Following You (The By You Series) (5 page)

"I won't."

Her mom's eyes searched her face for a long while, as though they were looking for something she hoped was there. Finally, she gave an understanding nod, and pulled Sarah into a tight hug.

The anger Sarah had been feeling melted nearly as fast as it had appeared. She wrapped her arms around her mother and held on tight. She knew she couldn't stay mad for long--they were too close for that.

When they finally pulled apart, everyone said one more round of goodbyes before she and Huck walked back to his truck. The drive back to campus was quick, and neither of them said anything. Sarah sensed that there was still some tension lingering between them from what she'd said earlier, though she didn't have any clue as to why he would still be upset.

When they pulled into the parking lot, she knew she needed to confront the situation.

"You know I was just joking about that whole CEO thing earlier, right?" she said. "I know you're smart and you'll make a great CEO one day."

"It's not a big deal," he said. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I just want you to know that I believe in you."

“Fine, I got it. Let’s get going.”

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, putting a hand on his arm before he got out of the car.

“No,” he said. His voice was sharp. “It's been a long day, can we just get going?"

Sarah winced, but let go of him. They climbed out of the car, and Huck walked her all the way back to her dorm.

“Do you want to come up?” she asked.

“I need to get some sleep,” he said. “My advisor meeting is first thing in the morning.”

Her eyes fell to the ground as she felt her voice catch in her throat. She didn't know why he was being such a jerk, or what she must have done to set him off. It wasn't like him.

He must have sensed something, because his features softened when she looked back up at him.

“Classes don't start for a couple days,” he said. “Why don't we do something tomorrow night? I'll make reservations somewhere, and we'll have one last night of fun before this whole college thing gets going.”

“That sounds nice," she said. She wiped at a lone tear before it made its way down her cheek.

He smiled at her, and leaned in to kiss her on the lips. The kiss started slow, and then went deeper. She cupped the back of his head in her hand, and pulled him closer. Her heart raced faster with every second they embraced.

When their lips parted, Huck turned and bounced down the steps in front of the dorm. Sarah watched him as he walked across campus in his blue jeans and tribal shirt, looking nothing like the man she'd come here with.

By his second day on campus, Jeremy was already starting to feel more comfortable. Seeing the downtown skyline in the distance, he was reminded of how far he was from home. He'd been born and raised in Houston, but Houston was a big, wide spread city, and his home might as well have been a million miles away.

But, you're still here, and that's what is important
.

With the last few years spent living at home, it had started to feel like he was never going to get away. His parents had assured him that there wasn't any rush, they weren't in any hurry to get rid of him, but that didn't make being cooped up around the house any more tolerable. His decision to go to Franklin had given his life some purpose, even if for only a few years. He was more aware than most just how quickly your life could change.

Lost in thought, Jeremy almost didn't hear his name being shouted from somewhere behind him.

"
Remy! Remy, is that you?
"

Spinning around, he saw the surprisingly graceful form of a large, man running toward him, his hand held high to get Jeremy's attention. Jeremy had to blink twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things that weren't there.

"Oz?" he said.

The man let out a rumbling laugh as he threw his arms around Jeremy, nearly squeezing the life out of him in the process.

"Remy, it
is
you," Oz said. "It has been so long--how have you been, my friend?"

Jeremy had to steady himself when the big man finally let him go.

"It's been too long," Jeremy agreed. "What in the world are you doing here?"

Oz barked a laugh that started somewhere in the pit of his stomach. "Ah, ha--
I
am not the stranger around here--
you
are. Soon, my time here will be finished, and there will be much celebrating that they finally got rid of me."

"Wow, so you're graduating, already?"

"At the end of this year, they can kiss it goodbye," Oz said, his smile all teeth. He jabbed a finger forward. "But,
you
have not told me what
you
are doing here, Remy. What brings you to my little part of the city?"

"Actually, I'm going by Jeremy, now," he said. "And, I figured it was about time to check out this college thing. Figured I'd been putting it off long enough."

"I like
Jeremy
," Oz said, rolling the name around his mouth. "It sounds more grown up. We're getting old, aren't we, my friend? Not in high school, anymore."

The thought of high school brought with it a flood of memories--memories that he had held down for a long time. He and Oz had been close back then. Well, about as close as Jeremy was to anyone that wasn't Dani. Oz watched him with keen eyes, and his face took on a more somber tone.

"I heard about what happened..." Oz began, but Jeremy held up a hand to cut him off.

"It's in the past, and I'm trying to keep it there," he said. Then he added, "Everyone's got to move on."

Oz tilted his head in a slow nod. "So, here you are."

"Here I am," Jeremy agreed.

An awkward silence passed between the two men. Jeremy was thankful that Oz had taken the hint--he didn't want to talk about what had happened. As far as he was concerned, it was ancient history.

Not that ancient.

He shook his head, forcing the dangerous thoughts from his mind. He didn't need to be going back to that place.

"If you're graduating, already, you must have started right after high school?" Jeremy said.

"It feels like forever ago," Oz said, the smile returning. "But, sometimes I still wish it was freshman year. All the parties, all the ladies. You're in the dorms, right?"

Jeremy nodded. "I'm one of those lucky bastards that got my own room."

Oz's smile spread wider, if that was possible.

"That is what I'm talking about. You will have fun a lot of fun, you'll see. It was the best time of my life. You will see." The big man barked out another round of laughter, clapping Jeremy on the back when he did. It felt good to be around someone that he'd once known--it had been a long time since he'd seen any of the old crew from high school.

Jeremy glanced down at his watch and saw the time.
Crap!

"Well, I'd love to stay and catch up, but I've got to get going."

"Of course," Oz said. "We must get together, soon. I will show you all of the places to be around here. With you by my side, it will be like old times, once again."

Jeremy liked the sound of that. Before rushing off, they exchanged phone numbers and made a tentative plan for the weekend. As Jeremy hustled off to orientation, he was hopeful that it was going to take even less time than he'd expected to get settled in. It was starting to look like going to Franklin had been the right decision.

The lecture hall in the Modern Languages building was massive. It reminded Jeremy of the auditorium at his high school, minus the stage. Jeremy did his best to not look like a fish out of water, but he was still convinced that if anyone really looked at him, they would know he didn't belong there. People were everywhere, seated and waiting for the orientation to begin.

Jeremy made his way toward the front of the room, trying to find a good place to sit. The seats on the ends of the aisles, and in the back of the hall were already taken by the responsible people who
weren't
late. He was probably going to be stuck sitting front and center.
 

That was when he saw her--the girl sitting by herself in the middle of the room. It was her blonde hair that first caught his attention, and there was no mistaking who she was.

The girl
.

His pulse quickened and his hands got jittery just from the sight of her. Only a day had passed since they had bumped into each other, but he'd thought about her more than a couple times since then. He'd replayed that short conversation fifty times in his head, coming up with all the things he should have said.

Well, here's your chance. Go get her.

As he walked toward her row, doubts crept their way into his head. What if she thought he was some kind of stalker? Wasn't it a little weird that they were at the same orientation together? Was it going to scare her off?

Just be yourself and don't make it awkward
.

He was already halfway down the row, squeezing past other people, when he realized how nervous she was making him, already. How long had it been since he'd been that nervous? She looked up as soon as he approached, and Jeremy's heart sank when there was no hint of recognition in her eyes. She had forgotten all about him, already.

But, then she smiled at him, and every one of his fears melted away.

"Hello, there," she said, beaming up at him. "Maybe this school isn't as big as I thought."

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" he asked

"Not at all," she said.

Jeremy slid into the seat next to her and caught a whiff of her smell. He wasn't sure if it was perfume, or just the soap from a morning shower, but it smelled
good
. He could already tell he was going to have a hard time focusing on the orientation.

"So what are you doing here? Are you in the College of Humanities, too?" she asked.

"I'm studying History," he said. "What brings you in here on a Monday morning?"

"Journalism," she said. "But if my mom has anything to say about it, I'll be studying architecture or something before the year is out."

"Yeah, my parents are the same way."

"Oh yeah? What's their poison?" she asked.

"Pre-Med. Dad's a doctor, and they've hinted a few times that they would help pay for medical school."

"Ugh,
borrrinnngg
." She let out a laugh as Jeremy's face went stone sober. Her laugh quickly faded to a look of concern.

"Is there something boring about
saving lives
?" he asked.

"Oh...I...I didn't mean it like that. I must sound like a bitch," she said.

He let her worry for a few seconds before he nudged her arm.

"Calm down, I'm just fucking with you," he said.

The worried look changed to one of amusement as she nudged his arm right back.

"I see how it's going to be," she said. "I'm on to you, Mister." Her face scrunched up, and she pointed a finger at him. It felt like his heart started working double time.

Damn, she's beautiful. And she acts like she has no idea.

Jeremy was about to say something else when three loud noises popped through the lecture hall. The room quieted down as everyone looked around to see what was going on.

A tiny lady with brown hair rolled into tight curls stood at the front of the room holding a microphone. Despite her small frame, she had had the no nonsense look of someone in charge. She looked around the room with a blank stare that let everyone know it was time to pay attention to her.

When the room had fallen quiet, she lifted the microphone to her mouth.

"Please take your seats, we're going to get started."

Jeremy flashed an uncertain look at the Mystery Girl and whispered, "Here we go." She grinned right back at him.

The lady introduced herself as the Dr. Maris Schipp, the Dean of the College of Humanities, and welcomed everyone to the 2014 Freshman Orientation. A light round of applause went through the lecture hall before she raised a hand to quiet them down, again. Then she launched into the most boring lecture Jeremy had ever heard in his life. She started talking about what everyone could expect in their first year at college, about homework, about ethics, and about being a responsible student. It was the kind of lecture that, if you've heard it once, you've heard it too many times.

It didn't take long for Jeremy to tune her out. How was he supposed to pay attention to anything when the hot Mystery Girl was sitting right next to him? The Universe must have been trying to see how much it could torture him.

Mystery Girl had an iPad sitting in her lap. She was paying attention and using a stylus to take diligent notes. She reminded Jeremy of everything he was trying to be, and that turned him on more than he could have imagined. What was sexier than an attractive, intelligent girl that had her shit together? He was going to have to step his game up. This wasn't high school anymore, and he wasn't going to be able to get by on all the superficial crap that matters when you're young.

When he glanced down at her again, he realized that she was holding the iPad tilted toward him. When she saw him looking, she set it over in his lap. He looked at what was on the screen, and couldn't help but smile. She hadn't been taking notes on the lecture after all--she'd been writing
him
a note.

Do you stare at all the girls you sit next to, or is there something special about me?

The stylus was clipped on the case, and he unhooked it to write a response.

I wasn't going to say anything, but you have food stuck in your teeth.

He slid it back to her when he finished. There was a pounding in his chest when she read it and smiled. He was convinced that he could go the rest of his life without seeing any smile but hers.

Oh, that's normal. I was worried you noticed that I forgot to shower this morning.

Jeremy had to bite back a laugh when he read it. Who was this girl? He wondered just how playful she really was, and decided to take a chance.

Nasty. Gotta scrub your 200 parts. I teach a class if you're interested.

He was grinning from ear to ear as he slid the iPad back to her. He watched from the corner of his eye, waiting to see that smile, again. But, it never came.