Chasing Leah (Journey Series) (3 page)

"Thanks so much L! Did you
have fun tonight?" Ally mumbles from the backseat.
“A
blast.
I'm just ready to go to
bed,
I need to
be up super early.” I don't hear a response and glance in my mirror.
Allys
blonde hair is sprawled across tattoo guys lap and I
think I hear the faint sound of her familiar snores. Well maybe she won't be
having as much fun as I thought tonight.

I pull into one of our reserved
parking spots at our apartment complex. The place is pretty nice, not only is
it about a mile from campus, it’s also very secure, Mr. James wanted to make
sure us two single college ladies were well taken care of. I push the remote to
lock the car doors and punch in the code to open the outer doors of the
apartment. Ally and her guest follow me in and up the stairs to our second
floor apartment. I guess Ally wasn't that out of it as I hear her whispering in
his ear and giggling behind me.

"C'mon my rooms this way,”
she giggles out as she pulls his hand down the hallway, "Good night
Leah!"  I pay Clarissa for watching Caleb and thank her for cleaning
up the place that is now clean of all toys. If I had the extra money I would
totally be hiring her for cleaning services as well right now. She tells me to
call anytime she would love to watch him again. Well I had a hard enough time
leaving him for that long we’ll see about that. I shut the door behind her and
open my door to peek in on Caleb. He’s so sweet and angelic looking when he’s
sleeping, when he’s up it can be a totally different story.

I head back to the kitchen and
pull out a bottle of water. I snort when I hear
Allys
squeals from down the hall. Yeah I'm sure she'll be having a good night. I
twist off the top as I
scootch
out one of the
barstools we picked up at a resale shop and flip my laptop open to check my
email before heading to bed. I can hear
Allys
giggles
drifting down the hall as I pop my ear buds from my iPod in and press play. I
love her and all but I really don't need to hear THAT.

Nothing major, as I scroll
through my inbox, I check them daily wondering if I'll hear from my mom. I wish
I at least knew she was
safe,
she hasn't even bothered
with one phone call. If she doesn’t want anything to do with me, I would think
she would at least wonder about Caleb. He’s probably better off anyways, I’ll
be able to give him the life he deserves.

I shriek and jump out of my
chair when I feel a warm hand land on my shoulder.
"Whoa,
Whoa.”
Tattoo guy takes a step back holding his hands out in front of
him as I pull out my ear buds and clutch a fist to my erratic heart beat. I’m
not sure if the fluttering is from him scaring the shit out of me or the
electric jolt I felt course through me when his hand touched my bare skin.
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I didn't realize you were listening to
music. I just wanted to say see
ya
later. Ally should
be out for the night, I think,” he says with a smirk.

I can feel  my heart beat
slowly return to normal even though it begins to pick up once again when I have
another long look at this man candy. He has the fullest lips I think I’ve ever
seen on any guy before and it looks like he constantly knows some kind of
secret with a mischievous looking smirk almost always in place.

“That’s okay you just freaked me
out a little.”
Ohmigawd
those eyes are incredible. I
follow him over to the door as he opens it and I lean out the door frame. “Um
did you need a ride?” He barks out a laugh and raises an eyebrow at me. Jeez I
didn’t know that would be so hilarious, maybe since he already got a ride from
Ally…… “Nope I think I can make it,” he says as he flashes his dimples at me.
“See
ya
around then I guess.” I shut the door quickly
behind him and turn the deadbolt into place. Well that was
quick,
he couldn't have been in there any longer than 10 minutes with Ally. I walk
down the hall and peak my head into
Allys
room.
Passed out, I shake my head and make my way to my room and crash into bed after
checking on Caleb one more time. I can already tell tomorrow is going to be a
long day.

Chase

Holy shit I wish I would have
met
Allys
roommate the minute she told me about her.
After she pulls me back through the crowded party, well more like I carry her
drunken ass, she stops at the most gorgeous, sexy, beautiful girl I’ve ever
seen.
In my life.
It was like a scene straight out of
a movie when I saw her, all noise around me ceased to exist and time seemed to
move in slow motion as Ally dragged me closer and closer towards this beautiful
girl who had her eyes locked on mine. She looks a little exotic with her dark
hair, gray eyes, and smooth olive skin.
And her body.
She’s
probably about as tall as my 12 year old sister, maybe a little over five feet
tall but she definitely has a lot more going on then my prepubescent sister
with curves in all the right places and a very nice rack. Keep your eyes on her
face, eyes on the face Chase. I don’t need to look like one of those jackasses
who drool over a set of boobs like a
freakin
’ dog.

After helping Ally up the stairs
of the apartment complex and making sure she got in to her bed alright I headed
down the hallway and watched her click away on her laptop in the kitchen. She
really was beautiful and had an intense look about her like she carried the
weight of the world on her shoulders.

The minute I touched her bare
shoulder I could feel how soft her skin was and I didn’t want to move my hand
away even though I scared the shit out of her. I wonder if Ally told her about
me, she didn’t really seem to know who I was especially when she offered me a
ride. A smile creeps on my face as I picture the innocent expression on her
face.

I pull out my guitar to work on
a few lyrics of a song I came up with. That’s kind of my role in the band.
Being an English major I love to write poetry. But if I were to confess that to
any guy that would definitely make me a pussy. So instead I make them into
songs, which makes me awesome since we have quite the following of girls around
campus.

I click off my light after
working for awhile and think about Leah again. I would definitely need to
introduce myself to that girl properly. I picture her small body and smile to
myself as I hop into bed and slowly close my eyes to the image in my head.

                                                                                                                               
               
********************************************

“
Yo
Teddy, you up yet?” I shout from the bottom of the stairs that lead up to his
room.
Him
and Mark, our other band member, share an
old house with a few other guys right near campus. They had tried to get me to
be a roommate but I wasn’t really in to living with a bunch of smelly other
guys. Plus I had grown up in a big family, the quiet was definitely nice.

“Yeah, yeah I’m up.” A half
dressed Teddy stumbles down the stairs while trying to pull a ratty looking
t-shirt on, followed by a girl I’m pretty sure he hooked up with at the party
last night. She shoves a piece of paper towards him before he lands a wet kiss
on her cheek and ushers her out the door.
“Call me soon,” she
says in one of those little girl voices that women think are hot.
What
is hot about sounding like a toddler, maybe it’s just me since I have a three
year old sister who I adore.
Total turn off.

“Definitely,” Teddy replies as
he shuts the door behind her and proceeds to crumble the paper up into a ball
and shoots it towards the garbage can.

“Do you ever have anything more
than a one night stand dude?”

“Now where would the fun in that
be Chase? Then they just start to get all clingy and think you’re in a
relationship then they think you need to buy ‘
em
shit
and only be seeing them the whole time. Not my thing. I don’t think I can be a
one woman kind of man, there’s way too much sampling from the buffet that
throws themselves at me for that to be going on. We’ll leave the monogamous
relationships to you.”

“My mom would kick my ass if I
acted the way you do, so I think I’m good.”

“Whatever
mama’s boy.”
Although he’s clearly jealous of my mom.
Whenever he goes home with me to visit, he’s always sent home with enough home
cooked meals to last him a week so he tries to come as much as possible. “You
ready to practice then?”

We meet up with Mark in the
garage that sits out behind the house and straighten out a few kinks on a
couple songs that we’ve been working on. Teddy sets up most of our gigs and
they help to pay the bills while I’m in my last year of school. Teddy and Mark
look at the whole band thing as a lifetime career but that’s just not my thing.

Mark puffs on a cigarette and
offers me one as I pack my guitar back up. I shake my head at him, “
Naw
man I’m good.
Haven’t touched one in
a couple of weeks.”

“Awesome man, wish I could give
‘
em
up but it’s just not
gonna
happen. Pick up any chicks at the party last night?” Marks not as bad with the
women as Teddy but he’s no saint either. I tend to look for women somewhere
other than parties.

“No I took one home but just to
make sure she got in alright.”

“Aw Chase always making sure
everyone’s taking care of. Dude you need to get a good fuck.” Teddy says as he
bums a cigarette off Mark.

“Well I did meet her roommate
that she’s been trying to hook me up with, kind of. She’s
fuckin
’
amazing; sexy as hell and she seems like a little spitfire.”

“Whoa those are the ones you
need to avoid dude. She’ll Lorena
Bobbit
your ass in
your sleep if you screw up. Let me hook you up with one of the girls that come
out to our performances. They’ll worship you with all that poetry shit you can
write ‘
em
.” Teddy flicks his cigarette and snubs it
out with the heel of his boot.

“I’m good man.” Been there, done
that. Taking any kind of dating advice from Teddy would be the worst decision
I’ve probably ever made in my life. Not
gonna
happen.
And I’m pretty sure my penis will stay intact if I happen to start dating Leah.
I wouldn’t do anything to screw that up. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow night.”

I head back to my jeep and hope
I’ll run into Leah and maybe I’ll actually introduce myself this time.

Leah

Oh what is the damn noise? I
roll over and shove one of my fluffy pillows over my head but can still hear
the loud shrieking. Ally comes crashing into my room and slams her hand down on
the offending noise.
“Really Leah?
I have a wee bit of
a
headache,
I really don't need to hear your alarm at
4:30 in the morning.” I groan and vaguely remember setting it the night before.
I
squint
one eye at Ally and can't help but laugh at
her disheveled appearance which I rarely ever witness. Ally would be the
picture perfect for the all American girl with her long blonde hair, model like
figure, and pretty features but she’s never fit into any kind of mold and has
always been herself no matter what anyone thinks. She currently has red streaks
sticking out of her messy ponytail, makeup that clearly wasn’t washed off last
night smudged across her face and her hello kitty pajamas look to be thrown on
backwards
and
inside out.

I groan and sit up while
glancing at the red digital alarm clock. Shit I was going to be late if I
didn't get my ass into gear. Why did I agree to morning shifts at
Ginos
? Oh yeah, him. I glance over at Caleb who is still
passed out even with all the noise and feel a smile spread across my face. One
thing we both inherited from my mom, we sleep like the
freakin
’
dead. Luckily, since I had to get up so early he stayed asleep and Ally had him
for the morning.

I grab my red polo shirt with
Ginos
elegantly scrawled across the corner in black
lettering along with a pair of black pants. Head to my dresser and pull out a
matching set of lacey black underwear and bra, hey just
cause
know ones going to see them, doesn't mean I can't look good. I turn towards the
bathroom that’s attached to my
room ,another
plus to
this apartment and head in to take a speedy shower. I look back and notice Ally
curled up on my bed with my purple comforter wrapped around her like a cocoon,
already passed out. I muffle a laugh with my
hand,
well at least someone can enjoy it.

I take a hot shower hoping to
wake myself up a bit and towel off quickly. Pull my dark hair into a long
ponytail, apply a little makeup and I'm ready to go. Hopefully I have time to
grab some coffee on my way because I will definitely need a boost of caffeine
this morning. Luckily our apartment is situated in the center of everything and
Ginos
is only about a mile away.

My
moms
Honda that she had so graciously left me, was still
putzing
along and I was able to get from point a to point b. Although
Ginos
was more of a pizza joint, the owners were also smart
thinkers and figured since they were in a college town, why not be open 24
hours? It seemed to get a lot of business judging by the two days that I had done
of training.

I push through the front door
entrance of the restaurant with just one minute to spare. "Hey honey!
Ready for your first day on your own?"
The chipper
voice floats out from the behind the counter that wraps around the front of the
restaurant. I lean over and smile at the leggy waitress that had trained me who
was busy marrying the ketchup bottles.
“Hi Remy.
I'm
still trying to get used to being an early riser but I can deal. I think I'm good
on my own today.” I grab an apron and order pad from beneath the cash register
to get ready for the day.