Authors: Carly White
Chapter 3
Phil was bored with the party and he had only been there a couple of minutes. There were far too many people that he didn’t know and if it hadn’t been his house, he would have left. The downstairs were filled with people in all states of drunkenness and though he saw many of his teammates putting them back, there was a big game tomorrow that was going to have recruits there and he wanted to be in top form.
“Phil, what are you doing sitting over here all by yourself. Look at all of these lovely ladies to choose from.”
Scott smiled at him, with his hand on one of the lady’s breast and she didn’t seem to mind at all. Phil had already had most of her friends. If he was honest, there weren’t many ladies left on campus that he hadn’t partaken in at some point. It was getting to the point that he was ready to leave college, just so he would have some more choices. The NFL would bring more women and though it was what all of them had talked about when they were younger, it was different now that he was there.
Ever since he could remember, all Phil had wanted was women. When he was in middle school and the first year or two of high school, the man had not been very popular. Phillip had been skinny and interested in nerdy things that were never going to get him a girlfriend. So his last couple of years of school he started to work out and bulk up. That got him into playing football the last year of high school and since he had been good at it, Phil was rewarded a full ride scholarship to Dundee University.
It was the life that he had always dreamed about, but there were some things in his old life that he still missed. Good conversation was one of them. Now all of the girls that he dated were vapid and though some of them were nice, they were all with him because of what they thought he could offer them.
“I hear you Scott. I am just not feeling it. Is there anyone upstairs yet?”
Scott just shrugged. The dark haired man was becoming far more enthralled with the woman beside him to really notice anything else. Phil sighed inwardly and got up from the chair and got a beer. One beer wouldn’t hurt anything, though the noise was getting to him. He decided to head upstairs and see if he could get a little sleep, even though he was sure it was going to be impossible with the loud music going on downstairs.
His friend had walked off and though he waved to several others as he ascended the stairs, there wasn’t anyone that he really wanted to talk to. Instead, he shut the door behind him after he kicked the couple out of his room that were making out on his bed. There were rules, the bedrooms were off limits, but no one ever listened and he checked out the sheets for anything amiss before laying down. His beer was getting warm next to him, as he laid there with his eyes closed.
There was a loud knock at the door and after a third knock it became clear that there was going to be no way that they were going to just go away. “This room is occupied.”
Another knock and he figured that whoever it was, didn’t even hear him over the loud music playing. Grumbling to himself, he staggered to the door in the dark and yanked the door open. He was expecting one of his friends trying to drag him downstairs but instead it was a short girl that he didn’t remember seeing before. “Can I help you?”
“Are you done in here so I can go?”
“Go?”
“Yeah, come on I have to go and you have been in here forever.”
Phil was confused for a moment and then she made a little dancing motion and he realized that she had to use the bathroom. “This is my bedroom, not the bathroom.”
“Oh.” The woman looked stumped and he figured he should help her out.
“It’s down the hall, blue door.”
“Thanks.”
She walked away without another word, leaving Phil looking behind her as she left. He had never seen her before and he was sure that he should have seen her around. He wanted to ask her a name, who she was, but she was gone into the bathroom and he was left standing in the doorway like a goob.
When she got back out, she said hello like she had never seen him before and he could tell she had had a bit too much to drink. “What’s your name?”
“Lou.”
“Lou?”
“Yeah, like a boy’s name. My dad wanted a boy named Lou. But he got me instead.”
Phil shook his head like he knew what she was talking about. He was still trying to place her though and he couldn’t think of where he had seen her before. She was hot and he should know who she was. Phil always made it a habit to talk to the prettiest girls and Lou was one that he hadn’t had before. “Are you new here?”
“Nope, been here almost four years. Are you new here?”
How did she not know who he was? He was kind of shocked that she didn’t and it made him wonder where she had been hiding all this time that he didn’t know her.
“No, I play football here. This is my last year too.”
“Oh, you’re a meathead.”
He didn’t like the way she said it, dismissing him as if there was nothing else she could do for him. When she started to walk away, he tried not to get offended. “A meathead?”
“Yeah, you are a jock. I stay away from you guys. You’re bad news.”
Phil wasn’t used to that kind of reaction and it hit his pride more than anything else. “Wait. You can’t just say something like that and then walk away. What did the football players do to you that made you not like any of us?”
She shrugged. “I just know how you guys are.”
“Sounds like you have dated a couple.”
His eyes went to her round backside as she walked in front of him down the hallway and towards the stairs.
“One or two, but I learned my lesson.”
“Phil. My name is Phil.”
She turned around suddenly and her eyes trailed down his body. Lou narrowed her eyes and then she saw the man from the painting. “Oh the guy from the Art class.”
He wasn’t sure what to say, but there was a moment that he thought he recognized her. “Did you take that class?” The smile on his face widened. If she had, then the conversation was about to get a lot easier in his experience. Once a girl knew who he was and what he had to offer, they were all over him. For a man that couldn’t be bothered much beforehand, there was something about the woman that ignored him, that made him want to be seen again.
“No, but I saw a couple of pictures that you inspired.”
“Ah, so what did you think?”
She had turned back around, already dismissing him again. “I don’t know. I wonder why you would do it in the first place. I mean, half of the campus has seen it all Phil, but why would you?”
“I don’t know. Miss. Cretan was always my favorite teacher, so when she put out the ad for it, I thought why not?”
His hand went to her arm to stop her at the top of the stairs. “Do you want to have a drink with me?”
She looked back at him like she was surprised. “Why?”
“Because I like talking to you.”
Lou wasn’t hearing it. “I am just here because my friend dragged me here. So as soon as I find here, I am out of here.”
“Oh, well at least let me help you find her.”
She didn’t agree, but pulled her arm away from his touch. Lou hadn’t had that much to drink that she didn’t realize he was the hot guy from the painting. “I don’t need any help, really. But thank you Phil. I hope you will have a good night.”
Phil watched her go down the stairs and didn’t try to stop her. He stopped his friend Scott though that was taking his new lady friend upstairs and asked who she was. “Lou? Oh come on, everyone knows who Lou is. Didn’t you see that video she made for Dante a few years back? I still think it’s on the sorority website.”
Scott left him still not understanding what he was talking about. Why would she be on the website? After a few minutes, it dawned on him that Lou was the short blonde that had been videoed giving Dante a strip tease. No wonder he was attracted to her, he thought to himself, she was one fire cracker that he wished he had gotten to know a little better. It wasn’t just her body or the way she had moved on the video, but her eyes and the teasing that were in her depths. Lou had broken Dante’s heart as well, though she never would have known it. Only the sorority members had remembered the fallout of their breakup.
Chapter 4
“Oh my God Charlie. This is why I don’t drink.”
Charlie was like she always was, unfazed by anything. Lou didn’t know how they could drink the same amount, but Charlie never had a hangover. “You will be fine. Just drink some of this and you will be good as new in no time.”
“What’s in it?”
“Never ask questions that you don’t want the answer to.”
Lou knew about her friend dabbled in medicinal herbs and though she complained about the fifty potted plants in the house, there was something to Charlie’s concoctions. The one she handed her didn’t smell or look very good, but knowing that it would actually help, made it go down a little smoother. She choked on the last bit and then handed the glass back to her friend.
“There, you will be feeling better soon enough.”
“I hope so. I feel horrible. What were we supposed to do today?”
“Shopping.”
Another loud sigh from Lou. It was the last thing she wanted to do. All Lou really wanted to do was go back to sleep and sleep off the hangover from the night before.
“Okay. Let me just get dressed.”
“So how was last night?”
“You would have known if you hadn’t taken off with your boyfriend.”
Charlie looked a little guilty. She was trying to stay away from James, but he was looking good and was saying all the right things to her the night before. He wasn’t even supposed to be there, but when he showed up, Charlie had lost all interest in anything else. She was horny and when he grabbed her hard for a kiss, she was lost.
“Sorry about that Lou. But it had been too long and he was looking good.”
“Yeah well I was upstairs and I saw Phil. He was in his room sleeping or something, but at first I didn’t know who he was.” It was probably a good thing because once she had known who he was, all she could think about was the painting that her roommate had done of him and the bits that were covered up with clothes.
“How was he?”
“I don’t know. You know I stay away from guys like that.”
Charlie nodded, but didn’t quite understand her friend. She was beautiful and could have anyone she wanted, but her confidence hadn’t been the same since the incident with Dante. Charlie wished that it had never happened, hating to see her friend so down and out, but she was sure that Lou would get on with it eventually. If not, there was only a few more months of college for them both.
“Maybe you shouldn’t. Phil is actually a really good guy. He has helped me out a few times with my biology homework. He is not like the rest of them.”
Lou didn’t see how that was possible. Everyone knew about Phil and his big lusts. He had been with half the girls on campus and the ones he hadn’t, she was sure it was because they weren’t up to his standards.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I do, it’s just I don’t know, I have met many guys like him and they are all just the same.”
Charlie wasn’t going to argue with her. They had known each other for a long time and she knew that Lou had her own reasons. There was nothing she could do but agree and go on. Charlie knew Phil pretty well since they had a couple of classes together and he had never acted out of the way with her.
***
The two went to do their weekly shopping and though they had lived together for several years, they still were so different. Charlie filled the cart up with all of her fancy foods, as Lou called it. She had to buy everything organic and though she could afford it, Lou never did have five dollars to drop on a couple of apples. She was content to eat the pesticides if they were cheaper.
When they got to the checkout, Charlie tried to pay for it all, but Lou refused and paid her half for the groceries. They then stopped at a small art shop in town and Charlie loaded up on more art supplies. It was her passion and sometimes Lou wished that she had something that she felt so strongly about. All she wanted to do was be a lawyer to help people, but sometimes she wished she had a hobby as well. She needed some kind of creative outlet.
“So I talked to the Art teacher and she said you could sit in if you wanted to. All you have to do is bring in your own supplies.”
“Really?” That was the best news she had heard all day. While she needed the law class for her Masters, she didn’t for her Bachelors and she could always just take the class later. “I think I might actually take you up on it.”
“Good, you should. We have another class Monday.”
“What would I need to bring?”
Charlie didn’t answer her, but started to put more supplies in the basket that Lou was carrying. By the time they were through, they had spent more money on paints than food and were loaded down on their way to the apartment. It was one of the only times that Lou wished that she had a car on campus.
“Hey Charlie. Where are your overalls?”
Charlie looked back and smiled at her friend Phil. “Hey hun. What are you doing up before noon?”
“Got a game today, so I didn’t drink much last night.”
“I was over at our house last night. It was pretty crazy. I didn’t see you there though.”
“I was keeping a low profile. You know how it is.”
He was looking over at her friend and it took a minute for him to realize who she was. She was the girl from last night, Lou. When he looked at her then, knowing she was the girl from the video, it was hard not to stare. He knew what she had under those modest clothes she was wearing now.
“Good to see you again Lou.”
Lou looked over and nodded. “Nice to see you Phil. I am going to get these home Charlie. I will catch up with you later.”
“Let me help you.”
Phil grabbed all of the bags out of her hands before she could say anything and started walking towards their apartment without having to be told where it was. Lou gave Charlie a look, but she just shrugged and handed him the rest of the bags. “Since you are trying to be such a gentleman.”
It made Charlie wondered why he was being so helpful all of a sudden, but she saw the way that he looked at her and the way that Lou was trying not to look. There was something there and she smiled to herself. The two would be perfect together. Charlie knew that Phil was set to pose for the Art class next week and she wanted to get her uptight friend in there. But she knew that if she mentioned anything about it, Lou would never agree.
“What is all of this stuff for anyways?”
“Just a couple of projects that I have in mind. What are you doing around here?”
He shrugged. “I was supposed to meet Scott for lunch, but I bet he is still sleeping from the party last night.”
The two talked while Lou made her way beside them. She didn’t have much to say to him, not really knowing him. She had a meeting later that day with the college paper. When she realized that it was time for her to go, Lou excused herself and made her way back towards the building across the campus where they met.
She didn’t hear what the man asked about her as she walked away. Lou had her own things to take care of and men like Phil had a way of sidetracking her. Lou touched her cheeks and felt the heat rising into them as she thought about the painting of the man she was just with. Charlie shouldn’t have showed her the picture, it was all her fault, Lou was sure of it.
When she got to the meeting for the paper, there were already most of the people there. Like everyone else on the paper, college was more to them than parties and Lou felt at ease finally.