“I saw your roster on the ground. I’m actually going to the same class if you wanna go together. My name is Carter, by the way.”
“Hi, I’m Madison and that would be great. If it isn’t obvious, I really have no idea where I’m going.”
“Sure, no problem, come on. You know we’re late, right?” He turned and looked at me with a playful smile. “You wouldn’t want to play hooky, would you?”
Play hooky with him? On the first day of class? No way in hell. This guy was obviously very different from me. “No, I came to school to go to class, not skip with the first guy I run into.” Literally. I saw a couple different emotions cross his face…confusion and maybe a little excitement?
“Okay, okay, I was just asking, Maddy.” What did he just call me? No one ever called me anything other than Madison. I really liked the way it sounded coming from him. What was I doing? I had a boyfriend! “So, I’m guessing you’re a freshman. Do you live on campus?”
“Yes, it’s my first day of class but I guess that’s obvious.” I hadn’t met my roommate yet. Her name was Nicole and she was supposed to show up today. I wondered if our dorms were close to each other. I wondered what his room looked like. No! Madison, what are you doing?! “So, do you live on campus too?”
“No, I rent the first floor of a house off campus and I live by myself.” He had a house? That had to be great, being able to come and go as you wanted and being independent. My foster father had told me this summer that I had till the beginning of September to move out. Which was ironic considering my birthday wasn’t until November 23rd and he was still collecting checks. However, today was a new day and I decided I wasn’t going to let it get to me. Carter interrupted my thoughts. “So, what’s your major?”
“Um, it’s psychology.”
“That’s cool. What do you want to do?”
Why was he so interested? I never really had any guys pay me attention. The only guy who ever noticed me was Chris. “I want to work with kids in some aspect. I don’t know how yet. Maybe be a social worker.”
Chris’ mother told me I was foolish for wanting to waste my degree in social work. She said I should just become a licensed psychologist, like her doctor. Truthfully, if I had to sit there all day and listen to all these snobby country club women whine about not getting the newest designer handbag, I think I’d be the one who needed therapy.
“I think that’s great. I’ve always admired people who work with kids. My mother was a teacher.”
“What does she do now?”
“Nothing, she died when I was ten.” His tone becomes flat, and I can tell this isn’t something that he wants to talk about.
Oh God, there I go sticking my foot in my mouth. How the hell was I supposed to respond to that? I hated when I told people my mom died and they’d say “I’m sorry” and give me a pity look, so I was sure as hell not going to do that. “Well, I’m sure she’d be proud of you today, going to college and everything. What’s your major?”
His head snapped up and he looked at me like he was confused. Did I say the wrong thing? “Uh…it’s uh…architecture.”
We walked up to one of the buildings that looked like a huge castle. I guessed this was Branson Hall. I followed Carter to our class, but he didn’t say anything else. I must have scared him off. Maybe I came off too cold when he mentioned his mom?
“Well, here we are.” He opened the door and held it for me while I walked in. Luckily, the door was at the back of the classroom so it was easier to sneak in unnoticed. The class wasn’t even that full and there were tons of open seats. I found myself hoping Carter would sit next to me. I picked a seat somewhere in the middle and sat down. As I was unpacking my books, I looked to my right and he’d sat down next to me.
The teacher did most of the boring “first day of class” activities, going over the syllabus and making the students participate in icebreakers. It went by fast and before I knew it, we were being dismissed. Great, now I had to try not to get lost again. I was walking down the hallway trying to find my roster, when I felt someone come up beside me.
“Hey, I realized I still had this in my pocket. I must’ve forgotten to hand it to you.” Carter held out my roster for me. “We have the next two classes together, if you wanna go with me. I have a break after that so I can even show you where the cafeteria is.” He shot me one of those heart-melting smiles, and I couldn’t say no.
“That sounds good, but I already know where the cafeteria is. I’ve been living on campus for a week now.”
He looked surprised, which didn’t shock me. I was one of only a handful of students who chose to come early. Although, for me, it wasn’t really a choice. More like a necessity.
Even Chris had gone on vacation the week before school had started. I’d secretly hoped he’d ask me to come with him, but he’d mentioned it was mostly family and he wanted to be free to have a good time and not babysit me. I felt like such a burden to him sometimes.
“Okay, then let’s go. You’re mine for the morning.” For a second, I wished Chris would say things like this to me. I mean Chris liked me enough, but I just didn’t feel like he really cared. He told me he loved me before but, the truth was, I never really believed him.
However, he was all I had and I needed to make it work. I knew he didn’t treat me that great, but it was better than being alone. Chris was really jealous and hated it when I even so much as looked at another guy, so I knew what I was doing with Carter wasn’t very smart.
Chapter Two
Carter
I didn’t know what it was about this girl but, from the minute she ran me over, I couldn’t get enough of her. She seemed so real, so honest; she wasn’t like the other girls here, the ones who you can tell just agree with everything you say in the hopes you’ll want them., Not to mention, she was gorgeous, which I don’t think she even realized. Her hair was this beautiful shade of light brown, and her eyes were a stunning hazel color. She had a nice body and was tall enough that I knew she’d fit perfectly against me. What the hell was I thinking?
When I told her about my mom, I braced myself for the normal “I’m so sorry” sympathatic look and the awkward silence. But she didn’t give me anything like that. She addressed it and moved on, which only made me want to get to know her more. She had a story and I was dying to find out what it was. She seemed so guarded and I have a feeling she doesn’t let many people in. We had the same morning schedule this semester and I was going to take full advantage of getting to know her.
“So, where are you from?” I wanted to play twenty questions with her and find out everything. I never got like this over girls, never even had a relationship past a couple of dates with a girl.
“Um…I moved around a lot.” There was something she wasn’t telling me, and I didn’t think she was going to at this point. She seemed to be hesitant to talk about her past. “Where are you from?”
“I was born in California, but my family moved to North Carolina when I started my freshman year of high school. My father went to USC and wanted me to go there too, but I wanted to stay close to home.” She just smiles and lets out a little laugh. “What’s so funny?”
“I was trying to figure out why you had a USC shirt on at Duke.”
I smile at her as I whisper in her ear, “Well, if you must know, USC sent me here as a spy. It’s very hush-hush, though.”
There was that giggle again. “Oh, really, and what are you supposed to be finding out?”
“I was supposed to see if the girls at Duke University are better than the ones at USC and, after this morning, I think my mission is over.”