#Nerd (Hashtag #1) (7 page)

Rimmel

I was dead asleep when my phone rang. It cut into my bliss like a chainsaw through a Christmas tree farm. I didn’t bother to lift my head; instead, I flung out my arm and moved my hand around until it landed on the cell.

“Hello?” I said drowsily into the line.

I got another loud ring as response.

I winced and pulled it away from my ear and looked at the screen, making sure to hit the answer button this time.

“Yeah?” I said and collapsed back onto my pillow.

“Rimmel?” A familiar voice cut into my half sleep. It was Ivy.

“Please tell me you aren’t drunk.” I groaned.

She giggled, and I rolled my eyes. “Would you mind coming to get us? Our ride is passed out beneath a tree.”

I should tell her to walk back to the dorm.
Maybe next time she’d think twice about getting so drunk. I glanced at the clock on the table near the bed. It was after two a.m. “Fine,” I muttered and threw off the covers.

Chilly night air brushed against my legs and I shivered. “You owe me,” I muttered.

“See you in a few!” she slurred, and then the line went dead.

I pulled on a pair of sweats, the first pair my hand closed around in the drawer. They were too long and too big, but I didn’t bother changing. I just tied the drawstring a little tighter. I rummaged around and found a hoodie and pulled it over the tank top I’d gone to bed in. Once I jammed my feet in some shoes, I fished around Ivy’s desk for her car keys.

I didn’t have a car, just my scooter, and I didn’t think Ivy would appreciate being picked up on it. This wasn’t the first time I’d had to go retrieve her from a party. She didn’t call very often, but when she did, I always went and got her. We weren’t exactly friends, but she was the closest thing I had to one. Besides, I couldn’t let her wander around out in the dark, drunk. If something happened to her, I’d never forgive myself for not going.

Her Corolla was parked outside the dorm, and I climbed in and pulled out of the lot. I knew where to go. Even though I’d never been to one of the bonfire’s, I’d picked Ivy up there before.

It was only like a five minute drive and then the car dipped onto the dirt road that led to the field. I could hear the loud music and the rumble of the people. I wondered if Romeo was there.

Of course he is. He practically is the party.

Behind my glasses my eyes watered from sleep, and I blinked to clear my vision. Once the cars came into view, I didn’t bother to find a place to park. I just stopped right in the center of the lot and threw open the door.

I looked around for Ivy but didn’t see her anywhere nearby. I muttered to myself because the least she could do was wait by the road for me.

With a sigh, I reached in and pulled the keys out of the ignition. I weaved through the cars and listened to the laughter and off-key singing. My stomach twisted a little; this really wasn’t my scene. I could feel a few stray stares as people noticed me. The girls laughed as I passed, but I held my chin up high and kept moving.

I stopped and scanned the crowd for Ivy. It took a minute to find her, but then I did. She was in the back of some truck, dancing. Her butt was practically hanging out of her shorts, and I wondered how the hell she wasn’t freezing out here with so little clothing on. Of course, maybe that’s why she added the boots.

At two a.m., the sun was long set and the chill of an autumn night was in full effect. My fingers were almost numb as they tightened around the keys.

I walked a little ways toward her, watching her fling her hair and shake her junk as she moved. I finally managed to catch her eye and wave. She gave me a bright smile and hopped down off the truck, falling a little and laughing at her own drunkenness.

“Rimmel,” she said enthusiastically, linking her arm through mine. “You came to party!”

“You called me.” I reminded her. “For a ride.”

She laughed. “I gotta get Missy.”

She pulled me along through the field, stumbling as we went in search of her friend Missy.

A few minutes later, the heat of the fire was close and the feeling in my fingers came tingling back. It was a huge fire. Easily ten feet tall and probably just as wide.

Ivy spotted her friend, shrieked her name, and rushed off to get her. I knew Missy from when she hung out at the dorm, so I recognized the back of her dark head. She was plastered all over some guy and things looked like they were on the verge of going from heated to indecent right out here in the open.

Ivy pulled her back just a little, but the guy kept his arm around her. Ivy pointed at me and three sets of eyes swiveled around to stare. I lifted my fingers in a wave as my cheeks heated.

All three of them started my way. I bit back a groan.

“It’s you,” the guy said, coming up beside me.

My eyes snapped up to his and I realized I knew him. Well, sort of. He’d been with Romeo when I ran into him on campus. People never recognized me, so of course this guy did. Here. Now.

“You know him?” Ivy asked, turning to look at me.

“He’s drunk and confused,” I said. “Can we go now?”

“I’m not ready to leave,” Missy said, draping herself across Romeo’s friend.

“Let’s stay!” Ivy shouted.

“Oh no you don’t,” I said, grabbing her arm. “You called me to come get you.”

“I changed my mind.” She pouted.

“Too bad,” I said and started pulling her away. She dug in her heels.

I sighed. “I have cookies in the car,” I lied.

Her face brightened.

Drunk girls were idiots. I was never going to act like this.

I turned back to bribe Missy. Braeden wrapped his arms around her from behind and looked at me over her shoulder. For some reason, his actions made my stomach tighten. I wondered what it would feel like to have someone wrap around me like that.

“I’ll make sure she gets home,” he said.

I didn’t argue. I wanted to get the hell out of here.

Ivy linked her arm through mine again and I led her toward where I left the car. As we walked, some shrieking and yelling broke over the sounds of the party, and I glanced around for what was going on. Over on the other side of the fire, two girls were on the verge of what looked like a fight. I couldn’t help but stare because I was so surprised. One of the girls reached out and yanked a handful of the other’s hair. It was all downhill from there.

Beside me, Ivy laughed. “That’s what she gets for trying to steal someone’s man.”

I tore my eyes off the fight and glanced at Ivy. “Seriously?”

“Them bitches be cray-cray,” she slurred.

I didn’t understand what that meant, but I laughed because it sounded ridiculous.

Ivy giggled beside me and we started walking again.

That’s when I saw him.

Romeo wasn’t more than thirty feet away.

The smolder of the fire only enhanced his already superior good looks. He seemed sharper, more toned. The heavy shadows cast by the flames gave his cheekbones a more carved-out appearance. His lips seemed more defined and his body appeared larger against the black backdrop of night.

He was wearing a baseball hat turned around backward on his head. The edge of the material seemed to slash across his forehead, just above his naturally arched brows, and draw even more attention to his unbelievably blue eyes.

In his hand was a SOLO cup, and people crowded around him, laughing and slapping each other on the shoulders. There was a girl with long curly hair hanging halfway down her back who had affixed herself to his side, and he didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Our gazes locked.

Recognition flared through his body. I knew by the way he stiffened slightly even as his body turned toward us.

Please don’t come over here,
I prayed to myself. The last thing I wanted was to hear him remind everyone that I was someone he was forced to know.

I turned away abruptly, breaking eye contact and tightening my grip on Ivy. “Come on,” I told her, my tone harder than usual.

“I wondered where he went,” she said, dragging her feet and craning her neck to look behind us. “Let go. I’m going to stay.”

“We’re leaving,” I said, trying to hold on to my patience.

She dug in the heel of her boot and rooted herself into the dirt. “No.”

With a frustrated sigh, I turned to face her, making sure my eyes stayed averted from where Romeo was standing. “You called me for a ride. I came. We’re leaving.”

“You’re not my mother!” she snapped and yanked her arm away forcefully.

I stumbled and stepped to steady myself, but the stupid too big, too long pants I was wearing got in my way. My foot got tangled in the fabric and I fell over.

I lay there stunned a few seconds as people around me laughed. Ivy stood over me, staring down with her mouth in a little O shape. I don’t know why she looked so surprised. This was her fault.

My wrist was stinging because I’d stupidly tried to catch myself when I fell. All that resulted in was me jamming it into the hard ground beneath all my weight. I sat up and pulled my hand into my chest, rubbing the sore area a little.

“Are you okay?” Ivy asked, reaching out to help me.

I pulled back and climbed to my feet alone. “I’m fine.”

I felt the stares of a thousand eyes. I hated it. “Look…” I began. “If you want to stay, fine. But don’t call me in an hour to come back.”

She didn’t reply. She didn’t even look at me.

Her gaze was fixed off to the side, her attention solely focused on someone else.

“Ladies,” Romeo said. The people standing around watching our little scene parted and he stepped through.

Ivy stuck out her chest a little and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’ve been looking for you,” she said.

“You found me,” Romeo replied, holding out his arms.

Oh. So he’d come over here for her. Well, that made sense. I really shouldn’t have thought he would come over here to see me.

“I needed a ride.” She went on, shimmying up to his side.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, dropping an arm over her shoulders and steering her toward me.

Our eyes met briefly before I turned and led the way to where I left the Corolla. Ivy didn’t fight him one time.

Jerk.

At the car, I opened the back door and motioned for him to dump Ivy in the backseat. She’d likely pass out before we even got back to the dorm.

When she was in the car with the door shut behind her, I breathed out in relief and turned to climb into the driver’s seat.

“Hey.” His voice brushed over me. It was incredibly close. So close I could smell the beer on his breath.

I paused in opening the door and turned my head just slightly to look at him out of the corner of my eye. Romeo was standing just behind me, just like earlier at the library. “Yes?” I asked, my voice a little raspy.

“You okay?” The concern in his voice had me spinning around. He took a slight step forward and I backed up. My back hit the side of the car and I was effectively trapped.

“W-what?” I asked.

Romeo reached between us and lifted my wrist. “You were holding this like it hurt.”

My breath caught when he pushed the too long sleeve back to reveal my slender wrist. His fingers brushed over the skin on the inside and I shivered. My eyes shot up to see if he noticed. He said nothing, but the soft smile on his lips spoke louder than words.

I tried to pull my arm back, but he encircled my forearm with his thumb and pointer finger. “Looks okay, but maybe you should ice it just in case.”

He released me and I hurried to let the sleeve fall back in place like it was some kind of armor. “I will.” I lied.

He didn’t move. He didn’t say anything. He just stood there.

“You better not be ready to pass out,” I told him. “You’re way too big for me to pick up.”

He cocked his head to the side and regarded me. “And what would you do, Rimmel?” The way he said my name brushed over me like a fine caress. “If I passed out right here?”