Bridgeport Academy 2

45

Once the yellow taxi pulled away and left Aubrey standing alone in front of St. Lucius's moss-covered front gate, he realized he'd gotten so carried away with his grand romantic gesture that he'd overlooked the most important part of the plan—he didn't know where to find Jhene. He took a few steps toward what looked like dorms, aware that the students milling about were definitely staring at him.

St. Lucius was like bizarre Bridgeport—the same red brick, ivy, and brilliant oak trees surrounding the enormous quad, and yet not one familiar face. He'd bought a bunch of orchids in downtown Rhinecliff (roses were too conventional, daisies too boring) and now he suddenly felt a little self-conscious. Students were definitely gawking at him as he held the enormous cone of fuchsia and white flowers away from his chest so as not to crush them. He felt like Forrest Gump with his box of chocolates. Well, whatever. Had they never seen a guy bring a girl flowers before?

Two girls in short jean skirts and matching purple St. Lucius blazers approached Aubrey on the cobblestone path. Judging from the worn-out look of their blazers, they had to be upperclassmen. 

"Excuse me..." Aubrey accosted them, trying to look as inoffensive as possible. "Do you happen to know which one is Jhene Aiko's dorm?" 

The girls exchanged glances. The one with a navy velvet headband spoke first. "Are those for her?" she asked, glancing at the flowers.

"Did her goldfish die or something?" the other asked, her  forehead wrinkling in confusion.

Aubrey was taken aback. Did they not have manners here? "Uh, yeah, actually. They are." He raised his eyebrows pointedly, trying to remind the girls of his question. "But, um, no. I think her, uh, goldfish is fine." 

"That's really sweet." Velvet headband suppressed a giggle. "She's in my dorm. Emerson." She pointed toward a white stone building next to a thatch of birch trees with sunflower yellow leaves. "Room 101—right inside, to the left." 

"Thank you." Aubrey headed that way, relieved that things were working out. Over his shoulder he heard the second girl trill out, "Good luck!" 

Aubrey made his way down the path, still sort of weirded out by being in a place that looked like Bridgeport and smelled like Bridgeport but wasn't. He paused briefly at the front door of the building to read the quote, presumably from Emerson, inscribed above the doorway: DO NOT GO WHERE THE PATH MAY LEAD, GO INSTEAD WHERE THERE IS NO PATH AND LEAVE A TRAIL. He couldn't help smiling as he opened the heavy green door. That quote reminded him of Jhene, and the way she seemed to do whatever the hell she wanted.

In front of room 101, he paused to collect himself, swiping one hand through his hair nervously. Then, just as he was about to knock, he heard the sounds of laughter coming from inside—two people's laughter. One sounded like Jhene, but the other was definitely a guy. What was going on? Panic shot through his veins, his get-the-hell-out-of-here instincts going into effect. He looked down stupidly at the orchids.

But then he thought, What the hell? He'd just spent forty dollars on flowers, and twenty dollars on a cab over here. What was he going to do, turn around and walk right out? Have the same cab driver come pick him up, along with his sad bouquet of flowers? Would Chris do that? He didn't think so. Have the balls to knock, Graham, he told himself with a brisk nod. And so he raised his hand and knocked on the dark oak door.

The door opened quickly, and Jhene, looking like she was in the middle of a laugh, answered, wearing a pair of low-rise jeans that hung loosely at her hips and a slightly cropped gray T-shirt that revealed the tiny diamond stud in her belly button. Before Aubrey had time to properly admire it, Jhene's face changed from surprise to delight, and she threw her arms around his neck, almost crushing the flowers.

"Aubrey!" she cried just before giving him a huge, wet, hot French kiss. Well, that was more like it. When she finally pulled away, Aubrey felt a little dizzy. Why had he waited so long to come and see her?

And then he noticed the guy sitting on her bed.

Jhene tugged Aubrey into her room, which turned out to be a surprisingly spacious single. "Come on in!" she said gleefully, her loose curly hair just grazing her shoulders. "It's so good to see you." She seemed to remember the other guy. "Oh. This is Morgan. We were just studying." Jhene gave Morgan a raised eyebrow, and he quickly stood up. He was wearing a flannel T-shirt and a pair of jeans with holes in the knees, and no shoes. Or socks. But he nodded politely at Aubrey and didn't seem too upset about getting chased out.

"Later," he said, directed at both of them, before disappearing out the door. Where the hell were his shoes? Aubrey wondered, staring at the royal blue shag rug. And where were the, uh, books? What exactly were they "studying"?

But before he could give the topic any more thought, Jhene was right at his side. "These are gorgeous," she cooed, closing her eyes and sniffing the orchids. "They look like poetry." 

Aubrey felt himself blushing. "Glad you like them. Roses seemed a little too conventional." He watched as she took the flowers out of their wrapping and delicately placed them in a half-full water bottle sitting on her computer desk. Well, that was one way to do it.

"You know me already, don't you?" She gave him a knowing look before setting the bottle down on her surprisingly neat desk. She quickly returned to Aubrey's arms and pressed her soft lips to his cheek. "Thank you," she murmured.

Aubrey closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Uh, I like your room." His eyes raced around the high-ceilinged space. Everything about it seemed sexy and Jhene-like, from the sleek iMac on her desk to the disorganized stack of poetry books on her nightstand to the navy-and-turquoise tapestry thumbtacked to the wall. On the bulletin board were photos of Jhene all over the world, backpacking through Europe, on safari in Africa, even one on the Great Wall of China. And he couldn't help but notice lots of pictures of her partying with friends—who happened to be mostly male. She sure seemed to have a lot of guy friends.

Jhene placed her palms against Aubrey's chest, and with a devious smile on her pretty face, pushed him down onto the soft cottony comforter on the bed. "It was so sweet of you to come all the way over here." She lay down next to him and started stroking his chest. "I've been thinking about you all week," she purred. 

"Oh, yeah?" Aubrey couldn't help feeling that, well, maybe that other guy (what was his name? Morgan? What kind of girly name was that, anyway?) was no big deal. After all, Jhene had kissed Aubrey right in front of him, so she clearly wasn't worried about his feelings. And now, as Jhene was nibbling on Aubrey's ear, she clearly wasn't thinking about Morgan. So why should he? Right? 

Riiiight.