Don't Say Anything

34. I'm Not Scared

The rest of the rooms were pretty uneventful in comparison. There were many more boxes with Leah's belongings and one or two more empty rooms. No dead bodies. That was slightly disappointing and relieving at the same time.

"What about behind the curtain?" I ask as we leave the final room.

Will has relaxed immensely since the "California: Will" room. It's much more enjoyable to have him laughing about a golden toilet lid we found as opposed to him getting mad at a picture frame. I still want to ask him what the picture was of, but I'll save that for another time.

"The curtain separates the two sides of the house," he states what I already know. 

"But have you been over there?" I ask raising my eyebrows. I like trying to play the adventurous one. It's pretty obvious that Will holds all the confidence between the two of us, but it's slowly wearing off on me. 

He studies my face and signs. "You're corrupting me, women." 

Oh the irony in that statement.

He peeks around the corner and waves his hand for me to follow him. The only person in the hallway is Mary. I give her a little wave and she smiles back. We quickly creep past her and around the corner.

"We're not going to go in any rooms," Will whispers to me. "I have no idea which one's their bedroom." The thought makes me blush. I feel like we're walking around a stranger's house. Neither of us has been here before, and both of us don't want to get caught.

"Why did you even want to come over here?" Will asks. He's bent over as if making himself seem shorter will make him less likely to be seen. Honestly, I just wanted to do something that Will has never done. He always takes me on exciting trips that result in butterflies in my stomach. Those are amazing, but I like experiencing things for the first time with him. It seems more meaningful for some reason.

"I was just curious," I whisper back. He shakes his head at me and continues down the hall.

"Ever so curious, aren't you Rosie?"

"It's one of my best traits."

"It's definitely one of your most apparent ones," he says smirking. I playful hit his shoulder as we turn another corner. How big is this place?

"I feel like an actual bad-ass college student for once," Will says crouching down even further. "It's exciting." It's funny how that's all I thought he was when I first met him, just a normal bad-ass college student who goes to parties and sleeps with girls. Yeah, there's still a part of him that's like that, but he's so much more complex than anyone would expect. He's more of an adult than most adults I know. But in this moment, his boyish enthusiasm is contagious. 

"Because I'm sure all college students get scared walking around their own house."

"Rosie, I am not scared," he says standing up a little taller.

"You're sure acting like it."

"Please tell me again why I'm friends with you."

Friends. That word hurts more than it should. We've known each other for about six months now and he's kissed me twice, but we're still friends. He's taken me on dates that he claims aren't dates and has stayed with my family for a week, but we're still friends.

I know he's never done the whole "relationship" thing, and neither have I, but anyone will common sense should know that we're more than friends at this point. Or maybe my hopeful mind is being delusional. Will is successful, rich, clever, confident, and extremely beautiful. Why would he want to be an awkward, average Freshmen's boyfriend. He's probably embarrassed of me. I think I've made it pretty evident that I have feelings for him. I can only say so much without humiliating myself with rejection.