Always waiting

Chapter 6

Morning's going to come soon.

Did he only wear a shirt during class? Oh my God, he seriously lived across the hall. Jacob was going to flip… and probably move in. That would be fun. I really liked Jacob, but I had a feeling he'd borrow my clothes.

Go the f**k to sleep.

I can't believe the hot dude I ran into and then ran away from lived across the hall. I don't even know why I cared. It didn't matter. I wasn't interested in guys or girls, but he was extraordinarily hot… and kind of funny… and kind of charming.

No. No. No. Stop thinking about him, because it was pointless and hopeless, so go to sleep.

Did I eat all that salad? Man, those cookies sound good right about now.

"Ugh!" I groaned into the pillow.

This crap went on for about an hour before I gave up and threw myself out of bed. Out in the living room, I didn't hear any music or noise coming from clint's apartment. He was probably sleeping soundly while I was up obsessing over cookies and chicken tenders and ripped stomachs .

I walked into the spare bedroom that was now being used more as a library or an office, powered up the laptop, and pulled up the email program on the screen. There was an email from my cousin that I hadn't read yet waiting for me in my inbox. I did not even bother to open it before deleting it. I saw that there were a few unopened emails in the rubbish folder on the left side of the toolbar. I was so bored out of my mind so I clicked on the link and began to read the prescription medicine offers, the emails that said "I have money in a foreign account," and the notification that Bath and Bodyworks was having a discount. I eventually came across the notice about the sale at Bath and Bodyworks. The subject line of the one email that arrived at approximately eleven o'clock the night before caught my attention immediately.

It was from an email account that I wasn't familiar with, and the sender's name was JENNY PINKMAN

Given that my email address is not associated with my real identity, it is highly unlikely that it was an attempt at phishing on their part. However, that did not make the situation any less weird. My parents and my cousin were the only ones who had access to my email address. This is because, despite the fact that they knew my phone number, I preferred that they get in touch with me via email rather than via phone.

My finger was lightly resting on the mouse pad. My stomach began to twist, and I felt a growing sense of unease. I told myself not to open it as I tucked my legs against my chest and held them there. to simply ignore it, but I clicked because I was obligated to do so. It was eerily similar to watching a serious vehicle crash from the side of the road. You were aware that you shouldn't have, yet you did it anyway.

Almost instantly, I regretted my decision to do so. I felt a tightening in the knots in my stomach, and a lump began to grow in the base of my throat. I was beginning to feel queasy, so I shoved myself away from the desk and slammed the laptop closed. I took a deep breath in as I stood in the middle of the room and clenched both of my hands into fists.

There were only three lines total.

That was the end of it.

The three lines wiped out several thousand miles.

The entirety of my night was spoiled by three lines.

I was all the way at a small college town in West Virginia when three lines tracked me down there.

You are nothing but a lie, Jenny Pinkman . There is no other explanation. You will eventually acquire what is rightfully yours. In addition, it will not be in the form of monetary compensation.

I dragged myself into astronomy class ten minutes early and picked what I believed to be an inconspicuous seat in the middle of the amphitheater style classroom. A few other students were already there, sitting up front. Yawning, I scooted down in my seat and rubbed my eyes. The gallon of coffee I drank this morning hadn't done a thing for me given that I only had an hour of sleep.

Three little sentences.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I rested my head on my forearm. I didn't want to think about the email or the fact that I had reopened my laptop and went into my trash folder to see what my cousin had said. His email had just been one giant bitchfest on how I was letting my parents down and how his were worried sick and afraid I was going to put Mom and Dad through another episode. You need to come home, he had written. It is the right thing to do. It was the right thing for them, and while my cousin sided with my parents and oh, about ninety-nine percent of the town, I doubted he had been behind the email

The email address was not one that I was familiar with, and although there were many people from whom it may have originated, I was unable to identify the sender of the message. It was impossible for it to be him because even he wouldn't have been that idiotic as to try to get in touch with me.

Or had he been?

I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. What if Blaine had been the one to do it? What if he discovered the new location I've settled in? My family would not have divulged that information to him. On the other hand, given that they were friends at the country club, they could have informed his parents about the situation. I was going to murder them if they did. Seriously. Take the next flight to Texas and kill them, because the reason you came here in the first place was to escape-

A deep voice greeted the target with "Morning, honey."

I abruptly raised my head and twisted around in my seat. I was rendered dumbfounded by the unexpected turn of events and watched as Clint slid into the vacant seat next to mine. I was a little slow to catch on because I knew I should've told him the seat was taken or told him to move, but all I could do was stare at him. I was a bit slow to catch on because I was a little slow to the uptake.

He leaned back, looking at me in an oblique manner. "You seem to be in a bit of a hard patch this morning."

In spite of the fact that he had been out partying the night before, he appeared to be very well rested. Eyes were brilliant, but the hair was wet and all over the place. "Thanks."

."Thank you so much. Glad to see you make it to class this time." He halted what he was doing, leaning his head back against the seat in front of us while fixing his eyes on me. He also propped his feet up on the seat in front of us. "However, I feel as though I missed out on the whole scene where we ran into each other. Presented a great deal of exciting opportunities."

I sighed and lowered myself to the ground while I dug about in my backpack for my notebook. "I don't miss that," I confessed. "That was a very uncomfortable situation."

"It ought not to have happened."

"You can say that with ease. You're the one who got run over by the truck. I was the one who had to perform the plowing."

Cam's mouth appeared to open. Oh my goodness, can you believe I just said that? I had. I shook my head to the tips of my hair and then opened the cover of my notepad.

"Just a quick note to let you know how well Raphael is doing."

A smug grin of relief slowly began to form. "That is encouraging to hear. Is there urine on your hand from him?"

"No, but it was a near call. I had something to bring you."

"Turtle pee?"

Cam shook his head and laughed as he delved into his backpack before continuing. "I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but no." He removed several papers that were bound together with staples. "This document is a syllabus. I know. Exciting stuff right here, but I knew that because you skipped class on Monday, you'd need one, so I got it from the professor since he was kind enough to give it to me."

"I am grateful." I was rather taken aback by the behavior, but I accepted the paper from him. "You put a lot of thinking into that."

"Get ready, because here we go. This week, I find myself engaging in a lot of introspection. Another item was delivered to you by yours truly."

As he dug about, I nibbled the edge of my pen and used the opportunity to openly stare at him without him being aware of it. Despite the fact that it had been a very long time since I had engaged in a discussion with someone of the opposite s*x that was unrelated to me, I believed that I was managing this situation very capably thanks to all of the people watching that I had done over the years. In addition to the comment about plowing, I was sort of pleased with myself.

Clint reached into his pocket for a napkin and used his fingers to unfurl it. "I'll give you a cookie. Cookie for me." I rubbed the back of my head and pulled the pen out of my mouth before doing so. "That was not anything that was required of you."

"It's just a cookie, honey," the darling replied.

Again, I shook my head in confusion since I couldn't understand what was going on. Clint didn't make sense to me. In hell, the vast majority of people were incomprehensible to me.

He sighed as he glanced up through those eyelashes that were impossible to believe were so long. He tore the napkin in two, folded up one of the cookies, and then dropped it on my lap before continuing to rip the napkin apart. "I know that you shouldn't take candy from strangers, but this is a cookie and not candy, and legally speaking, I'm not a stranger." "I know that they say you shouldn't take candy from strangers."

I swallowed.

Clint then closed his eyes before taking another mouthful of his cookie. His throat let out a low sound that may be described as a growl of satisfaction. As I continued to stare at him, my pulse raced and the heat in my cheeks intensified. When he produced the sound once more, my mouth was left hanging open. A girl in the row below moved around in her seat, and her eyes beclinte cloudy.

"Is it really going to be that great?" I inquired while casting a sideways glance at the cookie that was sitting in my lap.

"Oh, yeah, you're right, this is it. I mentioned something to you the night before. Be better if I had some milk." He ate another taste of his food. "Mmm, milk."

When I risked to take another glance at him, he gave off the impression that he was about to have some kind of orgasmic experience.

One eye opens. "It's a flavor profile that combines chocolate with walnuts. When you put all of that together, it seems like your mouth is about to explode with s*x, but it isn't quite as messy. The only thing that could possibly top that would be one of those miniature Reese's cups. When the dough is at the right temperature, you should drop those suckers in.... In any case, you won't know unless you give it a shot. Take a modest chunk out of it." Oh, what the devil could that be? It wasn't even a c***k pipe; it was simply a cookie. I was being foolish. After unfolding the napkin, I proceeded to take a bite. The cookie was so soft that it virtually disintegrated in my mouth.

"Good?" Clint said. "Right?"

I chewed some more food and nodded my head.

"Well, I have a whole lot of them here at my house," the speaker said. He did some stretching before beginning to fold up his napkin. "Just saying."

After devouring the last of the cookie, I couldn't help but acknowledge that it was a very good cookie overall. After wiping the dirt off of my fingers, I started rolling up the napkin, but Clint reached over and grabbed it from my hands. He shifted slightly in his seat, which resulted in his knee coming in contact with my lower leg.

He referred to it as "crumb."

"What?"

It seemed like he was about to smile, but instead he just reached out without the napkin, and before I knew what he was doing, he was running his thumb over the bottom of my lip. He smiled again. My entire body suddenly got rigid, and the tightness in my muscles was excruciating. My eyes widened, and I felt a tightness in the back of my throat. Although it was a very light touch—barely anything at all—I could feel it in multiple places on my body. "Got it." His grin broadened.

My lip continued to feel numb. That was the only thing that entered my mind. I remained still until the door at the front of the classroom opened, at which point the most peculiar-looking man I'd ever encountered rolled into the room. The man had thick, wavy hair that flowed in all directions, and it was flecked with black and gray throughout its length. He was dressed from head to toe in olive green polyester. His eyewear was enormous and sat perched on the very end of his nose. I took notice of his footwear as he made his way across the main stage and saw that he was sporting a pair of checkered Vans... that matched his bow tie.

Clint let out a muffled chuckle. "Professor Drage is a really... singular individual," said the student.

"I see," I muttered under my breath.