Things are never as they seem—ever.
~Ally~
I'd never been to a frat house.
My only experience in even knowing what they looked like could be traced to the movies. You know, guys partying, people drinking, cups littering the lawn.
What I didn't expect was actual order.
The music was loud, but the spread was insane.
Alcohol was everywhere, food was everywhere, people were dressed like movie stars, and every single guy looked like he'd just stepped from a magazine.
"Guys," Austin put his hands on my shoulders and urged me forward, "This is Ally."
"Hey," a few of them mumbled in greeting and smiled.
They didn't look like your typical jocks. In fact, most of them were sipping their drinks and discussing football, while the girls around them were happily chatting about classes.
"Oh..." Austin tugged my hand. "And those guys over there who just walked in..." He pointed in the direction of two pretty big guys. One was the same height as Austin and kept a poker face, the other was at least six-foot-seven and quite heavy. Both appeared to be in their mid-thirties.
"They work for me. Or my dad. However you look at it. You have any issues? Anyone bothers you here? You run towards them with the whistle, got it?"
"Uh, sure, but why would anyone bother me?"
Someone chuckled behind me. "Fresh meat."
"Need I say more?" Austin groaned. "Meet Dallas."
"Hi, Dallas." I swallowed, trying really hard to not meet his predatory gaze.
He had dark brown eyes to match his hair.
He nodded. "'Sup." And that was the end of the conversation.
Austin introduced me to tons of people, none of whom really cared who or what I was.
Mainly they were polite, but that was it. After a few more introductions, he took me into the kitchen.
"Lets' get you a drink."
"Oh, I've never drank before." I held up my hands.
"I know." Austin chuckled. "Which is why you and I are on a mission of sorts. First frat party, first drink, first time with a senior—"
"I'm good." I shook my head at the cup he held out to me.
"Not yet you're not. One sip, and then I can die happy." His smile didn't reach his eyes, as he held out the cup and waited.
"Ugh, peer pressure. You know, you're the worst RA I've ever met, right?"He shrugged.
The liquid sloshed in the cup. It was dark and smelled like rotten bananas.
"What is this?"
"Beer. One sip. Go."
I plugged my nose. He laughed, but I didn't care. It tasted like bitter bananas and mold, and after one sip, I was done. I coughed and gave him back the cup.
"See?" His smile was contagious. "Was that so hard?"
"It was awful!" I smacked him on the arm.
"What did I tell you? No whistle! See, I'm safe, promise." He laughed and then stumbled a bit on his feet. With a curse he grabbed the counter.
"Are you okay?" I rushed to Austin's side.
He jerked away from me and blinked a few times.
"Yeah, fine. I just... I need to go grab something from James. I'll be right back, okay? Don't follow anyone upstairs and no drinking anything, not even water."
"Yes sir." I saluted, trying to make him laugh.
Instead, he looked like he was going to puke as he walked slowly out of the kitchen, leaving me alone.
"Interesting," a female voice said a few minutes later. "You're his new project?"
I turned around. "Project?"
The girl was gorgeous. Her legs went on forever, she had a tight white dress on, and her hair hung in loose curls around her chest. "Yup, project." She grabbed a cup of beer and drank. "He picks a freshman every year."
"He does?" Dread filled my stomach.
"What can I say? He gets bored easy. Believe me, by Christmas he'll have forgotten your name and moved on to the next girl. Let me guess, small town? Innocent? Everything a powerful guy like Austin is attracted to, but nothing he would actually go home to if you get my meaning. He saves as many as he can, and then parties with the ones who actually give a shit about him and his life. So enjoy it while you can. I know I did." She took another long sip and laughed just as Austin walked back into the room.
The minute his eyes fell on the girl I could have sworn he snarled.
"What. The. Hell. What are you doing here, Brooke?"
"I was invited," she purred. "You should be happy to see me. It's good press. You and I talking like nothing happened."
His hands clenched at his sides.
"But it did."
"Says who?" She threw her head back and laughed. "I was just getting to know your new little friend here."
"And we were just leaving." Austin grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him.
"Remember what I said, freshman." Brooke eyed me one last time and waltzed out of the room.
I exhaled and followed Austin as he steered me out of the house. The two guys he'd pointed out earlier trailed us a few hundred feet behind as we walked down the same street we'd just come up.
"I know you don't know me." Austin's words were clipped as if all his joy had just been sucked out of him. "But you can't trust anything that girl says. She's trouble. Let's just put it that way. She's not even supposed to be within ten miles of me, let alone ten feet."
"Is she a student here?"
"Nah." He laughed without humor. "Graduated a year ago. Our parents were close."
"Were?"
"Yeah." His head jerked down as he cursed and bit down on his lip. "Until everything went down last year. They still think I did it. Doesn't help that Brooke's a struggling actress. The one and only time I ever saw her succeed in selling a part was when she was trying to put me in jail for something I didn't even do."
"I'm sorry." My heart clenched in my chest.
Austin sighed. "Don't be. What's done is done, right?"
"Right," I murmured.
"I'm not feeling very well." He stumbled a bit. "I think I may be catching something, so I'm going to walk you nicely to your room and then say goodnight."
"Have it all planned out, do ya?" I teased.
He actually laughed. Wow, his face lit up when he was happy. I wanted to be the reason he laughed even though I knew it was ridiculous. I hardly knew the guy and what I did know told me he probably wouldn't be the best person for me to hang out with.
"Ally?"
"Yeah?" The party was still raging by the time we walked into the building and got on the elevator.
"Thanks."
"For what?" My breathing seemed erratic as his eyes focused on my lips for a few seconds before looking back toward the elevator doors.
"For believing me."
I reached for his hand.
What was I doing?
I clenched his fingers in mine.
"Until you give me a reason not to trust you, I'll always believe you. It's what people do."
"Blindly trust complete strangers?" His focus was elsewhere.
His eyes had glazed over and he looked really pale.
"Nah." We walked down the hall to my room. "Make friends and believe them when they tell the truth."
"Ally..." Voice gruff, he leaned against my door. "I don't want to be your friend."
"Oh." I hated how my stomach dropped to my knees, like he'd just told me he hated Christmas and wanted to burn every last romance book on my Kindle.
"More," he whispered, and this time I could feel the heat from his lips on my ear as he talked. "With you, I think I'll always want more. But—" He sighed and held out his hand. "I'll settle for friends, that is, if the offer still stands."
Fingers tingling, I reached for it and shook. His smile lit up my world. It shattered my previous existence, and again the same eerie feeling washed over me. Like I was running out of time, or maybe like the darkness was coming again. I tried to pull free but he held me there.
I hated that feeling of losing control. Usually the meds helped, but right then it was like his eyes were asking me to jump into the blackness with him and I wasn't so sure I was ready for that.
"It's going to be okay," he whispered, taking a piece of my hair from the ponytail and examining it.
"What is?"
"Your first day of class." A sad smile crossed his face. "What else would I be talking about?"
"Oh, you know... life," I joked, trying to get his other smile back.
"Right." His smile faded as he swallowed hard. "Well, sweet dreams, Ally. Think of me."
"And your six pack?" I offered.
He threw his head back and laughed.
"Wow, I needed that. Thanks. Friend."
"Anytime..." I fought to keep myself from touching him "Friend."
"I think you may be the best friend I've ever had." He didn't move. Instead he watched me, and his eyes seemed to take in every detail about me as if I was going to disappear or something.
"That's a good thing right?"
"I wish I knew." He pointed down the hall. "My room beckons me, as does a five a.m. practice. Night, later."
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I loved writing this chapter =)
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