The Story of Us (10 page)

When we get back there, everyone else
is sitting around playing drinking games. I wonder if they’ve been
doing this all day, but I don’t ask. I just make my way into Tyler
and I’s tent to start packing. When I come out, I notice Drew,
Hailey and Tyler sitting with the rest of the crew, joining in on
the game. Craig calls over to me first.

“C’mon, princess. Grab a drink and
come play.”

He gets a glare from Tyler, who I can
tell hates when Craig calls me princess almost as much as I do.
Unfortunately, he never says anything to Craig about it.

“No, thanks,” I call back. But the
thing is, I’m not sure what to do now. Everyone here is huddled
around playing the game and I just look like a loner sitting in the
tent by myself. So I walk over to Tyler and sit on his lap,
watching him play.

“Seriously?” Craig asks, “You’re just
gonna sit there and watch?”

“Yepp,” I simply respond, popping the
P for emphasis.

“For someone who doesn’t like to be
called a princess, you’re sure as hell acting like one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask,
getting irritated.

“It means Miss Priss can’t be bothered
to associate with us low-lives.”

“Maybe I just don’t want to
associate with
you
,” I spit back.

He smirks in return.

“What the hell is so funny?” I
demand.

“Nothing, princess.” But he’s still
smirking.

“No. C’mon, Craig. Tell me. What could
possibly be funny right now?”

Never letting his smirk fade, he
replies, “Sometimes it just seems like you really hate me, that’s
all.”

“And why is that funny?”

“Because, princess,” he finally lets
his smirk fall and gets serious before he glances up at Tyler and
then returns his gaze back to me, “there’s a fine line between love
and hate.”

“Oh trust me,” I tell him, “I don’t
feel strongly enough about you to feel either.”

“You keep telling yourself
that.”

I’m fuming as I watch the
rest of the game in silence. I’m mad at Craig because he
does
get to me. And
because he knows it and he plays on it. He infuriates me and I have
no control over it, as much as I try to ignore him, as much as I
know he’s not worth it. I can’t help it. He gets to me. And I’m mad
at myself for letting him get to me. I’m even mad at Tyler. How can
he sit there and listen to all of that and not say one thing in my
defense? I’m mad at Hailey, too, for planning this whole thing and
inviting him. I’m just mad. Furious, actually. And I stay that way
until I’m back at the campus, in my dorm.

Alone in my bed, I finally start to
release the anger I had felt for hours before. I decide I’m not mad
at Hailey or Tyler. I even let myself off the hook. I’m really just
mad at Craig. If he would just leave me alone, everything here
would be seamless. I’m in college, rooming with my best friend,
dating a perfect guy, getting good grades. Craig is the only
problem.

Chapter 8

It sucks that I have to have a class
with him. If it wasn’t for my public speaking class and him working
at The Grind, I could almost avoid Craig completely. Even with him
working at The Grind, it wouldn’t be too hard to avoid him, since
most of the time it’s so busy in there that I’m able to just get my
coffee and leave without incident. But unfortunately, I have to
pass my public speaking class because it’s a basic requirement at
the university and it doesn’t look like he’ll be dropping the class
anytime soon either. I could never completely be rid of him as long
as he’s friends with Drew anyway.

I’m the first one in my public
speaking class every time, since my previous class is in this same
room. So before anyone else files in, I start to move the desks
around. The professor told us on the first day of class that she
wants them arranged in a U-shape at the start of each class. So I
usually start it and as other kids come in, they help. I’m stuck
sitting next to Craig because where you sit on the first day of
class is where you sit all semester. The professor’s not strict, so
I’m sure if I moved, she wouldn’t even mention it. But it’s a full
class so if I move, someone else would have to too. And they might
mention it. It’d just sound silly and immature to tell anyone that
I don’t want to sit next to Craig. So I suck it up today, like I do
every day I have this class.

We haven’t talked much since the
camping trip, so it surprises me when I hear him say my name. Not
princess, mind you, but my actual name.

“Valerie?”

I could just ignore him but he
probably won’t stop and curiosity wins out anyway, so I bite.
“Yeah?”

“Would you mind letting me borrow a
pen?”

The formality drives me crazy because
I can’t tell if he’s being serious or if he’s taunting me. I raise
my eyebrows in question. Who comes to class without something to
write with?

As if sensing my unspoken question, he
answers, “I did have one. It must have fallen out of my book. Sorry
to bother you. If you don’t have a spare, I’ll ask someone
else.”

He doesn’t carry a bag like everyone
else on campus. He only carries the absolute necessities – the
class book, a notebook, and usually a pen.

“Stop talking to me like that,” I
demand, as I hand him a pen.

“Like what?” His face gives nothing
away.

It’s driving me crazy because he knows
exactly what he’s doing and he’s doing it on purpose.

“Like you’re a stranger.
Like you’re a
polite
stranger.”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“You’re taunting me,” I
accuse.

“I’m not taunting you,
Valerie. You want distance between us. I don’t know why, but I know
you’re mad at me for something. As far as I can see, I haven’t done
anything to ruin our friendship. We were
friends
, weren’t we?” He stresses
the word ‘friends’ and I can see what he’s trying to do.

I sigh loudly. “Yes, we were
friends.”

“And you just don’t want to be friends
anymore?”

“I didn’t say that.” I know I can’t
say that with no good reason behind it.

“Then why have you been avoiding
me?”

“Look. We’re just too
different. We have to be friends, at least somewhat, for Hailey and
Drew’s sake. But other than that, we’re just better off leaving
each other alone.” I see his face drop as I say it and I
immediately feel bad. But I know that I mean it. We
are
better off leaving
each other alone. No awkward encounters. No temptation. No broken
hearts.

“I see.”

I think that’s the end of it, but a
few minutes later, he continues.

“So, we’re friends around Hailey and
Drew but I’m supposed to ignore you if they’re not around,
right?”

“Ugh! Don’t make this complicated,
Craig.”

“Sorry, princess. Just want to make
sure I’m following the rules here.”

So we’re back to princess again.
“There are no rules. I just think it’s best if we keep our
distance.”

He starts to say something else, but
then stops.

“I’m out of here,” another kid from
the class announces.

At that, everyone starts to clear
out.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Craig answers, “Professor’s a no-show.
Five-minute rule says we can leave.”

“I’ve only heard of a five-minute rule
when it comes to dropping food on the floor,” I reply
skeptically.

“Everyone’s leaving
princess. Stick around if you want, but you’ve made it clear that
you don’t want
my
company so I’m out of here too.” He gets up and walks out the
door.

As the days pass, I try to convince
myself that this is for the best. Craig and I should not be
friends. We’re too different. He flirts endlessly with me, then he
hooks up with two girls that same night. I can’t do it. I can’t
bear to be around him.

But all week, I’ve been thinking about
him. It makes me sick to my stomach, but I can’t deny it. When my
mind wanders, it travels straight to him. If only he wasn’t such an
ass. Tyler is a nice guy. A perfect guy, really. And he likes me.
So, why can’t I stop thinking about Craig Morgan?

When I see him taking off his apron in
The Grind, I figure his shift is over and he’s about ready to
leave. I debate whether or not I should talk to him, but ultimately
I decide I have to. I grab his arm before he can take off. It stops
him in his tracks and he looks down at my hand around his arm and
back up to me with a smirk. A cocky smirk.

“Yes, princess?”

“You’re right. You didn’t do anything
to ruin our friendship. I was being mean and I’m sorry. Can we just
go back to being friends?”

He mulls it over for a moment, which
irritates me beyond belief. “Why the change of heart?”

“I told you, I realized you were
right.”

Instead of the cocky smile I thought
I’d see return at the mention of him being right, he gets serious
instead. “I don’t do fair-weathered friends, princess. How do I
know you won’t change your mind again?”

“I said I’m sorry.”

The truth is, I can’t get him out of
my head. I keep thinking about what it would be like to be with
him. And then I wonder why I don’t just break up with Tyler. I have
to remind myself why I can’t be with Craig. I have to remind myself
about what kind of a guy he is, that he’s a player and could never
be in a serious relationship. I figure avoiding him isn’t
forgetting him… it’s just forgetting the bad parts. The longer I
avoid him, the more I get this picture in my head of what a nice
guy he is. At least if I go back to being friends with him, I won’t
have such a hard time remembering why he’s not the kind of guy I
want.

“Okay,” he finally agrees.
“Friends.”

Things are alright for a few weeks
afterwards. Being friendly around Craig gives me the opportunity to
see him flirting with other girls too, which helps me to realize
that he’ll never be the nice guy that Tyler is. It reconfirms my
decision and I start to feel better about everything. I know I
should be with Tyler. No doubts left. Craig still taunts me and I
get irritated, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Until the day
before my birthday.

The night before was our last game of
the year, so I was out late with the girls, and then with Tyler
after. The boys lost the game, so he was pretty bummed. I stayed at
his dorm until late, trying to cheer him up. Not in a sexual way or
anything. We still haven’t reached that level in our relationship
yet. And Drew and Hailey were there too. We were all trying to
salvage the rest of the night, but between Tyler’s sour mood and
Hailey and Drew having a little tiff of their own, it was a pretty
miserable night.

I’m not sure what’s going on with
Hailey and Drew because Hailey hasn’t talked to me about it yet,
but I could tell that Hailey was upset with him all night. They
weren’t actually arguing or anything, but I know when Hailey’s mad.
We’ve been friends for too long for me not to notice. She gives one
word answers and mostly just stays quiet. Someone who hasn’t known
her for as long as I have might not even catch on to her
cold-shoulder act because it’s not very obvious to everyone else,
but I always see it. Drew should notice it too. At least I would
think he would notice it by now. But then again, it’s not like they
fight very often. Barely ever, actually. When we got back to our
dorm room, I asked her if everything was okay between them, but she
just shrugged and brushed it off as nothing, so I didn’t press the
issue. Selfishly, I was glad she didn’t want to talk because I was
exhausted.

The last time I remember seeing on my
clock was 3:03 A.M. So when I start to wake up to voices in my dorm
and see 8:12 A.M on my clock, on a Saturday morning, I’m instantly
irritated.

I try to ignore them, but the hushed
whispering almost makes it worse than if they were talking at a
normal volume. I try to roll over and go back to bed, but when I
move to roll over, I hear someone yell, “She’s awake!” I look up
and see Craig just inches from my face, sitting on my
bed.

“What the hell?” I huff out, just
before I pull the blanket up over my face.

“C’mon, princess. Time to get up!” he
exclaims, pulling the blanket down.

“It’s Saturday! And what the hell are
you doing in my room?”

“Hailey let me in,” he dismisses, like
it’s no big deal.

I search the room and when my eyes
find hers I give her the dirtiest look I can manage with
sleep-ridden eyes.

“What do you want?” I ask, turning
back to Craig.

His smile fades. “Nothing. I brought
you breakfast.”

“Why?”

“Why not?” He looks so sweet and
innocent, but I know that’s the furthest thing from what he
actually is.

“I could list a million reasons why
not. Why would you just all of a sudden, randomly, bring me
breakfast?”