Beautiful Sky (16 page)

He hesitated and then spoke.  “Tonight was pretty cool, thanks for hanging with me.”

I gave him a sweet smile and felt warm all over.  “Anytime.”

The next morning, I was wide awake at 9:30 even though I should have been exhausted, and Jonathan was still sleeping so I left a note for him telling him I would see him later.  That weekend was pretty crazy on campus because Fall Festival continued all day on Saturday and a bunch of people started drinking early that day.  It was almost 1:00 p.m. and I hadn’t heard from or seen Jonathan and I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach because this was exactly what I had predicted.  He realized I was from the other side of the tracks and he had bolted.  I tried really hard to brush off my feelings for him but it was hard because in the time that we had spent together he really made me feel like it was real. 

Thankfully it was a warm fall day and there were tons of people in the quad picnicking, playing music, drinking, and just having a good time.  Jenn, Katie, Amanda, Brenda and I were sitting near the south end of the quad when Brenda’s boyfriend Jake and a bunch of his friends came over to us and sat down.  Amanda and Brenda were nowhere near each other and Brenda didn’t even acknowledge Amanda’s presence.

“Hey girls.” 

Brenda beamed at him as he joined us and they looked really happy together so I pushed my judgmental thoughts about his cheating ass out of my head. 

“What’s going on Jake?”  I noticed that Amanda gave him a slightly shady smile and I couldn’t believe she had the nerve to do it.

He didn’t look her way as he started talking to everyone.  “So, did anyone else rush this year?”

Uh oh, there is definitely some tension there.
  I looked around to see if anyone else noticed, and Katie and Jenn looked at me giving me a quizzical look.  They probably were thinking what I was, that Amanda shouldn’t have said anything.

Sorority life wasn’t really my thing, but Katie really wanted me to rush with her so I did, but I didn’t pledge mainly because I didn’t want to even though I got picked, but also because the fees were expensive.  She chimed in quickly.  “Definitely, me, Sky, and Jenn rushed but only me and Jenn pledged.  Sky left us high and dry.”

A loud cackle pierced the air once again and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I saw Boobs McGee tossing her fake blonde extensions over her shoulder, sitting with a group of girls a few feet away from us. 
Ugh!
  She was clearly trying to get someone’s attention but I couldn’t tell whose until I saw Jonathan’s muscular body walking toward us with a group of guys.  My heart skipped a beat as he didn’t even glance in her direction, and his eyes zeroed in on me.  My heart pounded against my chest cavity as he approached us and my mouth was suddenly dry. 
How can he have this effect on me every time?

“Jonathan, come join us!”  Jake and his friends moved over to make room for Jonathan and his buddies and we ended up sitting in a huge circle with girls outnumbered by guys two to one.  I swear the energy shifted when they joined us and every girl, including Brenda, had a huge smile on their face and they were staring at Jonathan waiting for him to speak.

“Hey guys.  What’s going on?”  Jonathan looked around at everyone and then his eyes settled on me.  His deep, smooth voice was enough to make you want to drop everything for him, at least it was for me.  I was so happy to see him and so happy that he came to sit by me.

I looked at him and it literally seemed as if everyone else had disappeared and it was just the two of us sitting there talking to each other. “We were just discussing rushing.  Jake was wondering if any of us rushed.  Did you ever rush?”

“Nah, it’s not really my thing.  Did you do it?”

Katie quickly chimed in.  “Yes, she did, but she didn’t pledge.  She left me all alone.”  Katie had a playful pout on her face.

“Hey, what about me?”  Jenn chimed in.

“Oh, right, sorry Jenn!  Jenn joined the sisterhood with me.  Maybe we’ll convince Sky to join next year.

I couldn’t tell if Jonathan liked the idea or not because he sat there looking back and forth between me and Katie and I just couldn’t tell what he was thinking. 

I rolled my eyes at Katie but gave her a big smile while doing it, and told Jonathan that I wasn’t sure if I was going to rush next year.  Katie feigned shock as she looked at me. “What?”

I knew she was joking because she knew that I had been struggling with whether or not I was going to rush.  Greek life wasn’t a huge deal at our school so I really didn’t feel the need or desire to rush, besides I had already met so many good friends in my dorm that I didn’t think I needed the sorority to make more friends.  

“We’ll see.”  I just left it at that.

“If you decide to do it, I’m sure it will be fun.”  Jonathan smiled at me and it just felt good to know that he didn’t disapprove, at least it didn’t seem like he did.  He shifted his attention to others in the group and we all chatted and laughed for a while.   

A little while later, I took a bathroom break and when I came out of the bathroom, Jonathan was waiting for me.

“Hey.”  Just that simple word sent shivers down my spine.

“Hey Jonathan, waiting for me?”  I cocked my head to the side and gave him my best flirtatious smile.

“I am, actually.  Do you want to go grab dinner later?”

“Just the two of us?”

“Yes, just you and me.”  His eyes smoldered as he looked me up and down.

“I would love to.”  We had not been out on an official date yet so I couldn’t wait.

His smile reached his eyes as he confirmed the time.  “I’ll come by your room around 6:30.  Do you like Italian food?”

“I do, it’s my favorite.”

“Okay, cool, we’ll try this little place downtown, it’s supposed to be incredible.  The Sig Ep’s are throwing a party in the basement of Kobler Hall later tonight.  It’s underground though, so only certain people are invited.  We can go to that if you want.”

An exclusive, underground party with Jonathan?  Of course I wanted to go!

“I’m sure freshman aren’t invited Jonathan, they probably won’t let me in.”

“The president of the frat’s dad is my dad’s old college roommate.  I’ve met him a few times when our families have gotten together, he’s a cool kid.  Besides, you’ll be with me.”

“So, you didn’t want to be in a fraternity?”

“Nah, not really my thing, but it’s cool if other people want to do it.  I’m not knocking anyone for it.”  He shrugged his shoulders and I could tell that it wasn’t a big deal to him so I dropped the subject.

We joined the rest of the group just as they were disbursing.  “Katie, where is everyone going?”

She pointed in Brenda and Jake’s direction, “Those guys are going to play volleyball, Tim and his friends are going to play flag football and Jenn, Amy and I are going to meet up with Peter and Alex in the student union.  Do you guys want to come with us?  We’re going to play pool and just chill for a bit before we go eat dinner.”

Jonathan lightly touched my arm.  “You go with your friends, I will see you at 6:30.”

I turned my concerned eyes toward him.  “You can come with us, you know.”

“Thanks, but I have to go take care of something.  Go have fun, I’ll see you at 6:30.”  He leaned down, kissed me on my cheek and walked off and I thought I would melt right into the ground.

Jenn and Amy stood there with their mouths open and eyes as wide as saucers.  Katie wasn’t fazed.

“Oh my gosh, Skylar Miller, Jonathan is so into you!”  Jenn could barely contain her excitement as she grinned from ear to ear.  I had forgotten that they hadn’t really seen me with Jonathan because we usually just went to the library or back to his room.  We weren’t really together all that much around campus.

“He totally is!  And what exactly is happening at 6:30 missy?”  Katie put her hand on her hip and tapped her foot, waiting for my answer.

I didn’t really want to share with all of them but they did see him kiss me so I didn’t have anything to hide.  “He asked me out to dinner.”

“You lucky, lucky girl!  Wow Sky, you’ve got the most gorgeous guy on campus!  If you weren’t so sweet I would hate you.”  Amy smiled at me but I could see a hint of envy behind those eyes.  She was a really nice girl so I didn’t read anything more into it.

“You guys are all going to meet someone, you’ll see.  I bet by the end of this weekend every one of you will have met a guy you like.”

“Hopefully somebody will have a good party tonight.  I haven’t heard about anything, have you guys?”  Jenn looked at us and I kept my mouth shut because if I told them I was going to an underground party they would want me to get them in and I knew I couldn’t do that.  After a few more minutes, we headed to the student union and we all had fun playing pool with the guys.

I went back to our room around 5:00 so that I could take my time getting ready, but not before Katie could chime in.  “Have fun, in more ways than one!”

She was silly and I couldn’t help but laugh.  I was on cloud nine as I was getting ready and then as 6:30 approached, I started to feel panicked and I could barely breathe.  I smoothed my little black dress and checked myself in the mirror. 
This is silly, you’ve been hanging out with him constantly and you’ve slept in his bed many times!
  But something about this night felt different.  My mouth was super dry so I took a huge sip from a bottle of water I had on my desk, hoping to moisten my tongue. 
I won’t be able to talk if I can’t get my tongue to stop sticking to the roof of my mouth!
  I took deep breaths and started to relax a bit as I put the finishing touches on my freshly washed and blow-dried hair, and then I heard a firm knock at the door.  My heart was pounding relentlessly as I turned the doorknob. 
Here we go…