Chapter 4
2055 Words
I cleared my throat as the tortoise’s legs started moving like it was attempting to move away. “I… I live here.”
"Not a damn thing?" With widening eyes, he swaggered around the railing. I couldn’t help but notice how his gym shorts hung so low on his tiny hips. Or his stomach. It was so damaged that it went from being a six pack to an eight pack. “You really live here?”
I forced my gaze up and took stock on the sun tattoo. “Yes. I actually live here.”
"This is the... I have no idea. He chuckled once again, and I caught his gaze. "Very bizarre."
"Why?" Apart from the fact that he was carrying a tortoise named Raphael while barefoot and shirtless in the hallway of my flat?
"This is where I live."
I stared at him in shock. The tortoise and the half-naked thing made sense now, too, but it couldn't be true. Far too many events happening at once. "You're kidding, surely?"
Not at all. I've lived here for a number of years, sharing a residence with my flatmate. The fucktard who abandoned poor Raphael, you know.
The man exclaimed, "Hey!" from inside their flat. "My name is... Señor Fucktard is here!
Cam chuckled. "Well, did you move in this past weekend?"
I noticed that I was nodding.
"Makes sense. I was visiting my family back home. He moved Raphael to his other hand and held the wriggling mass against his chest. "Well, what the heck—"
I kept my hand on the door till my knuckles hurt. "It's your tortoise, I guess?"
Indeed. As he hoisted the little kid, a half smile came on his face. "Emma meets Rafael."
I felt a bit foolish for giving the turtle a small wave afterward. It simply sunk its head deeper inside its brown and green shell. "What a fascinating pet that is."
"And those shorts are really intriguing." His eyes lowered. "What are they?" His eyes narrowed as he leaned in, and I tensed up. "Slices of pizza?"
Warmth enveloped my face. "Those are cones of ice cream."
Oh. They appeal to me. His head straightened, his eyes steadily travelling up me, trailed by an unknown wake of heat. "A great deal."
I instantly released my grip on the door and folded my arms across my chest. A corner of his mouth turned upward. My gaze grew strained. "Many thanks. That is really important to me.
It ought to. They have my endorsement. His lashes raised and he bit down on his bottom lip. I was penetrated by those eyes. "It's imperative that I return Raphael to his small habitat before he urinates on my hand, as that will undoubtedly happen and it's unpleasant."
A tiny smile crept across my lips. "I can envision."
Thus, you ought to drop by. Though I'm sure they'll stay a little while longer, the boys are about to leave. You have the opportunity to meet them. He leaned in and spoke more softly. "They're not bad, but they're not nearly as interesting as I am."
I cast a sidelong peek over his shoulder, with half of me wanting nothing to do with any of this. That portion prevailed. "Thank you, but I had to go to bed."
"This early?"
"It must be later than midnight."
His smile was growing. "That's not very early."
"Maybe to you."
"Are you certain?" he inquired. "I've got some cookies."
"Cookies?" My eyebrows lifted.
Indeed, I did make them. I'm a pretty good baker.
Somehow, I was unable to visualise that. "You made cookies?"
"You're undoubtedly eager to learn everything there is to know about the variety of foods I bake. But tonight it was cookies with chocolate and walnuts. I really think they're the worst.
"Even though that sounds fantastic, I have to pass."
"Perhaps then later?"
"Perhaps." Unlikely. Retracing my steps, I reached for the door. "Well, Ethan, nice to see you again."
He corrected, "Cam." And, well, we avoided running into each other. Observe us as we break the pattern.
"That's fortunate." He remained in front of my flat door when I returned. "Return before Raphael urinates on your hand."
"It would be worthwhile," he answered.
My eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
He began to back down, but he didn't respond to it. "I'm available for a while if you decide to change your mind."
"I refuse to do so. Cam, good night.
His eyes expanded slightly, but then his grin became into a full smile, and my stomach fell because his smile was so amazing. "Until tomorrow, see you?"
"Next week?"
"Class in astronomy? Or do you plan to skip again?
My cheeks became hot once more. God, I had nearly forgotten that I would look like a complete fool if I ran away from him. I groaned and said, "No." "I intend to attend."
Fantastic. He began to retreat once more. "Emily, good night."
I hid behind the door, shut it, and then turned the lock. I had to be insane, but I swear I heard him laugh.
After standing there for a short while, I turned and hurried back to my bedroom. I slid onto my stomach and buried my face in a pillow after diving beneath the blankets.
Rest. Simply go to bed.
Did Cam reside down the hall?
You have to rise early. Put yourself to sleep.
How on earth could that have happened? Everywhere I went, there he was.
Put yourself to sleep.
And although it was kind of funny, why did he really name his pet turtle after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Soon it will be morning.
Was it only a shirt on during class? He really did live across the hall, oh my god. Miller planned to flip the house and most likely move in. It sounds like fun. Although I thought Miller was great, I had a suspicion he would take my clothes.
Go f**k off to sleep.
The hot guy who lived across the hall from me that I ran into and then ran away from is unbelievable. I had no idea why I was concerned. It made no difference. Although I had no interest in men or women, he was really attractive, humorous, and endearing.
No. No. No. Go to sleep and stop thinking about him because it was futile and fruitless.
Was that salad all that I ate? Oh my, those cookies sound really amazing right now.
"Awful!" Into the pillow I sighed.
I gave up and threw myself out of bed after putting up with this garbage for almost an hour. I could hear no music or noise coming from Cam's flat out in the living room. I'm sure he was sound asleep while I was up, fixating on cookies, chicken tenders, and torn stomachs.
Entering the spare bedroom, which had evolved into a hybrid workspace, I turned on the laptop and accessed my email. My relative had left one unread email in my mailbox. I didn't even open that before deleting it. I noticed I had a few unread emails in my garbage folder on the left toolbar. I was so bored so I clicked on the link and scrolled through the offers for prescription drugs, the emails saying "I have money in a foreign account," and the announcement of a sale at Bath & Bodyworks. The subject line of the lone email that arrived at roughly eleven o'clock yesterday night caught my attention.
It was from an email account I wasn't familiar with and it said Emily Hollis.
That was odd, since my email wasn't registered in my actual name, thus it's unlikely to have been a phishing scheme. My email address was only known by my cousin and parents since, although they had my phone number, I would prefer that they get in touch with me by email rather than via phone.
I slowly moved my finger across the mouse pad. My stomach started to tighten, making me uneasy. I told myself not to open it, tucking my legs against my chest. to simply click "Delete," but I had to click. It resembled witnessing a serious vehicle crash next to the road. Even if you knew better, you still did.
I regretted it right away. My stomach knotted up, and there was a lump in the back of my throat. I moved away from the desk, my stomach hurting, and slammed the laptop shut. Taking a deep breath, I stood in the centre of the room and clenched my fists.
There were only three lines.
That was it.
Thousands of miles were erased by three lines.
My whole night was destroyed by three lines.
I was located in a little West Virginian college town after reading three lines.
Emily Hollis, you are nothing more than a liar. In the end, you'll receive yours. Additionally, money won't be involved.
I arrived at astronomy class five minutes early and chose a seat in the middle of the amphitheater-style classroom that I thought would be inconspicuous. There were already a few more pupils seated in front of them. I slid down in my seat and massaged my eyes, yawning. Considering that I had barely had an hour of sleep, the gallon of coffee I drank this morning had not helped me at all.
Three brief phrases.
I closed my eyes and put my head on my forearm. Neither the email nor the fact that I had opened my laptop again and looked through my trash folder to see what my cousin had said were things I wanted to forget. His email was a massive tirade about how I was disappointing my parents, how they were worried sick about me, and how they were concerned I would cause them more trouble. He'd written, 'You need to come home. It is the proper course of action. It was the appropriate thing to do for them, and I doubted my cousin had been behind the email, even though he agreed with my parents and, you know, ninety-nine percent of the community.
I didn't know who the email address belonged to, even though there were several possible recipients. The address was unrecognisable to me. Since even he wasn't that foolish to try to get in touch with me, it couldn't be him.
Was he, or was he not?
A shiver went through my body. And if Blaine had been the one? What would happen if he knew where I had moved? He wouldn't have heard from my relatives. However, since they were friends from the country club, they may have alerted his parents. If they did, I was going to murder them. Really? Since the entire purpose of coming here was to escape—, take the next flight to Texas and murder them.
"Good morning, my love," a deep voice said.
I twisted in my seat and jerked my head up. I looked in disbelief as Cam slid into the vacant seat across from me. I knew I should have told him to move or that the seat was taken, but I was a little sluggish to react and could only look.
He reclined and gave me a sidelong glance. You appear a bit tense this morning.
And for someone who had been out partying the night before, he appeared incredibly rested. Bright eyes and moist and dishevelled hair. "Gratitude."
"Thank you so much. I'm glad you could attend class this time. He paused, his eyes fixed on me as he tipped his head back into the seat and kicked his feet up on the seat in front of us. However, I didn't really enjoy the part where we kept bumping into one other. offered a great deal of excitement.
Bending over and fishing through my bag for my notebook, I said, "I don't miss that." "It was incredibly embarrassing."
"It ought not to have been."
Simple for you to state. It was you who was ploughed under. I was ploughing the ground.
Cam's jaw dropped open. I can't believe I just said that. I did. I opened my notepad and felt my hair flush to the roots.
"Oh, and Rafael is doing fantastic."
A sly smile of relief crept forth. I'm glad to hear that. Has he urinated on your hand?
- Writer
