The devil is a liar!
After food, I was, in fact, allowed to go about my homework, but not without some uninvited guest. When Dominic found out I needed to go to the library to do some work, he didn't leave me any room for arguments, just tagged along with me. At the moment, he sat across from me, book open in his hands while I worked on my Computer Science Theory homework. The silence between us might have been easy for him, but I was about to bust.
"Don't you have homework of your own to do?" I demanded after half an hour of the crushing silence.
"I didn't have classes today, so there is no need for you to worry about me."
"I'm not worried about you." I could feel Dominic's eyes on me, but I stubbornly refused to look up from my work.
"Then what are you worried about?"
Don't look up, don't look up...Damn!
Despite my desperate pleading with my body, I still found myself looking up at him when I heard that tone in his voice. From the way he spoke, I knew he already was well aware of what the answer would be. I was not going to give him the honest truth and possibly confirm his thoughts. I wasn't about to tell him that I was worried about the way I reacted to him or that my instincts were screaming at me that he was a bad choice while my body and heart insisted that it would be a fun, bad choice.
Instead, I gave a shrug of my shoulders. "I just don't concentrate well with people staring me down like hawks. In short...your presence is a nuisance."
I had hoped my bluntness in the matter would be enough to drive him away, but he just laughed at me, leaving me wondering what it would take to drive this man away. "Well, my apologies, but after the incident with Jasper, I believe it might be best you don't come to the library alone. He tends to be around here with his group."
"Again," I heaved a huff of displeasure. "I can take care of myself. I certainly don't need protecting from someone I've just met and who insulted me upon our first meeting." I hadn't meant to relieve that I had actually felt insulted by his words, but it was already out there and there was no taking it back.
Dominic stared at me in suprise, giving me the perfect opening to decide that I was done for the day and with the constant conflicting feelings in my own body. I rose to my feet, grabbed my things and made a quick get away while he was still gathering his thoughts. He called out after me, but I ignored him and left the library. I had just reached the bottom of the steps, the sun sinking below the horizon, when someone else called out to me.
"Hey there, Spitfire." I whipped around to find Jasper strolling towards me, hands jammed in his pockets. The same grin as last time was on his face and it had me puffing up.
"I believe I made it clear the last time that my name is Rory."
"Did you?" Jasper drew near to me, leaning down to my height as his grin grew. It put his face too close to mine. After the last time, I found my shoulders automatically hunching up around my ears to defend my neck. "All I remember is how delicious you tasted."
"Too bad you won't be getting another taste." I spat the words at him, drawing back from him enough to glare up at him.
Jasper only chuckled. "Oh, don't be that way, my sweet Southern Belle. I came here to invite you to a party tonight. It'll be fun and your presence will only make it better."
I pulled further back away from him, putting distance between us. Everything in me was screaming to run now and not to be swayed into going to any kind of party that involved Jasper Howell. Before I spit my reply back at him, the door to the library opened. "Aurora?"
I nearly groaned out loud when Dominic's voice reached us. It was the last thing I needed at the moment. Especially when Jasper, his grin grown all the more wider, turned to look at Dominic, white teeth flashing. "Well, hello again, Nico."
"Jasper." Dominic had steel in his voice and eyes for all the warmth he extended to Jasper. His eyes reminded me of a storm-tossed sea. It was obvious that there was no love lost between the two. When Dominic turned to me, though, his eyes softened and his tone gentled. "Are you alright, Aurora?"
"I'm fine." It came out more sharply than I intended it to. I was more annoyed with Jasper than I was him, but I was done with the both of them for the night. I was going to take the opening Dominic had created for me, and run with it. I turned my eyes back to Jasper, already inching my way further away from him. "No, thanks. I don't do parties."
Jasper's eyes twinkled and I knew he had taken my words in the wrong way. "What do you do?"
I was not amused by his twisting of my words and their meaning. "Not you."
I turned on my heels and stalked away, too proud to flee like I really wanted to. I refused to look back over my shoulder at the two guys that were single-handedly driving me up the wall. A feat no one else had ever managed. Thankfully, neither tried to stop me and neither were in sight when I reached the dorm steps and finally chanced a look back. Heaving a relieved sigh, I let myself into the dorm.
My shoulders slumped as tension washed out of me once I was safely inside. Feeling exhausted by the day, I trudged down the hall towards the elevator bank. Serenity was coming out of the commons when I passed by. "Oh, hey, Rory."
"Yeah, hey."
Serenity came to a screeching halt in the middle of the hall, blocking my retreat further into the building. She gave me a once over before she linked her arm through mine and started dragging me towards the elevators.
"What-"
"Hold that thought, hun." In the elevator, she hit the button for my floor, but didn't say anything else as we rode the elevator up. When we arrived on my floor, she lead me in the opposite direction of my room. Where I was in room 4-6, the room she stopped in front of was 4-1.
"I didn't know you were on the same floor as me." I remarked as she ushered me inside.
"Parker, Jaxon and Blanche are, too." she told me, leading the way to her living room. "Here, have a seat. Ice cream and then you can tell what's wrong."
I couldn't even argue as she hurried back to her kitchen. Instead, I looked around. The layout of the room was similar to mine, but where my room was a mix-and-match of thrift store knock-offs in whatever color suited me at the moment, her was all name brand and all in warm tones. It was welcoming, cozy and calming. Things I was quickly coming to associate with Serenity.
Serenity came back then with a pint of Blue Bell strawberry ice cream and two spoons. "I hope you don't mind strawberry. It's my favorite."
"Mine, too, but only Blue Bell's."
Serenity smiled as she handed me one spoon and sat next to me on the couch to pry the the lid off. "I knew I liked you for a reason. A girl after my own heart." Serenity held out the pint, allowing me to take the first scoop of creamy deliciousness, and then she was down to business. "So, what's wrong?"
"What makes you think something's wrong?" I was careful not to let my feelings show in my voice or on my face.
"Hun, I might have only known you for a short while, but that monotone you used was a dead giveaway. You usually have more life in your voice. More...moxie. Right then, you just sounded dead."
My eyes drifted up to her face as she took a scoop of ice cream. "Either you are extremely perceptive or I'm not as good at hiding my thoughts and feelings as I thought I was."
"You're plenty good at it, trust me. I just make it a habit to try to know the moods of everyone around me."
"Sounds exhausting."
"Oh, it is."
I glanced at Serenity, but she waved it away, holding out the ice cream once more. I took another bite before I replied. "Well, it hasn't failed you."
"I didn't doubt it. Now, enough beating around the bush...what's wrong?"
I took another bite to give myself a moment to think. She was Dominic's friend, so I wasn't willing to tell her everything. I settled for a half truth. "It's Jasper. Put aside his aggravating nicknames, he won't leave me alone. He invited me to a party tonight."
Serenity blinked once before she reached out and took hold of my wrist to draw my attention to her face. "Hun, do me a huge favor and never accept his invites to parties. Ever."
Serenity's tone was stern, serious, her sharp gaze intent on me. I shook my head and assured her it was never going to happen. "Wasn't going to. I don't really like the idea of loud, over-the-top college parties. I'd rather sit at home."
Serenity released my wrist as she let go of the breath she had been holding. "Good. Nothing good ever happens at Jasper's parties. Invited guest outside of his inner circle tend to vanish afterward."
"Vanish?" My eyes turned to her sharply. No one had mentioned anything about this to me. "Like decide to withdraw from school or just....gone?"
"Gone." Serenity's gaze was almost haunted in appearance, as if she had personal experience with the matter. "They go to the party and no one sees them afterward. Of course, there's been investigations and all, but it's truly as if the person just vanished into thin air. No traces, no witnesses, nothing. There one minute and gone the next. The police finally decided that it was just college students deciding that their famous parents' lives were too much and had decided to run off or dip out."
That put a frown on my family, me being the family oriented type of gal. "And you have personal experience with this." I didn't need to ask, I knew. I could see it in her eyes. Especially when they darted away from me.
"Before you came, there was a girl who lived in the room next to yours. Her name was Aileen. Sweet girl, very trusting. She had the most beautiful smile. All she had to do was walk into the room and it lit up the place."
I blinked as realization hit me. "You were in love with her."
Serenity's eyes shifted to me. "I still am. I hold out hope that she will show back up. I know Aileen...she wouldn't have ran away and she wouldn't have killed herself."
I couldn't image how Serenity felt. To love someone and not know where they were, what happened to them? To hope every day that they will return? That Serenity held it together only made me respect her more. I laid a hand on her arm, giving it an apologetic squeeze. "I'm sorry. I'm horribly crass and blunt at the best of times. I didn't mean to pick at an old wound."
Serenity shook her head. "Too few people talk about Aileen now. They're all afraid I'll fall apart if they do."
"We can talk about however much or little you want to talk about. I might not know what it's like to not know what happened to a loved one, whether they live or not, but I do know what it is like to lose someone precious."
Her eyes locked in on mine, searching. "You do, don't you."
I nodded. "My mother. I was too young to suddenly be thrust into the role of protector and mother to my little brothers. On top of my own grief...I felt like I was drowning."
"How old were you?"
"Twelve. My brothers, twins, were five. She ODed on sleeping pills." I wasn't about to dredge up the feelings of being unimportant enough for my mother to stay there with us, so I focused on my brothers. "My brothers somewhat understood what happened, why it happened, but I had a full comprehension of it and what I needed to do for my brothers from there. It's not the same as losing the person you romantically love the most, but it hurts all the same."
Serenity took hold of my hand in her two. "Loss is loss, no matter who it is. Aileen," Serenity took a deep breath and released it. "Aileen was my love, my closest confidant, and my best of friends. There wasn't a single thing that I didn't tell that woman. Then Jasper invited her to that party. I told her she shouldn't go, that there were a lot of horrible rumors surrounding those parties, but she was upset with me."
"Upset with you? Why?"
Serenity's smile was regretful as she answered. "I wouldn't admit that I was in a relationship with her to our friends, let alone to my family. She was understandably hurt. Her family knew of our relationship and accepted it, so she couldn't see why I felt the need to hide her from my own family. She was angry and went to the party to spite me. I never saw her again."
"Serenity..." I closed my mouth. I could see the self-blame and self-hatred she carried within her. There were no words I could offer her to make her feel better, so I went with action.
She stiffened for a moment when I seized her in a hug, but only for a moment before she relaxed, her head laying on my shoulder. "I was so furious. With her, but mostly with myself. I'd do it all over again if I could. If she came back, I'd announce my love to the world. I can't turn back time, though."
"No," I agreed. "But you can move forward. If she loved you, really loved you, she wouldn't want you to dwell like this. It helps no one."
Serenity laughed. "She would have liked you. Sometimes, you sound just like her."
"She sounds sensible, then...my kind of gal." Serenity grinned. "Now, I'm not saying to give up hope, but don't beat yourself up over it. Who knows, if she's truly anything like me then she'll show up out of the blue and do the beating for you when she finds out how much you've done it to yourself."
I had never heard Serenity laugh that loudly and that freely. It was nice to see. She gave her head a shake and focused on me, her smile slipping. "You may be right, but I'd still like to not repeat that experience, so promise me you'll never go to one of Jasper's parties."
"I promise. I'm not a party girl."
"Come to one of my parties...you'll change your mind."
"Promise that Jasper and Dominic won't be there and then maybe." I wasn't going to make any real promises.
"Oh, Nico's not that bad. Intense, maybe, but he truly is a sweetheart."
"I don't know, something about him just makes my instincts scream, "threat". I think I'll just stick to you."
"Trust me, I have no problem with that, but you won't really enjoy your college life with only one friend. Blanche is a great friend, really loyal, and the boys might be clueless at times, but they're good guys."
"I'd just rather avoid boys, in general. I'm here for an education and not one that has anything to do with guys." Many argued that that was an education of its own, but it was one I didn't need at the moment.
Serenity smiled. "I can understand that. Juggling romance and studies is never easy. You have to decide where to split your attention and, eventually, one begins to lack if you aren't good at balancing on a thin wire."
"That and I honestly have enough issues without judgment because I don't fit in with other richer students."
Serenity raised an eyebrow as I quickly stuffed a huge scoop of ice cream in my mouth and promptly ended up with brain freeze stabbing within my skull. "Bitter much?"
"Not really. I'm well aware that I'm not as well off as most of the students here, but I make do. I've had a lot of people look down on my because of what I'm willing to be content with. That being said," I fiddled with the spoon in my hand, idly tracing one inlaid, swirling pattern with a broken thumb nail. "I'm not willing to change myself just because I'm here. I'm proud of who I am."
"Which is why you accepted the clothes Blanche and I bought you, but didn't weary any of them today."
I gave her an apologetic look. "It's nothing against you two, really, it's just..."
"You have a hard time accepting help. I get it." Serenity shrugged her shoulders.
"Sorry. I just can't stand being others' charity case. It's like people think that I'm less than a human worthy of respect just because I don't have a lot of money to waste."
Serenity gave me a sharp look. "I do hope you don't think that's what Blanche and I were doing."
"No. I have no doubt you two had good intentions. It's just my insecurities. Something I hate to admit to."
"Don't worry, hun. We're human. We all have our share of insecurities."
My eyes cut over to her. "Even Dominic?"
"Especially, Nico." Serenity gave me a knowing stare at my surprised look. "Oh, I know what you thought. Nico might seem all polished and perfect, but he has his own things to deal with. With two older brothers even more perfect than he is...he has a lot he must accomplish in order to satisfy his parents. He's no less flawed than the rest of us."
That really made me realize how much I had judged Dominic beforehand. It reminded me of a bible verse my grandmother often quoted, "Judge not, that you be not judged.". It made me feel crappy, realizing that I had gone against one of the most heavily enforced lessons my grandmother taught me.
Promising to be less judgy, but also to work harder at avoiding Jasper and Dominic, I called it a night, said bye to Serenity and returned to my room at the other end of the hall. Along the way, I passed 4-5 and stopped. In the weeks I had been there, I hadn't seen anyone leave that room. My first thought was that they probably just hadn't touched it since Aileen's disappearance.
Shrugging my shoulders, I moved on to my door, but stopped when I heard a noise. I turned, thinking that Blanche or the boys might be peeking out of their doors or something, but saw nothing. I could have sworn I heard the noise come from 4-5, but all was quiet. Writing it off as an overactive imagination after all Serenity had told me, I let myself into my room.
And this was why I didn't watch horror movies.