College encounters box s.., p.1
College Encounters Box Set, page 1
Copyright © 2020 by Maeve Williams
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
College Encounters
4 Book Box set
By Maeve Williams
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Unexpected Encounter
“Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me.”
— Carl Sandburg
Chapter 1
Mary
My pencil lead snapped for the fifth time that night. People might think I’m crazy to do homework on a Friday night, but I didn't give a shit what those people thought anyway. I sighed and placed my pencil down, obviously I was pressing too hard. I was stressed because, even muffled as it was, literally everybody in town was having a party. I guess our football team won the game earlier that night. I didn’t really keep up with it. Our football team, The Northmont University Chimeras, wasn’t even that good until now during my senior year. I never had to worry about these kinds of parties formerly.
I started to wind my pencil in my sharpener, the quiet scratch calmed me slightly. If I focused on it, I could ignore everyone else partying like the world was ending.
This momentary serenity was broken as I heard the tell-tale thump-thump-thump approaching from behind me. Before I could turn around, there was a pair of arms around my neck and my best friend’s face against mine.
“Lola.” I sighed.
“What? You’re giving me real name treatment?” I couldn’t see it, but I knew she was pouting. “I haven’t even told you anything yet.”
“Fine. Lulu, I’ll hear you out,” I mumbled, but whenever she interrupted me when I was working it was because she wanted to do something I wouldn’t like.
“The night is so young,” she teased dramatically and let go to spin behind me. I turned and watched her theatrics, trying not to rain on her parade by frowning.
“It’s young, and I’m working,” I replied back, mimicking her sing-song voice. “I thought you invited me over to study.”
“Mary, did you study yesterday?” Lulu asks.
“Yes.”
“And are you going to cram tomorrow?”
“Probably.”
“And you’ve already worked so much tonight, too.” Lulu surged forward and grabbed my hands.
“Get to your point.”
“So, let’s go to this party I was invited to,” Lulu begged.
My eyes widened in protest, “No way!”
“Mary,” she dragged out every sound in my name into a whine. “If you don’t take a break, you’re literally going to die.”
“I’m not literally going to do anything.” I crossed my arms and then I suddenly realized I was acting childish.
“One day you’re going to be the greatest veterinarian in the entire world, and then you can choose to spend all day working,” Lulu declared. “But it’s your senior year of college. Let’s be irresponsible! Let’s get fuckin drunk!”
“Do you even care about the football game?” I inquired.
“Half of these people don’t give a shit!” Lulu cried with the same joyful enthusiasm as before. “It’s an excuse to party. And you totally need one.”
I glanced back at my work. It actually wasn’t due until Monday, but I was practically already done. I wasn’t finished only because I was having trouble focusing because of all the parties anyway. I wouldn’t be able to get enough sleep that night either, if the trend continued. I really didn’t want to go. But I looked up at Lulu’s face. She seemed so excited. She was always pushing me to go out, and I probably would have died of lack of sun at some point if she didn’t insist. I’d been working a lot that week.
“Fine,” I agreed before I could change my mind.
“Ah!” She squealed in a high-pitched voice. “I’m going to go get ready, go put on that dress of yours, you left it here last time you slept over, you know the purple one with the flowers.” She skipped out of the room, off to get dolled up.
I put on the dress she was talking about over my boring, white button up shirt I was already sporting. The dress was held up with thick straps and was dark purple with tiny black flowers dotting the entire thing. Then I slipped on my black converse. Wearing heels to a party was dangerous if there was likely to be sticky beer spilled everywhere. I brushed out my thin, straight ginger hair and only bothered to put on a bit of mascara. I didn’t really want to be noticed. I was short: barely 5”3 and the freckles that dotted over my pale face were the only things that people seemed to notice about me. Maybe I could go the whole party without an incident? I could get pleasantly buzzed and people-watch, then make sure Lulu got home without passing out or puking.
Lulu looked amazing as always. She was wearing short-short jean shorts and a bright red crop top, showcasing her golden-brown skin. She had her curly black hair up in a messy bun that somehow looked effortless yet sexy at the same time. I hoped she’d have a good time tonight, since I didn’t really plan on it. But it’d make her feel better to know I wasn’t wasting away in my room, which were her words, not mine.
She drove us to one of the frat houses off campus. There were so many people streaming in and out of the house. As we walked inside, I saw several couples making out on beach towels littering the lawn.
Inside, the music was deafening. The walls shook so much, the pictures, all the frames started threatening to fall and scatter broken glass everywhere. I got myself a beer and made sure Lulu only gulped beer from the unopened bottles and cans. I’d designated myself a protector tonight. I didn’t think I’d be having fun or talking to anyone, anyway. The least I could do was keep Lulu safe.
I settled back into a corner as I watched Lulu greet what seemed like everyone at the party. Did she actually know all these people? Or was she so friendly that she acted like she knew everyone whether she did or not? I could never do something like that. I wasn’t nervous, well, maybe a little overwhelmed, but it was more that I just didn’t know how.
My gaze drifted from face to face. I didn’t know a single other person here. I sighed and took a sip of my drink. At least it was calming, I didn’t feel as pent up as I did while I was working. Maybe Lola had a point?
As my eyes paraded around the party, watching people grind against each other and beer pong balls fly dangerously close by, I noticed someone familiar. And unfortunately, he noticed me back.
Kyle. He was the quarterback of the football team. I only knew that because he wouldn’t stop talking about it in class when we should’ve been focusing.
“Hey Mary,” Kyle approached, red cup in hand, and his letterman jacket around his shoulders like a cape. He had short-cropped brown hair and perfectly white teeth. He was, unfortunately, very attractive, but I didn’t let that stop my hatred of him. Yeah, he could put some product in his hair and wink his pretty blue eyes, but that didn’t mean I had to fall for it. The only reason he was so muscular and toned was because of football, it was the only thing he seemed to care about. I may have thought he was cute. Once, back in freshman year, but that had quickly changed.
“Kyle,” I frowned. “Don’t you have better things to do?”
“I can’t come say hi to my favorite bookworm?” He put his hands over his heart and got a fake, wounded look in his eyes. My face burned in frustration.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I threatened, mustering all of my hatred into my voice. I took another big swig of my beer and looked anywhere but at him. He had to be at least smart enough to know he wasn’t wanted.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him raise his hands in surrender and back away without saying anything else. I guess the only thing he had going for himself was that he could take a hint.
Kyle Smith. He and I were both studying to be veterinarians, but he didn’t even care about it. We’d been in classes together all four years and in everyone he cheated his way through and was praised for being so involved in his studies and in football. I tried to get him busted once, freshman year, but it blew up in my face. How could Kyle cheat? Weren’t his parents super rich? I must have been jealous of him and his success. I remembered all the hateful words the other people in the major said to my face and more that they whispered behind their backs. It left me with only Lulu, who I’d known since grade school, since all my other friends started to fade away gradually. The whole time Kyle didn’t say a word to them. He kept talking to me like we were buddies, and not like he was slowly ruining my friendships.
From then on, I decided I wasn’t going to deal with him anymore. No matter how much he tried to talk to me, or sit near me, I just moved away furtively. If he wanted to cheat his way through life, then good for him. He could use his parent’s damn money to c oast through life. I was going to work hard and make a living for myself doing what I loved. Like I said, he could fuck off.
Lulu looked like she was having fun. She’d started making out with a few guys and even a couple girls here and there. Maybe she would go home with one of them?
Whenever I looked anywhere else, I seemed to find Kyle again. He was always talking with someone and laughing or running his hands through his hair. Didn’t he know it made him look like a self-absorbed prick? Every time I looked away, I seemed to see him again. I finished off my first beer quickly and grabbed another. I popped the tab and almost chugged it to avoid looking at Kyle. It was gone too quickly, and I was thinking about him again. I grabbed another and drank it. I lost track of Lola, but she hadn’t really been drinking as much, she was probably fine. Just in case, I went looking for her, snatching another beer as I looked. I couldn’t find her, so then I chugged another beer. And then I had another. I wasn’t sure what number I’d reached at that point.
I stumbled around the party, wandering like a ghost through the bodies and colored lights. The music that was so loud before now sounded far away and my vision blurred like there was a fog flowing through the party.
“Are you good?” A voice asked me and put his arms around me.
I stood up straight, since I’ve always prided myself on my ability to act sober even as drunk as I was. “I’m fine.”
“That’s good, because I thought you were as drunk as I am. I can hardly see straight,” the voice laughed, and I giggled too. It was so funny.
“Where are you going?” The voice asked and I felt myself tip forward in his buff arms. He was just so warm.
“Where are you going?” I challenged back, my voice slurring a little.
“Didn’t I ask first?” The voice sounded genuinely confused.
It was annoying how much he kept talking. I pushed him up against the wall and aimed for his mouth. I missed little and started kissing more at his cheek but quickly moved back to his lips and forced my tongue through immediately. He let it in, and I tasted him. Some distant part of me knew that this wasn’t what I was normally like. I hadn’t had a boyfriend since high school. I thought it’d just be a distraction. But I was wrong, I needed this.
I started grinding against him as I tasted the beer on both of our tongues. I wanted to go further. I started fumbling with the collar of his shirt.
“Wait,” he interrupted against my mouth.
I growled in frustration. He really did talk too much.
“I’ve got a room, so I’ll kick out anyone inside,” he explained.
I grinned. He finally was saying something useful. He took me by my hands, and we navigated through the faceless bodies in the party. Everything whirled in a blur. Most everyone we passed was like us, pressing into each other’s heavy hunger in their voices. Soon they’d drift off before getting even further.
As I stepped into the room, the voice found me as he pulled a couple off the bed and locked the door. The alcohol had filled me with warmth inside, but I wanted his arms around me again; I yearned for him to make me hot all over. I fell down onto the bed and pulled him over me. I captured his mouth again and bit at his lips.
“I didn’t know you were so feisty,” His voice was husky and slurred with alcohol.
I pulled him until he was flush against me and nibbled at his ear. “You don’t know anything about me,” I insisted.
***
When I opened my eyes, I immediately shut them. It was way too bright, and my brain felt like it was slamming against my skull. I sat up slowly and rubbed my palms against my eyes. I’d never been this hungover before. How much did I drink?
I finally blinked open my eyes and came to the realization that I wasn’t wearing anything. With my headache pounding, I wrapped the comforter over me to hide myself, but from who? I turned my head in horror. There was a man, turned away from me, also definitely naked.
“Oh my God,” I put my hand over my mouth, afraid I’d woken him up accidentally. Yet he didn’t stir. I silently slipped out of bed and gathered up my clothes. They were thrown every which way. Now that I was more awake, I vaguely remembered the heat and the noises, but not much else.
I was glad to find a used condom on the floor, no matter how gross it was now. At least we both weren’t too drunk to be complete idiots. I had no idea who I slept with, though. I decided to look at him and then ask Lulu who he was. I probably had to avoid him for the rest of the year.
I couldn’t find one of my socks, but I didn’t care. I was going to briefly check who my partner was and then leave. I crept over after I was fully dressed. I couldn’t hold in my gasp. I was shockingly greeted by the sleeping face of Kyle Smith! I backed up until I hit the wall. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be some kind of joke. But there he was: his usually so ruffled brown hair was mussed up and frizzy against the pillow. I remembered how his skin flushed as he pushed into me, and his muscled arms enveloped me and grasped me into a kind of warmth I’d never known before. The damning letterman jacket on the floor at my feet made the whole romp too real.
I quickly fumbled around for my phone. There were thirty texts from Lola and two from my parents. I snuck out of the room as quickly as possible. If there was any good in the world, maybe Kyle wouldn’t remember who I was, he’d been even drunker than I was, and I could go back to hating him in peace?
I found Lola asleep on the floor in the arms of a beefy looking guy who was only wearing sweatpants. I nudged at her shoulders.
“What?” She groaned and looked up at me. “Oh shit? I thought you went home for sure. Where were you?”
“Later. We need to leave. Now,” I instructed, pulling at her arms.
“One minute,” Lulu requested and slipped her partner’s phone out of his pocket, typing something in quickly before replacing it. “I gave him my number.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t judge. As we left, I didn’t see Kyle at all, so hopefully he was still sound asleep.
Lola kept trying to ask me questions on the way to my house, but I mostly blew her off nonchalantly. I knew it was rude, but with the headache and my building shame, I couldn’t tell her. Not yet.
I got home and unlocked and opened the door as quietly as I could. Maybe my parents would still be asleep? I told them I’d be home last night after hanging out with Lola, but possibly they assumed I slept over there?
“Hello Mary,” my mother bounded over to me and my dad looked up from his newspapers. Of course, they’d choose today to be early risers.
“Hey mom.” I cringed at how rough my voice sounded. “I’m sorry, I was—”
“No worries, sweetie.” She immediately began fixing my awful, messed up hair. “Lola texted us and told us you guys were at a party.”
“She did?” I questioned.
“Well, you weren’t picking up your phone, you nearly worried your dear old dad half to death don’t you know?” She said fluffing my hair up. “I told him your phone probably died, and I was right. Lola was a dear and let me know where you were.”
“I’m sorry for being out all night,” I started.
“No way!” My mom threw her hands up. “You’ve been here every day with your nose in a textbook. Sam. Sam, tell her she deserved a night out.”
“I’m glad you went out,” my dad muttered in his deep, rumble.
Maybe they thought it was a good idea, but all I could think was that I had just made the worst decision of my life going to that party?
Chapter 2
Mary
The next day I keep to myself in class like usual. I knew where Kyle always sat and avoided looking over there the whole time. I didn't like looking at him anyway, so it probably wasn’t too suspicious if he didn’t remember what we did, or who he did it with.
I still hadn’t told Lola anything. She’d guessed that I’d had a one-night stand but really wanted to know more. I told her I’d tell her soon, but I wasn’t sure I could muster up the courage. I still felt so ashamed.
“I’ll post the grades on the wall outside after class,” My professor declared, and my ears pricked up eagerly.
