Falling for the Bad boy

Chapter Seven

Alyssa

I dragged my feet against the tiles lining the ground in the lobby. Loud squeaky noises filtered up to my ears, but I tuned them out. Barely though. I already had enough on my plate and I wasn't about to add squeaky noises to the list.

A million pairs of eyes stared at me with each step I took but I couldn't care less. A wide range of emotions flickered on their faces, from rage, to confusion and even pity but that was their problem and not mine. I wasn't going to be the only one feeling everything and anything all at once.

Not like I had a choice though.

I took in deep breaths as I let my feet lead me. A tiny part of me hoped I hadn't gone the wrong way because I really wasn't thinking straight and neither was I paying anything to where I was actually headed. The aroma of something hit my nose and I paused immediately, causing someone behind me to almost bump into me. I knew that smell and on a normal day, it always brought a huge grin to my face. But not today. Today, I felt my heart drop to my stomach at the scent of it.

A quick glance at my surroundings showed I was near the cafeteria. MAL-U was the biggest university in the state, so it wasn't a surprise that the school had its own cafeteria. You could still eat out though, everything all boiled down to choice in the end.

Someone waving in the distance caught my attention and after a good look in the direction it came from, I realized it was Vivian. Wordlessly, I trudged through the crowd and headed to the table where she sat.

“There you are!” She squealed the moment she saw me. I watched her grin widen as she grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me to sit, just right next to her. “ Where have you been?!”

“I..” for some strange reason, that was the only word I could mutter, no matter how hard I tried. “ Um, I actually….”

“That's fine.” Vivian cut me off, her hand waving in the air. “ You're here and that's what matters. You came just in time too. I have something to show you.”

Whenever Vivian referred to “something” it was a code word for someone, someone hot and totally her spec that she would gush over, but never grow the balls to actually do anything about it.

“Over there.” Vivian grabbed a hold of my hand from the table. After that, I watched as she discreetly tilted her head to the side. “ Just right behind us. Look.”

“How am I going to know who I'm looking for?” I sniffled. “ You can't just…”

“Oh, you will.” She grinned. “All you need to do is put everything you know about me into consideration.”

“And that's going to help how?”

“Just do it!” I turned my gaze towards the direction she was pointing to and true to her words, I knew immediately . Just tucked in between a group of guys and girls, was a guy and surprisingly he stood out well enough. Tall height, chiseled abs with little piercings here and there were more than enough to catch Vivian's eyes.

“Isn't he dreamy?” Vivian's swoons brought my attention back to the table. “ Just look at him.”

“Well, I wished he wasn't the only thing that looked like a dream.” The words were already out before I could take them back. “ I, I didn't mean….”

“Are you okay?” Vivian's question caught me off guard. Like that wasn't a big enough surprise, I just had to make the mistake of holding her gaze. “You're not, are you?”

“I'm fine.” It was hopeless trying to lie, but my frazzleed brain couldn't thivk of anything else at this point. “ I shouldn't have said what I said…”

“It's not about me.” I pressed my eyes shut for a little while. Whenever Vivian got in touch with her psychic side, it was hard to resist telling the truth. “ Your eyes are red and puffy, now that I think about it, you even missed first period.”

“I just had something to do.” My palms felt clammy. “It was really urgent.”

“You're lying, Alyssa.” Vivian's words shot a bullet through my chest. “ Don't lie to me. You know I can tell.”

“It's nothing. I….”

“Should I call Bennett?” She cut in again. “ Maybe he'll get you to talk. I think I just saw him…”

“No!” My lips quivered as I blurted out abruptly. “I mean. You see…”

“If you won't let me call him, then you'll have to tell me yourself. “ I watched my best friend fold her hands over her shoulders. “ Right here, right now. And every single thing too.”

I paled as the weight of her words hit me square in the chest. What was I going to do? What was I supposed to say? How was I even going to do it? I was still having a hard time believing it myself, then how would she?

“Alyssa?” Vivian sounded calmer than earlier. “ You're, you're crying.”

“No, I'm not.” I could already feel the dam behind my irises threatening to burst, no matter how hard I tried to reel it in. “Something just got into my eye and. .”

“Alyssa.” Vivian cooed as she cupped my face gently and that was all it took for me to come undone. “ Oh my, there there.”

My vision blurred as tears streamed down my face, the salty liquid leaving a trail down both my cheeks. My breaths came out in ragged wisps as I sniffled and sobbed. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to see me cry. Anyone asides Vivian.

“Calm down.” A soft handkerchief muffled my cries. It was Vivian. She was wiping and dabbing at my eyes. “ Calm down. It'll be okay.”

“No.” I hiccuped. “ No it won't. Everything's ruined.”

“Not until you tell Me first.” Vivian's voice was soft and soothing. “ You can tell me you know that right?”

“Yeah.” I said after a moment's hesitation. Telling Vivian wasn't the problem, it was the how, that mattered. Right now, I had no idea how I would break the news to her.

“Just say it.” Her voice still held the same tenderness as it did. “ Let it out.”

“I caught Bennett at a hotel with Emily last night!” I let out all at once, just for the tears to start streaming out again. My sobs increased as I shuddered and shook. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't stop crying either. “ They were, they were ..”

I clamped my mouth shut. I couldn't even bring myself to say it out loud. I pushed the image that slowly tried to creep into my subconscious no matter how hard it was. In a couple of minutes, my best friend would help make it all better.

“Vivian.” It was my turn to call out now. I watched as she sat unmoving,a strange expression etched into her facial features. “Vivian?”

“Yeah.” She blinked twice before turning to me. Red hue rimmed the side of her eyes, like she was fighting tears of her own. “I'm fine, I'm sorry. I just zoned out. What did you say again?”

“What?” I couldn't believe it. “You zoned out? After what I just said? Did you even hear me? With something so intense, why do you look like you're this close to tearing up?”

“I'm not.” She cleared her throat, and whenever she did that, then something was definitely up. “ Something just got into my eye and…”

.

“There's something you're not telling me, right?” I cut her off. If I hadn't been staring at her closely I could have sworn I imagined the shock and fear that flashed in her eyes. “ Vivian…”

“Alyssa calm down. It's not. .”

“Wait.” My blood ran cold as the realization hit me. There was no way. It just couldn't be. “ You knew about it, didn't you?”

“Alyssa, I…” the guilty look that she donned immediately was more than enough proof. “ It's not like that…

“Wow.” I chuckled, hoping the sarcastic bits didn't go unnoticed. “ Just wow. Since when?”

“You don't understand…”

“Oh but I do understand!” I slammed a fisted hand onto the table just in front of me. Our plates rattled as a couple of stares followed me, but I didn't care. “ Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't want you to get hurt” It was Vivian's turn to quiver. “ I knew how much you loved Bennett and I didn't want to see you hurt. So I kept quiet and…”

“You didn't want me to get hurt?” I cackled. “ Aren't I hurt now?”

“Alyssa, you have to forgive me. I promise I was only looking out for you and nothing….”

“Save it.” I was on my feet in no time. Without giving her the last word, I stalked out of the cafeteria. “ I hate you.”

Vivian's words rang in my ear as I pushed through the large crowd of people milling about. Tears stung and blurred my eyesight but I couldn't stop, I didn't stop. I wasn't exactly sure where my two feet were taking me but I could better anywhere would be better than where I was just coming from.

With each step I took, the pain in my heart intensified. Between Bennett and Vivian, I wasn't quite sure whose betrayal hurt the most. All this time, I'd confided in her. Hell, I almost drove myself to madness just because I was trying to figure out the huge secret everyone knew about me, and she knew. She'd always known.

The door leading to my dorm room appeared immediately, and if I hadn't been lucky, I would have slammed right into it. Not that I'd mind that though. Right now, all I wanted was to black out so I could forget everything. Maybe for a couple of hours, or days, months or maybe forever. At least that would give Emily and Bennett more time.

“Alyssa, are you okay?” I spun around just to come face to face with my roommate. The moment we locked gazes, I watched her mood morph from excitement into confusion. “ Alyssa, what's wrong? Why are you crying?”

“I'm not.” I turned my back to her immediately, before setting down my bag on my bed. I didn't mean to, but with the intensity in which I flung the bag, it collided with the wall and I swear I heard olive flinch. “ I'm fine.”

“but you're teary eyed and….”

“I'm fine.” I yelled as I spun to face her again. I sniffled as the tears started again, like the dam had burst all over. “ Just leave me alone!”

“You do know you can….”

“I can't!” I screamed, my voice an octave higher than the last time. “ You can't do anything. I can't, you can't, so get the f**k out of my way!”

I rarely used the f-word, but whenever I did, it was a sign things had gotten out of control. Or more specifically, I'd gotten out of control.

There was no time to think about thatas I stormed out of the room, but not without checking Olive on the shoulder. I knew that would hurt but I was too engulfed in a million emotions to care. My palms felt clammy as I jogged down the lobby. My breath hitched in my throat as I sniffed and sobbed. This was torture, but from the looks of things, it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

“Well, well, well.” The sound of someone drawling had me halting in my steps. Even through the rim of my tear stained glasses, I could still make out whoever it was, and that didn't sit well with me. “What do we have here?”

“What do you want, Emily?” Emily. Her name tasted nothing less than bile at the top of my tongue.

Time seemed to stretch into nothing as she kept mute, but that opportunity didn't come without an advantage. Goosebumps crept up my skin as her eyes did a full sweep of me from head to toe, her gaze not missing the disgust she was trying to spread.

“Oh, Alyssa.” She snickered. “ You don't look too good, and I wonder why. Have you been crying lately?”

“Get out of my way.” She was in front of me in just a matter of seconds. “ Emily, move.”

“Why?” She leaned in closer. “ Bennett wanted me more close than anything else.”

I suddenly lost the ability to breathe as her words slammed into my chest. My head became a fuzzy mess as images of last night came rushing forth. Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead as I took a couple of steps back.

Anything, literally anything to be away from her.

Of all the bizarre things that had happened today, absolutely none of them had prepared me for what was coming next. As if the shocks I'd been getting hadn't been enough, someone's voice reached my ears.

“What's going on here?” It was a normal question, but the part that chilled me to the bones was the fact that it came from two people. Two men I both recognized their voice, anywhere, anytime.

Oh s**t.