Chapter Thirteen - Maybe I Can Help?
- Madeline's POV -
"Have any of you ever wondered why there are some amazingly talented artists out there, yet they do not have the fan base and recognition they deserve? Then, we have some.. mediocre talents who have so much exposure and is seen in all of the right places?" Corey, our 'teacher' has ranted on an on about this topic for at least ten minutes now. Music Marketing had its good days, but a lot of bad as well. I clicked my pen over and over, a bad habit I have for as long as I could remember, being as bored as ever.
"Maybe people just think they're shit," my eyes widened at his words, but I quickly found it funny because Corey had a blank expression on his face. I glanced over at Martin who was leaned back in his chair, keeping his eyes forward. "Maybe those people don't have fans because no one likes what they're doing," he shrugged his shoulders carelessly.
"Hm, well Martin, I guess you could be right," the whole room filled with giggles quickly. "But, we don't use that language here. Or at least in my class," Corey smiled at him sarcastically. I saw Martin roll his eyes and move to look around the room. His met mine for a split second, but he still managed to give me a smirk.
"Okay, so for our first major assignment, you must create a project explaining on why marketing yourself is important," everyone, including me, groaned. "Did I mention you can have partners?" Corey added, making the mood ten times better.
"Dude did you see Karlie this morning?" My attention switched from the front of the room, to right behind me. I think the person talking his name is like, Dillon or something.
"No? What about her?" The two boys were whispering fairly low, making it hard to understand some words.
"She was a fucking mess," the Dillon guy paused. "Tears and a nose bleed," I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what happened to her...
"Damn. You don't think she's on -"
"- Mark, Dillon. Shut up," Corey said, looking in my direction. If he had not said their names, it could have looked like he was talking to me, considering he was in fact staring at me. I kept my head down as he continued to talk.
"Okay, everyone! Find your partners!" Everyone rushed up and out of their seats to get with someone they knew. Truth is, I did not know anyone in this class besides Martin. So, I am actually praying that we can be partners. I need to socialize more, damn.
I sat in my seat, still clicking away at my pen, but then my silence was interrupted.
"Hey Mads," I looked to my right to find a very cute looking Martin staring back at me. I gave him a small smile in return. "God, this was you?" He grabbed my pen and chucked it to who knows where.
"Ugh, Martin.." I said slowly, putting my head on my hand. "I needed that," I mumbled, breaking our stare to look at the table.
"Oh come on Mads, it's just a pen," he chuckled to himself. "But, we're going to be partners," suddenly, his head was down on the table, parallel to my own, looking at me. I giggled to myself, licking my lips in the process.
"Are we?" I feel like my prayers were being answered at the moment. He smiled at me in a silly way before opening his mouth again.
"Yes. Because you are really the only person I like in here..." he started to nod to himself. I felt my insides warm up for some odd reason. If anyone heard that from a cute guy, they would feel the same way.
"Okay," I sat up from my hand quickly, realizing something men always do. "I'm not doing all of the work," I stated clearly. He gave me a conceited smirk, before shaking his head slightly.
"Are you kidding me? I don't let girls do all the work," he licked his lips, running a hand through his hair. I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing he meant that in a perverted way, but being the mature person I am, I ignored him.
"Alright, so when are we going to work on this?" I said looking around to see a lot of partners already writing stuff down. Are we just slow, or they just fast? For a moment, I saw a shimmer go across his eyes, as if he thought about something deep.
"We could do it in our rooms?" He suggested. I do not think he meant for it to sound like that, or maybe he did. Knowing Martin, yeah, he probably did that on purpose. I have to admit, hearing things like that, can only make a girl curious right?
"Have you met my roommate?" I asked, knowing how much Haley and Martin cannot seem to stand each other.
"Yup. She's a bitch," he said bluntly, leaning back in the chair. "I've never seen your dorm though," he started to swivel in the chair, not taking his eyes off of me.
"And?" I asked, needing him to explain this more.
"I don't know.. There could be an emergency and I need to know where you live," he sounded as if he was trying to get me to agree. And sadly, it was working, but Haley was still burned into my head.
"I'll see what I can do," I muttered, feeling annoyed that he always wins at stuff like this.
"You know, for being so pissed at me just a couple days ago, I sure know how to convince you," a cocky smile spread across his flaw-free face. I gave him a look that meant to simulate 'really', and he laughed, scooting his chair closer to me.
"Or maybe I'm just irresistible?" He raised one eye brow at me. I glanced down, trying my best to keep my face from going red. I also noticed how bright and blue his Nike's were.
"Don't flatter yourself, Garrix," I said, feeling quite confident at the moment. He said nothing as he continued to stare back at me. Wonder if he knew anything about what is wrong with Karlie? I decided not to talk about it, because frankly, I hate her and he seems too as well.
"Alright! Class is dismissed! Be thinking about your projects people!" Corey yelled and everyone got up and moved out of the room quickly. I could sense Martin was close behind of me when we finally exited the room out into the not-so-busy hallway.
"I'll see you later, Mads," I jumped slightly from him being so close to me. His voice was not what I was paying attention to though, it was his hands. They were resting my hips, low and secure, making shivers go up my body. Oh God, he knew what he was doing.
"Okay," I placed my hands over his, removing the slowly. I turned around to look up at him. "See you later," I gave him one last smile before turning back on my heel to walk back to my dorm.
*
"Are you sure she's not going to be here?" Martin asked me reluctantly as we approached my dorm building. It was the next day around three and we had got nothing done for this project yet.
"Yes, I swear. She said her and Cade were doing something," I said, pulling the glass door open, letting Martin step inside first. I am so thankful that Haley and Cade were doing something. Not really sure how she would react if she knew that Martin was in our room.
"Good. I don't need that bitch clawing my eyes out," he said as if he was being sarcastic, but I knew he was being serious.
"She's not a bitch," I muttered, trying to defend her as much as possible. Although, I think it would be pretty hard considering they have a set hate towards each other.
"You don't know her like I do," we entered the elevator. He let me press the button that read '4', because obviously he had no idea where we were going.
"Now you sound like her," I grimaced at him as we left, earning a few stares from the people that were standing outside and wandering the halls. I ignored them, hoping they were able to keep their mouths shut.
Once we arrived at the room, I heard a noise come from Martin. "What?" I asked him, putting the key in and turning the knob.
"I stayed in here last year," he said slowly, walking in behind of me.
"Hm, really? What a coincidence," I said beginning to think about what could have went on in here. I blushed at a few of my thoughts.
"Yeah, I guess," I glanced at him oddly, noticing a change in his voice. It almost sounded... sad? I did not want to admit it, but this was weird. Being alone in a room with a guy was not something I did on a regular basis. Those two times in Martin's dorm and this, is the only time this has occurred.
"So, what should we start on first?" I asked, opening the drawer in between the beds, grabbing a pencil and a piece of paper. My heart rate sped up as I saw it. My list of goals for this summer. Quickly, I slammed the drawer then turning around like nothing happened. Martin gave me a weird look, but brushed it off.
"I don't wanna do anything today," he pouted. I gave him another 'really' look before I said anything else.
"Martin, we need to -" Before I could finish, he had plopped himself down onto my bed, kicking his Nike's off in the process. Might I add, a different pair today. He looked up at me, patting the area in front of him. I stared back, frozen.
"Come here. I'm not gonna bite," he smirked, making more room so that I could sit down. That is, if I wanted to. For some reason, my feet picked themselves up and I sat down, facing him. I fixed my legs to where they would be situated 'indian style'.
"What are you doing?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.
"I can see it you know," his green eyes scanned my face all at once. I was now even more confused.
"What?"
"The makeup, I can see it on your face," he gave a sideways smile. I felt my cheeks heat up at the thought that he had actually payed attention. He had noticed.
"Oh," I said, playing with my hands.
"It looks good, not going to lie," I peeked up at him through my lashes. I coughed awkwardly before answering him.
"Thanks," I said very shyly. I wanted Haley's personality more than anything, but then Martin might hate me, so either way... I am still going to be like this. But I am working on it.
"Your so shy for being such a pretty girl," he commented, making me blush even more. I just realized how close we were actually sitting together. I would have never thought I would be in a situation like this. Me. On a bed. With a guy. From Amsterdam. Who knew?
"So I've heard," I said reciting our day in the tree. If only he knew what I wanted...
"Have you really never been kissed?" My eyes widened at his random question. What makes him think and say of this stuff? I shook my slowly, embarrassed. "Do you want to be kissed?" My eyes widened again.
"Well yeah, but it's not the first thing that's on my mind," I said honestly. He stared at me with a blank expression. He made a noise similar to 'hm' before wandering his eyes around the small area. They landed on the drawer beside him. He quickly glanced at me before opening the front drawer.
"What are you doing?" I started to panic as he pulled out a single sheet of paper.
"I knew something was fishy, when you shut that damn thing," he said positioning the paper upright. I knew what it was, so feeling like it was my last resort, I lunged up trying to grab it. "Whoa, hey!" He said, struggling against me. I almost had it in my grasp, but in one movement, my back was on my mattress with Martin staring down at me. Oh my God.
"You'll never win against me, babe," he smirked before sitting up on his elbows. I was speechless and my heart felt like it was going a million beats a second. He took his eyes off of me and looked at the paper.
"Ohhh, I see. This is a list of stuff you couldn't do, but you want to break these rules," he nodded his head as he analyzed the paper. I now huffed in frustration. He started to chuckle to himself.
"Shut up," I sat, putting my hands on his chest trying to get him off of me.
"Little miss innocent isn't so innocent after all," he paused. "Let's see here, no swearing, drugs, drinking, makeup, boys," his face looked disgusted in a way. "This is some grade A bullshit," he spat.
"Exactly. That's why I don't wanna follow them," I sighed, still trying to get him off of me. His scent was sending me into overdrive. "Get off of me, please," I asked nicely, with the best puppy dog eyes I could pull off.
"Not everyday a girl says that to me," he said cockily, but at least he did listen to me. I sat up after him, feeling a sense of tension rise in the room. His hands still held my humiliating list. He was the last person I expected to see that.
"Give it back," I said, trying to hide my shame and red cheeks with a high voice.
"How are you going to do this by yourself?" He asked, ignoring me, with a curiosity in his Dutch voice. That made me think about his Dutch, because I have only heard him use it once. And he did not sound too happy.
"What do you mean?" I said getting angry because he knew he was ignoring me.
"I mean, yeah sure you can cuss and get makeup by yourself, but having a sexual experience, getting drugs," he paused, laughing for a moment. "You can't do that by yourself," his green eyes seemed to look darker.
"You don't know my connections," I said lying, but acting as confidently as possible.
"Who? Haley? That Matthew guy? I highly doubt they would help you do this stuff, especially after last year," he said the last part slowly. From what I am getting, something bad happened here last year. Seeming to involve Martin heavily. I ignored the thought though, trying to focus on our conversation.
"Where there's a will, there is a way," I looked over at the clock, seeing that it was almost three-thirty. The only bad thing about this Haley thing with Cade, she did not tell how long it would take.
"I have connections," he said, finally putting the piece of paper down beside of him. I could feel him staring at me at every move I made.
"Oh I'm sure," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes in the process.
"Mads," his placed a hand on my bare leg. I could see myself getting tanner from wearing shorts for just three days. "I'm from Amsterdam," he said reminding me. Damn, that is true.
"Why are you so interested anyways?" I moved his hand away from my leg, feeling to overwhelmed by his touch.
"Like I said, I like you," he gave me a cheeky grin. "Even though I thought you hated me for awhile," he looked down quickly then back up.
"So you liking me makes you curious about what I want to do?" I asked him, pulling my eyebrows together.
"Sure," he raised his own eyebrows. "I'm just saying, I could be beneficial when it comes to this list," he licked his barely visible lips.
"How so?" I felt like that was a stupid question.
"Think about it for a second," he stopped talking. He was actually wanting me to think about this. I glanced down at the list and back up with wide eyes.
"Why do you care?" I said thinking about the 'sexual experience' I had emphasized on the list. It was true, you do need two people for that, but I could not tell if he was offering or mocking me.
"Maybe I'd like to help.." he smirked slightly, sighing in hard.
"Why?" I asked, a lightness in my voice. Was he being serious?
"Well, for one, I've never gotten down with a preachers daughter," he chuckled to himself but I for one, started to blush, again. "Two, like I said, I like you and three, it'd be fun," he shrugged his black clad shoulders. I think that is the only color he wears.
"You're not being serious are you?" I was genuinely curious at why he was offering this.
"You don't believe me?" He said very mono-toned. I shook my head, thinking this was all a joke to him. "Alright then," he sighed, sitting more upright in front of me. "Let's see if I really do mean it."
"How?" I asked, hoping he would get to the details quick. Who knows, Haley may show up any second.
"I don't know, we could go to the 'abandoned buildings'," he used air quotes, making my heart rate speed up.
"Like sneak out?" I asked bluntly, while he nodded his head quickly. There was a sudden light in his eyes. "For what?" He stood up from my bed, leaning down to grab his shoes. I watched him closely as he put them on.
"Maybe we can get started on that list of yours," he motioned his head towards the paper sitting near me.
"Martin, wait -"
"I'll see you later, Mads," he interrupted me, sending me a wink in the process. And just like that, he was out of the room, the door closing behind of him. Holy. Shit.
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A/N Hi! Happy Sunday! And guys! Only four more days until Christmas! I'm sooo excited! Consider this a Christmas present to you! :) What did y'all think of this chapter? Did you see that coming or nahh ;) I will probably update again sometime near the end of the month or right at New Years... Make sure to leave me a comment and vote! I love reading and replying to you guys :)
One last thing! I finally got a Tumblr! Be sure to follow me - LindzFrienzXO. I put a cast list up of this story so you can see everyone! :) Alright, that's all for today. Happy Holidays <3 :)