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Begin Again: Allie and Kaden's Story by Mona Kasten (6)

Chapter 6

The night before my first college class, I was so nervous that normally I would not have gotten any sleep—but I’d just climbed a mountain. My deep sleep must have been thanks to the exercise and fresh air.

But the excitement returned when I opened my eyes that morning, and when Dawn and I sat together in our first literature class, we were euphoric with anticipation.

But reality hit quickly, bringing us back to earth.

We were sitting in the middle of a huge, overfilled lecture hall. I could barely follow what the professor was saying because the noise level was so high.

“How are things with the asshole?” Dawn whispered. Over coffee that morning I’d already told her about the party on Saturday night and had to submit to her interrogation. Apparently this was the next question on her list.

“He’s grumpy, but I think we’ll manage,” I said after a pause. “Yesterday he took me on a hike.”

“Is that a code word for something perverse?” asked Dawn, her eyes bright.

I tried to suppress a laugh, but a gurgle escaped.

A girl sitting in front of us turned and glared at me.

I covered my mouth with my hand. “No,” I muttered. “We really went on a hike.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to see the landscape, and he loves to hike,” I said, shrugging.

Dawn giggled. “Oh, that I believe—that Kaden really likes hiking.” Now the girl in front of us was throwing us a furious look.

“Shhh, Dawn,” I scolded her with mock seriousness.

Before our afternoon lectures—Dawn was taking creative writing, and I was taking a class on Film and TV—we headed for the dining hall.

After waiting in the long line, Dawn took a portion of mac ‘n’ cheese, and I chose the tortellini with vegetables.

“I wouldn’t take that if I were you,” someone whispered right behind me, just as I was about to order the dish.

I jerked back and nearly dropped my tray.

“Ah, the strange roommate,” Dawn said.

Only now did I turn to look at Kaden. He wrinkled his nose and ran a hand over his short hair.

“Why not?” I asked.

“The filling is awful. Sometimes there’s gristle in it.”

I nodded and pointed to the next dish. This time, too, Kaden shook his head and made a strangling noise.

“What’s wrong with the fried vegetables?” I asked. Now his eyes lit up, and I ordered, with a shrug.

As the lady handed me my plate, Kaden grabbed it away and put it on his own tray. “That’s because you didn’t leave any coffee for me today,” he said and headed to the cashier.

My mouth hung open in indignation.

That jerk! I turned back to the lady but she was already helping the next student in line.

“We can share,” Dawn said, indicating the yellow mush on her plate. I sighed and agreed because I didn’t feel like waiting in line all over again.

Kaden would get his due when I saw him at home later.

Dawn and I sat at a table with some other freshmen we’d met during orientation. We ate and shared impressions of our lecturers and classes so far, and we talked about where we were living. It turned out a few of us had toured the same apartments when looking for digs.

“The first thing one guy told me was that he wouldn’t fool around with me if I moved in,” said a boy who said his name was Scott.

“Would you have wanted to?” I asked.

“Oh, 100 percent, yes!” he moaned, rolling his eyes. “He was a real dreamboat, I’m telling you. Tattoos, muscles and a very erotic voice … I would’ve moved in just to hear him read me a bedtime story.”

We burst into laughter.

“Allie knows about that fooling around rule all too well,” Dawn teased.

Now it was my turn to moan and roll my eyes. But unlike Scott, I was annoyed.

“Wait. Are you talking about the same guy?” asked the girl diagonally across from me, sitting up straight.

“Oh, you must mean Kaden White,” another girl said, dreamily. I choked on a noodle. “He’s at the top of my list.”

“Which list?” asked Dawn, leaning in.

“My ‘if-I-could-have-any-man-in-the-world’ list,” she sighed.

Dawn and I exchanged amused glances.

“Then you should become best friends with Allie, she lives with him.”

The girl let out a squeal, and Scott sighed wistfully. He rested his chin on his hand. “Hallelujah, sweetie.”

“Can you introduce us?” asked the girl, eagerly.

“How do you even know him? I mean, I’ve only been here for a couple of days, but I’ve obviously missed something,” I said, amused. “I think I’ve hired the wrong informants.”

“Kaden is one of the dreamboats. Like Spencer Cosgrove,” explained another girl to my left.

“Spencer?” Dawn laughed aloud, but stopped when someone threw her a punishing glare.

“Yeah, there are a few dreamboats here,” Scott opined.

Which kicked off a discussion on who was the hottest guy on campus. Kaden was high on some people’s lists. I was glad when someone changed the subject, and we wandered off onto other themes. I really didn’t want to take someone back to the apartment with me or give up Kaden’s cell phone number to some freshman.

Although …

I looked at the girl with the dreamy expression.

And grinned.

Later, on my way to my last lecture of the day, my cell phone buzzed in my bag. I pulled it out while walking.

What the hell were you thinking? was the message on my smartphone screen. I smiled to myself.

That’s what you get for stealing my veggies, you ass.

I’d slipped Kaden’s cell number to the dreamy girl after lunch, winking.

My phone vibrated again.

You’re never getting another drop of coffee. I’m locking the machine in my room.

I snorted and stood still while I typed.

Up yours.

That would be a violation of rule three, and you know it, Bubbles.

I huffed in frustration and stuffed the phone back in my bag. What an asshole! And what the hell was behind that idiotic nickname he kept calling me? Bubbles. Because I babbled too much? Seriously?

As I entered the building for my last lecture of the day, I decided to ban all thoughts of Kaden from my head. I found my classroom on the first floor and entered.

Many students were already there. I edged my way through the crowd.

“Hey fresh meat!” a guy yelled at me from the side.

I pretended to ignore him. But I’d barely gotten past him when he leaned back in his chair and gave me a slap on the ass.

A piercing pain shot through my temples. Unwanted memories flashed in front of my inner eye. I felt like I was boiling, but I wanted to keep moving. No scene. Still, when I’d left Lincoln I’d promised myself never again to take that kind of thing lying down. I turned on my heels and targeted the guy with a furious stare.

“Don’t you ever touch me again. Do you understand?” I made an effort to keep my voice calm, but only half succeeded.

The guy raised his hands in the air, in a calming gesture and said with a snide grin. “Calm down, it’s just a joke.”

“No, it’s harassment. If you think that’s funny, you have a pretty shitty sense of humor,” I said through my teeth.

“Chill out, man,” he grumbled, and the guy sitting next to him grunted in agreement.

“No, man, I will not chill out. If women want you to touch them, they will let you know. Believe me, we can make it quite obvious,” I hissed. “But if someone walks by without even noticing you, that’s not an invitation to grope them.”

At this point the guy was glowing red. I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or shame.

“Keep your hands to yourself, Ryan,” rang out a familiar voice. “Unless you want to get to know mine. And believe me, I don’t think you want that.”

Kaden sat across from us. He had folded his arms behind his head; his legs were stretched out and crossed under the table. His eyes flashed with amusement when he saw my surprised expression, but his jaw remained clenched. He gave a barely noticeable nod in my direction and then reached into his pants pocket.

As the lecturer began to introduce himself, I heard my phone vibrate in my bag. I fished it out discreetly and unlocked the screen to read the message.

You have passed.