Masked Attraction

Chapter 14: Girlfriend?

Monday
I am a little nervous about introducing Jamie to my new friends, but I am crossing my fingers that they will all get along.

We all decided to go to the campus diner that accepts our meal cards. Jamie and I traveled together to meet the rest of the group there. Since we are the first to show up, I arrange for us to get a large booth in the back and everyone gradually starts to join us. Jess is second to arrive after us and starts the introductions.

"Guys, this is Jamie!" She announces and everyone introduces themselves once we all sit down. Ray seems to remember me mentioning Jamie was rushing for a sorority so she starts with that.

"How has your rushing experience been so far?" Ray asks directing her attention towards her. Jamie's eyes sparkle and she passionately starts explaining all about her recruitment, the sisters, and the house. From there, it is easy. Like Bash, Jamie has always been trouble-free getting along with people. Lukas and Jared begin talking on their own and Jamie slowly eyes Jared.

She casually leans in his direction. "I love your shirt Jared. Did your girlfriend get it for you?"

"Nope. No girlfriend. Bought it myself."

Jamie slyly looks over at me and gives me an evil grin. She whispers to switch spots so she is in front of Jared and I comply. They start chatting with one another and Jamie is wearing her inviting smile and leaning close to him. I notice Jess keeps glancing over at the two of them flirting, but Becky distracts me from the thought by asking me about my classes.

I find out she had one of my professors previously and we start going into detail about lectures and other classes. I discover she is really into her studies which excites me to meet someone as passionate as me.

"You should take these professors," she tells me and I jot them all down in my phone eagerly.

After we eat, we all hug goodbye and part ways. Jamie and I stroll back to our building and I believe it overall went pretty well. The only other time I introduced different friend groups was when I introduced Jamie to Bash. However, they never became best friends, just friendly enough with each other. So, it is marvelous that Jamie got along with everyone and even seemed to really hit it off with Jared.

"So, I am going to go for Jared," Jamie tells me casually during our walk back.

I grin. "He is super hot which is your type," I respond.

"He totally is. He has a real sexy smile. He already gave me his number." She pulls out her phone and shows me a set of digits and his name.

"Wow, that was fast," I reply stunned.

She flips her hair over her shoulder dramatically. "Well, I am that good." She teasingly winks at me causing me to giggle. Once we are back at the dorm, I text Sebastien to see what he is up to but he tells me he is with Brittany, so I decide to call it a night. I pull on some pajamas and pull out my laptop. I am in the middle of reading when abruptly Jamie squeals and hops onto my bed.

"Oh my goodness Em! I got an exclusive invite to the sorority house!" She shouts. From her prior rants, I know that means she is a top candidate.

"Wow!" I grin. "I am so excited for you James."

She hugs me and starts singing out loud, her usual habit when she is in good spirits. She stays up on her phone all night while I listen to her and finish up some assignments.

***

The next few days I spend hanging out with both Lukas and the rest of the group. We start to regularly meet up at the dining hall and the library to study and eat. It starts to become a bit of a normal routine and I like it. I used to eat every day with Sebastien, but with his girlfriends on campus and falling into a leadership role at his fraternity, it is not as common anymore.

Jamie has been continuing to come along to our dinners and hangs off to the side flirting with Jared. I have been observing that Jess grows oddly quiet whenever Jamie is around. It is becoming obvious that something is going on. Today, I finally get the nerve to ask Lukas about it.

"Um, does Jess not like Jamie?" I ask him nervously.

He freezes a fry sticking out of his mouth. "What! No! She likes her."

I contemplate. "Then do Jess and Jared have a thing?" I say in confusion. We are at the dining hall at a long table with various plates, textbooks, and phones strewed about. Jamie and Jared are at the end of the table while Jess is up on line ordering more food.

"Hmph, it's complicated I think." His brown eyes scrunch up. "Jared likes to mess around with a lot of different girls and Jess hasn't been in any relationships as far as I know. I am pretty sure they have hooked up at one point, but neither has outright said it," he tells me. "Something definitely had to have happened, because you could just feel the tension between the two. But as annoying as they are, they refuse to talk about it. It's like an unspoken rule in our group. He's my best friend but he still won't tell me," he says irritated and grabs another handful of fries. He pauses to look over at me curiously, "Why did you think that anyway?"

"Because ever since I brought Jamie around, she's been acting weird." I wring my fingers together anxiously in my lap.

"Yeah, I have been starting to sense that," he replies.

"Do you think it was a bad idea? I didn't know until now." I chew my lip. I didn't think bringing Jamie into the group could stir up any issues. I don't want to already mess things up especially since Jess has been so welcoming towards me.

"Well, whatever is going to happen is going to happen. Maybe it will finally bring them to say whatever they been hiding out in the open," he replies. It seems he has been thinking about this as much as I have.

"That's true. I just hope I didn't cause any problems," I declare sullenly.

"You didn't cause any that weren't already there," he responds. I peer over at Jess who is normally the conversationalist of the group, she's walking back to the table on her phone while everyone else is talking and laughing. I wish I knew how to fix it, but I know that it is probably better if let them work it out themselves. I do not have much experience when it comes to these kinds of situations and I am starting to wish I did. I ultimately tell myself if she decides to confide in me then I will be there for her.