Bound Together (2 page)

We were in the high school
cafeteria one day when Rebecca came over to the table where Mel and
I were sitting. She sat opposite to me and without a word, spat
right into my face and called me a whore. Everyone was staring at
me, whispering to each other and pointing. My ex-friend, Chris just
watched the whole thing unfold. I was about to stand up and walk
away before I burst into tears. That’s when Mel dived across the
table and wrestled Rebecca to the ground. When she finally kicked
Mel off of her, she tried desperately to scramble away but Mel
grabbed her ankle and pulled her hard. Rebecca jolted backwards and
her face landed hard against the tiled surface of the cafeteria
floor. She’d landed so hard, she’d knocked out three of her front
teeth.

Mel and I were both sent
to the principal’s office and she had taken the blame for the whole
thing. She was suspended for a week but she simply stood up,
brushed herself off, lifted her chin and calmly said, “I would do
it again in a heartbeat. That girl is a bitch and deserves to have
all her teeth knocked out.” I had never loved her more.

I was really going to miss
Mel. She was going to one of the local colleges and had been a
little mad at me for leaving to go to California State. After I’d
reminded her that I would be meeting lots of cute college guys and
that I would be getting invited to parties that I would absolutely
be bringing her to, she was cool with it. She attracted men like
bees to honey. But, her lack of confidence in her looks always
ended up pushing them away. She would always comment on how she
wished she could look like me and I still have no idea why. I
wasn’t overweight but I was on the curvy side and luckily I had the
bust to make it look good. Everything was proportionate but I did
wish I could have had a little less curves and a little more rock
hard abs, even though I knew that was never going to happen.
Genetics had made sure I got my mom’s figure and my dad’s blonde
hair, which fell limp and lifeless as it rested on my shoulders.
But my eyes were something else. They were a little of both my
parents. A little blue from mom and a touch of green from dad gave
them the hue of an ocean and I was often complimented on
them.

I was so busy scrutinizing
my looks that I never noticed we’d arrived till we pulled up
outside the dorms. This was it. My new home for the next year…at
least. Dad leaned forward, peering through the windshield. “You
chose this over our three bedroom house? You sure this is what you
want?” Ok, it wasn’t the most attractive looking place I’d seen,
but it seemed perfectly average considering it had been used by
thousands of students in its time. What was he expecting? The White
House? I let out an exasperated sigh, raising my eyes to the
heavens as I got out of the car. I couldn’t wait to see my new
digs.

After exploring for
several minutes I found the main reception and collected my key.
According to the letter that was attached to it, I was in Room 21
and sharing with an A. Brookes. She sounded just like the blonde
cheerleader type that I had loathed back in high school. I cursed
myself for judging my new roommate and for making assumptions based
solely on her name. I hadn’t even met her yet!

I made my way to the
building indicated on the map and began searching for my room,
passing new students like myself as I went by. The hallways
emanated a musty and extremely unpleasant smell that reminded me of
sweat and dirty laundry. There were people I believed to be
students unloading boxes, suitcases, bags and even large trash
bags. The hallways were cluttered with people and their luggage.
Someone even had a huge TV and I wondered if they were actually
allowed to have it there. But, I was more irritated that
I
hadn’t thought of
bringing my own TV.

Swerving out of the way so
they could pass, I looked back over my shoulder and watched as two
guys lifted a very heavy looking box through the hallway, before
dropping it with a thud onto the floor. They began to open it and I
was curious to find out what someone could possibly bring to
college that required the strength of two large men to transport
it.

Caught up in my momentary
daze, I didn’t get the opportunity to see the contents of the box
because a second later, I was stumbling backwards and crashing onto
my ass. My legs flew up in the air and the paper I was carrying
flew across the floor along with my key. I’d somehow managed to
walk headfirst into the broad muscular back of a guy who was now
looking down at me, on my back, spread eagle on the hallway floor.
Thank god I was wearing jeans or he would have got an eyeful. First
impressions at this point, I imagined, were probably not very good.
Maybe I should have worn a skirt. Panty flashing might have made
this a little more bearable. Well for
him
anyway.

He held his hand out to me and smiled.

“Need a hand down there?”
He asked.

I held out my own hand and
he pulled me to my feet. Now that I was face to face with this guy
I could see how dazzlingly good looking he was. His hair was black
and rested just above his chin. It was straight but he wore it a
bit tousled underneath his gray beanie. He had an eyebrow ring in
his right brow and a ring piercing on the left side of his mouth. I
quickly found myself staring at his lips. They were plump and the
lip ring pinched and pressed against the corner of his mouth when
he smiled. I wondered what it would be like to kiss a guy with a
lip ring.

“You looking for your
dorm?” he asked, pulling me away from my inappropriate
thoughts.

I glanced up to discover
the deepest brown eyes I had ever seen. “Yeah. Sorry, I was miles
away. I didn’t see you there.”

He shook his head and held
up his hands. “No need to apologize. This place is a lot to take
in. So, which room are you in?”

I surveyed the hallway
only to discover that my dorm was opposite to his. “Um. This one.
Actually.”

Bending, he grabbed my key
which was sitting on the floor next to his foot and opened my
door.

The room was a comfortable
size, lit by a large window on the far wall. Pushed against the
corner of the room was a single bed which separated the room almost
completely in half. A small, modest, en suite bathroom with a
shower was visible in the other corner. The whole space appeared so
bare compared to my old bedroom, but I told myself that with a few
pictures and some keepsakes, it would feel just like home. I turned
around with a satisfied smile on my face. He was leaning in my
doorway with his hands in his pockets.

“It’s not the Ritz, but
it’ll do right?” he said before I took my key from him and gave him
my friendliest smile.

He was right. It definitely
was
not
the Ritz.
But yes, it would do.

“So I guess we’re going to
be neighbors.” I tried to sound like it was no big deal but this
guy was hot
and I was desperately trying
to control myself from letting my eyes
and
hands wander all over
him.
Knowing that he would be living just
across the hall from me gave me sinful ideas. I mean, our beds
would be literally a few yards apart. Yeah, I know there are walls
and doors too, but it was still pretty close.

He shrugged impassively
and smiled. “Guess so.”

He walked across the hall
to his room and I followed, thinking that I must have seemed to be
the biggest, clumsiest idiot in the place. I mentally chastised
myself for my stupidity in the hallway and also for my lustful
inspection of him. I had just started heading down the hallway when
he yelled after me, “Oliver Green by the way!”

I turned and nodded at
him. “Layla Jennings.”

The corner of his mouth turned up almost as
if he were amused by this. Then he walked into his room and shut
the door.

Well that went well. The
first person I meet at college and not only do I crash into him, I
land flat on my back with my legs in the air. Great start
Lay.

When I finally returned to
the car, dad was already unloading the boxes. Generally, unloading
the trunk took him seconds but today he seemed to take his time. I
supposed he did this just to be with me a little bit longer. Or
maybe he was still trying to accept that I really wasn’t going back
home with him.
Even though I was
tremendously excited about starting my new life at college, I had
always known that this day was going to be challenging for both of
us. I never imagined I would feel so guilty about leaving him.
Dad's pained expression reminded me that while I was making new
friends, going out and having fun, he would be having meals for one
in an empty house.

I strolled over and began
to help him unload. Dad shook his head at me, “I got this honey.
Did you find your room?” The smile he gave me was not his usual
bright and cheery one. It was forced and I could see that he was
trying hard to conceal his emotions but I decided to play along for
both our sakes. “Yeah I found it. Think I made a great first
impression on the guy living across from me though.” I rolled my
eyes at myself. What a klutz.

Dad's eyebrows shot up and
his eyes narrowed as he stared down at me with a dubious look on
his face.
“Guy? There’s a guy living
across from you?” I prepared myself for his overprotective and
highly anti boy speech. I’d heard it hundreds of times before but
something told me that I was about to hear it again.

“Layla. You’re a young
woman now. I know you’re intelligent enough to recognize who you
should and shouldn’t associate with. But, I also realize that this
is college. Hell, I remember college. Which is why I’m concerned.
Don’t get too caught up with the guys here. They’re young, reckless
and only looking for one thing. I don’t have to give you the other
talk, do I? You don’t want to flunk out because you’re knocked up
by some frat boy.”

I rolled my eyes and
instantly regretted it as I caught a glimpse of the stern look he
was directing at me.
I shook my head and
ran to him, flinging my arms around his neck. He squeezed me
tightly, lifting me off the ground and burying his face in my
hair
. I could feel the sting of tears in
my eyes but I couldn’t let dad see me so upset. He kissed my
forehead and set me back on my feet.
I
could see the tears beginning to form in his eyes too.

Staring down at me with a
serious expression, he held my hands firmly in his.
“If at any point you want to come home, just
call. I’ll come straight here to get you. Any time. Night or day.
You can
always
change your mind.”

I placed my index finger
over his lips to silence him. “Dad it’s going to be fine. I’m going
to be fine. You’re going to be ok without me. It’s not forever.
I’ll be home this weekend and we’ll have dinner. It’ll be
good.”
I beamed at him, hoping that he
wouldn't notice the tears which were fighting to be let out. The
dam was sure to burst soon.

I hated long goodbyes.
Needing the separation to be short and sweet, I picked up one of
the large boxes and looked up at him. “Well, I better go unpack.
I’ll see you this weekend. I love you daddy.”

He nodded and focused his
eyes at the ground.
I turned on my heel
and headed to the dorm building, glancing back to see him in the
car with his forehead on the steering wheel.
His hand came up and I knew he was wiping away a tear. My own
warm, salty tears began to flow freely down my cheeks. It was going
to be ok.

I kept repeating that to
myself as I walked to my room. It
was
going to be fine and all I had
to do was believe it.

Chapter
2

Amy

I stood for a few minutes
scrutinizing my side of the room. Everything was unpacked and I
simply couldn’t believe my whole life had been in just four large
cardboard boxes. Everything had its place. Books were on the desk
in alphabetical order, my clothes all hung neatly, color coded in
my closet and the bed was made with military precision. Mom had
always called my need for order and organization kind of nit-picky.
Dad called it quirky.
I
called it necessary. My grandmother had always
told me, “a tidy home, a tidy mind.” I could never get anything
done if my living space was cluttered with junk, it was distracting
and unproductive. My mind was almost instantly swamped with
thoughts of my roommate. There was a good chance she would
not
be as “quirky” as I
was.

Just as I had begun to
wonder what hell I was in for, the door flew open. Standing in the
doorway holding a Louis Vuitton purse, was the most striking girl I
had ever seen. Her long dark hair flowed down to her shoulders and
a few locks hung just around her face, highlighting her huge green
eyes. She was slender and had an impressive athletic figure. She
was almost the complete opposite to me.