Your Gravity: Part One (5 page)

I
gasped and bolted upright
, naked and covered in a light sheen of sweat.

Sunlight filtered into the dim room. Clutching the cool sheet against my chest, my heart raced as I looked around the room confused.

Where am I? Why am I naked, and where are my panties?

My eyes adjusted, and I saw my reflection in the familiar floor length mirror.

I was in my bedroom. It was a dream. Thank god!

I stumbled out of bed, my brain still in a fog, and looked for my clothes. I finally found my panties and T-shirt wedged in the corner of the bed between the mattress and sheets. That was weird. I’d never taken off my clothes while I was sleeping before. It must’ve been some dream.

A delicious sensation throbbed between my legs, and then it suddenly hit me what had happened.

No way. No. Freakin’. Way!

I had wet dream.

About Professor Cooper!

Snatching a fresh change of clothes, I marched down the hallway to the bathroom totally and utterly disgusted with myself.

How could Cooper pop into my dreams like that? And of all people, why
that
arrogant ass? Yes, he was hot, but, still, I wasn’t like the other girls in the class, fawning all over him. I wasn’t attracted to that man at all, and he obviously hated me.

Then why did you dream about him?
A small voice in my head whispered.

Shut up!

Great. Now I was arguing myself.

Stepping into the shower, I turned on the knob full blast to the coldest setting and pushed the insanity to the back of my mind. It had to be the damn pills I’d taken last night. They were messing with my head again.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I tilted my head into the stream of water, forcing the remnants of the dream out of my head.

So maybe hate was too strong of a word. After the disastrous first day of class, Cooper was polite, giving me a nod of greeting just like he did with the other students. Though he never looked at me. Over the past few weeks, the man avoided eye contact. But when it came to Gianna, he was a sweet as pie and had no problems ogling her.

Okay that wasn’t fair. Cooper treated her the same as the other students. And the only time he looked at her was when she planted herself in front of him, which she did . . . a lot! He took his time when students asked him questions and one time he almost smiled. But why did he look at everyone except me?

Man, why did he have to be nice? Life would be so much easier if he was actually like the arrogant bastard in my dream.

To make matters worse, he was an excellent teacher. I actually understood the course content. I’d even gotten a “B” on my most recent assignment. Greg was Mr. McPouty because I outscored him by twenty points.

Laughing, I shut off the water. Yeah, I should’ve known it was a dream the moment I’d seen the ninety-nine on Greg’s paper. He wasn’t doing very well in Cooper’s class, and it was driving him bonkers.

I slipped on a clean T-shirt as I thought about the way Cooper stated to eyeball Greg lately. It had happened the day after Greg and I ran into him in the quad. Greg was acting his usual silly self, his arm entwined in mine when Cooper stepped out of the chemistry building. When Greg waved, Cooper had given him a curt nod and stared at Greg’s arm before he swiftly turned away. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge my presence. It was like I was invisible or something.

Pushing the thought of Cooper aside, I padded into the kitchen, my stomach rumbling at the mouthwatering smell of bacon. Rainbow was probably out again on her early morning bike ride. As much as I tried, I just couldn’t do the vegetarian thing. And driving to campus passing at least half a dozen barbecue joints didn’t help either. The smell of barbecue stayed with me, and I was hungry all the time. Yeah, I caved.

Greg didn’t even last a day. After the Tofurky hotdog incident, he’d hauled me to the grocery store, tossing every single meat known to man into the cart, mumbling, “I didn’t kick evolution’s ass just to eat leaves and twigs.”

Rainbow was sweet and didn’t complain or make us feel bad about it. Though the last time Greg had cooked bacon she’d gagged at the smell and turned green.

“You see this. I know you can see it,” Greg said as he stood in front of the stove, waving an egg at the kitchen window.

Penny sat on the windowsill. Her beady eyes narrowed and head tilted, watching him.

“Yeah, who’s the one crying now?” Cackling, he cracked the egg against the pan.

“What on Earth are you doing, Greg?” I asked.

“Showing Penny who’s boss.”

Greg’s baby blues locked with Penny’s black eyes in a showdown.

“You’re torturing a poor chicken. You realize that, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just minding my own business and making breakfast.” He cracked a second egg. It sizzled when it hit the pan. “And if it puts Penny in her place in the process, well, good for me.”

“You can be so crazy sometimes.” I poured a glass of juice and took a sip.

“Yeah, but you love me for it.” He plopped a plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me. “Besides, I’m the only one who’s willing to put up with your moaning and groaning.”

I coughed, spitting juice everywhere.

“WHAT?”

“I’m all for self love, but can you keep the moaning down? Some of us need our beauty sleep.” He stabbed a fork into his eggs. Looking at Penny with an evil grin, he waved a forkful before sticking it into his mouth and smacking his lips.

She squawked.

“Last night? I wasn’t—” My face heated at the memory of Cooper’s lips sucking on my—

“I had an upset stomach.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, sure. So you weren’t riding the two-finger cowboy?”

My eyes flicked down, and I was suddenly very fascinated with my breakfast. “I have no idea what you’re talking about?”

“You know, buttering the biscuit.”

“No.”

“Feeding the beaver?”

“I said no.”

“Double clicking the mouse? Polishing the pearl?”

“Greg, would you—”

“Teasing the tuna taco?”

“Eww.”

“Dialing ‘O’ on the pink telephone?”

“Greg!”

“Okay, okay. No shame, girlfriend. I know it’s been a long time since you’ve had any ‘bow chicka wow wow’ with anyone.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“So it was a dream. Don’t try to hide it, babe. I know you too well.”

“Fine. I had a dream.”

“Sweet.” He grinned. “It’s better than having one of your nightmares.”

It was better. Last night was the first time I didn’t feel like my heart was being torn to shreds.

“So,” he leaned forward, studying me, “who’s the guy? Anyone I know?”

I moved the eggs around my plate, avoiding his eyes. I had to be really careful with Greg. He was a human lie detector.

“No.”

He arched an eyebrow.

Crap!

He clicked his tongue and then proceeded to name every guy in our chemistry class that he thought was hot.

“Sean.”

“Epstein? Uh, that would be a no.”

“Rick.”

“I told you it’s not anyone you know.”

“Kellan?”

“Seriously? You think Kellan is hot?”

“Clean him up a bit. Get rid of those dreadlocks. Yeah.” He munched on his toast, thinking. “Okay, not Kellan. Hmm. Travis?”

“No!”

“Why not?” He looked insulted. “He’s sex on legs. And I happen to know that he likes you.”

And probably every single girl on campus.

Everywhere he went there was a girl hanging off his arm. The only time he didn’t was when he was hanging out with Greg. Although I’d been relieved to see that Greg had finally gotten the hint about Travis, I was surprised that I didn’t have to peel him off the floor. Now here he was, trying to hook me up with his man-crush friend.

“He’s cute if you go for that Brad Pitt look. But I didn’t dream about him.”

“Yeah, you go for the more intellectual type, like Cooper.”

My hand froze in midair. A piece of egg plopped into my orange juice.

“It’s Cooper! You had a wet dream about Cooper!”

“I didn’t!”

“Did too.”

“Not.”

“Too.”

Penny squawked.

“See, even Penny knows you have the hots for Cooper.” He went to the window and pressed his fist against the glass. “Don’t leave me hanging, Penny.”

I laughed as Penny’s claw tapped against the glass. “Did you teach her how to do that? I thought you didn’t like her.”

“Penny and I have a special love-hate relationship. You know like you and Cooper . . . without all the sex.”

“There is no sex, Greg. And there was no dream.”

“Uh-hum, yeah. I believe you.”

“Can we please change the subject?”

“All right, all right. You’re no fun.” He went to the counter and poured coffee into two mugs. “Are you at least sleeping better at night? Be honest.”

He placed a mug in front of me then lightly touched the dark circles under my eyes. “I worry about you.”

Taking ahold of his hand, I smiled. He was such a sweetheart. It was hard to stay mad at him. “I took some last night. And I slept pretty well, relatively speaking.”

“Ooh, maybe I should take some.”

I glared.

“Just kidding! Seriously, you should take them every night, get them into your system.”

I shook my head. “I took them every night last week, and I could barely concentrate in class.”

I’d kept nodding off in my afternoon classes, especially in my philosophy class. The professor was so boring with her countless Powerpoint slides. She basically regurgitated the week’s assigned readings through the entire lecture. It was hard to keep my eyes open.

“I don’t think I’ll take them anymore. They’re giving me weird side effects.”

“You mean the orgasms?”

“Greg! That’s not what I meant.”

The odd feelings I’d had during the first day of the semester didn’t go away. They actually got stronger. I’d walk into a classroom or a building, and a chill would sweep over me. My palms would sweat and my heart would pound faster. It was like I was having a panic attack. It was strongest when I was in Cooper’s class. But the moment he walked in, a peacefulness would sweep over me like a warm blanket.

What was even more bizarre was that I felt like I was being watched in his class. At first, I thought it was Travis. But when I’d look in his direction, he was always goofing off with Greg. And for one totally insane moment, I thought Cooper was watching me. I’d tossed that thought out of my mind because like I said, the man avoided me like I was the plague.

“You know you can talk to me about anything right?” Greg’s face was serious. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He was worried that the pressure to perform well in my classes was getting to me as well as my money problems.

“I know. That’s why I love you more than my guitar.” I grinned.

“Ooh, I got upgraded. Last year you loved me more than your iPod.” He gave me a playful shove before grabbing his backpack. “Oh, by the way, Rainbow said that Lou’s back in town. Do me a solid and get me a double espresso, will ya? Travis and I are doing an all-nighter for Cooper’s class. Professor Hottie is messing with my social time. I haven’t had time to prowl for a nightclub in this town yet. How can I find a hookup without some decent clubbing music? Anymore of this nonsense and I’m going to have to drop the class.”

I
t happened again
.

The moment I placed my hand on the door handle at Jitters, a shiver coursed over my back.

With pills or without them, I was definitely going insane. I was at the point where I was seriously thinking about going to the university’s counseling center.

I peered through the glass door, wondering what it was about being here that would make me so nervous. It was your typical campus coffee shop. People sipped on iced coffee. Others had ice cream cones in their hands. Students sat around tables, studying, laughing, and chatting with their friends. Even the few brave souls who weathered the heat and sat on the outside patio looked like normal college students just minding their own business. But my body was reacting like I was the star in some slasher film or something. I couldn’t get my racing heart to slow down.

A flash of light reflected off the glass door, catching my attention. I turned and gazed at a building across the street. Over the entrance, a sign made of cut glass glittered under the sun.

Club Vortex
.

“Can I help you?”

A girl wearing an apron with the word Jitters across the chest smiled. She carried a tray of empty coffee cups and waded napkins.

“I’m sorry. I’m blocking your way.” I opened the door for her.

“Thanks. Are you looking for someone?” she asked as I followed her inside.

“Yeah, the owner, Lou. Is he—”

The moment I stepped into Jitters, images flashed through my mind: blinking rainbow lights, a crystal strobe whirling, music pounding from loud speakers. They were so strong I staggered and had to grip a chair at a nearby table to avoid bumping into her.

“Lou! Someone’s here to see you!”

Get your shit together!
I gritted my teeth, pushing away the visions that kept running in my head.

“Coming!” A male voice cried.

The moment I saw Lou, all the weird feelings and visions were forgotten. I tried not to gawk at the short, stocky man who headed toward me. Like Rainbow, he wore a tie dyed T-shirt. Unlike my aunt, who had a mountain of frizzed hair, he had only one thin black strand.

On the left side of his head.

That wrapped around to the right side.

And then circled back to the other side.

The multicolored headband around his forehead was the only thing that seemed to be holding the strand in place. Even with the creative swirls on his head, it was painfully obvious he was bald.

He paused and gazed over oval glasses perched on the tip of his nose. “I know you?”

“Uh, no, well, sort of. My aunt Rainbow said you might be hiring. I’m Nicole.”

“Nicole? Nicole?” He scratched the top of his head. The strand of hair didn’t budge one bit. I was impressed. “You used to work here, didn’t you?”