I looked over the party, it was going strong and I realised suddenly, I had no idea where Robbie went – which means I had no way to get home. It didn’t matter; I would have to find a way back, even if it meant my own two feet.
“I’ll text Robbie, tell him I wasn’t feeling too good and got a ride home.” I stooped and picked up the tote bag. It was really heavy and the thought of walking back with it was quite disheartening.
“You can get back to campus without him?” Theo asked. I wasn’t overly amused to see that he liked the idea of me not being anywhere near Robbie.
“I don’t live on campus, have a place just off, I’ll be fine Theo.” Theo nodded and bent down to wrap his huge arms around me and gave me a tight hug.
“It’s so good to see you Arielle, I’d say don’t be a stranger, but you know.” He shrugged as he let me go. He slid his aviator sunglasses on, his hand clasped my shoulder and squeezed. “Tell your dad I said hi.” I flinched internally.
“It’s good to see you too Theodore,” I said with a forced smile and then laughed as his face scowled at the use of his full name.Yeah, two can play this game,I grinned at him. He playfully mock punched my shoulder. Matt chuckled beside me, but I knew he was waiting to give instructions.
“Theo, check they’ve not moved and then we can move Bit out.” Matt instructed. Theo texted quickly, Matt stared at me. I knew he had so many things he wanted to ask me. Like a coward, I looked away. Only Matt ever called me “Bit”. Usually I would scold him but it felt so good to be called that now. He was Colton’s best friend, but he had been the nearest thing to my best friend too for a long time. Seeing him again made me so sad. I knew I had been lying to myself about how much I had missed them.
“Yeah, they’re still over on the other side. Some guys strung a rope up and they’re getting ready to rope jump into the lake.” Theo’s eyes were bright; it was obvious he was eager to join in the fun. I didn’t ask who the guy was, less I knew the better.
Matt nodded to Theo. “You go ahead; I’ll get Ari back to the main lot and be right behind you.” Theo looked like he wanted to protest but then he stooped, hugged me one more time, then turned and headed into the main park.
“C’mon Bit, let’s get you out of here.” Matt said. He took my bag and didn’t say anything at the weight of it. He looked at me and grinned as we set off back to the main entrance “Why you wearing jeans in this heat anyway?”
I barked out a laugh, “Because I wanted to be dressed appropriately in case I chose to bail.” I admitted. He laughed out loud.
“Old habits die hard eh,” he said more softly. I flushed, I had always been horrendous at socialising. Many a time at parties back home I would sneak off with a book and escape the noise only to come back out when either I had been found by one of the boys, or the parties had died down so much I knew by the quiet it was late.
“You won’t have to hide forever Bit, I promise.” Matt took my hand and squeezed and I squeezed back. We had reached the lot. I grew slightly alarmed as Matt eyed a pizza truck speculatively and made his way over when he spied the young delivery guy getting back in.
“You heading back into Boulder?” He asked him. The boy paled at the sight of him, to be fair Matt could be intimidating if you didn’t know him. I shook my head, hell even if you did know him, he was intimidating, the pizza boy nodded.
“Can you give my girl a lift back?” He asked him. The boy looked over at me and I watched as he registered me properly and then eagerly nodded. Matt could see it too. He growled at him, moving forward. The pizza guy shrank back, pressing into the seat in fear.
“A lift back, you drop her off where she needs to go, no questions, no conversations and no jerking off to her later, got it?” I flinched at the hardness in his voice.
“Jesus Matt,” I muttered shouldering past him. Matt was unperturbed. He looked at the kid who nodded, he may have been close to wetting himself. Or passing out.Awkward.Matt stared at him for a few more tense seconds, I could see him debating this choice in his head and then he seemed to decide the kid was ok. He turned to me and his eyes were all at once soft and gentle again. He reached and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. He lifted me off the ground and held tight, I held back just as tightly.
“Missed you Matty.” Came out in a soft whisper. I could feel the tears threatening again as he squeezed again. He set me down gently and pulled my phone from my back jeans pocket. He took out his own phone and quickly programmed in a number. He put his number in my phone under Matt, I had no idea what I would be put in as. I knew it wouldn’t be Arielle that was for sure.
“Still make blueberry pancakes?” He asked somewhat gruffly.
“Obviously,” I muttered still trying so hard not to be so overwhelmed by the whole situation. He helped me get into the van and glared at pizza kid again for good measure.
“Good, I’ll be in touch for some breakfast then.” He kissed my forehead swiftly and patted the side of the truck, which seemed to be a universal signal for all male motorists to take off. “See you Ari,” he muttered as we drove off.
The pizza kid let out a breath as he looked at me. “Jeez, your boyfriends intense,” he muttered. I grimaced while shrugging in what I hoped was an apology.
Seriously kid, you have no frigging idea.
I lay in bed listening to the early morning birds. My room was cool and the overhead fan had done its job through the night to keep the heat down. I let out a long sigh as I reached for my phone to see if I had any missed calls or texts. I had put it on silent around midnight when Robbie’s texts had become more frantic. He was obviously drunk, I hadn’t wanted to deal with him. I quickly scrolled through four or five more from him, all saying the same – he wanted me there,he didn’t like the guys I’d been with earlier, where they friends of my fiancé, how he wished I wasn’t engaged. I groaned, I didn’t need this, I was pretty sure I had set up boundaries.
I perked up as I noticed I had a text from Matt and this one gave me a genuine smile.
Matt:Was awesome to see you, you look good Lil Bit, college life agrees with you.
He’d sent it around 3am, a safe time to text me. The others would have either been sleeping or otherwise occupied. I didn’t want to think about the latter, that opened up a whole can of worms and emotions I had avoided for six or seven months now.
I put the phone down. College life did agree with me. I was away from all drama and everyone I had ever cared about. Or so I thought, I reminded myself ruefully. I kicked my legs out in annoyance and the sheet went flying. Growling in frustration, I got up. My cotton shorts and tank top were damp with sweat. I had just changed the sheets a few days ago, stupid summer heat. My central air was out and I was waiting for a repair man to come and fix it. I had picked this school for the great creative writing programme that it had, but it also had the benefit of being in a part of the country that had four distinct seasons and summer was supposed to be bearable not scorching. Indian summer indeed, I was not impressed.
I went into the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on, before heading back to strip the bed. Passing the mirror, I paused. I was not a vain girl, never had been, in fact I had been a tomboy growing up, more climbing trees and digging ditches than hosting tea parties with stuffed animals.
Looking at my reflection, steady grey eyes stared back. My eyes were steel coloured with slight flecks of blue round the iris’s. My eyes were inherited from my Gran and my aunt. My hair was currently a frizz bomb with the heat, plus I had just woken up.