“By the way they were at each other all the time,” Stacy piped up.
Durst laughed. “Anyway we’re happy for you.”
Ian shot me a sexy smirk that melted my insides and brought forth memories of our sexcapade only hours earlier. If only they knew what we got up to together, his look said. Our dirty secret. Here we were, looking like such a nice young couple—so innocent and in love.
Ian kept his arm on the back of my chair throughout the entire class. Even though he wasn’t touching me, I could still feel him. At the end of class, it took all my willpower to turn down his invite to come over later.
“Been thinking about earlier,” he said, wrapping his hand around my ponytail like he had the tie. The memory made me instantly wet. “Stay at my place tonight.”
“I thought I’d go for dinner with the girls. Haven’t seen them since we told them.” I hadn’t even really seen Melissa. Last night I’d come home late from the library and she’d already been in bed.
“Fair enough.” He released me and kissed the top of my head. “My door’s always open.”
As he walked away, I sent a text to Lena, Melissa and Carly asking if they wanted to go for dinner at 5:30. Then I hurried to my writing class.
At the end of the school day, I was so exhausted I could barely climb the four stories up to my floor. Lena’s door was open at the end of the hall and as I neared my room, I could see her lying on her stomach reading a textbook. Hearing my footsteps, she glanced up and then grinned.
“Lex!”
she cried and rolled off the bed. “I’ve been waiting for you to get back. Ready to go?”
“Yep. Just let me switch bags.”
The door to my room was closed and locked. Strange. I fumbled around in my bag until I found my keys and unlocked it. Melissa was out, which was strange. She hadn’t responded to my text but I’d assumed she’d be waiting in the room. We never went for dinner before 6 p.m.
I quickly grabbed my purse and returned to the hallway, where I found Lena standing with Carly, Jill and Ling.
“They’re coming too,” Lena said, sounding slightly disappointed.
Up until now, Jill and Ling hadn’t paid Lena or me any attention. The best way to explain it was that we different types of girls. They had fake IDs and spent Friday evenings curling their hair and eyelashes and applying tons of makeup before dressing up in sparkly tank tops and short skirts and hitting the club. Hip-hop and rap was their music of choice and according to the guys, they referred to their half of the hall as the hot side. Carly’s room fell in the middle and like her room, she seemed to float amongst everyone, always being what they wanted.
As we walked out of the block and toward the cafeteria, Ling hooked her arm through mine like we were the best of friends. Her eyes were large and fringed with dark lashes, her hair shiny and smooth, her skin flawless. She was the type that made me instinctively nervous because she was just so perfect. Jill, on the other hand, had doe brown eyes and dirty blonde hair. Hers was a more natural girl-next-door look, her features soft and kind.
“I heard you’re dating Ian. That’s so exciting!” Ling gushed, squeezing my arm a little too hard. Jill followed alongside us listening in.
“Yeah.” I nodded, unsure what else to say.
“Well tell us the details! How did it happen?”
I glanced at Lena and caught her giving Carly a knowing look. Both of them smiled and looked away.
“It just sort of...did. I guess we started talking at the first lounge party and then found out we were in the same class and became friends. Then decided to date.” Man, that story sounded lame.
“Mm hmm.” Ling was frowning like she still hadn’t figured out the answer. “So you just became friends first and worked on projects together and stuff?”
“Pretty much.”
Her face brightened instantly. “Well I’m sooo excited for you two. And I want to hear all about Ian. What’s he like? The other day we watched the movie he was in, First Chance. Have you seen it?”
I was super relieved when we got to the cafeteria and I could get away from Ling and grab food. As I carried my tray into the dining area, Carly waved me over. She was sitting at a table with Melissa.
“Hey,” I said to Melissa as I sat down. “I was wondering where you went.”
She didn’t look up from her half eaten pasta. “Got hungry early.”
Jill and Ling appeared at our table at the same time and Jill quickly put her tray down beside mine, claiming the spot. Melissa slipped into an even darker mood. Carly glanced at her and then rapidly began talking about her day.
“So what’s he like in bed?” Jill whispered, taking her chance.