Seeing Red (10 page)

“Shit. I guess I need to go after class and do some
book shopping. Here, let me help you carry these. Where’s your
first class, Red?”

“Please stop calling me that!” She said, annoyed.
“And, give me those. I can carry them myself. My class is in Room
202—Criminal Law, and you?”

“Ha! Me too. Don’t think that because we’re family
I’m going to let you copy my papers.”

“Xander, if you’re in my Criminal Law class, it
means you’re in all my classes for the first semester.” He raised
an eyebrow in confusion. “Alexander! Didn’t you read anything? The
first-year students are split up into five different groups, and
those groups of thirty have the same classes together during the
first semester.”

“Great, you can be my study buddy. Come on, Re . . .
I mean, Jillian.” He locked his arm around her elbow and walked her
to class, all the while trying to help her carry her books, which
she kept pulling away from him. “I said I can do it, Alexander!”
she said through gritted teeth. “By the way, you look and smell
like shit. You can’t drink your way through law school, ya
know.”

“It was a little congratulatory party on my behalf.
It was my last party for the next three years—no more drinks,
partying, or sex for the next three years.” He said very
matter-of-factly. “Okay, maybe no sex is a little over the top. No
drinking, partying, or dating for the next three years. Sex most
definitely—yes.”

She let out a loud laugh. “Yeah, right! I’ll believe
it when I see it. Your distinction between dating and sex hasn’t
changed. Anyway, I thought you were moving and that’s why you
couldn’t see me. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here?”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“I’m definitely surprised. I haven’t heard from you
in four years, and you’re in school with me. That’s a little . . .
I don’t know . . . weird.”

He shrugged.

“I need you to know that I can’t be distracted. This
is very important to me. I have to concentrate. I don’t have anyone
to go home to for help. You know it’s just me, and I can’t afford
to fail. Our friendly competition sometimes gets me off track. So
please, I need to do this without distractions. I’ve been on my own
for a very long time. I don’t need my hand or my books held. I
don’t want people thinking we’re together, so please give me back
my books and go away.” She was still hurt that he didn’t come see
her during the weekend, but she wouldn’t let him see that side of
her.
Note to self: Keep being bitchy; it’s better than being
vulnerable.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear before
walking into the first class, “The hair is sexy as hell, Red. Glad
you listened to me last time and stopped straightening it.”

“Ughh, I didn’t do it for you,” she scowled, but he
had already walked away and pulled the door open to their first
class. Following her instructions for independence, he walked right
in, without holding it open for her. Her hands were full of books,
and she couldn’t open the double doors. She was beyond annoyed.
Remember, today is going to be a great day!

Fortunately, a long muscular arm reached around her
and opened the door for her. “Here, let me help you. You seem to
have run out of hands.” A deep voice from behind encased her like
velvet.

“Th-thanks,” she said, stuttering at the tall,
muscular man standing in front of her with a perfectly pressed
black suit and crisp white shirt with a black tie and black-rimmed
glasses.
Oh, my! A knight and shining armor.

“Let me grab some of those for you. They really know
how to bombard first years with books. Let me give you some advice:
right after this class, run to the admin office and ask if you can
rent a locker. They are limited, but not a lot of students know
about them. They’re located in the law library. You can leave your
books there, and since you’ll be studying in the library most days
and nights, you won’t have to lug all the books around.” He smiled
with his perfect white teeth and full lips. His black hair was
slicked back, making him look dangerous and mysterious, but his big
brown eyes and long eyelashes, which would make any woman cry with
envy, made him seem approachable, almost friendly.

“Th-thanks,” she smiled shyly.

“You already said that.” He winked at her and set
her books on one of the desks in the front of the classroom.

“Wait, I’m Jillian Stone. Thank you for the help.”
She reached out to shake his hand. He smiled and walked away,
leaving her with her hand in the air.

She looked back and saw Alexander watching her. His
jaw was set tight. He practically scowled at her. She felt terrible
for having hurt his feelings. Maybe she was too hard on him.
Perhaps he really had changed, but she didn’t need him leeching off
her work. This was going to be hard enough without having to help
him too. She looked down into her notepad and was doodling circles
when she heard, “Welcome to your first day of law school. I am
Professor Paul Black.”

Oh my God.
My knight is the professor.
Her heart was racing at the look of this man standing in front of
the class. Her cheeks flushed. She wasn’t listening as he rambled
on and on about his expectations. By the time the class was over,
she had absolutely no idea what he had just said.

Everyone rose to leave, and she stood up and looked
to see if Xander was still there. She needed him to clue her in as
to what she had missed. She cringed at having to ask him, but she
had no other choice. She realized she shouldn’t have been so mean
to him earlier, but he was already gone when she turned around
again. There were forty-five minutes before her next class, and she
was definitely going to take Mr. Hot Teacher’s advice and get a
locker, because lugging all those heavy books from classroom to
classroom everyday was not an option.

On her way out, she noticed Alexander sitting in a
red velvety couch in the communal lounge of school, talking to a
tall blond bombshell, while three other girls hovered around him,
laughing.
Jerk.

When she finished registering for her locker, one of
the last ones left, she was glad to have all those books off her
hands and glad that Professor Hot-and-Tempting had given her the
tip about the locker. She found herself wishing he’d given her more
than just a tip. W
here had these naughty thoughts come
from?

She still had about twenty-five minutes before her
next class and decided she needed to make some friends or at least
be able to ask someone from her group what happened in the previous
class. She thought that the best way to meet people was to go hang
out at the communal lounge. She hoped that she wouldn’t see Xander
there. He was so annoying.

Her phone rang as she was walking in and about to
plop herself on one of the couches. By the caller ID, she could see
that it was Oliver.

“Hey, Oly, how are you?”

“Hey, you. How is your first day going?”

“Did you know that your brother enrolled in law
school?”

“Um . . . sort of. He mentioned something about it,
but, since he never follows through with anything, I didn’t give it
much thought. Wait. Is he in school with you? No!”

“He sure is. I can’t believe it. First, he stands me
up this week after not hearing from him in four years. Then, he
shows up here as if we’d seen each other the day before. Law school
isn’t a joke, Oliver. This is a big financial and emotional
investment for both of us. What was he thinking? Can he even handle
this?”

“I don’t know, Jill. We had a big argument a week
ago about his partying and lack of motivation. You know the usual.
I told him that I would be leaving for a few months, and then he
stormed off and I . . .”

“You’re what? You’re leaving? Where are you going?”
She knew she must have sounded frantic. She was pacing.

“Yeah, I got that job with Wild Life Geographic’s as
a lead photographer. I’m leaving for Brazil in a week, and I won’t
be back for a few months. I was calling to say goodbye.”

Goodbye? “
Congrats, Oliver. I know that this
is your dream. I’m so happy for you, but I can’t say that I won’t
miss you.” Her eyes were beginning to well up and tears would soon
start rolling down her cheeks, which rarely happened. She didn’t
have family, and her only real confidante and constant in her life
was Oliver, even if she rarely had the opportunity to see him. “I
just, well, at least we have phones and emails. I was hoping to see
you soon, but I guess that won’t happen, huh?”

“Jillian, I’m going on a rainforest expedition. I
don’t think that phones and computers are in the program, unless
the Amazon has WiFi.” He laughed, but it was just an attempt to
lighten the mood. He was going to miss her too. “Let’s plan to
spend Thanksgiving together. That’s two and a half months away. How
does that sound? I should be back by then, and I always meet up
with Xander for Thanksgiving. Now you guys are in the same city, so
let’s plan that, okay?”

“Okay, Oly. Try to keep in touch. I gotta go. Love
you. Bye.” She rushed the words out and abruptly hung up and walked
out the lounge and headed to the bathroom. She knew that in a
minute she would be crying full-blown sobs: the ugly kind—the
uncontrollable kind.
What a terrific first day this is turning
out to be. What happened to my big girl pants?

Her phone rang again. It was Oliver, undoubtedly
calling to see why she hung up so suddenly.

She sent him a quick text.

Class starting. TTYL

***

Alexander

Alexander had been watching Jillian from the corner
of the lounge as the four girls continued rambling on and on about
God knows what. When he saw Jillian run out after hanging up the
phone, he pushed himself off the couch and hurried towards her, all
but shoving the girls out of the way. When she had given him that
long-winded speech about distraction and independence a few hours
ago, he had decided, angrily, to give her space. They were
friends—best friends—family, actually. She was being a real bitch,
but that was par for course with Jillian when it came to him. He
was set on ignoring her for the next three years of school as she
had requested. He didn’t need to put up with her bratty, arrogant
attitude.

But that all came crashing down the second he saw
her upset and running out. It had been less than three hours and he
was already running after her—literally. This was going to be a
long three years. He needed to know if she was okay and who had
wounded her so that he could kick his/her ass for upsetting someone
as fragile and sweet (and bitchy) as Jillian. Well, she really
wasn’t fragile, but he felt a surge of protectiveness towards
her—always had.

She pushed the door to the bathroom open, when
Alexander rushed behind her and grabbed her elbow and turned her
towards him, bowing his body down to look into her eyes. He saw her
tears, and a lump formed in the back of his throat. Bitchy Jill he
could tolerate. Crying Jill—well that was a whole new monster. He
had no idea how to navigate the waters. All he could think about
was that he had only seen her cry the one time four years ago at
Helen’s funeral. In all those years on Onion Island, he never saw
her cry. Not when she was hurt or when he was mean to her—which was
often. Too often, he thought. She was too proud for tears. This
must be really bad. His heart physically hurt when he saw the tears
rolled down her face, her green eyes shining and piercing.

“Hey,” he said softly.

They were quiet for a few seconds, and when she
didn't pull away from his grip around her elbow, he pulled her
quickly behind him and just about dragged her to a private corner
in a an empty hall of the building. Once they were there, without
any words, he quickly pulled her into his arms and hugged her for
what felt like an eternity. He knew she would rather die than let
anyone see her cry. He let her cry into his chest until she was
hiccupping. She inched close to his chest as he tightened the grip
around her. When he felt the sobs start to subside, he pulled back
a little, arms-length, and looked her up and down,
questioningly.

“What the hell happened?” he asked with anxious
concern.

“Did you know your brother was leaving?” His jaws
locked. This hysterical sobbing was about Oliver? Oliver the
perfect. Oliver the sweet. Oliver the accomplished.

“Yeah. So?”

“What do you mean so? He’s leaving us.”

“Relax, Red. He’ll be back.” He rolled his eyes and
let her go. He was about to walk away, not able to comprehend what
all the damn tears were about. Was she in love with Oliver? She was
like a sister to them.
Okay, maybe not a sister so much.
She
was free to fall in love with whomever she wanted. But with Oliver?
It angered him, and the fact that it angered him, surprised him. He
was about to walk away.

“It's just that you just came back into my life
today of all days, and the one person that I could always count on
is leaving. And he’s leaving to go somewhere dangerous and foreign
and where there are no phones or Internet. Plus, I was a total
bitch to you, which I feel terrible about. And no one came to my
graduation because I have no one. And I didn’t pay attention to
what the professor said, and now I’ll probably fail his class,
and….” She made these great revelations all in one breath on the
verge of hysterics. “It's like those first months at boarding
school all over again. I have no one. All the people I love are
gone.”

His heart ripped open. “Hey, I’m not leaving. I’m
here. I may not be as dreamy and wonderful as Oliver; although, I
have heard we look alike,” he winked, “and you're not alone. I love
you too, Jill—so all the people that love you are not gone. You've
always been a bitch, but I'm used to it—don’t feel terrible about
that,” he said as he tickled her ribs—he knew that was her ticklish
spot. He tried to lighten the mood. “We have class in about three
minutes. We should go. After this class, during lunch break, you
can go with me to the bookstore and show me which books I have to
buy, while I tell you everything that happened during Criminal Law,
while you were drooling over the teacher and doodling Mrs. Jillian
Black on your Trapper Keeper. After that, I promise to give you
your space so that you get your full law-school experience without
your bad-influence friend around tempting you. Okay Jilly?”