Pieces of Me (4 page)

“Delaney?”
he says my name softly and I jerk my head up to look at him. Those gorgeous
navy eyes have deepened with concern.

It
doesn't surprise me that he has girls lining up for a chance with him. If he
keeps looking at me like he is right now, I might try to jump to the front of
the line.

“Yes,
I'm sorry. He just surprised me, getting that close.”

Cole
leans back in his chair again, his hand sliding away from my arm. My skin feels
oddly cold at the loss of contact. What in the world is wrong with me?

“He's
had a little too much to drink.” He brings a smile back. “But you should get
used to guys getting that close to you.”

“Really?
Why's that?” I murmur, not really expecting an answer.

“I
told you, sexy brunette, sad blue eyes. Every guy on campus is going to want
you. We like rescuing damsels in distress, it makes us feel manly.”

I
frown, which causes Cole to laugh.

“Don't
look so shocked, Del, surely you've looked in a mirror, you must know how
gorgeous you are. Or are you one of those girls who pretend she doesn't know so
you can get compliments?”

“What?
No! I realize I'm pretty, or not ugly. Oh my God, that makes me sound shallow.”

He's
still laughing at me as he says. “It doesn't make you shallow to admit you know
you're pretty. Although I think pretty is too tame a word for what you are.”

Before
I can stop the words, I say, “Are you hitting on me?”

“Ouch.”
He laughs again, wincing. “If you have to ask then I must not be doing a very
good job.” He runs a hand through his hair, much the same way Grace does, and
shifts the inky black strands around his face.

“No
one’s ever hit on me before.” I blurt out before I think about the words. I
clap a hand over my mouth, mortified that they escaped.

“Now
I really wish I wasn't doing such a bad job of it. Your first time should be
memorable.”

Even
I'm not dumb enough to miss the double meaning of his words. I know my mouth
drops open a little bit and my eyes get big. I can feel them widen on my face.
Cole is really laughing at me now.

This
is how Grace finds us when she comes into the house with her hand securely held
in Grant’s.

“What’s
so funny?” She demands. “And where are Robby and Todd? They came in, didn't
they?”

“They
went out to wait for Marcy, which is the flavor of the week this week so try
and commit the name to memory. At least for tonight.”

Grace
wrinkles her nose and reaches up to run a hand through her hair. “Marcy
Campton?”

“You
know her?”

“Only
by reputation. She was a year ahead of me in high school. She isn't the nicest
person.”

Cole
shrugs, “Robby won't keep her around for long anyway.”

They
are so casual about the entire thing. I'm sure that I should be to, but I can't
imagine wanting to be the type of girl that wasn't worth keeping around for
more than a week.

Or
course, I'm pretty sure that I am a throwback with this type of thinking, and I
know my thoughts are influenced heavily by events in my past.

I
hope though, that even if things had been different for me, that I wouldn't be
okay with being someone's quickie.

The
front door suddenly opens and seconds later Robby and Todd step back into the
room with four girls trailing behind them. It is immediately obvious, at least
to me, who short timer Marcy is, and who I’m assuming, two friends; that she
brought with her.

The
fourth girl is standing slightly apart from the others, almost as if she is
trying to distance herself from them.

She’s
a red head with light green eyes, and freckles decorating her pretty face.
She's dressed conservatively, wearing a pair of khaki pants with a blue button
down shirt. Her hair is pulled back away from her face. She smiles at something
just behind me and seconds later I realize its Holden she's smiling at. This
must be Ally.

She
moves through the space separating her and Holden, sliding into him with a
familiarity that indicates she's done that same move a number of times. Holden
greets her with a quick kiss before tucking her against his side.

“Ally,
this is Grace’s unfortunate roommate, Delaney.” he says with a smirk as Grace
frowns at him. “I'm afraid I don't know Robby's friends.”

Being
outside obviously didn't sober Todd up much. He is laughing loudly at something
one of the girls is whispering in his ear, and it sounds like even his laughter
is slurring.

Marcy
and her friends are obviously dressed to go out. Short skirts, tight tops,
heavy make-up. There is nothing left to the imagination when you look at them.
I realize now what Grace meant earlier when she said I wasn't showing much
skin.

Next
to these girls I feel like I’m wearing a nun’s habit.

One
of the girls, one whose blonde hair I can only hope is unnatural, snakes an arm
around Todd and slides up behind him. Todd wiggles his eyebrows up and down
while watching me.

Robby
smacks the back of Todd's head when he notices the direction he is looking.
“What did we talk about outside moron?”

“Hey!
I didn't do anything.”

Robby
is shaking his head as he makes introductions.

“Uh,
this is Marcy, Kendall, and...” Robby looks to the last girl.

“Beth,”
she says.

“Right,
Beth.” Robby introduces the rest of us, pointing us each out in turn. Beth is
the only girl of the trio who is unattached, as apparently Kendall does not
share my immediate repulsion of Todd.

I
watch as Beth's eyes land on Cole and how they light up just a little as she
studies him. I know exactly how she feels when she looks at him.

It
makes me want to punch her, which is ridiculous since half an hour ago I had no
idea who Cole Marsh even was.

But
still.

I
think I could take her.

The
worst part is that she's sexy and pretty in a way that I know I never will be.
She carries an ease and a confidence around her that no matter how many changes
I make, I will never have.

So,
not that it’s a competition, but I feel like I've already lost.

Her
blonde hair is much prettier than Kendall's, and hangs perfectly around her
face. No freckles on her nose, which is cute and pert, and I want to think its
fake, much like I suspect her breasts are. Her eyes a dark green, only
highlighted by the expertly applied eye makeup.

She
is wearing a pair of white shorts that stop several long inches above her
knees, with a pink strapless top that shows off her assets, and her tan,
beautifully.

She
is everything I will never be, even with the new wardrobe Grace helped me pick
out earlier today.

Robby
convinces Todd, Kendall, and Marcy to grab some beers and head outside, but
Beth settles in at the table with us, taking the chair on the other side of Cole;
she slides the chair a little bit closer to him with a smile on her face. Cole
smiles back at her, but he looks back to me.

Judging
by the fleeting frown that crosses her face, this obviously pisses Beth off.

“Did
you get enough to eat, Delaney?” Cole asks me.

I
open my mouth to answer but Beth starts speaking first, “Oh, there's food?
That’s great! We didn't get a chance to eat before Marcy was shoving us out the
door to come here.”

She
lays a hand on Cole’s arm, much like he had done to me earlier.

“Can
you show me where everything is?” She traces one finger up his arm, her nails
painted a bright bold red.

Standing
behind her, Grace starts making faces. It's all I can do not to laugh. Grant
can't seem to help himself and tries to turn his laugh into a cough.

“Sure,
everything's outside.” Cole stands up and gestures to the back door. “Do you
want a beer?”

“That'd
be great.”

He
looks back at me one more time. “Want me to bring you back anything?”

“I'm
good, thank you,” I murmur as he follows her out the door.

“Oh.
My. God.” Grace says, sliding into the chair Cole just vacated. “Could she be
any more obvious? Where does Robby meet these girls? Sluts ’r us? Can you show
me where everything is?” Grace imitates Beth with a breathless voice.

She
shifts her body so that her breasts look like they’re about to spring free of
her top. “How pathetic.” She settles back down in her chair and then pins her
eyes on Ally.

“Tell
me, Al, would Holden be able to tell me if you snore?”

I
choke back a laugh as Ally stares at her in confusion.

The
common room is situated at the end of our hall, away from the stairs. It's not
a very large room and only holds two round tables that seat four people each
and a couple of reading chairs.

There
is a soda and snack machine tucked into one corner.

Currently
there are over forty freshman girls crammed into every inch of the room. I
hadn't thought about that happening so neither Grace nor I had been in any kind
of hurry to show up for the first hall meeting of the year.

So
now I am sitting crossed legged on the floor, my knees brushing against Grace
on one side and a slightly overweight blond sitting on the other.

I
am claustrophobic and just being crammed into this room with these girls is
setting me on the edge of a panic attack.

To
make matters worse, it appears that Beth is a freshman and I am lucky enough to
have her living on my floor. She is sitting at one of the round tables,
laughing with the other three girls sitting with her.

I’ve
seen her look my way once or twice so I'm sure they have at least mentioned me
at some point in their conversation. I’ve seen the look a thousand times in the
past. The quick cut of the eyes in your direction before they return to
whispering about you behind your back.

Only
I can’t imagine what Beth has to say to all her friends about me. Unless she’s
somehow recognized me, which I highly doubt, the only contact we’ve shared is
in Cole’s kitchen.

“Ms.
Bubbly needs to get her happy ass going and get this meeting over with. This is
not how I want to spend my night. Grant and I were going to go grab some ice
cream.”

“Are
you serious? This meeting can't be so long that you can't still go. How much
can there really be to talk about?”

Haley
passes around a sheet of paper with ten rules neatly typed out. It doesn't take
long for the grumbling to start.

“No
guys past eleven on weeknights? Are we children?” This came from one of the
girls sitting at the table with Beth. “I thought I left my parents at home.”

Haley
doesn’t seem surprised at all by the comments. “These rules are in place to
help ensure our safety.” She starts, what I'm pretty sure is a speech that
she's been told to give.

“No
fire hazards?” Grace mutters next to me. “Seriously they don't think we're
capable of not starting a fire when we light a candle?”

“Well,
damn. I suppose that means I need to ditch the bag of match sticks I have
stashed in my sock drawer before I'm found with contraband, huh?” I joke.

Grace
snorts and the blonde next to me tries to swallow a laugh but ends up having a
coughing fit.

“Are
you okay?” Haley stops her spiel long enough to ask, displeasure over being
interrupted evident in her tone.

The
blonde coughs a couple more times, waving one hand to indicate she's fine.
“Sorry, swallowed wrong,” She finally says.

Haley
eyes her for a few more seconds before rolling right back into her speech. I
try to look like I'm paying attention but I'm not quite sure why we have to
have a meeting to go over a set of rules that are written down.

The
meeting ends up lasting an excruciating forty-five minutes. The heat from all
the bodies crammed into such a small space is making sweat bead and trickle
down along the back of my spine before the last person asks the final question,
because apparently the written rules aren't clear enough for some.

“Oh
my God.” The girl next to me says once we are granted our freedom. “I think
little Ms. Haley is on a power trip. I'm Jen by the way, and this is my
roommate Mandy.”

“Grace
and Delaney.” Grace points to each of us in turn.

“You're
Cole Marsh's sister right? You look like him.”

“Hopefully
not just like him since I have boobs, but yeah, Cole is my brother. Do you know
him?”

How
could they know him? We've been on campus like five seconds and since classes
haven't started yet I don't think Cole has stepped on campus at all.

Mandy
rolls her eyes. “I know of him. Beth Henson is in the room right next to mine.
I guess she got to meet him the other day and it’s all she's talked about. She
described him in very precise detail.”

Grace
scans the room. “Oh yeah?”

Her
eyes land on Beth who is still sitting at the table with her friends.

“He
hasn't talked about her at all.” Grace smirks, “You should tell her that.”

“Really?
She totally made it sound like they were going to go out again soon.”

Grace
just shakes her head. “Cole doesn't do the dating thing so much, so I hope she
doesn't have her heart set on it. He was probably just trying to be nice. It's
a fatal flaw for him.”

I
don’t want to stand here and discuss Cole’s love life, or lack of one, or lack
of desire for one, or whatever the case may be.

“Grace,
I'm going to head back. Are you still going to meet up with Grant?”

She
pulls her phone out of her pocket and checks her texts. “Looks like. You sure
you don't want to come? I think Holden and Cole are going. Ally has to work
tonight.”

I
shake my head. “I think I’m going to call it an early night since classes start
in the morning.”

“Ok.
I won't be too late.”

I
head down the hallway; the chattering voices fading as I make my way back to
our room. It shouldn't bother me that Beth thinks they are going to get
together again, or that Cole doesn't do the dating thing either.

My
goal for coming here wasn’t to start any kind of relationship. Especially since
I wasn't sure I would voluntarily ever let a guy touch me again.

So
I’m not sure why I can't shake the jealousy that rolls around in my stomach.