My Sweetest Escape (12 page)

Read My Sweetest Escape Online

Authors: Chelsea M. Cameron

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #General

watching me like a hawk.

It was something to think about.

Soonish. Soon everyone was home and the

dinner-making commenced. It was Renee

and Paul’s turn and they opted for pasta

again, since they could make a ton of it and

different sauces and satisfy everyone. I

lurked in the kitchen, feeling crappy about

the conversation I’d had the night before

with Renee. I was pretending to work on my

homework for the next day, but I couldn’t

focus on it.

She was busy informing Paul the correct

way to cook pasta, and he was taking it in

stride. He was a saint, I swear.

I couldn’t understand why he put up

with her, except that he must really love

her this time.

“My God, Paul, it’s not rocket science,

which you happen to know.”

“I’m not a rocket scientist,” he said,

leaning back and giving me a look.

“Clearly not,” she snapped.

“I’m going to go…be somewhere else,”

he said, heading for the living room, where

the rest of Yellowfield House was engaged

in homework warfare. Renee put her hand

on her head as if she had a headache when

he left.

“I swear, he gets on my last nerve

sometimes.” She turned off the pasta pot

and leaned back against the counter. “It’s a

lot, you know? Living together.”

“Do you regret it?”

“No, definitely not. It’s just…sometimes I

wonder if we moved too fast. Getting back

together and then the house and

everything. But that’s none of your

business. I’m fine. How was school today?”

My mother had never been the one to ask

me that when I got home every day. It was

always Renee who wanted to know about

my assignments and so forth.

“It’s fine. Pretty much the same.”

“Are you still okay with your major?”

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

She shook her head as if she couldn’t

believe what I was saying.

“I never thought you would say that. I

remember when we were kids and you

snuck out of bed to watch the election

results. I used to think you were a robot, or

that there was at least something seriously

wrong with you.”

Yeah, I remembered that little girl. She’d

grown up, and now she was gone.

“Pasta’s getting cold,” I said, using my

pen to point at the large pot. Renee seemed

to snap herself back into place and

remember that she was in the middle of

making dinner. She went back to the sink

and drained the pasta as I took my

unfinished homework downstairs. I’d deal

with it later. I had at least done the reading

and made notes for Pam’s class. No way I

was looking like a moron in that class.

Dinner was pretty quiet. Darah was at

work, so there was one less member, and it

felt weird to not have her there, getting on

everyone about putting their elbows on the

table and using napkins and not damaging

the finish on the table.

Renee and Paul seemed to be okay

again. I caught him whispering in her ear

and giving her a hug. He always knew the

right things to say to her. Most often, the

best thing to do with Renee was to make

her think she’d gotten her way and give her

some space to realize that she didn’t know

everything. She’d come around and

apologize and promise never to do it again,

even though she’d do it again in two hours.

“At the risk of sounding like I’m asking

you out, do you want to come to this thing

I’m going to this weekend?” I said to

Hannah before class the next day.

“What kind of thing?”

“One of the guys I live with is in the

Steiners and they’re doing a show at the

Union and everyone in my house is going.”

“Wow, you know one of the Steiners?

It’s crazy hard to get into. Plus, guys who

can sing are super hot.”

“He is pretty hot, but he’s taken.”

She sighed and got out her bag of

Skittles. She must have a case of them in

her dorm room or something. “The good

ones usually are.”

“Still, you could meet my pseudo family.

If you wanted to.”

“Sure, why not? Beats sitting in my dorm

room and watching a bunch of episodes of

Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“I’ve never seen that show,” I admitted.

It never really appealed to me when it was

originally on.

She shook her head sadly. “I’ll make you

a deal. I’ll come to see the Steiners with you

if you come and hang out and watch two

episodes of Buffy with me on Sunday.”

Renee would be pissed if I said yes

without asking permission.

“Deal,” I said, holding out my hand.

Pam called the class to order and I

snapped my head forward. She called roll

and seemed pleased that I was still here.

And of course I was the first one she

called on, but I was freaking ready. She fired

questions around the room like Ping-Pong

balls and you had to think fast. Hannah got

a few tough ones, but she volleyed with the

best of them. Pam seemed satisfied with

both of our answers, and I was glad I’d

survived by the end of it.

“Bravo, girl. You did good.” We didn’t

talk about getting lunch—we just sort of

walked toward the Union anyway. I heard a

girl walk by and gasp when she saw

Hannah’s face.

“Take a picture. It lasts longer, bitch,”

she said under her breath. “I know I seem

all Zen about this.” She waved her hand to

indicate her burn. “But sometimes, I just

want to wear a fucking mask or scream at

people or something. I mean, at least in the

olden days I could have joined a freak show

and made some money or something.”

Wow.

She yanked open the door and didn’t

hold it for the person coming in behind us,

who muttered under his breath.

“Suck it,” Hannah said in response, but

not loud enough for him to hear.

We got our food and found a table.

“It’s just like, yes, I have a burn, but it’s

not like I’m dis-abled or mentally

challenged. Also, I’m not deaf. I can hear it

when people are talking about me, and it

pisses me off.

But you know what would happen if I

freaked out and yelled at people? Fucking

nothing. So why waste the words?” She

exhaled slowly. “Okay, I’m done. Pity party

over. I’ve shut it down.” She made a

slashing motion with her hand.

“Keep going if you need to. It doesn’t

bother me.” At least she had something to

actually be pissed about. Unlike some

people who couldn’t breathe without

bitching about something that didn’t need

to be bitched about.

“Nah, I hate going to that place. It just

gets me down sometimes, but I swear, I’m

back.” She smiled and picked up her burger.

“So none of the guys you live with are

single?”

“Nope. Not one. There are three

couples…and me. It’s a bit like living in a

weird reality show.”

“It sounds kind of awesome, not going

to lie.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Sensing my reluctance, Hannah switched

subjects.

“So, you found any man candy?”

“Not if you count my other stalker,” I

said, picking up a French fry I’d dropped on

the floor.

“Um, details?” She snapped her fingers.

“It’s not even anything worth talking

about. He’s just this guy who keeps popping

up. He’s friends with one of my roommates.

Actually, you’ll get to see him on Saturday.

He’s a Steiner.”

“Oh, really?” She raised and lowered her

eyebrows suggestively. Wow, she was

reading way too much into this.

“It’s seriously not like that. It’s not

anything. I shouldn’t have even brought him

up.” Why had I brought him up?

“What about at UNH? Did you have a

guy there?”

Oh, fun. The ex talk. “Yeah, I did. We

broke up this spring.”

Hannah’s eyes lit up.

“Sounds like there is a story there.”

There was, but I wasn’t going to share it

with her.

“Not really. He was in love with a girl I

wasn’t. Took both of us a while to realize it,

but eventually he did.”

“Did you love him?”

“Yeah, I did.” I couldn’t lie about that. I

had loved Matt, but that love was part of

that other girl, and when I let go of her, I let

go of that love. It was easier than it should

have been. “And what about you? How

about we talk about your love life?”

Hannah laughed.

“Yeah, that’s a really short story. It can

be summed up like this…” She held up her

hand, making a circle. She peered at me

through the hole in the middle. “That’s it.

There aren’t a whole lot of guys lining up to

fuck the freak.”

Jesus, she was blunt. I liked it.

“I usually have to get them good and

drunk first, but by then they usually can’t

perform, so I end up leaving them to sleep

it off.”

Was she serious?

She burst out laughing.

“I am totally screwing with you, and the

look on your face was totally worth it. I

haven’t really done the boyfriend thing.”

“Ever?”

“I spent my high school prom at home

with my cat, so that pretty much gives you

an accurate picture of my dating history. I’m

not bitter about it—don’t get me wrong. I

guess I’m just old-fashioned, at least when

it comes to that. I don’t want to waste my

time on a guy that I’m not going to spend

my life with, you know? I don’t see the

point in dating a bunch of losers just for the

chance of finding out one of them might be

decent. I trust my instincts when it comes

to people. Haven’t been wrong yet.” She

winked at me and stole a fry from my plate

and popped it into her mouth.

I wished I had her confidence in my own

instincts. Right now, I didn’t trust them at

all.

“Brought you something.”

Dusty was standing in the lobby of

Neville Hall when I opened the door to go to

English that afternoon. He had his

trademark smile in place and a bag of

Skittles in one hand and a bag of M&M’s in

the other and was holding them out to me

like he was very pleased with himself.

“Okay,” I said, looking at him and then

back down at the candy. I really wanted it,

but I didn’t want him to know that I wanted

it.

“I’m going to pretend you said thank

you. You’re welcome, Red.” He shoved the

candy at me, and I had to catch it so that it

didn’t fall on the floor. “Are you always this

rough on people when they try to get to

know you?”

“If it’s so hard, then why are you doing

it?” I needed to hurry my butt to class, but I

wasn’t letting him have the last word.

“Maybe I like a challenge,” he said, but

he wasn’t grinning.

I saw something else on his face.

Determination. Yes, Dusty Sharp was a guy

who was used to getting what he wanted;

anyone could see that. He even walked with

a swagger that broadcast it to the world,

but instead of leaning toward the cocky

douche-bag side, he just seemed confident.

Self-assured. A lot of women found that

sexy.

“I have to get to class. Thank you for the

unnecessary candy. It was…sweet of you.”

“I’m a sweet guy.”

Uh-huh.

“Shall we?” he said.

We walked together up the stairs, and I

left him on the second floor.

“Later, Red.” There was that wave again.

I copied him and he laughed. “’Bye,

Dusty.”

My first assignment in my creative

writing class was to write a two-page paper

about something I had never done before.

Greg gave us our assignment with the

attitude of Santa presenting orphans with

shiny presents.

How the hell was I supposed to write

about something I’d never experienced?

Seriously, how?

Everyone else seemed just as perplexed

as I was, and a guy sitting near me was

muttering under his breath and most of the

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