ANGEL'S POV
*Two Years Before*
"Carlos, I need to go to the store but my friend Terry might be here before I get back. Would you let her in?" I called towards the bathroom as I tugged my coat on. Carlos stuck his head around the corner, his hair wet from the shower he'd just taken.
"I'm thinking I'll just let her sit in the hallway and wait for you there," he said dryly. I narrowed my gaze and he rose his hands up in defense.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." He nodded, waving me off.
I walked to the bus stop and waited patiently. It was nearly 6:30 and I needed to study with Terry for a huge test we had coming up that I was not at all prepared for, but Carlos and I also didn't have any food, and I chose life before acing a test.
When I got to the store, I headed straight produce aisle. I grabbed a bag of apples, oranges and both flavors of grapes. I then headed to the bread aisle, grabbing a small loaf of wheat for me and a small loaf of white for Carlos.
I can't believe you like wheat bread, he'd say to me, pretending to gag. It's like eating cardboard.
After going through the lunch meat aisle, I moved on to the drink aisle. As I was shutting the fridge that the milk gallons were in, I turned my cart and it rammed into someone else's.
I was utterly embarrassed. I looked up to see who I'd ran into, and lo and behold, it was Ben Freed, Leo Kingston and Sage West. I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment.
"Sorry guys, I wasn't paying attention," I spoke, glancing down at their cart. It was full of beers and tequila. Typical.
"No problem, Angel," Ben replied with a kind smile, leaving me surprised. He knows my name?
"Yeah, don't sweat it," Leo chimed in. I sent a half smile, not interested in talking to them for any longer than I needed to.
I was just about to turn when I felt eyes on me. My gaze trailed to the black haired boy with intense green eyes that were boring into mine. He was the quietest, which surprised me, because when he was at his parties — the ones Carlos had made a habit of dragging me to — he was the most talkative one there. Never to me — I always avoided him. Not that he's ever looking for me, I reminded myself.
As soon as Sage and I met eyes, he quickly averted his gaze. My eyebrows knitted together, subtly, as to not draw attention to the situation. If there even was a situation; I couldn't tell. I was confused and just wanted to leave. I turned away and as I left the aisle, Leo's hushed voice floated to my ears.
"We should give him a ride," he said. My eyes widened a bit. No, no, no.
"Why?" Ben replied. It seemed as though they were slowly trailing behind me, which just made me feel even more awkward.
"Because, guys, he took the bus." Okay, how the hell does he know that?
"How the hell do you know that?" Sage repeated my thoughts incredulously.
"There's a bus ticket sticking out of his coat pocket," Leo said in a duh sort of tone. There was a beat of silence before he spoke again. "What? I'm very observant." Ben cleared his throat.
"Anyway... I think Leo's right. He's got a ton of food in his cart; are we just supposed to let him take all of the bags he's going to have on the bus and then carry them all around campus until he gets back to his dorm?" Sighing softly, I turned to face them.
"You know, that's really not necessary." The three of them halted.
"You heard us?" Leo asked. I paused, opening my mouth to speak, then closed it right after like a fish.
"I mean, we are right behind him, following him around. It's actually kind of creepy," Sage answered. I swallowed a smile.
"It's really okay. I'll be fine, honestly." I really just didn't want to ride with them, but I wasn't going to tell them that.
"Come on, it's no big deal," Ben said, clearly trying to persuade me. "What hall are you in?"
I hesitated. "Lincoln."
"That's right across from ours," Leo beamed.
"I know," I replied without thought, and they all exchanged glances. Great, now I sound like a stalker. "I'm Carlos' roommate. I think he works with you, Leo?" I explained, and Leo's expression softened, eyes brightening.
"Carlos! I love him." I quirked an eyebrow and he simply smiled warmly.
"We're having another party this weekend. You should both come," Ben offered, and I groaned internally. I knew Carlos would probably be dragging me there anyway.
"Yeah, I'll see." There was a weird silence, and weird silences made me terribly uncomfortable, so I shifted on my feet and cleared my throat. "So... I'll be going now." I turned away and checked my cart to confirm I had everything I needed when their voices sounded again.
"Sage, help," Leo whined.
"What? Why me?" I rolled my eyes.
"You're the most convincing."
"Not true," Sage disagreed.
"So true. It's the eyes. Your giant, green, puppy eyes," Ben said, tone oddly serious. I began pushing on my cart when a hand landed on my elbow. I turned to be met with Sage and sighed.
"Look, I appreciate you listening to your friends and trying to be nice, but I'll live. It's only a little walk." Sage was holding me just enough to keep me there.
"Angel, I know where the bus stop is. It's twelve blocks from my building, which means it's twelve blocks from yours. That would be a 'little walk' if you didn't have a bunch of bags to pull around, and unless you want to steal the cart — and you don't peg me as the stealing type — and haul it onto the bus, you're going to have a hard time getting home." He finished with a sigh and very serious, very intense eyes. I hesitated before responding.
"Ben was right," I blurted. He tilted his head in confusion. "It's the eyes." He smiled with flushing cheeks and I shuffled on my feet. Filter, Angel.
"Is that a yes?" He asked hopefully. I sighed heavily.
"Alright, okay, fine." He grinned. "I'm done anyway. Are you guys done?"
"Yeah, we're done." We checked out and they led me to Leo's car, a shiny black Range Rover. I couldn't decide if he was rich, spoiled or both. I figured both.
We drove back to campus, and I was silent the entire car ride while they listened to music and chatted amongst each other. Well, Ben and Leo chatted in the front seat. Sage was in the back with me, his head up against the window, staring out. I was doing the same, but I glanced over at him a few times to see if he'd moved. He never did.
When we returned to the campus, Ben forced — yes, forced — Sage to walk me up to my dorm so he could help me with my bags.
"Why me?" Sage whined, and I quirked an eyebrow.
"I got it, guys—"
"Sage." Ben's voice was sharp. Sage met his stare and it was like they were having a conversation with their eyes.
"I can help—" Leo started, but Ben cut him off.
"Sage has it." Sage rolled his eyes and undid his seatbelt, slamming the door behind himself like a petulant teen when he climbed out. I sighed, undoing my belt as well.
"Sorry about him—"
"Don't be." I slid out of the car, grabbing the rest of the groceries.
When we got to my dorm, Sage said hello to Carlos and Terry, whose eyes were confused. I walked him to the exit, where he stopped, turning to me with unreadable eyes.
"What's up?"
"We're not the kind of douchebags you probably think we are." I furrowed my eyebrows.
"I never said—"
"I know, but you just seem like you think we're these huge partiers. I mean, we throw a lot of parties and all, but we aren't horrible. Especially those two," he defended, motioning towards the car that was waiting for him outside. "They're great."
"So what are you about?" I inquired.
"What do you mean?"
"What are you like? Really." He stared at me.
"We're more mature than most people think; we care about more than people think." He shook his head at himself. "I don't know, you probably don't care—"
"I do," I admitted. We shared a lingering look before I breathed in deeply.
"Well, thanks for helping me, and for the ride. Tell Ben and Leo I said thanks, yeah?" He nodded with the ghost of a smile on his lips before he left. I watched him climb into the car and rested my head against the building doors.
That was interesting.