Twist of Fate (11 page)

Ben stirred, his hand patting around until he found my hand. He groggily mumbled, "Stay in bed." His fingers hooked in mine, tucking me to him. So many different feelings hit me at once, I wasn't sure which one was the right one. He murmured into my hair, but I couldn't make out what he said. I remained there tense and guarded until I heard the soft snore from behind me, allowing me to relax momentarily.

Another hour ticked by as I waited for him to wake as I stared at my alarm clock. When he finally came around, he slowly lifted up on his elbow peeking over my shoulder. "I'm awake," I whispered, so Ellie didn't hear me.
 

"How you feeling?"
 
He asked, as I slipped out of his loose grip, and stood up.
 

I gave him a small smile, then turned when I was about to sneeze.
 
"A little better." He stared at me for a few seconds longer, then looked over to the alarm. He kicked the covers down to the bottom of my bed, then stood in front of me like he was examining my appearance. "I got class in thirty minutes, so I gotta run, but I'm glad you feel better." He shoved his feet into his shoes, gazing up at my crossed arms quickly. I saw his face change from nonchalant to cautious. "Everything okay?"

I pulled him toward the door by his arm. "You didn't have to do that."

He stepped closer, leaning in until he was just shy of my lips. "Do what?"

"Stay. You should've went home and got a good night's sleep."

"Who says I didn't get a good night sleep?"

I reached around him to grab a tissue from the dresser, and blew my nose. I gave him an apologetic look, "Never mind." He leaned down, pecking my cheek with a quick kiss. "What are friends for?"
 

He started his way down the corridor, a few girls walked by him giggling, then peeked past him to see what door he came out of. "Hey, Ben," I yelled just enough for him to hear me.
He spun on his heels, grinning.
 

I smiled back. "Thanks for taking care of me."

He tilted his head, scratching it, answering. "Anytime."

I closed the door with a smile to find Ellie watching me from her bed. She had angled herself to face me. "Does that boy ever look anything less then delicious?" She winked, then stopped, taking in the smile on my face. "It looks like you had good night."

"Are you kidding? I slept the entire time." I walked back over, falling onto my bed. The smell of his cologne still lingered, so I pulled my pillow to my nose, crushing it to my face.
 

"Are you smelling your pillow?" She laughed.

"No," I lied, tossing it aside. "How was the party last night?"

She sat up suddenly energized. "It was off the wall fun. Pi Kapp totally out did themselves. It was so much fun, Paige. They even set up a slip n' slide running down their steps with jello."

"Really? Ben said it was lame. Why would he say that? And, I thought you weren't coming home?"

She shrugged, "Eh, nowhere else to sleep, and it was farrrr from lame."

I sat up laughing, still contemplating what constitutes lame versus fun to Ben. "What? The infamous Ellie didn't hook up?"

She threw her pillow at me. "I like you better when you're acting sick."

Four days later, Tommy and I were just finishing up with our coffee when Will, (the guy from yoga) came in. We'd only been on one date, and it was just to the movies, then he dropped me back to my dorm. He kissed me good night in his car, but not once did he try anything remotely faster, which I thought was awesome. Once he saw me, he flashed me a smile, then rushed over to the table. He eyed up Tommy for a split second, then shifted his focus back to me.
 
"Hey, Paige. I haven't heard from you all week. What's up?"

"Yeah, I was sick for a few days."

After I introduced him to Tommy, who disappeared to get another coffee, Will sat down in Tommy's seat. "So, are you free Thursday night? There's this great place that I know, thought we could go dancing, or something?"

I didn't even notice Tommy standing behind me. "Thursday? This Thursday?" Tommy asked Will.
 

"Yeah, this Thursday. Is that a problem?"

"No. It's just P has plans at the house. We're having a party, and she's committed to it already. So, I guess your shit out of luck. And, you're sitting in my chair."
 

I wanted to kill him. "Tommy! Stop being so rude. Will, I would love to go out this Thursday. I can change my plans," I said, glaring at Tommy, "especially since I didn't know I had any," I said through clenched teeth.
How dare he? And what the hell did he care if I went on a date or not?

Will smiled, but stood, sliding the chair to Tommy, and winked. For a minute I thought Tommy might take a swing, judging by his pissed off expression, but he didn't. "I'll pick you up at seven. We'll grab a bite to eat first."

"Okay! I'll be ready."

Will leaned over, kissing my lips. He lingered an extra second longer than necessary, but I didn't mind. "Wear some cowgirl boots if you have some," he whispered in my ear.
 
I didn't have any, but I thought a trip to the mall was in order, and it would be worth breaking into my emergency funds.

As soon as he left, Tommy crossed his arms, and shook his head. "That guy sounds like a total prick, P. What's wrong with Ben?"

"First of all, he's not a prick. Secondly, Ben and I won't work. Trust me. He has too many issues with women, and I don't want to be the girl to hurt him again."

"That's bullshit and you know it. I know he's into you."

"Let's just leave it alone."

As if on cue, Ben waltzed in like he knew we were there. "Hey," he said smiling to me, and only me.
 

"Hey, I was just heading out."

He looked over at Tommy who made a pathetic attempt of hiding the fact that he must have let Ben know I was there with Will. And, I couldn't help wonder why he looked upset when I mentioned that I had to go.
 

"Yeah," Tommy said. He stood up, handed Ben his coffee. "I invited Paige to the beach party, but she's going dancing instead."

Ben looked back to me. "C'mon, P? It's a beach theme. The pledges cover the floor in sand, everyone wears their bathing suits. It's awesome."

"I'm sure it's fun, but I'd rather go dancing with Will. Sorry, boys. Maybe next time." With that I gathered my bag from the floor, and dragged myself away from them. Part of me desperately wanted to go to the frat party, but I could only imagine how Ben would be. Half-naked, or who knows, maybe naked girls doing shots, gyrating on the poles down there, or worse, gyrating on him. It was a much safer bet to go dancing with Will. At least that's what I kept telling myself.

Three days went by and I hadn't seen either one of them. It was not until Thursday morning that I received a text from Ben telling me he hoped I would change my mind and head to the party after all. After two classes, and a late lunch I was finally getting ready for my date. I didn't understand why I was so anxious. You'd think I'd never been on a date before. After showering, drying and flat ironing my hair, I dabbled on a little gloss and mascara. I had a new dress to go with my new boots for dancing. My mom was going to kill me when she got that bill. Ellie took me shopping with her and insisted that I buy them. I studied myself in the mirror for a few more minutes, when Ellie walked in. "Holy shit! Will is gonna freak when he sees you. You look hawt, girl."

I tilted my head from side to side, looking down to my feet. "You think? I feel kind of weird in these boots."

"I promise you that you do not look weird. He's going to cream his pants."

I laughed. "Thanks for he visual."
 

Ten minutes later, my phone buzzed. Will was waiting downstairs for me. Whatever happened to male chivalry and coming to the door? I looked at Ellie who was already on her computer. "Maybe I should just go to the frat party?"

She walked around her desk, pushing me by my backside toward to door. "I'm going to the party. I'll text you if anything really crazy happens. Now go."

Before I over thought it, I made myself walk slowly down the steps toward Will. He was sitting in his car, and from the looks of it talking on his cell. I tapped on the window to get his attention. He stopped, said something, then hung up. He waved me inside, so I creaked open the door, and slid in. "Wow! You look great, Paige." He leaned over the console to kiss me, so I let him. It felt nice, but his lips were cold, not warm and sweet like Ben's. As his lips pressed harder to mine, his hand began to creep up my exposed thigh, so I slowly pushed it back down. "I thought we were getting something to eat?"
"I could eat you up right now," He said in a sultry voice.
 

Eww, gross he did not just say that? Talk about a turn off. What happened to sweet, take it slow Will? Now I was really rethinking this date. I should have just played it safe and went to the party. Why did I have to say no? Maybe I could still go? As all the questions swirled around, I didn't even realize we pulled away from the curb and were heading into town, before I could object. He stopped at this little Mexican restaurant I'd been to once. How original? Although, my mouth instantly watered for a churro.

After a painful hour of hearing all about Will and only Will, we headed to the same honky tonk club that Ben took me to. He ordered a shot and a beer for himself, but handed me some girly drink. I was kind of relieved he didn't expect me to do shots with him, but disappointed that I was stuck without a beer. I sipped on my vodka cranberry until it was gone, letting it take the edge off. He spun me over to the dance floor once I took my last sip. We moved slowly to the beat of the music, but then a line dance came on that I didn't know how to do. I felt a little tense, not really in the mood to learn it either.
 
I just wanted out of there. He eyed me up for a few seconds, and probably figured out I was bored. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

I watched as he headed to the bar, and ordered another round as I pressed up against the railing. He held the drinks slightly over his head to weave through the crowd. "Here, you need to loosen up, let your hair down and have fun." He handed me the shot glass, I looked all around, then slammed it quickly, hopeful the shot would help do the trick. Another shot later, his hand reached down to pull me on the dance floor. I was still very sober, but definitely felt looser. A slow Kenny Chesney song played, and Will swung me perfectly around the floor, then back into his arms. I was caught up in the music, and dancing when the feel of his hand roamed where they shouldn't be, and certainly not on the dance floor. "Whoa! Will."

He pecked me quickly on the lips. "Sorry, babe. I got carried away. You look so good tonight." I pushed off of him disgusted at his term of endearment. How the hell was I his babe already?

"You know what? Let me get you another shot. I'll be right back."

"No. It's okay," I yelled out, but he was already gone. In the ten minutes it took for him to come back, I'd thought of a hundred excuses to get the hell out of there.

He held out his hand, his finger grazing mine as I wrapped my fingers around the shot. "Here, you go. Bottoms up."

I grimaced, but downed the shot, and when I did he smiled this big old toothy grin. "Let's get out of here. We can go back to my place. Do our own little dance there. What do you say?"

That's the last thing I wanted to do. God, I thought I could have liked this one, but not after tonight. I wished my damn phone would ring. I mean where the hell were those two when you really need protecting? Or an escape goat? "Oh, umm...I can't. I promised my cousin I'd stop by their party tonight."
 

He eyed me for a second, then shrugged. "I'll go with you."

What? No!
 

"Oh, that's the thing. You can't. You have to be in the frat to get inside."

He tugged at my waist, pulling me super close, nibbling on my ear. "You're not in the frat."

"I'm a girl. Any girl gets into any party. So, if you could just drop me at the dorms so I can change?"

He looked around for a minute, then rocked back on his heels. "Sure. Let's go."
 

I could tell he was pissed that tonight wasn't going as he planned. I wasn't sure if he was mad about not getting any action, or about how much money he put out on feeding me drinks. I was pretty sure it was the money since that's all he complained about the whole ride back.
 

Just as we arrived back to my dorm, I opened my handbag. I pulled out my last twenty dollars that I allowed myself for this week, and handed it to him. "Here. It's all I have." I didn't really expect him to take it, but then again, I didn't expect him to turn out to be such a pig.

He looked down at the money, grabbing it. "Yeah, thanks." And, right there I knew he wouldn't be calling me again, and if he did, I most certainly wouldn't answer.

Once inside, I stripped off the boots, the dress, and took a long hot shower to get the smell of his cheap cologne off of me. By the time I got out, I flipped open my phone to text Ellie. It was only been eleven, the party should be in full swing. Ellie never texted me back over the course of the next hour while I contemplated on going or not. I could almost hear Tommy and Ben's snickering from here about my date being a total loss. Screw it! I rummaged through my drawer, grabbed a suit, and a little summer dress from the closet and got ready. My hair was almost totally dry, but I braided it anyway. I smacked a little pink lipgloss on, then started out the door.