Chapter 5
Everyone was deep in study mode when we got back to the house. Paul had taken up almost the entire dining room table with something that, at a glance, looked far too complicated to even begin to understand.
Taylor and Hunter had the living room, and both had their heads buried deep in textbooks. Darah was at a little desk that was tucked next to the stairs, and I suspected Mase was also around somewhere. Nine months ago, I would have been right there with them. Now I thought they just looked like a bunch of people wasting their time.
“Little Ne,” Mase said, coming down the stairs, a textbook in hand, big surprise. “How’s life?”
“Peachy,” I said, putting my bag down on the bench by the front door. The sound of the door closing seemed to rouse everyone else, and they descended on us. There were just so many of them. It was overwhelming. Plus the happy. That was equally overwhelming. Paul came over and gave Renee a kiss, and she went to sit with him at the dining table to catch up.
“I’m going down to my...room,” I said, catching myself before I could say cave. It wasn’t really a cave. Or, if it was, it was the nicest cave ever. With Wi-Fi and everything.
“Are you sure? This house is yours now. You don’t have to stay down there,” Hunter said. “We’re not that scary, are we?” He turned to Taylor, whose eyes were pretty glazed over.
“What? I’m still thinking about suffragettes.” He gave her a look and shook his head.
“Seriously, Jos, this is your home.” It wasn’t really, but it was nice of him to say that.
“I’m just really tired. I’m going to bed.” I said good-night to everyone, including Renee.
“Not planning any nocturnal activities?” she said.
“Nope,” I said, popping my lips on the p.
“Well, just in case, I’m watching you,” she said, making a gesture with two fingers to her eyes and then pointing them at me. “Whenever you think I’m not there, that’ll be when I show up.”
“Jesus, enough with the third degree. I got it. Message received. Mission accomplished.” I stomped down the stairs and banged the door shut.
Ahh, peace and quiet.
* * *
The rest of the week went pretty much like that first full day, with the exception of Renee letting me go to the admissions office by myself to sign up for all my classes and get everything transferred over from UNH. Since my first year grades were so high, even with the shitty grades I’d gotten last semester, they were still willing to let me in.
When it came to classes, I just picked whatever. I’d decided to stick with my major, political science with a prelaw minor, since it seemed easier than picking a new one. I’d thought transferring would be a pain in the ass, but it was relatively easy, and before the end of the week I was officially a UMaine Black Bear, with an official decal for my car and a copy of the school song, the “Stein Song.” I was sure I wasn’t the first person who found it ironic that a college had a drinking song as their official school song. What kind of message did that send?
I’d only really missed the first week of classes, so I was going to be able to catch up no problem, according to all the professors who had emailed me on my new UMaine account to send me the syllabi from their classes.
Renee wasn’t around to take me to get my textbooks, because of a meeting of her nursing club, so the task fell to Hunter and Taylor, who drove me to campus on Saturday.
They fought about what music to play the whole way there.
“I think that Jos should pick,” Taylor finally said when we were practically driving onto campus.
“I don’t care.”
“The rule is that the driver gets to pick,” Hunter said, skipping a song that Taylor had picked out.
“Uh, no, the rule is that I get to pick.”
“Since when?”
“Since you put this swell ring on my finger,” she said, holding up the amazing ring that Hunter had gotten her when they’d first started dating. It was fucking huge, and nearly blinding when you looked at it. Yet another show of his wealth. It was just wrong that some people had so much money and others had less than nothing. Not that Renee and I were poor, but we definitely got our fair share of financial aid, what with our parents having so many kids between them.
“That ring does not give you totalitarian radio powers,” Hunter said, taking her hand and kissing it.
“Thank God,” I said under my breath as he found a parking spot by the performing arts center, which wasn’t too far from the bookstore. They continued to argue as we walked into the Union and then went downstairs to the bookstore. I was about to tell them that I could just find my books myself when Hunter grabbed my list from my hand and started grabbing books.
“Hold up, dude,” Taylor said, poking him in the stomach and snatching the list. “Not all of us can just pick out whatever books we want.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. Hunter had pulled all new books off the shelves, ones that were still wrapped in plastic. There was no way I could afford those. I’d have to get used ones, and even then it was going to be tight.
Taylor started pulling books off the shelves, all with that bright yellow USED sticker on them. She flipped through to make sure they didn’t have strange stains, or missing pages.
“This one okay?” She held one up and I flipped through it. Only a few of the pages were bent, and the spine was fine. I nodded and she put it into the basket Hunter was holding. Who knew getting textbooks would turn into an exercise of humiliation?
“Why don’t you go see if you can find these?” She tore the list in half and shoved him toward the next shelf. Once he was gone she gave me a smile.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, staring at the books as if I was looking for one when really, I didn’t even know what the titles said.
“No, it’s fine. I know how it feels, believe me. Been there, done that. How’s this one?” She handed me another used book and I found a mysterious brown stain on one of the back pages.
“I don’t even want to speculate what that is,” she said, holding the book in the tips of her fingers and putting it back. We got the rest of my list and filled the basket.
“Now this is one of those times when it really does pay to have a strong guy around.” We’d both tried to lift the basket, but it wasn’t happening. As if she’d said his name, Hunter came around the corner with another equally full basket that he carried with no problem.
“Did my ears deceive me? Did you order a strong man?” he said with a cocky grin. Yep, Renee hadn’t been exaggerating. He was a stunner.
“Shut up and carry this for me.” She kicked the basket toward him. Hunter looked over his shoulder.
“Hey, Dusty, you wanna give me a hand, man?”
“Sure,” a guy said, coming around the corner. “Hey, Tay,” he said, smiling at Taylor. “And...Red, we meet again,” he said with an even wider smile for me. Seriously?
“You two know each other?” Taylor said, giving me a look. I knew what that look meant, and I knew what it implied, and I had to shut that down before it went any further.
“No,” I said at the same time the guy, who was apparently named Dusty, said, “yes.”
“We’re acquainted,” Dusty said with another wink. Jesus, he thought he was God’s gift, didn’t he?
“We met. Once,” I tried to clarify.
“Where?” Taylor said. Hunter hadn’t said anything, but he was looking at Dusty and then looking at me, and I could feel my ears getting hot. One of the major downsides of being a redhead is that when you get uncomfortable or embarrassed, you broadcast it to the world. Which was what I was currently doing. Dusty seemed to get a kick out of it. D-bag.
“It was at the hospital the other night. So, um, I think that’s everything. We should probably go,” I said, leaning down to pick up the basket. I was determined to get it myself. A set of arms beat me to it.
“Let me get that, little lady,” Dusty said as I looked up to find our faces only inches apart. He laughed a little under his breath and I stood up so fast the blood rushed to my head.
“I don’t need your help.”
He looked like he was going to make a snappy comeback, but he just ducked his head.
“Well, you’ve got it anyway.”
“Okay, then. Ready to go?” Taylor said, taking my arm and steering me toward the checkout counter. I heard Hunter and Dusty talking behind me and I distinctly heard Hunter tell Dusty my name. Like it was any of his business.
After I checked out and gave the UMaine bookstore a good chunk of my bank account, we carried the books back to Hunter’s car. Of course, being the always-helpful guy he was, Dusty had to come, too.
“So Hunter tells me you’re enrolling here,” he said as we put the books in the trunk. Taylor and Hunter were deep in discussion, probably about me.
I just nodded.
He leaned against the car. “Look, I appreciate you’ve got this whole ‘don’t touch me, don’t look at me, don’t even fucking think about me’ thing going on, but I’m just trying to be nice. You could, you know, thank me for it.”
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a completely fake smile. Yes, I knew I was being a complete asshole to this guy, but there was something about him that just made me grit my teeth. There was also something familiar that had gotten under my skin and was itching like crazy.
He shook his head.
“Okay, fine.” He started to walk away.
“Hey,” I said, and he stopped. “I’m sorry I’m such an asshole. It’s kind of my thing.” I laughed at the truth of it.
“No, I don’t think it is,” he said, looking at me intently with those green eyes that seemed to see everything. “See you tomorrow, Hunter?”
“Right,” Hunter said, as if he’d just remembered something. “Tomorrow.”
“’Bye, Red,” Dusty said, walking backward with his hands in his pockets.
“’Bye,” I said, closing the trunk of the car.
“What in the hell was that?” Taylor said, crossing her arms and giving me a look that was almost exactly like Renee’s. Damn, those two had rubbed off on each other.
“Nothing,” I said, trying to get into the car.
“You guys hungry?” Hunter said, in a blatantly obvious way of trying to divert attention.
“I don’t know what you’re making such a big deal of,” I said, getting into the backseat. “We met at the hospital for, like, five seconds. End of story. Am I not allowed to talk to people now? Is that part of the unwritten rules my sister didn’t tell me about?”
Hunter gave Taylor a look, and she shook her head.
“Never mind. I overreacted. I have a tendency to do that, just so you know,” she said.
“No, really?” Hunter said, and she smacked him and turned on the music, leading to another argument about song choice.
What were the chances that I’d encounter Dusty all that much, anyway? I mean, he and Hunter were friends, obviously, but UMaine was a huge campus. Besides, if he ever came to the house, I could just hide in the basement if I had to. Or escape somewhere, if Renee would let me. She had to loosen the reins at some point. And who really cared if I saw him again? It wasn’t like he affected me or anything. He was just a guy.
Just a guy.