Loving His Demons

College Party

**Phoebe's POV**

Thankfully the rest of my classes were Giovanni free. This morning was intense in the dormitory hallway, but class was so much worse. I am still amazed at how rude he was to Melony. The mystery of why the professor gave Giovanni what he wanted so quickly worried me. Who was Giovanni Russo, and why did he have a sudden interest in me? Most of the class I was trying to avoid his penetrating gaze. Thankfully today was mostly about going over the syllabus and the reading material, so his distracting me didn't cause me to miss much. 

It was close to four in the morning, and Sofia and I were finishing up with our last class of the day together. English Literature. We were both taking four classes this semester, Monday through Thursday. As we walked down the sidewalk together, a few guys were passing out fliers, and Sofia grabbed one and read it to herself. 

"We are SO going!" Sofia smiled, and then handed the flier to me. It was about a party on Friday night. 

We finally got to the library and found a quiet corner where we could study. It was our first day and we were already swamped with assignments. The table was full of our open textbooks, and we were both scribbling in our notebooks, taking notes and answering questions. We were so focused, it wasn't until a security guard made his rounds, that we saw we were the last in the library. Sofia and I packed up our books and started walking to our dorm. Sofia decided to order pizza since the cafeteria was already closed. 

The rest of the week flew by quickly. Giovanni still continued to try and gain my affections, but I was not interested. I was seriously attracted to him, but something about him screamed 'fatal attraction'. After class, Sofia and I would go to the library to do some classwork or even tried to do it in our room, but we both focused better in the library. I told Darry about the party, and he is going as well with of course some of the guys on the football team. We haven't been able to hang out lately with our conflicting schedules, but Nathan still keeps me company on my morning runs. 

It was Friday morning and Sofia was adamant about not missing fraternity party, so we called an Uber and headed for the mall to do some shopping. After she saw my closet, she demanded I needed her as my personal stylist. I got dizzy from all the different stores she pulled me into. A few times I had to put my foot down, there was just some things that I was not willing to wear. 

After shopping for about four hours, we were finally heading back to our dorm to start getting ready. It was only four in the afternoon, and the party won't get good until about ten, but she wanted us to 'pamper' ourselves. Which included face and hair masks, long hot showers, shaving, exfoliating, etc. Sofia begged me to let her give me a full make over which terrified me, but she promised to keep it light so I agreed. 

I sat in the chair for what seemed like forever while she styled my hair and did my make up. When she was finished, I almost didn't recognize myself. I was... sexy. Sofia let my long waves flow down my back, and only teased it a little to give it some extra volume. The winged out eyeliner with gold shimmer on my lids and tear duct, made my blue eyes stand out amazingly. The fake lashes were a bot weird for me, but thankfully they weren't over the top. With just a little blush and highlight and some nude gloss, I was ready. 

Sofia shooed me away to get dressed while she quickly got ready. An hour later and we were leaving our dorm. I was wearing a baby blue off shoulder lace crop top that matched my eyes. It was sexy but didn't show too much. Black ripped skinny jeans hugged my curves in all the right places, and I strutted in some simple thick block heels that were actually comfortable to walk in. Sofia wore a mini red dress and red matching heels. She looked like she just stepped off of the cover of a magazine. 

I was nervous to be going to my first college party, but Sofia promised to not leave my side. Darry and Nathan will be with us also which made me nervous. Darry has always been protective of me, so I hope he doesn't do anything crazy and get in trouble if a guy gets out of line. Nathan has been a good friend, but I don't know who he is when he drinks. Hopefully I can still trust him. 

We followed the crowds of people going in the same direction. Guys stared at us, and the girls gave us dirty looks. It didn't seem to have an affect on Sofia, she continued to walk with her head held high like she was on top of the world. Soon we were able to hear the music before we even saw the house. When it came into view, I was surprised to see it was just like how you see in the movies. Tons of people were walking in and out of the front door. Some students were standing on the front yard, others sat on the railing of the porch. 

"Wow." I whispered. "There is so many people."

"Don't worry. If you get uncomfortable we can leave, but give it a chance." Sofia smiled. She hooked her elbow in mine and we walked into the party. 

There was so much going on, I couldn't look in one place too long. People were walking around with red solo cups, some were dancing in the middle of the rooms. Sofia led us to the kitchen where we were passed two cups, but she gave them back. 

"Never let someone hand you a drink unless they poured it in front of you." She whispered in my ear. "Always ask for a closed beer bottle or serve your own cup from the keg, not from a bowl."

She then grabbed two cups and filled them from the keg in the middle of the kitchen. She handed the cup to me and I sipped at it. I hated the taste of beer, but I didn't want it to seem like I was prissy. We walked around for a little bit until we ran into Darry and Nathan coming in from the back door. 

"Pheebs!" Darry shouted over the music. Sofia and I walked over and he engulfed me into one of his big hugs. "I haven't seen you all week, I miss you!" He looked over me and frowned. "Dammit Phoebe how am I going to avoid going to jail with you dressed like that? Every guy in here is looking at you two." 

When his eyes fell on Sofia, his mouth noticeably fell wide open. I closed it and laughed. "You're drooling Darry." 

We all laughed and then Nathan approached me. He was wearing a black v neck tee shirt and blue jeans. He looked so casual. "You really look beautiful." He whispered in my ear. His lips brushed my ear lobe and it caused me to shiver. "I really hate how many guys are looking at you. They aren't even trying to hide it."

My nerves were settled after we were in our own little group. After about an hour, Darry and Nathan took us outside to meet some of the football players that were playing beer pong on the back patio. The guys all smiled and waved at Nathan and Darry, but as soon as Sofia and I came into view, it was like my cousin didn't exist. They abandoned their game despite it just starting and huddled around us. It was intense. 

They each introduced themselves, but there like eight of them, I couldn't keep up. I wanted to be polite, but I felt suffocated. I couldn't pay attention to all of them and sometimes more than one would be talking at the same time. Even some snitched on a few that they had a girlfriend back home, someone tried to accuse another of being gay. Nathan and Darry grew frustrated, and managed to get the guys to back up a little, but they wanted to be near us. 

"Come with me. I have to pee." Sofia whispered. 

I was thankful for the break we got from all the guys but the lone to the bathroom was ridiculous. After about twelve minutes, Sofia was able to do her business, and we headed back to the guys. The whole way I felt eyes on me, but I figured it was just some guys from the party so I shook it off. When we got back to the group, Darry gave me his drink while he went to get another for Sofia and himself. Nathan was hanging out with us and his teammates when I saw a familiar face walking through the crowds with a scowl on his face. 

"Shit." I whispered, and Sofia looked up. 

"Why is he looking at you like that?" She asked, panic in her eyes. 

I had completely forgot to tell Sofia about the way he has been acting in my intro to business class. "About that-"

Before I could explain, Giovanni was standing directly in front of me. Toe to toe, and breathing the same air. "Whoa, there Gio." Darry intervened. "You need to back up." But Giovanni ignored him and continued to stare straight at me. "Hey, did you hear what I said! Back the hell off of her!"

"When she tells me to." He smiled at me. 

Sofia started screaming and hitting Giovanni on his shoulder. "Che diavolo, Giovanni. Cosa ti sta succedendo! Tuo padre ti ha cresciuto meglio che comportarti come un uomo delle caverne!" (What the hell, Giovanni. What s going on with you! Your father raised you better than to act like some caveman!) 

Giovanni's playful smile was gone and he turned his anger towards Sofia. "Lasci mio padre fuori da tutto questo, piccola puttana viziata!" (You leave my father out of this, you spoiled little b***h!) He shouted, almost spitting in her face. "Non esitero a parlare a tua madre delle tue attivita extra tra una lezione e l'altra! Ti trascinera in Italia per i tuoi capelli!" (I won't hesitate to tell your mother about you extra activities between classes! She will drag you back to Italy by your hair!)

Whatever Giovanni said, made Sofia back down. I had only known her a week, but never thought I would see the day someone try to snuff out her fire. It angered me. I hardly knew this person and yet he has been slithering his way into my life, and making my roommate and I uncomfortable.

"Giovanni!" I screamed at him. Darry looked at me and then backed up a little. I don't get mad often, but when I do it is not pretty. 

"Si, tesoro mio?" He returned his attention back to me with a smile on his face. 

Without thinking about it I raised my hand a slapped him clean across his face. Sofia gasped and raised her hands to cover her mouth while all the guys tried not to laugh. I walked up to him and stared him straight in his eyes. 

"I don't know who you think you are, but I am NOT yours and you will not treat me like you own me. And you sure as hell won't treat Sofia poorly in front of me. From now on stay the f**k away from us!" I tried to walk away but he grabbed my elbow to stop me. 

He smiled at me wickedly. "Sei mio. Solo mio." (You're mine. Only mine.)