The Other Side of Christian Collins

Chapter Twenty

"Jake?" I say in disbelief.
"Babe." He says with a smile as he hugs me.
"Jake no." I push him off me. "What are you doing here?"
"I took a road trip with Steven. What are you doing here?"
"Harvard."
"Oh yeah, how is that going."
"It's fine, Jake I have to go."
"Wait Hailey. Don't you have anytime to get some coffee?"
"No I have to go."
"Hailey." He grabs a hold of me and Chris steps in between him and me.
"She said no." Chris says as he separates us.
They both look mad, and I step in between them.
"Chris no, don't do this here."
"Hailey do you know this dick head?" Jake asks
"Jake just go before I kick you're ass."
"Shut the fuck up bitch." He snarls.
Chris pushes me out of the way and get his jakes face. They're yelling and screaming and I can't make out what their saying. They start swinging, and before I know it there's a big scene. They're slamming each other, older people try to stop them. I see one of them grab onto Chris and tug him away, and the other gather around Jake. I don't even involve myself with Chris, but I go to check on Jake.
His face is cut and bruised. His fist is blue, black, red, and purple. His lip is swelling.
"Jake are you ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
"Listen I have to go."
"You're gonna leave me after I just protected you."
"Yeah."
"But you owe me."
"No I don't, now good bye."
I run in the direction they took Chris. This place is huge. I turn the corner and there's just a crowd of people. I push through and no sigh of Chris. I run around and ask people if they've seen him. No. No. No. Every reply is a no. I call him. No answer. I text him. No answer. I call and finally I hear him answer, and hang up. I get really frustrated.
My phone starts to ring. It's Chris and I answer.
"Where are you. It's been thirty minutes."
"I'm back at the dorm. I'm ok."
"How'd you get there."
"I got a ride."
"Ok I'm on my way."
"Hailey no I just need to be alone right now."
"Chris."
"Hailey please I don't want to fight with you."
"Ok I'll give you two hours. It's almost curfew."
"Yeah I know."
I hang up and get out of there as fast as I can. I wonder if there's another reason Chris doesn't want me to head back to the dorm. I try to pry that thought from my mind. My phone goes off, and it's Jake. I just avoid it, I don't want to lead him on. I walk down town. It's a nice cool summer breeze. It's nice, I decide to go for a little jog.
...
My little jog goes from little, too a little over an hour and a half. I decide that Chris has had enough time to calm down so I head back to campus. It's a nice walk. It's dark out, and the streets are filled. I put my hair up in a ponytail and feel the cool breeze flow across my skin. It feels nice.
I can see the campus now. I reach into my pocket and pull out my keys. I enter my dorm building and head to the elevator. When I get to my floor I smell something weird. It smells like fire. As I get closer the dorm the scent gets stronger. I go to open my door and I hear laughter. I open the door to my dorm and Chris and Nathan are sitting on my bed smoking weed.