Torn (Torn Series) (2 page)

He frowned at my words,
“Chloe you’re crazy. Any guy with eyeballs can see how beautiful you are.”

I started to give a sarcastic reply but he cut me off.

“That is, until you open your mouth. Then they run in terror.”

I punched him in the arm,
“I have a wonderful personality thank you!”

He laugh
ed at my disgruntled expression, “I’m just kidding. In all seriousness though, you really are great Chloe. I hope you’re right about him not being interested in you though, I don’t like him.”

I laughed,
“And you would know you don’t like him how? You’ve never even talked to the guy.”

“I don’t have to. I know his type, the whole bad boy vibe he puts off. He’s probably a
total womanizer and you’re better off if you stay away from him.”

“Seriously? Why are we even talking about this? The guy isn’t into me and that’s that.” 

If only I would
be so lucky.

Logan and I parted ways after lunch. He had another class and then planned on spending the rest of the afternoon downtown applying for jobs and I had promised meet up with my other best friend Amber after her last class. Amber and I had been friends since middle school, bonding over our mutual taste in Heavy Metal music instantly. Where Logan and I were close, Amber was like my twin, on the inside at least.

Her features couldn’t have been more different from mine if she tried. Her skin was a naturally tanned color and her hair was a dark brown. She had
these amazing green eyes that could make anyone do her bidding, and a perfect size six figure. My blonde hair and blue eyes were nice, but I often felt boring and self-conscious when I stood next to her. The only thing I had going for me when she was around was my D cup bra size, which might bring me attention from time to time, but they tended to get in my way more than anything.

Even with her amazing looks, s
he was one of those people who had a heart of gold; not only was she was gorgeous on the outside, but on the inside as well. She had always been there when I needed her, and I loved her for that. There were few people who could put up with me like she did on a full time basis.

              I sat on the bench outside her building for a few minutes before she emerged, shielding her eyes with her hand from the sun that was glaring down at us. She noticed me and waved, walking over to where I sat.

“Hey girl! How’d your classes go?”

I smiled as I stood and we
started walking toward our dorm, “They were good, a bunch of boring stuff over and over mainly.”

She nodded as she walked along side me
, “Yeah mine were the same. I’m so glad we decided to only take a few classes this semester until we get adjusted.”

She and I had both decided to go easy on
the classes our first semester and squeezed by with the bare minimum to be considered full time students, unlike Logan, who had enough classes for two people.

“Anyway, have you seen some of these guys walking around here?  I think I’m in love!”

I laughed at her boy craziness, but a certain tattooed guy popped into my head, “Yeah, I noticed a couple.”

She stopped dead in
her tracks and spun to face me, “What? You noticed someone? I thought for sure you were a nun in hiding!”

I elbowed her in the ribs,
“I am not a nun, there just hasn’t been anyone to catch my interest. We can’t all be as boy crazy as you are.”

“Whatever. So, who is this guy?”

I fidgeted a little and glanced at my shoes, which was a total mistake. Amber knew the shoe staring was my thing when I was trying to keep something from her.

“Don’t you dare look at your shoes
woman! Spill!”

I sighed and looked up at her. Her eyes were practically glowing with excitement, waiting for me to spill my guts to her. “I don’t know his name or anything. He is just a guy who was sitting in the seat next to me this morning.”

She raised her eyebrows at me, “And what does this mystery guy look like?”

I glanced around, making sure that no one was
around us before answering her, “He’s cute I guess. His hair is so dark it’s almost black, and he has these beautiful piercing eyes. Oh, and these really hot piercings in his lip and eyebrow. And he had some tattoos poking out of the bottom of the sleeve of his shirt, but I couldn’t tell what they were.”

Cute was the understatement of the year, but I wasn’t about to start gushing at his hotness in front of her, she really would combust from the excitement, so I kept it
to the bare minimum.

As I spoke I saw her mouth dropping in slow motion. “You don’t like just any guy, you like a bad boy. Holy shit, I’m pretty sure
Hell just froze over, my little Chloe crushing on the bad boy!”

She pretended to faint and I elbowed her again. “Shut up. I don’t like him, I just find him kind of attractive. What is this, middle school?”

She busted out laughing at me, “Touchy aren’t we? Sorry, I’ll stop bothering you about the tattooed, pierced, and kind of attractive bad boy.”

We started making our way across campus again and were nearly to the dorm before she spoke again. “So I know it’s a Monday and all, but some girl in my English class invited me to a party across campus at one of the sorority houses. Will you please come with me? I need my wing woman!”

              “I really shouldn’t, I still have a couple boxes to unpack, but I’m sure your roommate would be glad to go with you.”

She looked at me with those big green eyes and her lower lip sticking out in a pout and I started feeling guilty. “
Please Chloe?  I saw Chad today and I really need a night out. We won’t even have to stay late, I promise!”

The Chad she was referring to was her ex-boyfriend she had been with since the summer before our senior year. He had seemed like a really good guy and I had truly liked him. That is, until she surprised him by stopping at his house one day unannounced and catching him in bed with Carrie Jenkins, head cheerleader and
the biggest slut in town.

The weeks following had been brutal, Amber had never seen it coming, and neither had I for that matter. After countless nights of staying in her room all night with tubs of ice cream and enough tissues to keep Carrie’s bra stuffed for a year, I was finally able to coax her out of her house just before we moved into our dorms. I knew Chad was here on campus as well, but I had hoped that she wouldn’t have to see him, at least for a while.

I sighed and pulled her into a hug, “Alright, I’ll go, but only because I have that super cute dress I’ve been dying to wear.”

She squealed and started jumping up and down
, “Yay! And I love that dress, I told you so when I bought it for you! Plus, I have the cutest shoes to go with it!”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the dorm and up to her room. As soon as we were inside she started rummaging through boxes in her closet and pulled out a pair of killer red heels.

I smiled as she handed them to me, “Thanks. I’m going to head to my room and try to get the rest of my stuff unpacked before tonight. I’ll meet you back here around eight o’clock?”

“Ok
, that works for me.”

I gave her one las
t hug before leaving and making my way up to the floor above where my dorm room was located. Even though Amber and I hadn’t ended up being roommates, fate must have been smiling on us. Logan, Amber, and I had all ended up in one of the few co-ed dorms on campus. We were stacked on top of each other with Amber on the first floor, me on the second, and Logan on the third. It was good to know if I needed either one of them they were just a set of stairs away.

I unlocked my door and stepped into the havoc I had left
in my wake this morning. Groaning, I started gathering my dirty clothes and throwing them into the hamper by my closet. After I had managed to find my floor, I moved onto the boxes stacked against the wall. Did I really want to unpack all this stuff? That was a dumb question, of course I didn’t, but I couldn’t very well live out of boxes for the next year. I grabbed the top one and started unpacking the clothes inside. I had already put most of my clothes away this weekend, but there were still a couple boxes like this one with my sweat pants and baggy shirts I used as pajamas sometimes.

I managed to get a couple boxes put away before my phone started
playing Blood by In This Moment and I grinned as I grabbed it off the bed.

“Hey Logan, find any jobs?”

He groaned in frustration, “I’ve already applied to half the town, so I’m sure I’ll find something. There are still a few places I want to check out though.”

“That’s
cool, I’m trying to get the rest of this crap unpacked. I was going to suggest you come over and help me, but I guess that idea is out.”

He laughed at me,
“Yeah, I think I’d rather be applying for jobs than helping you put your underwear away. Actually, on second thought…”

“Well when you put it like that,
I can’t really blame you. If you’re free before we leave you should come with Amber and me to a party at one of the sorority houses.”

“I think I’ll pass on this one, but just be careful. Don’t leave your drink alone, and if you need me to come get you just call me ok? You know I worry about you.”

I rolled my eyes at his words, “Yes dad. I promise to be good.”

“I’m serious Chloe. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

“I know that, and I promise I will be careful. I should probably go and try to get the rest of these boxes sorted. I’ll call you when I get home, promise.”

“Alright, just remember to call me later or I’ll be beating on your dorm door in the middle of the night in only my boxers.”

I laughed at him, “Well, as much of a thrill as that would give the girls on this floor, we wouldn’t want that. Talk to you later.”

I hung up and threw my phone back on the bed. I loved how protective Logan was of me
, even if he made me feel smothered at times. He had always been this way, and it made me feel safe to know he was always there for me.

I managed to get all my boxes unpacked with a little over an hour to spare
, so I decided to take a shower. Grabbing my bathroom bag, I made my way to the showers, which were almost completely empty with the exception of a few girls standing by the sinks. Not wanting to push my luck, I took the fastest shower on record before heading back to my room.

I left my hair in a towel to dry as I dug through my now excessively cramped c
loset to find my dress. I found it pushed against the back wall and quickly started trying to pull it out before any of my other clothes could drag me into the mess and hold me prisoner for eternity.

When I managed to untangle it from the disaster that was my closet, I held it up in front of me and smiled. I had to agree with Amber, t
he dress really was gorgeous. The bottom was skin tight and ended several inches above my knees. The top of it was a halter top with a built in bra, which was lucky for me since the back was too low cut for me to wear one. It wasn’t my usual style but I loved it.

I quickly squirmed into it before pulling my hair out of the towel and running the brush through it as I blow dried it. My hair was almost to my waist and took forever to dry, so I rarely spent the time required to blow dry and straighten it, but tonight was my first college party and I wanted to look my best. After I got my hair under control, I started applying my make-up. My roommate Rachel walked in just as I was finishing and flopped face down on her bed groaning.

“Rough day Rachel?”

She groaned again and nodded,
“Remind me again why I signed up for all these classes?”

I laughed as she rolled over to face me.

“Hot damn woman, you look amazing. And FYI, if that dress comes up missing and finds itself in my closet, it wasn’t me. I swear it.”

“Thanks for the warning. I know how these things grow legs and walk straight into someone else
’s closet, but mine usually end up in Amber’s somehow.”

“Anytime, so where are you headed looking like that?”

“There’s some party at a sorority house Amber is dragging me to. You’re welcome to come if you want.”

She considered my offer for a
minute before shaking her head, “No thanks, I’ve had a rough day, I’m just going to curl up on my bed and read tonight. I don’t think I could take on a party tonight if I tried.”

I had seen Rachel’s schedule the day we moved in and I knew she wasn’t kidding. Her days started first thing in the morning and except for lunch, ran solid up until early evening. The girl was crazy in my opinion, but her parents had pushed her to take everything she could.

Rachel was what you would call a sexy nerd. She was one of the smartest people I had ever met, but with her long red hair, perfect face, and amazing figure she was a total babe by anyone’s standards. When I had first met her, I was terrified she was going to be one of those self-absorbed girls, but with her down to Earth personality, I had liked her within the first ten minutes.