We Were Here: A New Adult Romance Prequel to Geoducks Are for Lovers (Modern Love Stories Book 1) (19 page)

“Hold on. Give a guy a minute.”

The knocking stopped.

The second I opened the door, Jo stormed into the room. I leaned against the wall to get out of her way.

“Welcome.” I rubbed the scruff on my face and ran my tongue over my teeth. I should’ve brushed them before answering the door. My mouth tasted like something died in it while I slept.

“Your lip is cut.” She gestured to her own mouth.

“Yeah, I think I remember how it happened.”

“You think?”

“Last night’s pretty fuzzy.”

She stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed.

“You want to sit down?” I gestured around my room, pointing out options.

“No, I’m good. I don’t plan to stay.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“Last night is never going to happen again.”

“You’re going to need to be more specific. There are some gaps in my memory.”

“You don’t get to act possessive of me. Or punch guys who talk to me. No, you shouldn’t be punching or fighting with anyone.”

“Fighting isn’t really a problem.”

“None of that Lloyd Dobler in
Say Anything
stuff outside my dorm either.”

“I had a boombox?” Wow, I really didn’t remember much from last night.

“No, but you screamed my name loud enough that everyone on my floor who had been sleeping, because it was three in the morning, heard you, and woke up.”

“I didn’t know your room. If I did, I would’ve thrown rocks at your window.”

“And probably broken a window.”

“You heard me?”

“How do you think you made it home? My roommate and I helped lug your dead weight back here. You could have played Bernie in
Weekend at Bernie’s
.”

“You know that movie? I love Bernie.”

“Not really the point, Ben.” No question about it, she was mad.

Slumping to the floor, I exhaled a long puff of air. “The two of you carried me back here?”

“Three of us. My friend Trey helped.”

The name sounded familiar. “Is he the asshole I punched?”

“He’s not an asshole, but yes, that’s the guy you gave a black eye to last night.”

“Only assholes dress up as clowns. I hate clowns. They’re fucking creepy, hiding behind their costume and makeup. But underneath the bright, cheerful exterior lurks evil. Trust me.”

She let me prattle on for a minute before interrupting me. “The reason I stopped by this afternoon is to draw some boundaries.”

I squinted at my clock. “It’s three o’clock?”

“Boundaries?” She leaned against my desk.

“What? Right. Why?”

“To be blunt? You’re a mess.”

“But you like me. I know you do. You showed up at Gil’s gig.”

“Maggie invited me.”

“But we hung out.”

“With the group. Listen, I like you, but that’s as far as this goes. You need to get your shit together.”

I laughed, tilting my head to rest on the wall. “You sound like my parents.”

“You should probably listen to them. You’re not a stupid guy.”

“Gee, thanks. Are you my guidance counselor now?” Defensiveness edged my voice. “Last time I checked, I’m an adult.”

“Then start acting like one.”

My head hurt too much for this nonsense. “You’re pretty bossy for someone who doesn’t know me.”

“I know you well enough.”

“Is this why you turned me down for the date?”

Staring out the window, she sighed. “Pot smoking slacker isn’t exactly the kind of guy I’m interested in dating.”

“I’m not some stoner, spoiled rich kid.”

“Then prove it.”

I banged my head on the wall. “I don’t need to prove anything to you or anybody else. I don’t owe you anything. You don’t like me because you think you know me from hanging out once or twice? Fine. Your loss.”

“Fine.” She wouldn’t make eye contact. “You do what you gotta do. Don’t involve me in your train wreck.” She stepped over me still sitting on the floor.

I reached up to grab her leg, but she moved too fast.

“See you in study group.” Her voice held none of her usual warmth.

I knocked my head against the wall a couple more times before deciding to smoke away my hangover.

“Better Man” ~ Pearl Jam

THE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
held weekly disciplinary hearings on Wednesday mornings in one of the meeting rooms in the CAB.

I managed to make it there with a minute to spare. Showing up late wouldn’t buy me any points, and I needed more than my usual charms to get out of the mess I’d made.

All week Jo’s disapproving frown and words from our last conversation echoed around in my head. Other than being a smart blonde, she was nobody and nothing to me.

I gave myself a pep talk, but when I walked in the room and saw her sitting at the long table at the front with the rest of the committee, my confidence disappeared. Of course my luck was such shit, she’d decide my fate. Pre-law major and everything.

After the stunt I pulled on Halloween, and how pissed off she had been when she showed up to my room the next day, I had no doubt she’d throw everything at me she could.

Maybe I’d be kicked out of the dorm. I didn’t plan to live on campus after next spring anyway. An extra six months of rent? Nothing. I still had a few thousand in the bank from the beginning of this year. My parents would cover rent. With my money in the bank, I could even live comfortably without room and board paid for by them. If they cut me off. Which was always a possibility. Hell, I could get a roommate and make him pay most of the utilities and rent. Maybe even turn a profit.

I sat in the row of seats at the back and waited to be called. Some guy stated his defense for urinating in a library stairwell. Even I didn’t believe his argument about the similar paint color in the men’s room confusing him. The lack of urinals should have been his first clue.

After him, some girl had a long story about parking repeatedly in the fire zone. She had over two hundred dollars in unpaid parking tickets and wanted them forgiven.

Good luck, sister.

I zoned out as Jo and the other four on the council debated. Resting my head on the back of the seat, I shut my eyelids. In my head, I sang the lyrics to “Fight for Your Right” and drummed my fingers on the armrest. The warm room and the afternoon caught up with me. I felt my head loll and the voices in the room disappeared. I let sleep overtake me.

“Benton Grant.”

“Benton Grant.”

Why was someone shouting for my dad?

“Ben Grant!” Jo’s raised voice snapped me out of the half-sleep I’d fallen into.

I snapped my head forward. “What? I’m here!” I scrambled out of my seat and dropped my bag.

Jo rolled her eyes and the woman next to her shook her head. One guy laughed, while the other two stared me down.

A bored looking older man sat at the end of the front row taking notes. He had to be the faculty advisor. He read Jeff’s write-up out loud. “Benton Grant, for drug paraphernalia, suspected possession of a personal amount of marijuana, and evidence of drug use. No police report filed.”

I stood in front of the panel.

“Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

Part of me wanted to joke about the bong being a water sculpture, but even I wasn’t dumb enough to make a bad joke right then. “I promise it was a one time lapse in good judgment and I won’t do it again?”

“Sounds like a question, not a statement,” The woman who wasn’t Jo said.

“It was a statement.” I straightened my tie. “I realize I broke a campus rule. I promise not to do it again.”

“I don’t see a note if the bong was confiscated. Is it still in your possession?” The guy on the end of the row glowered at me. He sat too close to Jo. Way too close. He needed to scoot his chair about two feet to the left.

I nodded. I hadn’t thought to get rid of it, or my pipes. “It’ll be gone by the end of the day. I can give it to you if you want it.”

He jerked back like I offered to gift him a snake. “It should be destroyed, not passed along to someone else.”

The thought of Gandalf being destroyed bummed me out. I’d leave it with Roger if I had to. At least until the end of the year.

I looked to Jo for support. We’d smoked pot together, so I knew she wasn’t a complete prude. I wouldn’t implicate her or get her in trouble.

She took notes and focused on the papers in front of her.

“It’s a first time offense. I think a warning is warranted.” I recognized the guy who spoke as a friend of Roger’s. We’d never been introduced, but I swore I’d seen him hanging around Roger’s room. Or with him in the CAB. I knew I had an ally in him.

The group told me to take a seat while they deliberated. For the first time, Jo spoke to the group. Because she whispered, I couldn’t hear what she said, but she gestured a lot to the paper in front of her.

The whole school was liberal and tended to look the other way about non-violent crime on campus. Sure, pot was illegal, but it wasn’t like I damaged property or attacked anyone. Hell, people got high on LSD and mushrooms in the woods on campus.

My stomach roiled over the memory of Saturday night’s fight. At least I hadn’t been charged with assault.

“Benton?” Roger’s friend called me to the front of the room.

“Yes, sir?” I straightened my back and stood up straighter.

“The judicial board has decided to give you a warning and require you to attend an all-day seminar about drug abuse at the health center before the end of the quarter. You’ll be on probation. No more infractions. Got it?”

I nodded. “Thank you.” I directed the words to Jo.

She frowned and shook her head, disappointment clear in her expression.

I’d gotten lucky this time.

As I left the room, I vowed to make some changes.