment.

“Haley
, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“I’m not sexy hot like Meg, I know that.”

“Oh my God, are you seriously blind?” Quinn shouts.

“No.”

“Do you not see how many guys hit on you?  How many guys look at you when you walk around campus?  Guys are dying to talk to you and when some do, you brush them off like it’s nothing and keep on your way.”

“That’s because the guys that talk to me aren’t what I want.  They aren’t my type.”

“No, they aren’t Liam, but sweetie you need to let him go and move on.”

“I know.  Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea.”

“Excuse me?  You met me, this was the best decision you ever made, plus, you love it here.  We will find you a hot guy.”

“I know
, Meg’s already trying to hook me up.”

“Really?” she asks surprised.

“Yep.”

“Does she know you have the hot
’s for her boyfriend?” she asks with a smirk.

“NO,” I yell.

“Okay, just thought I’d make sure.”

“No
, she has no idea. I don’t want to make it known or obvious.”

“I know.  So tomorrow is back to class and we can start looking for a
hottie for you.”

“Did you find one for yourself?”

“Maybe,” she says with a smile.

“Do tell,” I say excitedly.  I haven’t seen Quinn this happy in quite a while.

“His name is Mason and oh my gosh, he’s flipping hot,” she says all giggly.

“Where did you meet him?”

“Here last night.”

“So he goes here?”

“Yes and he’s hot.”

I can’t help but laugh, “You already said that.  So when do I get to see him?”

“Tomorrow.”

“You going out?”

“We are going out, he’s bringing a friend.”

“You aren’t going to try to hook me up are you?”

“No, but if he’s hot, then maybe,” she says with a genuine smile.

“Sounds good.”

We spend the rest of the night talking about what happened at home before calling it a night.  For the next month, I go to class, party with Quinn who ended up not hanging out with Mason the next day because the jerk actually did have a girlfriend, the asshole.  So instead, we’ve been hanging out at the sorority house or in our dorm room.

“We have only two weeks of school left, what the hell?” Quinn complains.

“You can always come stay with me,” I say excited.

“I may come visit you.  I don’t want to leave.”

“You’re coming back early too, aren’t you?”

“Yes, my family annoys the shit out of me.”

“I hear you.  So what are your plans for tonight?”

“Lacey said
something about a house party, so why don’t we check it out?”

“Sounds good to me.”

We get dressed; I decide on a light denim skirt with a sparkly purple top and sandals since the weather is getting nicer.  Quinn is dressed in black short shorts with a green halter-top and a pair of black heels.

“Wow
, you look great,” I tell Quinn approving her outfit.

“Thanks
, you look great too.  I’m hoping to get laid tonight.”

“I don’t think you’ll have a problem.”

“Good, that’s the plan.  Alright, you ready to go?”

“Sure am,” I say as I grab my small wristlet and head towards the door.  We lock up and head over to the sorority house to see what Lacey has in store.  It’s already going on 10:00 p.m. by the time we leave the sorority house to head down to the house that’s having a party.  We make our way down and I realize the closer we get as to which house we are going to.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn whispers, obviously seeing something wrong.

“Do you see where we are going?”

“Yeah a house party…oh shit, well he knows you go here now, do you think he’d care?”

“I hope not.”

“Just be glad you took out your green contacts or shit could have really hit the fan,” she says laughing, causing a few of the other girls to look at us.

“Oh God, thank goodness I did.”

“It will be fun, we’ll have a great time you’ll see,” she says as she links her arm through mine.

“You’re right,” I say as we m
ake the rest of the walk to the house.  The place is busy with people everywhere.  We finally make it inside and head towards the kitchen for the drinks.  Quinn grabs each of us a beer before we decide to walk around and check out the guests.

After an hour or so of mingling and drinking
, I have a pretty good buzz going on.  “See anyone you like?” I ask Quinn.

“Of course, but I want one that’s single,” she says looking around.

“Hey,” Liam says as he comes up behind me.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Good.  You ladies having a good time?” he asks kindly.

“Sure are,” I giggle.

“Are you drunk Haley?”

“No, but I have a good buzz going on,” I admit, he just shakes his head at me, “Liam, this is my roommate Quinn, Quinn this is Liam.”

“Nice to meet you,” Quinn says happily, but the look on Liam’s face says anything but happy to see her.

“Do you know her?” I ask confused at the situation.

“You and I need to talk now,” he says as he pulls my arm towards the stairs.

“Are you alright Haley?” Quinn asks quickly.

“I’m fine, I’ll be right back,” I say as I’m being pulled away.

We walk up the stairs and to Liam’s bedroom; I can’t help but look around checking it out again. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I spit out angrily that he drug me up the stairs like that.

“I think there’s something you need to tell me don’t you?” he says with an evil glare.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Haley, I may have been drunk, but I’m not fucking stupid.  I just can’t believe I didn’t put it together until now,” he says pissed off, running his hands through his hair angrily.

“Put what together?” I ask confused and lost on what he’s talking about.

“Quinn, your best friend Quinn.  The girl you were here with one night before, who went off with someone and you said you’d be fine Quinn, go have fun,” he says looking beyond pissed.  Shit.

“What are you talking about?” I decide to play dumb.

“Don’t fucking play games with me,” he says getting louder, “I even made a comment on your hair and eye color and told you how you looked like someone from back home; not knowing it was actually you.  It actually came up in conversation the other day with Meg about your eye color, how it changes from blue to green.  But Haley, your eyes have only ever been blue, so what the fuck is going on?” he shouts.

“My eyes are blue.”

“Haley, we slept together in this fucking room.  Why did you not tell me the truth?  Why did you let me think you were someone else?” he asks angrily.

“
What do you want me to say?” I ask giving in.  I’m busted.

“The fucking truth,” he shouts, “
You know me, why would you do that?”  I can’t tell him I’ve been in love with him forever; he’d hate me then probably kick me out of his house. “Well?” he asks sounding more annoyed.

“It was a bet alright.  It was just a bet,” I say lying through my teeth.

“A bet?  You slept with me on a fucking bet?” he yells looking more pissed than I thought possible.

“It
isn’t a big deal, Liam.”

“The fuck it
isn’t.  How the fuck could you do that?  Do you make bets like that all the time or was that just a one-time thing?” he yells.

“No
, I don’t do that all the time.”

“So
, it was just a one-time thing so you could what, see if you could, what Haley?” he screams.

“Nothing Liam, it was only a bet, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I say trying to calm down the situation.

“Fuck your sorry Haley, they’re useless.  I want you out of my house and out of my life.  Don’t talk to me, don’t fucking look at me, as of this point you are nothing to me, do you understand that?” he says extremely irate.

“But what?” I ask on the verge of tears.

“Do you have any idea what the fuck you’ve done?”

“No.  You said it yourself that night
, you were single.”

“It has nothing to do with that.  It has everything to do with you lying and using me for a fucking game.  I thought I knew you, but you’re right, I know nothing about you,
and what I’m finding out I fucking despise,” he says harshly.

“You don’t mean that.”

“The fuck I don’t.  Now get the fuck out of my house,” he yells.  I grab a hold of the door sober as hell now, race down the stairs and out the door as fast as my feet will carry me.  I chant to myself not to cry until I’m as far away from his house as possible.

By the time I reach my dorm room, the tears have already started flowing from my eyes. I’m not sure how long I cry before I hear Quinn beside me.  “What the hell happened Haley?” she asks all concerned.

“He knows,” is all I say before more tears fall.

“Oh no, how?”

“When I said your name to introduce you, he remembered, it was something similar to what I said the first time we were there together.  That and Meg said something about how cool it was that my eyes could change from blue to green
, when they can’t.”

“Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry,” she says as she slowly rubs my back.

“He hates me.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.  How could he?  You love him.”

“He doesn’t know that,” I say through sniffles.

“What did you tell him?” she asks confused.