A Different Light

Chapter 8

Hannah POV 

He motions for me to sit on the couch and I sit on the very edge. He sits next to me, too close, so close I can feel the heat radiating from his body. I look over and my eyes meet his, causing my stomach to flip flop. Thankfully, Tobias emerges from another room with a smile on his face- until he sees his roommate next to me. 

"Uhh. You ready?" He asks. 

I stand quickly and the sexy weirdo on the couch grabs my hand. I gasp and look down at him. 

"Can I get your number?" He asks.

"Dude. What the fuc-" 

"Sure," I tell him. 

He hands me his phone to put my number in. I punch it in and hand it back and he presses a button. My phone starts to ring and he gives me a thousand watt smile, making heart race and my stomach fill with butterflies. 

"Just checking," he says, winking. "Names Mac, by the way. Maclan but I go by Mac." 

I reach out to shake his hand and he stands, pulling me into a hug. I giggle and Tobias clears his throat. Geesh, what a geezer. 

"We gotta get going, Han," Toby says. 

"Alrighty. Well it was nice to meet you, Mac! See ya around," I tell him. 

"Oh yes you will, beautiful," he says and I blush all the way out the door. 

As soon as the door shuts, Tobias grabs my arm and pulls me to the elevator. 

"What the hell was that?!" He yells at me as soon as the elevator doors close. 

"What was what?" I stare at him blankly. 

"You need to block his number. Now." 

"The hell I do." I cross my arms over my chest. What an ASSHOLE. 

"Look, Hannah, these guys...they're not good guys. All he wants is to get in your pants." 

"So? What if I want to get into his?" 

"Jesus Christ woman..." he says and rubs his hand over his face. 

"You can just call me Hannah," I tell him, grinning at our long-running inside joke. 

"You will be the death of me," he says. 

I wink at him. We get in the truck and I pull up a grocery store on my phone and we head off to return the U-Haul, grab dinner, and then get groceries. Mac and Mia both text me- Mac sends me winky faces and tells me that I should hang out with him and Toby when I get back and Mia asks me to get tampons for Cora because apparently she forgot them and everybody else is on birth control and doesn't need them. I ask what kind she wants, grab them, and shoot her a text back. We finally pull back into the dorms as the sun is setting. I run my snacks and the tampons up to our room and Cora hands me $20 and insists I keep it all. Tobias helps me put my stuff away and organize my drinks and stuff in our communal fridge while Mia and Jillian lean against the counter ogling him and asking him various questions. Jillian gets up the nerve and slips him a slip of paper with her number on it. As we head back to his place, he looks at it with a goofy grin on his face. 

"What do you think of her?" I ask. 

"She's pretty cute, I guess. Kinda seems like she's a tad arrogant but honestly I might find it a little...hot," he says and his face flames. 

I feel a slight jab of something in my belly but shrug it off. There's no way that I like Toby...not like that. 

"I'll tell her you said so," I tease him. 

"NO! Don't do that!" He yells at me. 

I giggle and he realizes I'm joking. 

"Don't worry, bruh. I'll talk you up," I tell him as we get on the elevator back to his room. 

"You'd better. But I can't say I'll do the same with Mac. God...why the hell would you date a guy named Mac?! What's a dumber name than Mac?" He asks. 

"Hugh," I tell him. 

"Hugh gotta be kidding me!" He says and we both laugh at another inside joke. 

We step off the elevator and get into his room. There's an extra couple guys now in their room. I was wondering about that... He tosses Mac a soda and we go to unload the bags in the kitchen. Much like the girls back in my dorm, Mac and the others saunter over and lean against the counter to talk to me while we put the stuff away. I learn quickly that the other two are named George, who goes by Smithy, and Nick. We all hang out on the couch and play video games together. We start playing a new racing game that Mac got and I offer to play against him. 

"Wanna make a bet?" He asks. 

"Hmm. Maybe...what are we betting?" I ask him. 

"If i win, you come to a frat party with me next Friday," he says, grinning. 

"And if I win?" I ask. 

"If you win, you get to take me to a frat party next Friday," he repeats and wiggles his eyebrows. 

"Can I bring my roommates?" I ask. 

"More hot chicks? Hell yea," he says and high fives the guys. I roll my eyes. 

"Hmm. Then I also want lunch tomorrow. You can take me somewhere. If I win...I mean what are the odds?" I ask him. 

"Dude..I dunno. She sounds a bit coy," Nick says and he grins at me. 

"Oh come on, he won't lose to a chick," Smithy says .

"I'll bet on that," Mac finally says.

We select our cars and start the race. Little does he know I have an affinity for racing video games and Madden. I all put lap him and he chuckles, raising his hands in defeat. Tobias puts his arm around me, a big grin on his face. 

"I think you hustled me," he says, eyeing me wearily. 

I fuckin told you, bro," Nick says, and we all start laughing.

"I may have. Just a bit," I tell him. 

"Dude, you'll never win. I gave up. If you wanna beat her at a game, it has to be a first person shooter. She sucks at those. She will hit a fuckin tree before she gets close to you on those games. Particularly modern warfare. But for some reason she's also really good at Zombies, so," Tobes says. 

"She cannot beat me at Madden," Nick says, leaning back against the couch and crossing his arms. 

"She will wipe the floor with you and not even know what buttons she's pressing. 

I bat my eyes at them innocently and then notice Mac eyeing Toby's arm around me and his face darkens. I check my phone- 11pm and many missed texts. 

"Oh crap. I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, Tobes. And Mac- I still plan on holding you up to our date," I tell him. 

"You got it, sweetcheeks," he says. 

"I'll walk you back, Han," Tobias says. Normally I would decline but I wouldn't mind that- I have a tendency to get lost in the worst of places. 

"Ooohhhh, Mac. You know what that means, right?" Nick chides him. 

"Shut up bro, they're just friends. He said she's like a sister to him," I can hear him say as we walk down the hall. 

I'm not sure why...but it kind of hurt when I heard that. 

Tobias POV 

My heart and stomach clench at the mention of her going on a date with my roommate. I need to have a conversation with him about that, but I gotta cool off first. Hannah slips her hand in my elbow as we walk back towards her hall. 

"You okay? You seem deep in thought," she asks me. 

"Ah yeah. That was just fun is all," I tell her. 

She stops and stands in front of me, looking up at me with those big blue eyes. 

"Tobias. This is me you're talking to. What's really going on?" she asks me. 

"Fine. I'm having a little talk with him when we get back and if he hurts you, I'm beating the s**t out of him. Happy?" I ask her, crossing my arms over my chest. 

Her answering smile makes my heart flutter. s**t I gotta get laid. She shouldn't have this effect on me. 

"Thank you, Tobes," she says and she jumps into my arms for a hug. For a moment, I wish it would never end. 

But it does and she slips her hand into mine as we walk back to her room. I stand in the door and we're talking when Jillian walks out and invites me inside for a movie. 

"Uh what is it?" I ask. 

"Paranormal Activity. The new one. We have snacks, popcorn, and soda. Come on, it'll be fun," she says and pulls me inside. 

I slip out of my jacket and lay it over a chair before we take our spots on the couch. I notice that Jillian purposely has me in the corner so the only person I can sit next to is her. I see Hannah looking at us and give her a small smile. She grins back and my heart races. The movie starts and reminds me why I hate these types of movies so much- they're so fake. I sigh and eat popcorn. Jillian's hand landed on my leg a while ago and has been steadily moving up since. I eat the popcorn and pretend not to notice. I look over at Hannah who is staring at her hand on me until she meets my eyes. She blushes and looks away. What the hell was that? 

Finally the movie is over and instead of Hannah walking me to the door, Jillian beat her to it and pulled me out into the hall. She looks up at me expectantly and I look down at her with a smile. 

"Can I see you tomorrow?" I ask her, as a thought creeps into my mind. 

"Sure- yea. That sounds fun. Wanna text me the time?" She asks. 

"Yeah, I'll text you in the morning. I gotta go though, it's getting past curfew," I tell her and head down the hall. 

I head back to my dorm and the guys are on the couch playing video games. Smithy checks his watch and gives me a wolfish grin. 

"You sly dog. How was she?" He asks. 

"What?" I ask. 

"Hannah. You were with her, weren't you?" He asks. 

"Oh uh. Yeah. Her roommate Jillian invited me to stay for a movie. Weird chick, dude. Fuckin cornered me into the couch to watch some bullshit ass scary movie that sucked," I go to the fridge and grab a bottle of water and sit on the couch with them. 

"See? Told you guys. He said she's like his sister," Mac grins triumphantly. 

"Uh yeah. Nothing between Hannah and I," I tell them. 

"Well s**t man. She's fuckin hot. Why not?" Nick asks, and Mac slugs him. 

"Not my type," I lie. 

"The hell she ain't- she's everyone's type," Nick shakes his head. 

"Hey Mac, you mind if Jillian and I join y'all tomorrow?" I ask him. 

"Not at all. No idea where to go. You can pick a place, I don't care," he says and for some reason that irks me. 

"Burgers sound good? Hannah loves burgers and shakes. It was like a thing back home with her family and I," I tell him. 

"Sure thing dude, whatever," he shrugs. 

I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is pissing me off so badly. I clench my fist on my leg and pull my phone out. 

You sure you wanna go out with this guy? I text Hannah. 

Why? Did something happen? she replies instantly. 

He just doesn't seem to be as into the idea as you do.. I tell her. 

Oh.. Uh. Well.. I guess I'll still give it a try. Maybe I can try my luck with Nick, she says. 

OR MAYBE SOMEONE WHO ISN'T MY ROOMMATE HANNAH. 

Idk. He's pretty cute, and he has the most amazing smile. 

Oh for f**k's sake. Mac invited Jillian and I to go tomorrow too. Wanna do burgers and bowling? 

Oh my god yes!!!! 

Alrighty. Get some sleep. See ya tomorrow. 

I look over at Nick, playing video games, and then to Mac who is watching Nick play video games. What does she see in these losers? I look up a burger place on my phone with good reviews- ironically, the one with the best review's is called Mac's. I tell him the plans and go head in my room to grab clothes and my shower stuff. I shower quickly and collapse in my bed. I check my phone and see a text from Hannah. 

See you tomorrow. Sleep well ♥

I smile and my face heats. For...Jillian. Yeah. My face heats at the thought of seeing Jillian. 

What else could it be?