carmen
A week came and went, and now it's the morning of school. I was nervous but for some reason, I had a feeling that I was going to be fine. Me and Nila met up once or twice with Adrian and his friends and we all agreed to meet outside the main campus doors just before college started. I went over to my desk and picked up the outfit I had planned for today. It was simple, with black flared leggings and a black halter neck top; paired with an oversized white linen shirt that I left unbuttoned. The shirt was a thin material, meaning I wouldn't get hot and sweaty throughout the day, and if I did I could take the shirt off.
I did my business in the bathroom and put some light makeup on, nothing too heavy. Tying my hair up in a ponytail, I pulled out some strands to make it seem natural, and to also suit my face shape better. After getting ready, I made my way into the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast.
"You excited for your first day, Cammy?" I was still a bit sleepy, so Kai's loud voice woke me up fully.
"Yeah, could you give me a ride to campus please?" I asked politely.
"Of course I will. But you know, you have to start driving eventually. You're almost 19." I groaned. Maikel always found a way to bring driving into this. It's not that I didn't want to be able to drive around in my own car, I did. But ever since I failed my test last year, I have a fear of driving tests, and more importantly instructors.
My instructor was the rudest human I think I have ever met; aside from Damian. After my driving test, I went to my bedroom and cried for three hours straight because of him.
"Well why would I want to drive, when I have my own personal chauffeur?" I walk round to where he's sitting and hug him.
Maikel chuckles, taking another sip of his tea. I hated tea, and people who didn't drink coffee weren't human. But people who drank tea were abominations of nature. I didn't want to say that about my own brother, but he left me absolutely no choice.
I grabbed an apple, ignoring Kai's angry gaze on me. I wasn't a breakfast type of person, and I found that it was a useless meal, having no need for it.
About five minutes later, we left the apartment and got into Kai's car, soon hitting the road. I grabbed my smoothie that Maikel premade for me this morning. "So, what do you think of Damian?" Maikel's voice had me choking on my smoothie, struggling for breath.
He offered to stop the car, but I held up a finger, motioning for him to give me one minute. It took me a bit more than a minute to finally go back to normal, but when I did, I tried my best at giving him a smile.
"Sorry, had a bit of a situation there. What did you say again?" I heard exactly what he said the first time, but I was worried he was going to assume there was something between me and Damian.
"I said, what do you think of Damian?" Kai repeats his question, but more slowly, acting as if I was deaf and couldn't comprehend what a single question was supposed to mean.
I thought long and hard about what I was going to say to Kai. It's not like I could tell him about how I think his best friend is the hottest man on earth, and that he called me a bitch, and I can't forget to mention how me and him kept making intense eye contact over the past few days.
I could have said all of that to Kai, but instead I decided to reply with, "He's okay, I haven't really spoken much to him, but he's a little moody."
"Yeah, that's Damian all right. But once you get to know him, he's a nice guy. I know that may be difficult to think about, but he's genuine." Kai turns to me and sends me a quick smile.
I nod, pretending to be taking in everything that he was saying. Truthfully, I didn't want to get to know Damian, at all. He was rude, insensitive and not a nice person. Maikel could try and convince me all he wanted, but I was going to stay away from him as much as possible.
"Whatever you say Kai, but why are you asking me what I think of Damian? Isn't he your best friend?" I was a bit confused as to where this was coming from. Kai's never asked me for opinions on his friends, but then again he's never had a friend as close as I'm guessing he is with Damian. Rude or not, Kai seemed to love Damian like the brother he never had, and so I wasn't going to do anything to ruin that, even if it meant I had to pretend to get along with Damian for the sake of keeping my brother happy.
"Which is exactly why I'm telling you this. Damian's my best friend so I won't just be looking after you, so will he. I know this is probably the last thing you want right now, but I can't be there all the time to protect you now Cammy. So if you ever need help with something, or have any worries and I'm not available- just remember Damian's here to look after you as well." Kai rubs his hand on my knee, and as much as I want to be mad at him, it's hard.
I could never stay mad at someone, no matter how hard I tried. I remind myself that Kai's only doing this to look after me, and out of sibling love. "Yeah thanks Kai, I know you're only doing this to be careful." I squeeze his hand reassuringly and turn to look out of the window.
Kai may tell me that Damian's always here to help me if I ever needed anything, but I was still staying as far away from him as possible. He's bad news, I could tell that man was bad news and shouldn't be the type of person I should be associating with.
After some silence, we soon arrived on campus. I said my goodbyes to Kai and we agreed to meet here as soon as the day ended. I walked on the path before spotting Nila with Adrian and his friends. They were standing on some grass off the path. Luckily, the grass was dry so my brand new white sneakers wouldn't get dirty.
Approaching them, Nila ran up to me and gave me a hug. She was wearing flared jeans with a tight white cropped top. She wore her natural hair straight and her makeup looking perfect, as always. "You look so pretty Cam! I'm so ready for our first day. Let's go see the guys." Nila grabs my arm and takes me to where the boys are. We say our hellos and walk inside the main building.
Zane slings his arm around my shoulders, as he has been doing so for the past week. "Why do you always put your arm on my shoulders?" I look up to Zane.
"Because, you're so tiny, you're like my personal armrest." Zane ruffles my hair and smiles. I never really thought 5,6 was that small, but Zane was a pretty tall guy, and by the looks of it, his arm seemed comfortable around my shoulders.
I look over and notice that Eli was talking more now to Nila and Adrian, which was good. He's been really upset this past week because of his ex boyfriend, and never really used to talk. But now, he's engaging more in our conversations and doesn't look so down all the time. I smile, being happy that he's happy.
"Carmen, what's your first class?" Adrian asks me from behind.
"I think media. I'm not sure where my room is though, we never really got the chance to go on a tour of the site on orientation day." I pull out my phone to try and check my timetable but Zane stops me.
"i'll take you, my class isn't far from yours anyway." I accept Zane's offer, mainly because I don't want to be walking around the halls by myself.
Me and Zane say bye to the group and begin walking. He takes a strand of my hair and starts twirling it in his fingers. "What's your first class?" I ask.
"Psychology. I want to go into therapy." Zane answers but his attention is fixed on trying to make my hair stay curled after he releases it from his fingers. The interaction was genuine and sweet, so I didn't have the heart to tell him that the curls wouldn't stay.
On the way to class, I noticed Damian with another guy and a girl. Damian's hand was wrapped around her waist? His gaze quickly meets mine, then his eyes travel up to Zane, more importantly his arm around my shoulders. I noticed his jaw tick a little and his eyes narrowed towards my friend. Zane never noticed luckily, since he was busy texting away on his phone. As we walk past Damian, I try my best to ignore his burning stare on the back of my head. If he carried on staring anymore, I'm sure a hole would burn straight through my head.
Zane drops me off at my classroom and heads off to his. I take a seat in the middle area but a bit to the left. I figured if I sat right in the middle seat, then the professor would be more likely to call on me for answers. I loved media and wanted to do something in that area in the future, but I never did well with being picked on for answers. I end up stuttering all the time, even if I did know the answer to the question.
A girl came and sat down next to me, shooting me a smile. Whilst she gets her things from her bag, I take the time to properly look at her. She had pale ish skin and brown hair. She had a few freckles scattered across her nose, and the type of nose that most girls would kill for. She was very pretty, and all of a sudden, I started to feel a bit insecure.
Although I loved my heritage, I wouldn't complain if I had the chance to change some of my features. My skin was sometimes a bit tanner than others, hair a lot darker than how it probably should be, and also I couldn't forget the excessive amounts of hair I get. If I got a refund for all the times I went waxing, or threading, or even buying shaving products; I would be the richest girl on Earth.
I knew I wasn't ugly, but sometimes I let the 'what if?" thoughts into my head.
"Hi." The girl finally settles down, and I turn my full attention to her.
"Hi, what's your name?" I was going a bit out of my comfort zone and asking what her name was, but I'm in college now. I need to 'spread my wings' as Nila says.
"Emma. Yours?" She looked like Emma.
"Carmen." I smile at her.
We talk for a few minutes before the professor comes in. The professor seems nice, an old lady with a bright smile on her face. Normally, people that look her age would be retired by now, but she seems to love her job.
"Okay, hey guys. Sorry I'm a bit late. I'm going to be your media professor. My name is Professor Aldwin. But let's skip the formalities, feel free to call me Jane." Her smile reached her eyes, and I noticed a few teeth missing, causing her to have a slight lisp.
She looked as if she had never shouted at anyone in her life, and seemed like a huge cat woman. Jane was a big ball of sunshine and didn't fit the 'moody' professor stereotype.
The class went by quite quickly, considering we didn't actually learn anything. Jane insisted that we all get to know each other first and used the phrase 'a happy class is a hard working class'. I couldn't really argue with that, because I found it was true. Throughout high school, the teachers that were the nicest to the class, happened to be the teachers that would help the class excel.
My phone pinged towards the end of the lesson and I went on it, hiding my phone behind my folder.
'you have been added to a groupchat with nila💞👯♀️, adrian and two others.'
zane: MEET AT CAFE AFTER THIS LESSON ENDED.
adrian: you don't need to use caps
zane: IT'S BETTER THAN USING LOWERCASE
eli: stfu zane
nila💞👯♀️: god i hate my maths professor, he's such a dickhead and a bit of a perv as well
adrian: mr miller?
nila💞👯♀️: yep, you know him?
zane: THAT GUY IS THE BIGGEST PERV EVER, RUMOUR HAS IT HE BRIBES GIRLS WITH A'S IN RETURN FOR HEAD!!!
nila💞👯♀️: god help me🙏
me: i love my professor, she's the sweetest person ever
nila💞👯♀️: lucky you
adrian: you guys are distracting me from actually learning
eli: adrian idk what ur on ab, u and ur half brain cell can barely understand a three word sentence
zane: WHAT ELI SAID
I smile, shaking my head. I switch off my phone and put it back in my bag. I really am starting to regret not choosing a piece of clothing that has pockets. The class soon ended and I was packing up, about to leave, when the girl I was sitting next to stopped me.
"Hey, can I get your number?" Emma asked. I agreed without even thinking. For once I had more than one friend in my life, and I wasn't about to give that up. We exchanged numbers, said our goodbyes to each other and Jane and headed off in different directions.
~~~
I was holding my folder in my arms, mainly because I couldn't be bothered to fight a battle against myself trying to shove a folder in my bag. I was still a bit unsure where to go, and had a very rough idea of where the cafeteria was, so I was just following signs plastered around the walls.
I passed an empty science classroom not paying much notice to it, when all of a sudden, the door opens and an arm reaches out, grabbing my waist.
I don't know what happens next, because I close my eyes and keep them screwed shut, not wanting to know how my kidnapper was. Their hand comes round and traps my mouth, not letting me speak or scream.
I hear the door shut and start praying to God.
This is it. This is where I die. Not even my first day at college completed and I've already been kidnapped. I want my last meal to be a pizza, no McDonalds. Or may-
"Open your eyes." I recognise that voice. It seems so familiar. Why would my kidnapper know me? Oh my god am I being trafficked.
"Don't make me repeat myself, sweetheart." His voice was deep, and raspy. Almost as raspy as Damian's.
Wait a minute.
I open one eye, keeping the other closed till and look up. I notice Damian standing right in front of me, his hand still covering my mouth and his arm wrapped around my waist tightly. I opened both of my eyes and let out a sigh, relaxing for a second, before remembering that he trapped me in a classroom!
My eyes widened a little and I yelled, however my words were muffled due to his large hand on my face. I slap his arm, signally for him to get off. He removed his hand from my mouth, but still kept a firm grip on my waist. If it was any other person, I would have told them to get off me, but with Damian it was different. It felt right.
"What the heck Damian? You can't just basically kidnap me into a science lab and shove your hand on my mouth." I push his chest slightly trying to show my anger, but he never even budged. All that I made contact with was pure muscle through his fitted black T-shirt.
Ignoring me, he picks up a strand of my hair and started twirling it in his fingers. What was up with everyone and my hair today?! "Who's the guy that was around your shoulders earlier?" I meet his gaze and notice him staring directly into my eyes. His pupils were dark and dangerous. I watched him swallow and his Adam's apple bob up and down.
This was it. I've had it with Damian and I barely even know him. My business was not his business. As if he could read my thoughts, his eyes narrowed at mine, telling me to answer him before he got even more mad.
"None of your business." My voice came out a bit harsher than I intended to, but Damian needed to know his place. I was normally a nice girl, but Damian was the exception.
Damian's jaw ticked and he stuck his tongue out, running it along his bottom lip. I swallowed, the tension rising and the space between me and him closing up. "Don't test my patience, angel."
I ignore him, looking around at anything but him. I even pretended to be interested in the contents of an animal cell. He spoke up again, this time his tone being a lot more angrier. "You know, your brother told me you were the sweetest girl on Earth, and that you didn't have a single bad bone in your body. I'm starting to question if that's true."
I made eye contact with him yet again, and his hand tightened around my waist causing the slightest bit of pain. It was a warning. I took a couple of seconds to think about what my next response would be. I could just tell him who Zane was and get this all over with, or I could piss him off even more. I chose the former.
"Last time I checked, I just met you so what I do really isn't your business Damian. So I suggest you take your hand off my waist immediately, we don't want Maikel finding out and getting the wrong idea now, do we?" I plaster on the fastest sweet smile and look up at him, batting my eyelashes.
What was wrong with me? I had never done this before, and the whole eyelashes thing? I had no clue what I was doing, so I just did what I read in books and hoped for the best.
It seemed to have worked though, because I swear I heard him groan a little. I smile inside, content with the fact that I've pissed him off.
Except it didn't really work. His hand only stuck to my waist and he didn't seem to care at all about the fact that I could go and tell my brother everything that is happening right now.
Why does he have to be so damn nonchalant?
"Well, I think you're forgetting what your brother told you, Carmen. I'm your brother's best friend so your business is my business. Now I suggest you tell me who the fuck that boy was this morning before I go and tell your brother his arm was around you. We don't want Maikel getting the wrong idea now, do we?" Damian looks down at me and sends me the most sarcastic smile ever.
I hate my life.
He just pulled a me, on me! That was not fair at all.
I let out a sigh, and wrinkled my nose, showing him that I was annoyed at the fact I was going to end up telling him who Zane was. He noticed, and seemed pleased that he had this reaction on me.
I took a deep breath and collected myself, before answering his question. "His name's Zane. And before you say anything, it's not like that. We're just friends, I swear it." I'm now sounding a bit panicky, because I'm scared that he will go and tell Kai, and then all my friends will be scared away.
"Hmm." Damian hums as if to show he's listening. Our bodies were still exceptionally close and I could smell his breath, it smelled like cool peppermint. His fingers were still toying with my hair and I now realized that it was the same strand that Zane was playing with.
My nerves were now kicking in and all I could think about was Damian going and telling my brother. "Please don't tell my brother Damian, I'm begging you. Me and Zane are nothing like what you might think. I'll do anything you want." I know I was practically begging him, but at this point I didn't care.
Damian smirks, stopping to think for a second before speaking up. "Anything that I want?"
I nodded, "Yes, anything, just don't tell my brother."
"Darling, I don't think you could handle what I want." His thumb strokes small circles on my waist, and I don't think he even knows himself what he's doing.
I'm confused. What couldn't I handle? My brows furrowed, and I was trying to think of what he could want. Damian seemed to be amused by my clueless self, "God, you really are innocent." He whispered to himself, still looking straight in my eyes.
"I won't tell your brother, Carmen." He reassures me and I let out a breath of relief. Thank the Lord.
"Even though me and Zane are just friends, I owe you one." I smiled up at Damian. Maybe he isn't so bad.
He chuckles lowly. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
None of us made a move to speak, so we stood there staring into each other's eyes, whilst his thumb circled my clothes skin slowly. Out of nowhere, he cleared his throat and stepped back, as if he remembered I was his best friend's little sister.
I frowned, not liking the huge distance between us. Damian turned around and started walking to the door. His hand reached the door handle, and as he turned it, he looked at me.
"Carmen?"
I sucked in a breath. "Yeah?"
"You better not be fucking around with any boys and I mean that. If I catch you, then it's not your brother you should be worrying about." His voice was stern and as soon as he said it, he left no room for me to reply, exiting the room immediately.
As soon as I hear the door shut, I let out a deep breath. I stand there for at least a minute processing what happened. I recollect myself and leave the room, making my way to the cafeteria.
I spot the group sitting down at a table and go to join them.
"Cammy, where'd you go?" Nila sounded a bit worried and I smiled at her, reassuring her I was okay. Me and Nila had sort of a MORSE code, and could tell what each other was feeling or thinking with one look.
"Sorry, I got lost. This place is huge." I lied.
Adrian and Eli created a seat in between them and I plopped down onto it, resting my bag on the floor beside me. The group carried on their conversation as normal, sometimes asking me for my opinion on something.
No one seemed to notice, however, that my mind was someplace else. Because whilst they were all talking about which Takis flavor was the best, I was thinking about a certain boy and trying to figure out what the last words he had sent to me meant.
a/n
hey guys! this was a bit of a longer chapter than usual but i didn't really want to split this into 2 short chapters, rather than just one long chapter.
also damiannn😫😫😫
let me know your thoughts!
tt concinnityy_
love you all💗