CAMPUS HEARTS

CHAPTER 1

Chapter 1: THE NAKED GUY

"And I think of the little, little things that you did..."

I smiled as I listened to Monica, my best friend, sing. She had a beautiful voice and was currently performing for me.

Well, performing wasn't exactly the right word. She mostly wanted me to judge the song.

"So, how was it?" she asked, smiling as she waited for my reply.

I thought carefully about what to say. The problem was that I knew absolutely nothing about music.

"Well..." I hesitated. "Those were nice lyrics."

She stared at me for a moment before sighing and shaking her head.

"What?" I asked.

Monica stood from the piano and walked over to her bed. She sat down and began pulling off her shoes.

"What do I think?" she repeated. "Katherine, I asked for your opinion on the song, and all you have to say is that the lyrics were nice?"

I sighed.

"I don't really know what to say. Music isn't my thing."

I stood up and slipped on my jacket.

Monica glanced at me and shook her head with a smile.

"Off to meet Simon again?" she asked. "You two are cute together, but honestly, it gets tiring sometimes."

She chuckled.

I didn't.

Instead, I stared at her for a moment.

"Oh... we're not together anymore."

Her smile vanished immediately.

"What?"

She stood up so fast that she nearly knocked over the stool beside the piano.

"What do you mean you're not together anymore?"

"We broke up yesterday."

Monica let out a loud scoff.

"You know you're my friend, which is why I usually stay out of your dating disasters. But when you started dating my brother and told me there was chemistry between you two, I actually believed you liked him."

I frowned.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I thought this one would last."

"We had our differences," I said. "That's why we broke up."

"No!" she snapped.

I blinked.

"The problem is that you don't know what you want, Katherine. Even after I told you how much Simon liked you. He has a soft heart."

"Why are you making me sound like a bad person? People break up every day."

She nodded.

"Yeah, people do. But you break up every minute."

Ouch.

"Simon was your thirteenth boyfriend, and now he's your thirteenth ex."

I opened my mouth to argue, but no words came out.

"You should figure out what you want instead of breaking people's hearts."

With that, she stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

I sighed.

A small part of me felt guilty.

Not completely guilty, though.

I mean, it wasn't entirely my fault.

Simon had become boring.

We'd been together for three months, and everything felt repetitive. The excitement was gone.

Still...

Maybe Monica had a point.

I shoved the thought away and slipped on my shoes before leaving the room.

Our dorm was on the third floor. I headed downstairs toward the second floor.

The elevator was broken again, so I took the stairs.

A few minutes later, I arrived at Room 12B and knocked on the door.

The door opened.

A completely naked Ruby stood there.

She barely glanced at me before turning around and walking back into the room, leaving the door wide open.

I wasn't surprised.

Ruby was always like that.

According to her, she had a model's body, so hiding it would be a crime.

I stepped inside and shut the door behind me.

Rebecca was sitting in front of her mirror, applying makeup.

"Oh, Kathy!" she said. "Thanks for agreeing to drop me off."

She blew me a kiss through the mirror.

I laughed.

"Sure. It's nothing."

She turned back to the mirror and finished her makeup before sitting on the bed to put on her boots.

"So, I heard you and Simon broke up."

News traveled frighteningly fast around campus.

"Yeah."

"That sucks." She buckled one of her boots. "Need us to drag you to a club and cheer you up?"

"No."

The answer came out so quickly that she laughed.

"Sure."

A few minutes later, she was ready.

We left the room together and headed downstairs.

As we walked toward my car, I found myself thinking about what Monica had said.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe I really didn't know what I wanted.

"I'm thinking of taking a break from relationships for a while," I said.

Rebecca stopped and studied my face.

Then she burst out laughing.

"Wait. You're serious?"

I nodded.

"Monica told me I don't know what I want, and honestly... I think she might be right."

Rebecca opened the passenger door.

"Well, if that's what you want."

We got into the car.

I drove out of the dorm complex and toward the Whyte House.

The Whyte House was the home of Dake College's basketball team.

It was also the nicest building on campus.

The school clearly spent a ridiculous amount of money on basketball.

I pulled into the driveway.

Rebecca opened her door.

The second she did, my bladder decided it had suffered enough.

"Oh, no."

"What?" Rebecca asked.

"I have to pee."

She laughed.

"There's a restroom inside. Come on."

I quickly got out of the car and followed her into the building.

The front door was already open, so we walked right in.

Rebecca pointed down a hallway.

"Last door on the right."

I immediately headed in that direction.

My bladder was seconds away from declaring war.

I reached the door and pushed it open.

"s**t!"

I slammed it shut so fast I nearly broke my wrist.

My heart started racing.

The image I'd just seen burned itself into my brain.

The door opened again.

A guy stepped out.

A very naked guy.

He leaned against the doorway and smirked.

"Well," he said. "What do we have here?"

I forgot how breathing worked.

Why was he so calm?

Why was I panicking?

Why was he attractive?

Most importantly—

Why was he naked?

"I have to go."

The words came out in a rush.

Without waiting for a response, I turned and practically ran away.

His laughter followed me down the hallway.

I headed straight for the front door.

"You done already?" Rebecca called from where she sat on her boyfriend's lap.

I nodded and shook my head at the same time.

Then I fled the house before anyone could ask another question.

Behind me, I could still hear the naked guy laughing.