INSTALOVE

Chapter 10: Lower Than Lowercase

"Ellie? Are you awake?"

I scramble out of bed. My heart thumps loudly as my eyes fly to the door, and my thoughts shatter into a million disjointed fragments.

Him.

Here.

Now.

Outside my door.

Saying my name.

My real name.

Not my fake annoying nickname.

Maddox.

Maddox came to check on me.

What is life?

"Just a sec!" I call, thrusting my fingers through my mussed up hair. It's full of knots and tangles, but at least it's clean. I showered to rinse off the pool water before I got in bed. I'm not still naked, am I? I look down with a gasp of horror, and I suck in a shaky breath at the sight of my striped cotton pajamas.

"Shhh!" he whispers back to me through the crack. "Hurry up! I'm not supposed to be here!"

My pajama top bunches weirdly at my waist. I must have missed a button when I did it up. The whole thing is askew, but I don't have time to fix it...or to think about what he meant. He's not supposed to be here. Because he'll get in trouble with the RA at one end of the corridor? Or with his girlfriend at the other?

"Ellie!" he whisper-yells, his voice growing more urgent. "Let me in!"      

I swing the door open. Maddox stands before me in a short-sleeved polo shirt, rubbing his arms for warmth. How did I fail to notice those earlier? I can't tear my eyes away from his shirt sleeves, clinging to his biceps, bunching and gathering as his hands run up and down.

Well, this is a first. I've never been alone before with a boy who possessed biceps. Except maybe my P.E. teacher, Mr. Greene. I had to stay after gym class that one time... And he probably had some muscle definition hiding underneath that thick coat of grizzled arm hair. But Maddox's arms are... What's the word I'm looking for here?

Nice.

Nice arms.

How did I not notice those before?

"Hey," he says, seemingly unaware that I just had a whole conversation with myself in the time it took for him to draw breath. He slips through the door and tugs it closed behind him. A warning flares in some corner of my mind. Didn't my orientation packet say something about dormitory rules?

- Students will be housed in same-sex dormitories...

- Students will adhere to a strict 8 PM curfew...

- Students visiting dormitory rooms to which they have not been assigned will keep doors open and remain in full view of hallway cameras at all times.

Um. OK. I should probably tell him. I don't want to get in trouble. But those arms... He's even got muscles in his forearms. How did I not see those at the party? Didn't his InstaLove avatar have arms?

Oh wait. No. I remember now. I close my eyes as I realize. I didn't see his arms because they were covered. Maddox, unlike some people in this room, dressed appropriately for the program's opening soiree. He donned that fitted polo shirt underneath a—

"Blazer," I say out loud.

He points a finger at me to confirm the reason for his presence. "Yeah. I kind of need that back."