A Different Light

Chapter 6

Hannah POV 

Somewhere around Kansas, we switched so I was driving the big beastly truck while Tobias sang along with the radio, ate, and read a book. A few hours later, we are in a hotel parking lot with a couple overnight bags in our hands and red eyes. I called my mom as soon as we pulled in and we head inside to check in to our rooms. The place is clean but small, and a little outdated but we don't care- I just want a shower and a bed right now. I will never understand why, but for some reason, driving seems to cap the energy out of me. I look at Tobes and it looks like it does for him, too. We get to our rooms- adjoining rooms- and look around for a menu or guide to restaurants that deliver. We find a local pizza place and call in a large pineapple and bacon pizza for me with an everything but the kitchen sink pizza for Tobias, along with two 2-Liter sodas. We're laying on the bed in my room in our pjs eating pizza and enjoying pay-per-view. 

"This is the life," I tell Tobes, taking another huge bite of my favorite pizza. 

I don't care what anyone says. Pineapple belongs on pizza and those who don't agree just have an uncultured pallet. You know what's really disgusting? Pepperoni. 

"Sure is, dork," Tobias says, laughing at me. 

I roll my eyes at him and push my pizza on the floor, and flop back against my pillows. Yawning, I roll over and turn off the lights. The room is illuminated by the glow from the TV and the lights from Toby's room. As I'm watching the characters argue on the screen, I feel my eyes getting heavier and heavier and eventually succumb to sleep. 

Tobias POV 

I wake up sweaty as can be and strip out of my shirt and sweats, shut the TV off and climb into bed. Before my head can even hit the pillow, I'm out. 

The next morning I wake to sunlight streaming in through the open door to our adjoining rooms. I see Hannah's face right next to mine and have to completely resist the urge to kiss her right then and there. I lay my head down and watch her sleep- how peaceful she looks, carefree. I study her features- her proud nose with the cute upturn at the tip, her full lips, her cute little ears, how perfectly sculpted her face is, the lines of her jaw, and her thick, long eyelashes that are so long, you wonder how they don't get tangled up in each other. 

I feel creepy. 

I slip my arm out from under her head, trying not to wake her up, and then I slip into my room. I check the clock- 8am. Perfect. I hop in the shower, dry myself off, wrap a towel around my waist and head out to get dressed and there she is, sitting on her bed. 

"Morning sleepyhead," I say to her with a grin. 

Her eyes narrow. 

"Morning. Where did you sleep last night?" She asks, arching a brow. 

"Oh uh, well, you see, I just uhm-" suddenly, she chucks a pillow at me. "Not necessary. It's not like we were drunk, Han- nothing happened. I woke up in the middle of the night against the bed and got into it. I didn't realize where I was and just got in the bed." 

She throws another pillow at me. 

"You're asking for it," I tell her. 

She grabs a pillow and stands, coming at me slowly. 

"Hannah. I am warning you. Don't hit m-" 

She runs at me and beats me over the head with the pillow. I turn to run and my towel gets stuck under my foot and falls to the ground. She hits me again with the pillow and then it falls to the floor and she covers her mouth staring at IT. I cover myself quickly with a pillow, my face blushing a deep red. 

"Get out!" I yell at her. 

She walks out, laughing hysterically, and shuts the door separating our rooms on her way out. I fall on the bed and groan. It's never a good thing when a girl laughs at your p***s. I'm pretty sure I just died of embarrassment. I throw on boxers and sweats and go back over to her room, knocking on the door. 

Hannah POV 

I shut the door to Toby's room and lean against it, sliding to the floor. It's not like I don't know what a p***s looks like or anything...but I've never seen a man as beautiful as Tobias. His broad shoulders taper down to a thickly muscled torso and waist, with a deep, chiseled v just over his...oh my god. And I may not have much experience, being a virgin and all, but...it looks like a weapon. Are they supposed to be that big? I wish I had a girlfriend to call right now. s**t. 

I get up and walk to my bag, pulling out my clothes for today, trying to distract myself from what I saw. My tummy flip flops as the image of him keeps popping up into my mind. I brush my teeth, brush my hair, and throw on a pair of faded shorts and an emerald tank top that bring out my eyes. I grab my sunglasses, phone, wallet, and phone charger and shove them into my purse. Then I pack up the rest of my clothes into my overnight bag. I grab the pizza boxes off the floor and stuff them into the trash. By the time I'm done, there's a couple knocks on our adjoining door and I open it to reveal a mouthwatering Tobias with disheveled black hair, his golden eyes meeting mine and his trademark smirk branded on his face. 

"You ready to get outta here? I'm starving," he says. 

"Hell yes. We gotta check out, though," I tell him, and check my phone. We have an hour before we have to be at the administration office. 

We head down to the front desk and check out easily, paying in cash. We climb into the truck and I look for food on my phone. 

"Betsy's Diner?" I ask. 

"Is it close?" 

"Yea. About a mile up the road." 

"Perfect," he says. I notice he hasn't really looked at me since we left the hotel. 

We eat breakfast with minimal conversation but plenty of awkward tension. I drink a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice to wash down my breakfast. It was truly delicious and you can tell we are in a college down- drunken college kids fill the tables around us wearing sunglasses and pj's. I notice a lot of girls, drunk or not, are looking at Tobias appreciatively, but he doesn't seem to notice. Hmm. 

We head out after he pays our bill and follow my phone's directions to the administration office. A heavy set woman with short brow hair and plain brow eyes sits behind the counter. Her thick glasses perched on her nose make her look like an owl. She gives off the grandma vibe and I love it. 

"Tobias Steele and Hannah Silver?" She asks. 

"That's us," I tell her. "I'm Hannah, we spoke on the phone?" 

"Oh yes! Hello dear. You look very well and very healed," she says, looking me over. 

"And I'm Tobias, ma'am." Tobes says, leaning against the counter. 

"Of course. I know this is not normally how we do things, but since you were so late, here is a list of classes that are still available and fit with the degrees you both chose. Hannah, here is the Exercise Science program," she says to us, putting a highlighted list on the counter. 

I look at the list. Principles of biology, honors biology, English, core history, fine arts and social science. I groan. 

"And for you, Mr. Steele, here's your list for Wildlife Ecology and Conservation," she says laying down a highlighted list. 

"Are there any classes we can take together?" He asks, standing closer to me. 

"Ah well, you can take biology, English, and history together. Would you like me to schedule those?" She asks. 

"Please." 

"Alright, and then for you, Mr. Steele, you need to choose your classes and professors for your wildlife law class, and your intro to renewable natural resources. Hannah, you need to choose your honors biology, social science, and fine arts classes," she says and gives us a schedule of classes. "You will be taking these together." 

She circles a history class and a biology class- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We go through and choose our classes and she submits our classes then prints out a schedule. 

"Alrighty, and dorms," she says. 

"I want to be in Plainsman Hall," I tell her. 

"What's that?" Tobias asks me. 

"It's the female hall." 

"I'll take whatever's close to that. Hannah doesn't have a car and will need to continue to go to dr appointments and stuff, too," he says to her. 

"I can arrange that," she says and clicks a few things into her computer. "I'll need you both to sign lease agreements and roommate agreements. And here's a list of your books. You'll need to purchase them tonight and let your professors know that you won't have them for about a week." 

She puts more papers on the desk and we sign our lives away. Finally we are given a map and a smile and sent on our way. 

"How are you feeling?" Tobias asks me. 

"I feel fine," I tell him, and bite my lip. 

"It's okay if you're nervous. We kind of just went through a lot..." he says to me. 

My roommates names are Mia Staehler, Cora Jansen, and Jillian Holbrook. I wonder if we'll have any classes together. We get into the truck and head to the dorms. Mine is first and we each grab a box and head inside. These dorms are actually 4 bedroom condo type units with two bathrooms, each girl having their own room and a a shared bathroom. We get inside, find the room, and head in. There are 2 girls in the living area, watching a movie and another girl is in the small kitchen area, filling a bowl with popcorn. As we walk in, they all turn to stare at us. 

"Oh my gosh! You're the other roommate!" one of them squeal. 

"Oooh and she brought a treat," says another, arching a brow at Tobias. 

"Hi!" shouts the girl from the kitchen. 

I can't help but smile at all of them. The black haired girl from the kitchen walks over to us. 

"Hi, I'm Mia Staehler. Let me show you to your room," she says. 

"I'm Hannah Silver and this is Tobias Steele," I tell her with a big grin.

She walks in the back to an open door and we head in, setting the boxes on the twin bed. There's storage over the bed, a simple desk, and a closet. It's not too big but it's pretty cute and comfy and I like the fact I have my own space. 

"Do y'all want some help?" She asks. 

"I don't have much- but if you wanna help me unpack when we get it all up here, I'll take that. Tobes has to get to his dorm and unpack too. We're a tad late..." I tell her. 

"I was going to ask you about that, but I didn't want to come off rude," she says to me with a shy smile. 

"Oh it's fine. I was in a pretty bad car wreck a little while ago. I ended up in a coma. But I recovered and we talked to the administration office and they let us still come, so. We barely made it. We drove all day yesterday!" 

"Oh you poor thing! Wow. I'm amazed you wanted to come, I would be so scared." 

"Han's tougher than she looks," Tobias pipes in. 

Her eyes shift to him and she takes him in from head to toe. I can tell she finds him attractive. 

"I'll say. Well let's get your stuff and we can all hound you with questions after we get you settled," she says, leading us back towards the front door. 

Four trips and a few conversations later, Mia and I are in my room, unpacking with the other girls. Cora is short and plump with long blonde hair and glasses. She is adorable. Jillian has short blonde hair and a thin build. She has little makeup on but she is beautiful, and her green eyes light up when she talks about things she's passionate about. Mia is the only other one taking biological sciences, and we actually have bio together with Tobias. She's also the one I share a bathroom with. We get my clothes put away, bed made, and I set up a few things on my desk like my laptop, notebooks, etc. I power on my laptop, order my very expensive books (thanks mom and dad), and then head out into the living room. I sit on the couch with them and pull out my phone to text Tobias and see how he's doing. 

Hey. Did you get all settled? I ask

Yeah. Met my roommates, too. All pretty cool I guess, but I am starving and I gotta buy some drinks and s**t. Wanna go? he replies. 

Lol that's what I was texting you for. What room you in? 

Up the elevator and second door on the left. See you soon. 

I get up and grab my purse. 

"You heading out?" Mia asks. 

"Yeah, I need to get groceries and stuff. Tobes does, too, so we're gonna go real quick. And we need to return our U-Haul," I tell her. 

"Ooooh. Have fun. That boy is fiiine," she says to me and I laugh. 

"Yeah, I've seen hot boyfriends, but he's one I would actually consider stealing," Jillian pipes up from the living room. 

"Oh he's not my boyfriend. He's my best friend." 

"Wait. He's available??" she asks. 

"Uh. I guess?" I tell her. 

"Oh my god. This day just got so much better!!" She yells. 

"You guys are weirdos. I gotta head out, text me if you need anything!" I tell them. 

"Oh uh. Could you grab toilet paper? So we both contribute, you know?" Mia asks. 

"Yup, planned on it. And I need a shower caddy thingy, I have that on the list," I tell her and she grins. 

I head out to Tobes' building and up the elevator. I go to the door he told me to and listen- I can hear his voice on the other side so I knock. 

"I'll get it!" I hear someone that is not Toby say. 

The door opens and I can't help but stare. The man before me is naked from the waist up with broad shoulders and abs to die for. His ice blue eyes take me in and he grins. 

"How can I help you?" He asks. 

"I-I'm here f-for Tobi-" I begin but I get cut off by Toby in the background. 

"Hannah?" He asks. 

"Yup," I call out. 

"Let her in," he tells his roommate who backs up and gestures for me to enter, then closes the door behind me. 

Oh dear.