ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13) (52 page)

Jena was not deterred, however, and seemed to be talking more to Eve than to Alison anyway. They were having fun, laughing and joking over their cakes, and it did not seem as though their personality clash was going to descend into a serious argument. Perhaps Jena’s lightness was just the right antidote to Alison – and maybe it would lighten her up a little.

They started gathering their things to go – the coffee shop was still busy, and they had been done with their drinks and food for at least ten minutes already. The afternoon was drawing on, too, and Alison and Eve both wanted to read a little bit of their course materials before the evening. Jena naturally started to move with them, not wanting to be left behind.

Eve put all of their empty coffee cups on a tray and started towards the counter where she could leave them, her new course books slung over her shoulder in a tote bag. It was bulging open with the size of the books, but she was used to carrying heavy loads like that around. She could manage it, though she was a little precariously balanced with the tray.

She made her way across the room, edging between chairs and tables full of students, but her balance was suddenly taken away from her. Something had knocked into her, hard, and she felt the tray in her hands fly up at the same time as a hot liquid splashed against her arm. Before she could even register what was happening, she was on the floor, looking directly down into the tote bag of brand new books that was now covered in fresh coffee.

“Watch where you’re going!” someone growled, and she looked up to see a slightly older guy in a leather jacket and plain black t-shirt. He looked like he might be a junior or senior, and his dark hair was styled into a pompadour with shaved sides. He had an angry look to him and a now half-empty cup of coffee in his hand.

“You walked right into me,” she gasped, trying to get her bearings. Jena had rushed over with Alison trailing just behind, and they quickly started helping her to get up and gather the contents of the tray again.

“Right, I deliberately wasted half a cup of coffee on you just to get your attention,” he sneered. “You’re not that pretty, sweetheart.”

“You walked into her, alright? We saw the whole thing,” Jena replied, turning to face him with a furious expression.

Now standing again, Eve brushed herself off as much as she could, reaching for napkins from the counter to try to soak up the coffee. “There’s no need to be so rude,” she added, half-muttering, feeling fairly embarrassed that a whole café full of people had just watched her get knocked to the ground.

“The blush on that one’s face tells me she knows she’s in the wrong,” he smirked. “Now are you going to buy me a replacement coffee, or what?”

“What’s your name?” Jena demanded, obviously ready to launch into a diatribe against him.

“Ethan Riley,” he said, with bravado, as if the name was supposed to mean something to them. “And what’s hers?”

Jena’s comments deflected, he fixed Eve with a sharp gaze, as if trying to figure it out just from looking at her. “Eve,” she finally offered.

“The first woman? No wonder you have a superiority complex,” he smirked again, starting to turn to go. “See you around, Eve.”

“Actually, it’s Eveline,” she countered, her words sounding weak and faltering even to her own ears. They probably did not even fall on his – he was already halfway across the room, swaggering outside to sit on the terrace as if he had proven something.

“What a jerk,” Alison said quietly, offering Eve another handful of dry napkins.

“Ignore him,” Jena said consolingly, helping to brush the worst of the coffee off one of the books. “He’s probably just throwing his weight around because we’re obviously freshman. Plus, yes, he’s a jerk. And not worth our time.”

Eve was shaken, but after a few moments back out in the sunshine she was able to smile and laugh with them again. She decided to put the incident behind her. Today had only been the first day, and there was still the whole of the rest of the academic year to look forward to. And – as Jena confidently put it – there were sure to be guys on campus who were worth ten million Ethan Rileys.

Chapter Two

On Tuesday, Eve had Poetry 1. It was the class she was most looking forward to. She dreamed of publishing her own collections, of being remembered through the ages like the long-dead classics. She dreamed of making a living by her pen. This class was the one that was going to help her do it.

She walked across the campus alone. She had agreed to meet Alison outside the lecture hall, and Jena was taking a class somewhere else, so she had just her bag of coffee-stained books for company. She did not mind it, though at times the campus could be a little intimidating. Groups of students had already formed into tight packs, roaming around together and making her feel a little isolated.

She tried to think about the lecture that was waiting for her rather than focusing on the people around her, but she also needed to pay attention to where she was going. She glanced up at the building ahead to make sure she had got the right direction for her lecture, and her eye was caught by something familiar. A leather jacket, even in this hot and sunny weather…?

As she got closer, she realised it was him. Ethan. The guy who had rudely knocked into her at the coffee shop. She wanted to carry on past him as quickly as possible so that he would not notice her, still feeling the embarrassment of being knocked down like that. The closer she got, however, the more she realised that there was no need to hide. His attention was fully taken up by a couple of other guys, both of them tall and wearing fraternity jackets. They were close to him – almost uncomfortably close – with their hands thrust deep in their pockets and an aggressive manner. Just by looking, Eve knew that this was not a meeting of friends. They looked angry, though he was facing up to them as if he was not scared of either of them.

She did not want to be curious, but she was. As she got closer she could make out a word here and there, but not what they were saying to each other exactly. It sounded like Ethan told them to back off, but they were only too happy to carry on. She caught something about “the frat” and “warning you” from them before she was almost past them. She restrained herself from staring back over her shoulder for a few steps, but then her willpower failed and she looked back. The two frat brothers were wandering away, but Ethan was looking in her direction. No, she realised. He was looking directly at her.

Her cheeks flamed up again and she walked on quickly, refusing to look over her shoulder again even to check whether he was still looking or not. She desperately wanted to know if he was, but on the other hand she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her for being caught staring – and she was not going to get caught again.

Eve rushed into the lecture hall and quickly found Alison, making her way up the steps to find a place next to her. Pushing Ethan as far out of her mind as she possibly could, she made small talk about the course materials and how exciting it all was until the professor turned up. Then, thankfully, the lecture began, and she had something more important to focus on for a while.

---

Poetry 1 finished at 6.30pm, and they packed away their books quickly. The lecture had opened so many new doors of thought for Eve, and her mind was swimming, full of ideas and inspiration. It had only been an introductory class, but it was still setting her mind alight. She was thinking about form and rhythm, syntax and metre, when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Setting her bag down again for a moment to read the message, she saw it was from Jena. “Oh, Alison,” she called out, seeing the other girl starting to move down the steps. “Hold on. Jena wants to know if you want to come out tonight.”

“I don’t know,” Alison said doubtfully. “Where?”

“She says there’s a party. The sorority she’s pledging to are holding it to welcome new potentials. She says we can go with her.”

“I don’t want to join a sorority,” Alison said, shaking her head and starting to move off again.

“No, she says you don’t have to join,” Eve said, watching her phone buzz over and over as new messages appeared on her screen. “Just that each pledge has to bring two more girls along to the party in order to get in. If you’re not at the party, you can’t pledge. She really needs us to help her out.”

Alison hesitated again, but Eve could see a great opportunity here. She didn’t want to let her roommate down, and there was another factor that sprung to her mind. “Look, I’m not pledging either,” she said, catching up with Alison so they could talk more quietly. “So this might be the only time that either of us get invited to one of these things. Maybe it’s worth giving it a look, since it’s a one-off.”

Alison sighed. “I guess that makes sense,” she said. “I don’t want to go to these things later in the year when we have more studying to do, either. What time do I have to meet you guys?”

“It’s 6.30 now,” Eve replied, looking at the time on her phone. “So maybe come by our dorm at 8.30? Then we can head out and see what the fuss is all about.”

“Alright, I’ll be there,” Alison agreed, though there was still a grudging tone in her voice.

---

Getting ready for the party took longer than Eve would have thought possible. Jena was almost done by the time she got back to their dorm, but one look at Eve’s wardrobe and she shook her head no. She started rooting through her own clothes, insisting that Eve try on dress after dress until they settled on the right one.

It was a little black number, sleek and figure-hugging, something that Eve was not sure she was comfortable with. At least it was cut from a full piece of fabric; Jena’s dress had holes and cut-outs all over it, making strappy patterns across her shoulders and midriff. Eve could never have worn something that daring.

Their shoe sizes weren’t a match, but Eve did have one pair of plain black heels that just about worked with the dress. Jena tutted at her and started drawing up plans for a shopping trip as she worked on her face, adding layers and layers of black mascara alongside smoky grey eyeshadow. When she was finally allowed to look in the mirror Eve barely knew who was looking back at her. She could not deny, however, that at least one small part of her liked it.

Finally ready to go, and with Alison impatiently sitting on the floor near the doorway, they gathered small clutch bags and phones and started to head out. Alison wore a rather plain, brown coloured dress that hung down past her knees and barely any make up at all, but she had refused all offers of help from Jena and insisted that she was not going to dress up to any further degree.

The three of them made a funny group, Eve couldn’t help thinking as they walked across campus to the sorority. Jena looked totally at home in her revealing dress, like she wore that kind of thing every night, and Alison stood at the opposite end of the spectrum. Somewhere in the middle, Eve floated, not sure whether she was comfortable with her new look or not. Still, she was doing Jena a favour, and she did not want to let her down.

They could hear the party before they saw it. Streams of girls in skimpy dresses and men in fraternity jackets were gathering in the same direction, or scattered across the grounds in front of the building that was pumping out loud music. At the door, four girls were checking every person who tried to enter the party. Eve recognised at least one as a sister that Jena had spoken to at their stand.

“Jena, so glad you made it,” she beamed as they headed up to the door, blonde ringlets bouncing as she leapt forward to plant air kisses around Jena’s head. “These are your plus two, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jena grinned. “I told you I’d come through.”

“Fantastic, darling, get yourself inside,” the sister gushed. “We have Sigma Chi visiting with us tonight. Help yourself to drinks and enjoy the party.”

The three of them pushed forward into a chaotic hallway, littered already with discarded red cups and a few couples leaning against the walls together. There were rooms off to either side full of partygoers, seemingly from all ages and walks of life. The fraternity boys were obvious by their jackets, most of them navy blue, while the sisters all wore pin badges on the front of their dresses. The rest seemed to be freshmen, most likely new pledges of either side or ‘plus twos’ like Eve and Alison.

Jena was in her element. She grabbed Eve and Alison by the hand and pulled them over to a table full of drinks, most of them already poured out into red cups. Alison was already shaking her head no before they got there, but Jena grabbed three cups and made sure each of them took one.

“Ladies, welcome to college,” she said, before quickly taking a few big gulps from her cup.

Eve sighed. She was 18 years old. She knew that college was a time to let loose and have fun, but she also knew the law. And she knew she was at Brown – not the kind of opportunity that she wanted to mess up.

“I’m not drinking it,” Alison said, quickly putting the cup back down on the table where it came from. “I don’t want to get in trouble. Besides, I have class tomorrow.”

Jena sighed and rolled her eyes, but did not try to convince her any further. She probably knew it was a lost cause. “What about you, Eve? I promise I’ll look after you if you want to have one or two.”

Eve looked around the room hesitantly. Everyone was holding cups, and not all of them could have been 21 or over. Maybe it was alright to just give it a try? She took a little sip, with Jena cheering her on in one ear and Alison tutting haughtily in the other.

Just as the cup started to obscure her view of the room, she quickly jerked it away from her face, staring off into the corridor. It couldn’t be, could it? But there, smirking across at her, still wearing that same old leather jacket, was Ethan.

“Oh my god, is that the guy from…?” Jena began, and then he started to walk over. “I swear, if he says anything to you, I’m going to take this drink and pour it in his
eye.
”

“Seconded,” Alison muttered.

Eve barely heard them, watching open-mouthed as he made his way across the crowded room. She managed to close her mouth in time to avoid looking too much like a complete idiot, and hastily took another swig of her drink for a little Dutch courage. Why on earth would he be coming over to talk to them?

“So, first lady, decided to join a sorority, have you?” he asked, paying no attention whatsoever to the bristling Alison and Jena on either side of her.

“No, actually, Jena’s pledging. I’m just here to help her out. What are you doing here?” Eve blurted out. She felt a little bit like he might be following her. The coffee shop, out near her lecture hall, and now here…?

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” he asked, flipping the left side of his leather jacket closed to show her the Greek letters embellished on the front. “Sigma Chi is my frat.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling utterly foolish and, once more, at a complete loss for words.

“Nice dress,” he offered, looking her up and down in a way that was altogether too suggestive. “It’s a shame you aren’t pledging.”

“And why is that?” Alison butted in, obviously still angry about the coffee incident. “She doesn’t have to join a sorority if she doesn’t want to.”

“Because we have these mixers all year round,” he said, without looking at Alison. He leaned forward as if he was going to put his arm around Eve, grabbing a cup from behind her. “And Sigma brothers get together with Kappa sisters whenever they want to.”

Eve could hardly think of anything to say to that. She was not used to being flirted with. That’s if he even was flirting, and she wasn’t just reading too much into it. Or if he was actually flirting and not just trying to get her into bed. This was way too complicated already.

“Cat got your tongue?” he asked, smirking and lifting one eyebrow. “Well, I’ll be around. I’m sure the brothers will show your friends some hospitality too.” He turned and sauntered away, sparking up a conversation with another frat member across the other side of the room as he walked.

“Well that was annoying,” Alison said, turning back to find Jena and Eve both staring speechlessly after him. Eve cleared her throat, took another swig from the cup, and nodded.

“Yep,” she said, and the three of them unanimously decided to head across the corridor and find another room.

The party wasn’t so bad after that. Alison mostly skulked around behind them looking out of place and nervous, despite their attempts to drag her into conversation, but Jena quickly found a pair of non-threatening fraternity boys to talk to. They were cute enough, and after a while they convinced her to go over and join a few other brothers to introduce her to them all. Alison and Eve found a quiet enough corner where they could sit and talk about poetry for a while; Eve was feeling light-headed enough after a couple of drinks to not want any more, and Alison seemed relieved to get a chance to talk about class.

After another hour, Eve felt like perhaps it was getting on for time to go home. It was a Tuesday, after all, and Jena probably did have class in the morning. They headed over to her just as the group of men drifted away, and found her sitting by herself with another red cup in her hand.

“Ready to go back to the dorm?” Eve asked, but Jena barely even acknowledged her question.

“Is she okay?” Alison asked, exchanging a worried glance with Eve.

Jena murmured something under her breath and then sank her head down onto her arms, as if she was ready to go to sleep.