Saving Grayson

Chapter 10

Wren

The first weekend on campus was better than I imagined, aside from Saturday. After I had gotten the call from Grayson I told Monica I was going to head back to the dorm. I had no intention of leaving her at the party by herself, but when he called something inside of me changed.

"I don't want anything to happen to you."

I hadn't heard from him since Friday night. I knew I'd see him in class but for some odd reason I was hoping to hear from him again. His words were playing on repeat in my head all weekend. The way he said it in such a protective tone, like we were the best of friends or something. But this is a guy I've known for a week so I shouldn't even take his words to heart like I would with my father or maybe even Monica. Still.

Saturday was the worst. Monica woke up with a massive hangover after I had gotten back from eating lunch. She moaned and groaned about how much her head ached and how she'd never drink that much again. We both knew that was a lie though. Neither of us had any Tylenol so I offered to walk with her to the store to get some. Mainly because I needed to figure out where everything was before we got too deep into the semester. It would have been too obvious I was a freshman. When we returned I tried to get a head start on the assignments that were due in the upcoming week. It was a little difficult since it was material we hadn't gone over yet for a couple of my classes, but taking a look never hurt anyone.

Sunday was relaxing. Monica was out and about all day which meant I had the room to myself. I let Olly run around the room in his hamster ball so he could get familiar with the area as well. He hit the dresser and his ball almost snapped open after twenty minutes so that's when I decided it would be best if he went back in his cage. He seemed kind of pissed when he was put in his cage because the second he touched the bedding he buried himself in it. For the rest of the day, I watched Netflix and napped since I was still exhausted from Friday night.

By Monday morning I was ready to tackle another week, but I didn't know what to expect when freshman seminar came around. It wasn't for another few hours, but I was anxious. Anxious because I wasn't sure if I'd talk to him, let alone see him. But what would we even say to each other? I emailed him the notes he asked for right when I got home, but I never got a response. I figured he must have fallen asleep before I emailed him, but he didn't reply Saturday morning either. Maybe he thought a response wasn't necessary, but it would have been courteous of him to at least send an email back just saying thank you.

I'm not going to worry myself over it. My attention turned back to what my professor was trying to teach us, but I had mentally left and there was no chance I could refocus long enough to understand what was going on. I ended up copying the notes anyways, figuring I could always teach it to myself later. If that were even possible. Mindlessly looking over at the clock I counted down the hours left until I'd possibly see Grayson again.

Eight hours and thirty minutes.

There was no way I was going to survive, but I didn't have much of a choice. Patience hasn't always been my strongest character trait, and it was seriously being tested today.

One more hour. If I can just get through one more hour without wanting to rip out my hair and bite my nails down to a point where I have none, then that would be amazing. I honestly couldn't understand why I felt this way. This is a guy that I met a week ago so I shouldn't feel like this. The feeling of having to take a massive poo because that's how nervous I am. I didn't know if he'd want to talk about what happened Friday night even though there is nothing to talk about. At least not that I'm aware of. Or would he ignore my existence and I would be just another face in the crowd?

Fifty-seven minutes.

I played with Olly to take my mind off him. I wasn't successful because as I talked to the little fury creature, I began to ramble on and on about Grayson. About how he might be one of the most decent looking men on campus. How he gives off this I don't like people vibe and he seems timid and shy based on the way he dresses. He always makes sure he's hiding his face with that hood of his. Wednesday he didn't wear the white one. He wore a black one that had roses in the center of it with a checkered pattern as a background. Curly brown locs peeking out from it.

Olly didn't seem interested in anything I had to say, but I already knew talking to him would be like talking to a brick wall. He ran on his wheel the entire time and then ate. The door opened and when Monica walked in she let the door close behind her and practically belly flopped onto the bed. Her hair sprawled everywhere, and she let out a frustrated groan. Then she got up to sit on the edge, messing up her perfectly made bed.

"Everything okay?" I questioned even though everything didn't seem okay.

"I hate Spanish. I hate the language so much I want to drop the class and switch to a major that doesn't require a foreign language. It's all so confusing now and the professor is no help. Do you think you can tutor me?"

"Sorry, but I'm really no good at Spanish either. If I were to take a course I'd have to go back to the beginning and relearn the basics."

A frustrated sigh escaped her cherry red lips and she laid on the bed. "This is hopeless. I'm going to fail and then have to retake the course again next semester or even in the summer. I can't afford to start failing classes."

And yet here I was thinking I would be the one who is in a constant state of worry while Monica goes through college without a care in the world. But I guess I was wrong. Based on the way she greeted me when she moved in, I assumed that she would be the type to always be optimistic about everything, even if life is kicking her ass. The saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover' is something I need to keep in mind.

"If it's any consolation I think they have tutoring groups available so you can sign up for one of those. But don't be so hard on yourself it's only the second week. I can guarantee you a lot of people are struggling or simply have no idea what they're doing."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll just have to work harder. Thanks for the advice."

I smiled. "Anytime."

My phone lit up next to me alerting me that I had a new Instagram notification. I still had forty minutes until class started. Kill me now.