Luke's P.O.V
"Will she be okay?" Jacob asked, sipping his coffee.
"She will be, trust me. She gets like this when she's laughing too hard," Hailee nodded, stirring her coffee with her straw.
I couldn't help but laugh a little more. It was funny how much I missed Chloe. I remembered how funny she was, but this reminded me exactly of why I wanted to be around her 24/7. She was like a ray of sunshine, always finding something to laugh about. Her laugh was infectious and no matter what she laughed about, I couldn't help myself but laugh along. There was no one like her.
"Was it really that funny?" Chloe Marshall asked, scrunching her eyebrows together while holding her coffee in her hand.
"Yeah, it was," I grinned.
"I don't even understand why, but I am over it," she rolled her eyes, defeated.
"Same here," Heather nodded.
Chloe soon came out of the bathroom, a smile still playing on her lips, causing me to smile. I could feel butterflies in my stomach as she stood there.
I pushed Jacob out of the way and stood up so she could scoot back into her seat.
"Easy man," Jacob snapped at me.
I didn't even listen to what he said because I was too busy looking at Chloe. She looked absolutely stunning. Her clothing always seemed to accentuate her curves without showing them off, which I appreciated. She could even make sweatpants and an old t-shirt look great. Damn, why did she have to be so beautiful all the time?
"Actually, Chloe‒" Hailee piped in before she could even get back into the booth, "‒and I need to leave. I just remembered that I have something I have to do before school starts in a few days."
Chloe stopped where she was and nodded, her face unreadable as she looked at Hailee.
I took this opportunity to get her coffee for her, so she wouldn't have to struggle reaching for it. So, she loved raspberry mochas, huh? I'll have to remember that.
"I can get the door for you on your way out," I said as I walked towards the door, but Hailee's skinny hand on my shoulder stopped me.
"Luke, you can stop being super nice, it's okay," Hailee rolled her eyes while shaking her head with a smile on her face, snatching Chloe's coffee out of my hands.
"Oh," I tried to smile.
"Yeah, man, they're independent women who don't need no man," Jacob smirked, placing his arm around me while looking after them.
I understood the whole independent woman thing, but I don't see anything wrong with trying to be polite either. I just wanted to feel helpful in some way, like I made something easier for her. I guessed some girls didn't realize that some guys actually wanted to be helpful, not that we were trying to take anything away from them.
"Yeah, we'll go ahead and leave, too," Chloe Marshall said, taking Heather's hand. "I need to work off the calories I just consumed with this macchiato."
"Okay ladies," Jacob grinned, releasing me.
I watched as Chloe left with the others. I hated to see her go since I didn't have many opportunities like this to be around her. I didn't even know she was coming to get iced coffee. I just remembered Chloe Marshall texting me to meet her here with Jacob. I never would have thought to see Chloe come along. It was probably Hailee who somehow managed to bring her.
"Damn, if Claire was just twenty pounds lighter I'd tap that ass so quick," Jacob shook his head and marveled at her. "She's a feisty one and I like them that way."
I was used to Jacob saying stuff like this, but when it was about Chloe it unnerved me greatly. I tried to forget what he said, hoping he would stop.
"And those boobs though. I know she tries to hide them, but I can tell what size they are. There are so many things you could do with them," Jacob continued.
"That's enough," I said, irritation obvious in my voice. I did not appreciate the way he was talking about her, especially since he never seemed to have any interest in her in the first place.
"What's wrong with you, man? I am just stating the obvious," Jacob said as if nothing he said was wrong in any way.
I could feel anger rise within me, but I stopped it. I didn't need to get fired up over something like this. It wasn't like she was my girlfriend or anything.
"I get it. Why waste any time talking about her. You wouldn't be interested in in her anyway," Jacob lifted his hands in defeat.
Oh you have no idea… "I'm going to go ahead and go."
"What? I still haven't finished my large, iced, sugar-free, vanilla latte with soy milk yet!" he called after me as I started to head for the door.
I let out a small laugh and shook my head. Damn, that was still funny. "Who even orders that anyway?" I asked, not bothering to look behind me.
"Listen man, it's easier on my stomach. The other time when I didn't have it I had a fiesta in the bathr‒"
"I'm out," I said quickly and opened the door.
‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒
The first day of college was probably one of the most nerve-racking moments of my life‒second to when Coach Saban came to Willowbrook to scout me for the team. Normally, I was pretty coolheaded about things and didn't get nervous easily but today was different. I know it shouldn't have been, but I was so anxious about how everything would turn out. I went to every class thinking that Chloe could potentially be in there, but as soon as I stepped into each room, she was nowhere to be found. She was studying to be an engineer, or at least that was what I remembered. That would make it more likely that we would be in the same class together. Damn, maybe I should have asked Hailee about it inconspicuously. Nah, that wouldn't have worked. Hailee would probably have noticed and then told Chloe about it, making me seem like a weirdo. Maybe I was just overthinking it.
As I walked to Calculus, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
I took my phone out as I walked and looked down to see who texted me.
Jacob: Wanna eat at the caf, tonight? Just met a hot chick in sociology last class and invited her.
Of course he did, and he wanted me to be his wingman.
Me: Sure
Jacob: Thanks man, you're the best!
I put my phone away and continued to walk to Cal I, feeling my heart pound harder than usual. As I approached the classroom I checked the room number, and then went inside. I was surprised to see sixty people already in there. It was way different than Willowbrook, which had only about twenty people in our Calculus class.
"Hey," I heard someone call at me.
I looked to see someone I actually recognized. I smiled and nodded in recognition. It was Kason Vanderbilt, second-string wide receiver on the football team. He grinned at me and motioned for me to come over, which I gladly did.
"Hey Kason," I said and grabbed his hand and we pulled each other in and patted each other on the back, just like all the other football players did. It was our version of a handshake.
"For a second I didn't know if that was you or not," Kason said and removed his backpack from the seat in front of him.
I went ahead and sat down in the small desk and tucked my backpack underneath my desk. "Yeah I didn't think I would recognize anyone. So far I haven't seen anyone I know in my classes. I was quite relieved to see a familiar face."
"I know exactly what you mean, man. I already have a bunch of classmates that come here, but most of them aren't studying to be an engineer," Kason said and pushed back his brown hair that fell in his eyes.
"Exactly," I said and then noticed someone staring at me. I glanced over to see some skinny girl with long dark hair looking at me while chewing her gum. Was she a friend of Kason's?
"Oh yeah, let me introduce you to some of my friends here. This is Jessica, she went to high school with me‒"
The skinny girl grinned with her gum between her teeth and shook my hand. "Call me, Jess."
"Hi, Jess," I forced a smile.
"‒ and this is Gunther, he also went to high school with me," Kason said.
The guy sitting behind Jess turned in his desk and shook my hand. "Sup I'm Gunther, but you know that already," he grinned, showing his dimples. Gunther was exceptionally buff, and his strawberry blonde hair was buzzed. He looked like one of the tough guys I would see on early nineties movies. The kind who bullied everyone.
"I'm surprised you don't do football. We could use some of that muscle of yours," I laughed as I examined him. His muscles were seriously no joke.
"Nah, I'm not coordinated enough for football. I don't really do the football thing, probably because of my lack of coordination, but wrestling is more of my speed."
I tried imagining what he would look like with his headgear and singlet and laughed. I wasn't trying to be mean, but those things looked really weird on people.
"Alrighty class, let's get started," a man with thick glasses and a suit said as he walked into the room.
We all turned around in our desks and quieted, facing towards him. Now it was time to get my third syllabus of the day.