The First to Fall ⚢

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 • 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚

Aspen keeps up with my pace pretty easily, despite my intentions, and we make it to the vending machines in no time. The desk assistant is scrolling through Instagram, clearly trying not to fall asleep, and I dig in my jacket pocket for the five I grabbed earlier. When I make my selection for Oreos, I enter the bill, but then the machine spits it back out at me.

I turn the bill the other way and enter it again, just to get it returned to me just the same. I let out a quiet groan of irritation before trying again, only to get the same result.

"You have to flatten the—"

"I know how to work a vending machine, Greenwood."

"Yeah, clearly," she says, her tone oozing with sarcasm. "Keep knocking 'em dead, Jasper."

Her stupid words push me past my breaking point even though I try to avoid them and before I realize it, I shove my five back into my pocket and start walking off back toward the dorm without another word.

"Oh, Jasper, come on!" Aspen's voice lingers behind me, but I don't slow my pace. It's already bad enough that I can't sleep, but when I'm trying to enjoy a nice pack of Oreos at half past midnight, I should be able to do so without having to deal with snarky comments like that! But no. Snarky comments and making my life a living hell are apparently all Aspen Greenwood seems to know.

"Cara, seriously!" Aspen's hand wraps around my wrist when I'm almost to the door of the lobby, but when I try to rip my hand away, she only pulls me closer.

Her grip is stronger than I imagined, and even though she allegedly had the best spike on the volleyball team, I didn't realize just how strong she actually was until now. The one quick pull is powerful and practically drives me directly into her arms as if we're preparing to tango.

There's a moment when, somewhere deep inside my chest, something glistens. There's the slightest aching feeling when our skin connects, and for a second, the last thing I want to do is pull away.

But then the next moment approaches when I realize the only reason I feel this way is because of the way my parents treated me and not because I find comfort in Aspen Greenwood's embrace.

"You seriously can't go five minutes without pushing my buttons, can you?" I ask her, tearing my wrist out of her grasp and taking a step back.

She sighs. "I was only joking. Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

I take a moment to breathe and allow myself to calm down. She's right; I'm definitely overreacting. But that doesn't make her any less annoying.

"Whatever." I fold my five-dollar bill the long way and try to flatten it out as much as possible before entering it into the vending machine once more. When my hopes are highest, it still spits it back out at me. "Are you shitting me right now?"

"Don't worry, I'll spot you," Aspen says, nudging me out of the way.

"No, I don't need your help—"

"Stop being so fucking stubborn and let me do something nice for once, will you?"

Her tone catches me by surprise, but not as much as her words. It's not like Aspen has never been nice to me before, but she sure as hell has never been so blatant about it. It stuns me and keeps me distracted long enough for her to get the Oreos I wanted from the machine.

"Here." She places the package in my hand as she vends her own snack. "Eat before you pop a blood vessel."

She doesn't even get her own snacks before turning on her heel and heading back to the dorm without another word. Her perfume lingers for only a moment more before I open the package and pop an Oreo into my mouth. It's just as sweet as I hoped and instantly triggers a pit of guilt to sink into my stomach and drop down to my toes.