104 - The chapter with Alicia

Christian

Cam and I were stuck late in the lab thanks to the queue to use the UV VIS. And when I finally managed to get out of there, I felt mentally exhausted.

" You look tired," Camille commented as we put our aprons away in the closet with Harry.

" Exhausted, and I'm still taking everything to Rose's room today," I commented, checking my phone only to realize that the battery was dead, putting it back in my pants pocket.

" You two are..." Cam tried to be discreet as she probed me.

I sighed, watching the girl out of the corner of my eye.

" What did she tell you at lunch? " I replied.

" Ahh nothing much, I... I can't tell you," Cam blushed at the look on our faces.

" They're girls, Davis. And they went out alone. Surely Camille already knows all the details about what's going on between you two," Harry teased me, "and you don't have to be a genius to guess it. You're moving into her room!".

" Hey, I'm officially Van Derr Waal's colleague until we get our own place," I muttered in response, "And... We're together, but we're not going to make a big deal of it right now.”

"Finally you guys stopped wasting time," Harry commented nonchalantly, "you should have done this weeks ago.”

Yes, he was right. If I'd known what it would be like, I would have talked to her a long time ago. Although I wasn't sure our talk would have been the same. After all, I have a feeling that our little scare last week contributed in some way to our current situation.

" I'll wait until she's ready to go public, but it's all sorted out,” I shrugged, “What about you? Did you tell your parents the news?”

" They're not that excited, but they'll support me. And they forbade me to drop out of college, so things between Charlotte and I aren't very peaceful since I told her I won't follow her plan " He sighed when his cell phone started ringing, picking it up afterwards " Speak of the devil... I'll see you later, let me know if you need help moving your stuff to your new room.”

Cam and I said goodbye to the boy and I walked the girl back to her place before going on my way thinking about how everything had changed in the last few days. I had to remember to talk to my sister about everything, despite telling Rose that we would call my parents, we never got around to that plan.

I entered the dorm, surprised to see Alicia in one of the corners near the entrance to the common area. It was unnatural for her to be there since she joined the sorority, but I decided not to pay too much attention to her presence, turning my face away when her gaze met mine, offering me a small smile.

I went up to my room, deciding to change and take my things to Rose's room, who was probably already impatient with my delay. Arriving at the room, I didn't bother to lock the door, taking off the jacket and sweater I was wearing over my t-shirt, throwing them anyway on my bed before going to the closet to get the saddlebags from my bike, placing them on the bed to fill them with clothes. That task wasn't that long, mainly because I wasn't so careful to organize everything. I just put as much as I could inside the bags, taking off the t-shirt I was wearing before going once again to the closet, picking up the clothes I had left there to change.

That's when the sound of the bedroom door closing caught my attention. I frowned, moving to get a better view, expecting to see Harry in the room, but to my surprise, Alicia was standing a few centimeters away, a satisfied smile on her face as she watched me.

" What are you doing here? " I closed the closet door carefully, without looking away from the girl.

" I thought I'd come here, take advantage of you finally being alone so we could talk calmly " her smile widened as she approached slowly.

Pretending to be indifferent to her presence, I walked over to the bed, throwing the clean pair of jeans I had grabbed from the closet, starting to unfold the t-shirt I was going to wear.

" This was not a good idea, first because I have nothing to talk to you about, either in public or in private, second because Rose is waiting for me, so you better...”

Before I could finish that sentence, her hand closed on the fabric of the t-shirt I was going to wear, taking it out of my hand and throwing it across the room.

" Hey, I…”

Without being able to finish that sentence, Allie threw her body against mine, bringing both hands to the back of my neck, joining our lips, making me widen my eyes in surprise. I grabbed her arms, trying to pull away from her, but that made me unbalance as I bumped into the bed, falling there, taking her with me. I turned my face away from her onslaught, trying to get her off me without risking physically hurting the girl, but she didn't seem to give up easily, transferring her attention to my neck. Forgetting my resolution not to hurt her, I pushed her off of me, causing her to fall to the floor beside the bed before I got up in one jump.

" Have you gone mad! " she raised her voice, sounding disconcerted.

" Me? What do you think you're doing? " I moved as far away as I could without looking away from her.

Alicia stood up with an indignant expression, trying to approach me once more.

" 'I'm finally giving you the chance you've always been looking for! And this is how you react? " she raised her voice.

" Chance? I'm not after a chance with you! Where did you get that crazy from?”

My gaze focused on the t-shirt I planned to wear near her feet, in fact, she was in a position that made it impossible for me to reach any piece of clothing without getting too close.

" Ahh please, Christian. I've seen the girls you get involved with. Almost all of them are delicate, slim and light-eyed. I particularly consider that a fine tribute," Allie sneered.

A nervous laugh escaped my lips at that response. And I thought Rose had a giant ego, but this girl managed to extrapolate it. A nice tribute, the only reason I got involved with this kind of girl sometimes was to try to get away from the comparison I always made with Rose.

" You'd better go, Alicia.”

" You can't be serious! Why are you kicking me off? Because of Rose? " an indignant tone took over her voice.

" 'She's the main reason, yes!”

The girl let out a forced laugh, crossing her arms with an expression of pure disdain on her face.

" Are you going to tell me she's all you desire right now?" My look told her everything she needed to know, and the hate on her face showed that she didn't like that." LIAR!”

" "Even if I wasn't with her, this here," I pointed at the two of us, "wouldn't happen. Never.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds while I waited for her to decide to leave my room, but it seems she still wasn't going to leave.

" 'If you're not going to leave, I am! " I muttered, walking towards the door after grabbing the t-shirt I had taken off earlier and was on top of the desk chair, putting it on anyway.

Alicia followed me, seeming willing to continue that discussion, but Rose's presence in the hallway changed everything. My heart raced and the blood seemed to have fled my body as I saw the shocked expression on my girlfriend's face replaced by disappointment and hurt. Seeing her walk away like that made despair take over me. She would believe me when I explained what happened, right? She had to believe me!

I started to follow her when Alicia raised her voice, surely hoping Rose would hear her.

" 'I'll wait for you here in the bedroom, Chris…”

Feeling the anger start to overwhelm me, I turned around, approaching the girl who was staring at me with her arms crossed and a petulant expression.

" Listen here, you…”

" You what? Freak? lunatic? " Her smile widened as the people in the hallway watched us curiously " Insane bitch?”

I took a deep breath, lowering my tone to almost a whisper as I approached her ear.

" You wanted me to use any term I've ever used with her, didn't you? But guess what, it's not going to happen!”

" You're a complete idiot!”

" 'I know,' I shrugged.

I practically ran down the hallway, hoping to catch up with my girlfriend and explain everything, but if there was one quality about Rose, it was her agility. When I got to her bedroom door I found it locked, and the movement inside showed that she was furious. I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm my heart. We've fought before and managed to work it out, this time it won't be any different!

" WHAT A SON OF A BITCH!”

Rose's angry voice came before a deafening thud, startling me. I'm in trouble, I know I am! But I need to sort this out, it can't end like this. I recognized a muffled sob from the other side, making my heart squeeze even tighter. I tried to open the door, but something was blocking the passage and the way she reacted when I insisted only increased my desperation.

I needed to make her listen to me, it couldn't end like this, not after everything that happened!

" I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT! " the sound of something shattering against the door made me step back with wide eyes. A large shard of porcelain came out before I closed the door again, I ducked, recognizing part of the emblem of the wandering hawks.

The present I had brought for her....

I was about to make a new attempt when a hand closed on my arm, pushing me away from the door.

" What are you doing? " I growled as I was pushed away by Theo, who was standing next to Liam and Skyller who looked confused by everything that was happening.

" I'm the one asking, what's going on? " He replied.

" Leave me alone, I need to talk to her and explain everything! She can't believe it…”

" Dude, not for nothing, but she threw something at you, " Liam pointed " trying to talk to her before she calms down won't help, no matter what you did, you'll have to wait! “

" I didn't do anything! She has to know that, she has to believe me!". " the tone of desperation in my voice surprised me.

Usually I wouldn't let myself be overwhelmed by a situation like that and I wouldn't care if she didn't want to talk to me. Or even go after her just to fight, but at that moment I knew I was one step away from losing everything for free, and that realization was terrifying!

" What exactly is this "nothing" you claim you didn't do? " Liam probed me.

" Your cousin broke into my room, and Rose saw it as we were leaving,' I took a deep breath.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group as they digested what I had just told them, until Liam let out a tired sigh before deciding what we would do next.

" Alright, she's going to need a bit of support now, so I'm going to go in there and you're going to tell these two everything in detail, I'm going to want to know whether or not I have to kick your ass. Man, this whole being protective thing is a lot of work " he turned away, walking to the bedroom door still grumbling.

In a normal situation I would have found that funny, but not today.

" Let's get out of here, we're attracting too much attention " Theo muttered.