The day went by with the speed of molasses after my meeting with Vancejoy, and to say I was exhausted was an understatement. I found myself wandering the edge of the trees that connected to the campus garden, slowly urging myself deeper into their shade, when I heard a woman's cries coming from the greenhouse.
I directed my wandering gaze to see a certain red-haired beauty was kneeling on the ground with her head in her hands. A wave of worry crashed over me. As I neared further, she appeared unscathed. Ainsley really was a sweet girl, and she didn't deserve to cry alone.
"Ainsley?" I spoke softly, knocking on the opened greenhouse door.
Ainsley instantly sat up, wiping her eyes and dusting off her clothes. Her mascara was smeared, and her eyes were ringed black. The total opposite of her prim and proper appearance. Anger snuck in, and I found myself still wondering who caused her tears.
"Oh, hey Oakley, what are you doing here? We have to get ready for the party tonight." Clearly, feigning confidence when cornered was something we had in common.
Though furious, and a bit curious, I understood that she didn't want to talk about whatever had upset her, therefore, I simply offered my hand to her. She took it gracefully, and stood up. Goddess knew I couldn't be the one to push.
"Thank you." she said softly. She was always careful not to yell around me, and I was thankful for that. She knew of my sensitive hearing, and adjusted her volume most of the time.
"Come on, let's get you ready to go. I'm gonna skip out tonight, but I'll walk you there." I threw my arm around her shoulders, and led her back to the dorms, hoping to find a better way to cheer her up.
By the time we entered her dorm, I had gotten a few laughs out of her, enough to feel comfortable skipping out on the party. As tired as I was, if she needed me, I'd be there. Opening the old victorian doors to the main building, we dawdled over to the elevator. I wasn't in any rush to be near people, and Ainsley needed some recovery time.
She began working on her makeup, instructing me to help her pick out an outfit for the evening. I was about to protest, but I figured if I helped her pick out an outfit, it would sweeten the deal. I sauntered over to her closet and looked through her clothes. Scanning them for something that would help her feel more comfortable, my eyes landed on a pretty silver dress that hung in the center of her closet.
It had some sequins on it, and it glittered under the lights. Surely the strobe lights would make it look even more stunning. The dress had half sleeves, and hugged tight over her body, I'd seen it before.
When I looked to the edge of her closet where her jackets hung, I picked out my favorite one of hers. A large, ripped jean jacket, that frayed at all the edges it had.
I held out the clothes to her, and her eyes instantly lit up. As if the she were erasing the past twenty minutes from her memory.
"Oh Oakley, you really know my style! I love this outfit!" She squealed with excitement, rushing into the bathroom to change.
I stood awkwardly in the center of the dorm for a few moments before she bounded out of the room with her purse, ushering me along with her. I could say I got whiplash, but having been around her enough, it only made me dizzy.
"I'm serious Lee, I am walking you there and leaving, I can't stay." I told her with a stern expression. Her smile faltered a bit, but a look of understanding crossed her face, and she smiled softly.
"Okay Oakley, I understand. Here, it's this way-" She said, extending her hand to the left. "Only like, five minutes from campus."
She asked a few more times if I was sure I couldn't stay, and gave up when we ended up in the front yard of a large house.
The moon was out, and full, filling the yard with much needed light. Students were strewn across the lawn, and it was a hell of a lot more crowded than last night. I breathed a sigh of relief that I wasn't staying, and because of the amount of people outside, I knew I would eventually be overstimulated with the amount of noise. My ears couldn't handle that.
I gave Ainsley a small hug and started to head back to campus. I took about four steps when I heard a loud voice call my name.
I flinched a bit and turned my head completely, and saw that Trey was grinning at me and stumbling in my direction. How he ever made it to his classes was beyond me, but hey, to each their own.
"What's up, Trey?" I kept a smile plastered on my face, desperately hoping he would be too drunk to remember why he called my name.
"I didn't know you were here, Coop's been askin' for you, I told him I saw you on the front lawn." He said, slurring his words, and gesturing towards the house.
I ran a hand down my face, the exhaustion was overwhelming. My ears throbbed with unbearable tenderness. I needed to come up with an excuse to leave.
"I'm sorry Trey, I am actually leaving right now, I just walked Ainsley here." I gave him an apologetic smile, but all he did was wrap an arm around my shoulders, and tugged me in the direction of the large house.
My smile immediately dropped, and I won't lie, I panicked. My feet pushed in the other direction, digging into the soft mud under them. Trey seemed unobservant, or he just didn't care, but due to his supernatural strength, he continued to drag me.
"Trey, no, I have to go." With the pounding in my head getting worse, I knew my hearing would only be that much more sensitive.
"Hey, whatcha going on about, little one? It's okay, just say hi to him, and maybe he'll walk you to your dorm." I knew that Trey meant no harm, but his words pricked my veins. Uneasiness settled in. I could feel the music's beat increase tempo through my feet.
I really couldn't let him bring me into the house. Not with that many people, and not with the painful throbbing in my ears. I loved parties, yes, but I never ventured into the party's center for obvious reasons, and that was essentially what Trey was doing.
On a good day, I could bear to enter the kitchen to find something to drink, and on bad days I would sit outside in the furthest tree's branches, listening to the music drown out the many voices of partygoers.
It had been a bad day, and I knew it was about to get worse. The living room of the house was flooded with people, and I placed my hands over my ears as Trey led us through the massive hoard.
Trey didn't seem to notice my uncomfortable expression. I blamed his oblivion on the alcohol as he wound us through the hallway and into the kitchen of the house. It was much better there, noise wise, so I carefully peeled my hands from my ears, and dropped them to my sides.
"What's the matter, Oakley? Is the noise too much?" a familiar voice said, filled with worry. Coop's hand fell on my shoulder, and I flinched.
My head snapped up to meet the familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes, flooded with concern. Did he know? I shook my head slightly, and gave him a small smile. He was stunning, even in the dim lighting. Leather, boots, black shirt, all the same, yet he still gave me flutters in my chest, and clouds in my head.
"No, it's okay, I just have a headache. Don't worry about it. Trey said you asked for me, but I can't stay too long, I kind of need some sleep." He looked at Trey in question, and looked back at me with a soft smile. I couldn't help but spot the brunette that was hiding behind his muscular frame.
"Oh, that's okay, I didn't know you weren't staying. But I'm glad I got to see you, cuz I wanted to tell you how excited I am for our coffee date tomorrow." His smile was replaced with that cocky grin, and one of his friends came up behind him, smacking him on the back. Obviously drunk he let out a low whistle.
"Who's this little thing?" I cringed at his friend's slurred words, and my smile dropped a little.
"I'm not a thing, I'm a nymph. With a name. Oakley" I managed to put a sweet smile on my face despite the venom in my voice. The woman behind Coop glared at me, catching my attention.
Coop had his hand on the back of his neck, a nervous tick of his, and gave a small laugh. He looked back at the girl and motioned for her to leave. With one final glare, she obeyed his silent command, pushing right past me and out to the dance floor.
"Yeah, man, we're friends. Oakley here's pretty cool." I couldn't read the expression on his face, but honestly, I just wanted to get out of there, so I just cleared my throat and told them I would be heading out.
"Hey, wait, let me walk you to your dorm." I wanted to protest, or make a smart remark about his apparent date being left behind, but before my mouth could even utter a word, he took my hand and led me out the backdoor of the house. I smacked it away, but kept his pace as we walked the path to the front yard.
"I'm sorry about Alex, he's a bit sloppy when he's drunk." I gave him a small nod in response and headed toward campus.
"Hey, slow down, are you okay?" I guess I was walking a bit faster than I thought, because I looked back and he was quite a distance away from me.
"I'm okay, Coop, just tired."
My words were mumbled and I rubbed my temples, trying to get him to see how tired I was. I probably looked drunk myself. The headache was getting to be too much, and it was getting harder and harder to walk in a straight line.
"Hey, let me help you. You don't look too good, Oakley." I could hear the worry in his voice, and I nodded my head, letting him close the distance between us, and wrap his arm around my shoulder.
"Let's get you back to your dorm. You need to sleep. You look exhausted." I didn't know what came over me, but I let him take me back to my dorm.