From Bet To Love

Chapter 3 - The unexpected visitor

Jennifer’s POV

“I am sorry Jenny, I didn’t come out to eat with you during lunch” Amber said in a low voice.

“Shut up you stupid girl. Why are you apologizing like this? It’s so unlike you. Did something happen? Is something bothering you?” I asked in concern.

I was already concerned about her when she called me during lunch to tell me that she had something to take care of. She had sounded worried.

Even when she came to pick me up after college, she looked upset about something. She is not even talking as much.

“I got into an argument with Jacob” she said as her eyes teared up.

“Aww, Am. Why are you crying over this? Isn’t it common between siblings?” I said while squeezing her hand in a comforting way.

Jacob is Amber’s older brother. Actually, he is her step brother.

Her father fell in love with a woman two years back and decided to marry her last year.

At first amber was not so sure how she felt about his father’s decision. But after getting to know Jacob and his mother, she was more than happy with her father’s marriage.

She feels lucky to have Jacob as her older brother on whom she can rely on. He also loves her as much and treats his sister like a princess.

I don’t think I have ever heard Amber say that they argued with one another.

“You know right that he never gets angry at me. But today… today he scolded me so bad. He was so angry at me” she said while wiping the tears which rolled down on her cheeks.

“But why?” I asked as I handed her the tissue.

“I don’t know. We were just talking about something while making our way towards the cafeteria during lunch. I wanted to officially introduce you two” she started.

I have never met Jacob before. As I couldn’t attend her father’s wedding due to everything that was going in my life at that time.

I have only seen him in photos which Amber posted on her social media.

“I was telling him about my date with Max on coming Sunday and suddenly his mood took a one eighty degree turn. He became so angry for a reason unknown to me.” she paused to wipe her tears.

Max and Amber have been together for past three years. Even though I never actually liked the guy, I know that Amber loves him. Her family already knows about their relationship and have no problem with them being together.

“Didn’t you ask him what made his mood to change so suddenly?”

“I asked him what made him so mad but he didn’t answer. He just scolded me about how I always talk only about going on dates and don’t pay attention to my studies anymore. And when I tried to argue, he scolded me even more and just left”.

By the time she was done explaining, she was a sobbing mess.

I got up from my chair across from hers and rounded the table to sit beside her.

“It’s okay Am. Maybe he wasn’t angry at you. It could be that he was angry at something else. It might be that he couldn’t control his anger and unintentionally let it out on you” I said trying to make her feel less bad about this situation.

“But how could he do this do me? Why did he scold me so badly like that?”

I lifted my hand to wipe her tears and side hugged her before saying, “You said that he loves you a lot, right?”

She nodded her head like a child.

“Then he must have had a solid reason to act that way Am. Because we don’t hurt people we love for no reason. It might be that he is already regretting his actions. He might already be preparing to apologize to you for his behaviour” I said while rubbing her back to calm her sobbing.

“I know… I know he must be regretting right now. But I won’t forgive him for his behaviour, even if he apologizes to me on his knees. At least not so easily” she said with a pout on her lips.

“Ohh..kay…” I let out a soft chuckle at her childish behaviour. It’s very unusual to see my tough and strong best friend, crying and acting like a child.

“If you want, I can whoop his ass for getting angry at you. Tell me, do you want me to do that?” I asked and she laughed out loud at my words making me smile.

“Why would you do it alone? Let’s do it together” she said with a mischievous smile and both of us laughed together.

I felt relieved that finally she is smiling.

Suddenly she pulled me in a hug taking me by surprise. But I recovered quickly and wrapped my arms around her with a smile on my face.

“You always know how to bring smile to my face, don’t you?” she said.

“Of course I know. After all I am your best friend” I replied.

She pulled away from hug. “I am so happy that you are here Jen. I really missed you during last year” she said holding my hand in hers.

“I missed you too”.

“It would have been so good if you moved here last year. We could have started our college life together. If it wasn’t for that bastard…” she suddenly stopped talking and looked at me apologetically.

My smile disappeared from my face as fast as the speed of lightning when she mentioned Him.

The memories of that awful incident started flooding my mind causing a cold shiver to run down my spine.

“I… I am sorry Jen… I didn’t mean…”

I pulled myself out of those horrible thoughts and said cutting her off, “It’s okay Am” I forced a smile, “It’s nothing. I have forgotten all about it. So don’t worry”.

She didn’t seem convinced by my words but still nodded her head and dropped the topic. Maybe because she knows I don’t like even thinking about that incident let alone talk about it.

“So shall we go for some shopping which we talked about in the morning?” I said changing the topic.

It brought her beautiful smile back on her lips and she nodded excitedly, “Oh hell yeah. Let me go and clear the bill for the pizzas” she said.

After paying the bill we came out of the pizza shop.

“Oh… wait Jen. I forgot my ear buds inside. I will just go and get them” she said and I nodded my head before she went inside.

I was waiting for her when my eyes fell on my reflection on the glass wall of the shop. I walked closer to it.

I looked at myself and the words of that elevator guy came to my mind.

‘Nerd'. He called me Nerd. Do I really look like one. I turned to my left and then my right, checking myself from all angles before sighing.

‘What am I doing?’ I sighed.

Usually I don’t get affected by other people’s opinions about me. I don’t care what other people apart from the ones that are close to me, think about me.

But for some reason, the blue eyed guy’s words are continuously ringing in my ears. The argument I had with the girl in the locker room is also bothering me.

I wanted to talk about it with Am, I also wanted to ask her about the ‘red alert’ she mentioned in the morning but I have decided against it. I don’t want to spoil her mood again by talking about those random people.

I took out my phone from my jeans pocket and was about to unlock the screen when my body froze on its place.

I felt like someone is watching me. I lifted my head and looked around to see if there is anyone who is looking at me but found no one.

I flinched when I felt someone putting their hand on my shoulder and turned around instantly to come face to face with Amber.

“Are you okay?” she asked in concern.

I released a breath of relief and nodded, “You got your buds?” She nodded.

I once again looked around before turning to Amber, “Let’s go”. I said and we made our way towards the shopping mall.

***

“I love you Jenny, I love you….” I heard his voice echoing around me.

I looked around in panic, trying to find him. But all I could see around me was stark darkness. I couldn’t see him.

His voice was getting louder and louder with each passing second. As if he was coming closer to me.

“Where are you? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you hiding in the dark?” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Suddenly everything went silent and I couldn’t hear him anymore.

I looked around frantically but only found myself engulfed by the darkness. I was about to take a leap to find my way out of this weird place when I felt two arms wrap around my waist from behind and my body froze.

All the hairs on my body rose when his breath fanned against my neck as he whispered into my ear, “I told you that you are mine Jenny. You can never forget this”.

“You belong to me… Only ME!” he shouted out the last part into my ear making me scream in fright.

“Ahh…”

I woke up with a jerk to find myself sitting on my bed in my dorm room which is completely lit up.

I am not in the dark.

I released a sigh of relief

‘You are in your room Jenny. You are okay’ I told myself as I patted my erratically beating heart to calm it down.

These dreams… when am I going to stop having them?

I wiped my face with my palms and lifted my eyes up to look at the wall clock in the room.

It’s past midnight. I have plenty of time to sleep.

‘But will you be able to sleep again after that nightmare?’ my subconscious mind asked me and I knew that I won’t be.

It’s going to be another sleepless night, I guess.

I got up from my bed to get a glass of water for myself. My throat is feeling dry.

I filled the glass and brought it to my lips but before I could take a sip from it I heard a loud noise from behind me and I flinched causing the glass to fall from my hand.

I instantly turned around in the direction of the window of my room from where the sound came. And I froze.

There I saw a silhouette of a very masculine man outside my window.

‘Who is there?’ I wanted to ask but couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth and utter a single word.

‘What are you doing Jenny? Run. Go ask for help’ the voice in my head said but I couldn’t even move.

My mind went back to that night , the horrible night which still haunts me, terrifies me to my core.

My breathing became shallow. My hands were getting clammy. I was on the verge of getting panic attack.

I saw the man moving his hand to open the window of my room and felt my breath getting stuck at the back of my throat.

Thud.. thud… thud….

I snapped out of my frantic thoughts when I heard someone banging at the door of my room.

I glanced in the direction of door and then towards the window. The man is still struggling to open the window. Luckily the window is locked from inside.

Someone again banged at the door of my room.

‘I think the dorm in charge is here to check what was that loud sound’ I released a sigh feeling a little relieved that someone is here to help me.

I dashed in the direction of the door and opened the door without any second thought.

“Miss Brook there is someone…” I started while pointing towards the window in my room without even looking at the person at the door. But I stopped talking when I saw that there was no one at the window.

‘Where did he go? Did he run…?’ My thought came to a sudden halt when I heard a familiar deep honey voice saying from behind me,

“Hello there”

I snapped my head in the direction of the door and my heart stopped beating for a second when my wide eyes met with those pair of blue.

“We meet again” he completed with a smirk on his face.

“What… what are you… how… you were…” I couldn’t form a single sentence.

‘What are you doing Jenny? Pull yourself together’ I scolded myself.

“Well, nice to meet you too, Miss…” I saw his eyes going from my face to down at my body and then coming back to stop on my face, “..Nerd” he completed bringing me completely back to my senses.

“Who are you? What are you doing here in girl’s dorm?” I asked folding my arms over my chest ignoring his comment earlier.

Of course I remember this guy. How can I forget him? Because of him I got into a big argument with that blonde girl.

‘Actually you were at fault too’ my mind reminded me but I just ignored it.

He let out a soft chuckle at my act of bravery and said in amused tone, “I thought your memory would be better than that, Miss Nerd. But I guess not”.

I had to bit my tongue to stop myself from shouting at him to stop calling me Nerd. I don’t want him to know that I recognised him.

“But let’s forget about the introduction for now. We have plenty of time for that” he paused and took a step closer to me making my eyes go wide before continuing, “First let’s finish the task I am here for”.

I instantly took a step back dropping my arms to my sides. I would be lying if I said that I am not scared right now.

I am not as scared as I was earlier when I saw someone at my window, but I am still a little scared.

And the way his piercing blue eyes are staring down at me so intensely, is not helping at all.

“What… what task??” I asked after gulping the lump in my throat.

“The task of kissing you” he whispered with his eyes lingering over my lips.

“What!!!” I exclaimed in shock. It came out more louder than I intended it to be.

“Are you cra…” My words died down in my throat when he wrapped his one arm around my waist and pulled me into himself.

My breasts collided with his hard masculine chest. His minty breath fanned against my lips making me a little dazed as he leaned closer.

I tried to pull myself away from him but he is just too strong for me. He cupped the back of my head with his other hand before crashing his lips onto mine.

My body froze against his. My eyes were as wide as saucers and my heart started pounding so loudly in my chest that I could hear it into my ears.

A gasp left my mouth when he lightly bit on my lower lip and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss while pulling me closer to himself.

“What’s going on here?” I heard the voice of Miss Brooks coming from a little distance and it was enough for me to come back to my senses.

I panicked at the fact that some strange guy is kissing me and tried to push him but his hold around me just tightened more. He seemed to be so lost in the kiss that is why he didn’t hear voice of Miss Brooks.

I was still struggling against him when I heard a very angry voice of Miss Brooks and my body stilled.

“What is going on here Miss Roberts?” she asked in stern voice.

Finally, the guy pulled away from kiss and whispered, “It’s done”.

“Huh?”

He smirked down at me before whispering again, “My task. It’s done. Enjoy your night Miss Roberts… ahh hann… Miss… sexy Nerd”.

He winked at me before backing away from me and turning on his heels.

He left, leaving me standing at my door in bewilderment.

“Miss Roberts, I want to see you in my office the first thing in the morning” Miss Brooks boomed in angry tone.

‘I don’t go easy on those who break the dorm rules’ her stern words from the day I first came here reverberated in my ears.

And I understood what was the task that guy with blue eyes mentioned.

I gulped and looked back at Miss Brook with wide eyes,

‘Oh no Jenny, you are so doomed’.