22. The chapter with the next day

Rose

I jumped to the floor, feeling the world spinning around me, I crawled into bed throwing myself there, giving up even changing clothes. I woke up the next day feeling like the worst person in the universe, my head was pounding, my body refused to respond to my commands properly, and my mind was slow. And unfortunately I remembered all the details of the previous night well, feeling terrible and ashamed of everything.

I dragged myself into a quick shower and tried to look presentable for Phillip Black's class when all I wanted to do was lie in my bed and pretend I didn't exist for the rest of the year. This would be my gouache practice class, so I opted for loose jeans overalls that were already stained with paint, a stained t-shirt, and a pair of beat-up sneakers. I tied my hair into a simple ponytail before facing the class.

The worst part of what happened yesterday was dealing with the stares that followed me down the hall while I pretended to be invisible among my classmates. I knew I had embarrassed myself, but the worst part wasn't that, it was Christian.

I still couldn't believe how I had acted, cornering him like that. Yes, he was right to walk away, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed that I hadn't woken up next to him. His kisses and every one of his touches were still alive in my mind and this only increased the desire I could no longer deny that I felt for him.

The worst part was knowing that I couldn't tell any of my friends about it or they wouldn't give us peace.

All of this was dancing in my mind and mixing with the hangover that was eating away at my brain, making me extremely distracted during class, and this was already annoying Phillip Black.

" Campbell, you need to darken the light ink and not lighten the dark! What's wrong with paying attention to the damn explanation before you waste good ink? " he scolded me before going to evaluate my colleagues' work.

I took a deep breath, resuming that task when the vibrating cell phone in the front pocket of my overalls startled me, causing me to spill all the paint from the godé on my clothes.

" How could you be any more clumsy, Campbell? Now you'll have to start all over again. Pay more attention this time," Phillip raised his voice, practically from across the room.

Today is definitely not my day!

I reached for my cell phone, feeling my heart race to see a message from Christian, but before I could open it, two colleagues approached me, handing me some tissues to clean myself.

" Here, the stain won't come out, but you can wipe the excess off," Meredith smiled.

" Thank you," I smiled politely, ignoring the throbbing in my head.

" How are you? We saw what happened yesterday," Selena, the other girl sighed, making me uncomfortable.

" That guy was an asshole, he deserved that beating from Davis," Meredith stated.

I forced a smile, the last thing I wanted was to remember what happened yesterday, and even more to talk about Christian.

If it had been an option I wouldn't have left my room today.

" So, you and Davis are together? " Selena probed me.

I widened my eyes at this conclusion, almost laughing at the irony of the situation. They think we're together, when in fact he ran away from me last night.

" No, we're just friends.”

" Really? Is there nothing going on between you? Because he's really sexy," Meredith teased me.

" He's hot, and so are Theo and Liam. But they're my friends, I don't see them that way," I lied.

" Then can you introduce me to him? " Selena asked to my surprise.

I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression for a few seconds processing what she had just asked. This has to be a joke! I knew that I had no right to be bothered by this, but in practice things were not so simple.

I'm not proud of what I did next, well, maybe I am a little proud.

“If I can introduce you to Christian?”

" Yes, since you are not together, I thought…”

" Impossible! " I denied it, thinking of an excuse.

" Why? " Meredith narrowed her eyes.

That's when an idea popped into my mind, and I looked around, as if to make sure that no one else would hear it, lowering my voice to almost a whisper.

" This is not something that everyone knows, but he ... plays on our team.”

" Are you serious? " Selena's eyes widened.

" Yes, he hasn't come out publicly yet, but he and Theo…”

What are you doing, Rose?

" We'd better take our lunch break at once, I'll see you in two hours and hope you're ready to start painting.”

That's when a movement at the door caught our attention, Christian was standing there, and gave a half smile when he saw me, making my heart race. He was wearing one of his leather jackets, and held two helmets in his hands, making me smile.

" Too bad for us, because Peterson is another one who is very sexy," Selena sighed before walking away.

I looked at him again before I plucked up the courage to approach him, deciding to swallow my wounded pride from last night and go check out what he wants with me. I just hope my humiliation last night was enough.