I covered myself in another stolen hoodie, which hopefully my boyfriend had no idea about, and stepped into the math building. After all the classes I've skipped, I've got enough to catch up with to last me days and days of sleepless nights.
Walking into room 405, I kept my head down and sat in an empty seat. I pulled out my notebook, my fingers clutching my mechanical pencil as they doodled whatever they wanted.
"Who's that?" I jumped. Pressing my hand over my mouth, I glanced at who just scared the hell out of me.
Mr.Smith stood above me, looking over my shoulder at my book. He is admittedly a nice man. Funny. He's handsome for his age. Salt and pepper hair, slight stubble, blue eyes that crinkle at the sides when he smiles. Now, I do like older men, but he's got nothing on my baby.
I looked down at the paper. Lorenzo, scribbled in scatter plots.
"Uh, my boyfriend." My hand closed the book lightly, hiding my embarrassment. He nodded.
"Is he the reason why you've been missing classes?" I licked my lips.
"No. I-I got sick."
"For two weeks?"
"Yes." Mr.Smith studies my face for three seconds more, then shrugs it off.
"Okay. Well, I just wanted to check up on you. You're one of my best students and I'd hate to see your grades slipping." He smirked and patted my shoulder before leaving back down the aisle. I smiled and returned to doodling.
——
I cuddled up against Lorenzo, my back pressed into his front. He tightened his arm around me, snuggling his face into the crook of my neck.
The creak of the door alarmed me. Tiny patterns of bare feet against the wood panels settled my heartbeat. My eyes adjusted to the dark as I noticed Camila's small frame in front of me. She laid her hand on my shoulder and lightly shook me, her free tiny hand clutching her favorite purple blanket.
I reached my hand out and cupped her cheek when I felt the wetness. "Cami? What's wrong, baby?" She pulled herself onto the bed and I sat up. Her body got comfortable on my lap, snuggling into me as I wrapped my arms around her; cradling her. All I heard was soft sniffles.
My hand flattened against her forehead, pushing her hair out of her face and checking for heat. "Are you sick? Does anything hurt?" She shook her head with a small whimper. Her head went back onto my chest. "Do you want me to wake up Daddy? So you can talk to him." I felt her nod. I rubbed her back as I lightly shook his shoulder.
He groaned and his eyes fluttered open. The second he heard her sniffling, he jumped up.
"What's wrong?" Lorenzo asked. He smoothed her hair down as he also laid a hand on my back.
"She came in here crying and wants to say something to you." She reached for him and her father carefully picked her up and settled her onto his lap, his chin on top of her head.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"Mommy talked to me." She sniffles. Lorenzo visibly stilled.
"And what did she say to you?"
"That she want us to be a famidy."
Famidy? Not the time for grammar checks, Gabriella.
"She told you this tonight?" He asked her. She nodded her head against his chest. "And sweetheart, are you sure it wasn't a dream?" Cami sighs and sniffles.
"Daddy. I'm sleepy." Lorenzo clenched his jaw and laid her down on his pillow. She hugged her blanket close to her chest as I draped the comforter over her.
A few minutes of Lorenzo rubbing her back and me playing with her hair, she fell right asleep. When we heard her light snores, I could feel his gaze on me.
"You don't really think..." I trailed off. Without another second, he got off the bed and stormed into the hallway. Carefully following him, he stood in the middle of her pink room. And there, the window was wide open, the drapes flying with the wind. My stomach churned.
"Her window was closed when I put her to sleep." I stated. I know for a fact it was shut. She hates the cold.
"I know." He gritted. Lorenzo quickly took my hand and dragged us both back to bed.
----
This morning, everything seemed to be fine. Normal. Cami spent all night cuddled up against me. Her body was warm, so there will be no complaining from me. Lorenzo, however, was slightly pouty because he didn't get to sleep next to me due to Camila in the middle of us.
Lorenzo pulled up into a parking space and leaned over to kiss me. I happily obliged, attaching my lips onto his soft ones. Before the kiss could go anywhere, Cami's puke noises killed the mood. He rolled his eyes as I reached into the backseat and placed a wet, sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"Ew! No!" Laughing, I retracted myself into the front seat and picked up my bag.
"You're off today, right?" Lorenzo nodded. I smiled at him and pecked his cheek.
"I'm gonna go home for a little bit, but I'll be over tonight."
"Can we watch a movie night?" Cami perked up.
"If that's what you want babe." Lorenzo answered her. She excitedly clapped her hands together, bouncing in her booster seat.
I stepped out of the car and immediately, a loveable voice filled my ears.
"Gabriella?" I turned my head to see Jordan walking towards me. Squealing, I ecstatically ran toward him. He picked me up in a huge hug. "Where have you been?!" He set me down.
"I've, um, I've been sick. Really sick."
"That boyfriend of yours has been taking care of you?"
"You know it." We both glanced back at the car. I'm guessing he also felt Lorenzo's chilling glare. From the backseat window, Cami waved at me and blew a kiss. I did the same.
"I think we should head to class before he kills me." I rolled my eyes and started walking alongside him. I raked my fingers through Jordan's curls, inspecting them.
"What products do you use?"
"Shea Moisture. Not important." He removed my hand from his head. "Did you get the work from these past weeks."
"No sir. All those emails now go to my junk mail." Jordan held the building door open for me while we both walked in.
"You're going to fail college." He muttered. "How about you give me your number and I'll send you the work. But make sure you get some of them wrong so he doesn't know."
"He's a college professor. You think he won't notice?" I asked.
"No, he'll notice. Like you said he's a college professor. He won't care." Laughing, we entered our class.
----
Unlocking the door, I walked into my dorm. A body tackled me.
"Chris!" Kisses are peppered all over my face as I attempt to push his big body off me.
"We've missed you so much! It hasn't been the same! Everybody's so mopey." I can't lie, I have felt bad that I spend so little time here. Like I'm abandoning my best friends.
"If you get off me, I'll breathe again. You wouldn't want me dead, now would you?" He pushed himself off me, taking me with him. "Thank you."
"Are you staying?" I pursed my lips.
"If I didn't promise Cami I would be there tonight, I would. But tomorrow I'll be here." Nate emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He immediately smiled when he locked eyes with me. I walked to him and wrapped my arms around him, his arms around my shoulders.
"I've missed you."
"I was gone for like, a day."
"So?" Pulling away, I asked,
"Where's Kelliane?" Nate looked at Chris, who raised his eyebrows.
"You tell her." Christian flopped on the couch. Nate leaned against the wall.
"With Professor Vega." My eyes bugged out of my face.
"Oh my god! I knew she had a thing for him, but I had no idea she would do this."
"I know. Disgusting, right?" I was taken aback? Disgusting?
"Why is that disgusting?"
"One, he's like twenty years older than her. It's unnatural."
"If I recall, he's only eleven years older. And it doesn't matter. She's happy with her little rendezvous. Let the girl live." He huffed and rolled his eyes. "Anyway! I'm going to get some clothes and head out, okay?"
Nate reluctantly nodded and hugged me one more time. I walked into my room, grabbing my duffel bag.
***