The Rules We Defy

Chapter 5

"Nevermind," I say, trying to act normal. "We can go to the park."

"Are you sure? Because we can go somewhere else if you're that uncomfortable."

"Just accept it before I change my mind."

We get some sandwiches, chips, and drinks from the deli and head to the park. It's full of people, but he finds an open table under a tree. The lake is off in a distance. It has a small beach where kids are playing.

"Still scared?" he asks, making me feel like an i***t.

I ignore the comment. "Thanks for lunch. It might be the last time I eat before the dining halls open on Tuesday."

"s**t. You don't have a car, do you? Well, I can take you to the store so you can get some stuff for your dorm fridge."

"I don't have a fridge." I take a sip of my soda.

"You don't? Are you sure?"

"It's not that big of a room. I think I would know."

"You need a fridge. I'll get you one."

"No, don't do that. Lunch is enough. I told you I don't like owing people."

"You're on scholarship, right? Room and board is paid for? The people who are paying for that can pay for your fridge. It's like $80. That's nothing. I'm sure they'd pay for it."

"How do you know? Do you know the people who gave me the scholarship?"

"Sort of. I know who they are. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

"I really don't need one. I just need some bags of chips and a two liter of soda. That'll last me until Tuesday."

"You can't live off chips and soda for two and a half days. We'll get you some snack stuff for your room, but you're coming out with me for meals. Do you like Thai food? Because i know this really great place we could go for dinner."

"No, really, Dominic. I don't eat that much. In fact, this lunch will last me until tomorrow."

It's not true at all, but the $100 Cody gave me will almost be gone if I eat out every day from now until Tuesday. And I refuse to ask Cody for more money. A Frisbee lands on our table, knocking over my soda. Dominic goes to grab it, but it rolls off the table to the ground. He picks it up, then tosses the Frisbee back to the kids who threw it.

"Here. You can have mine." He hands me his soda.

I don't understand why this guy is being so nice to me. And I can't figure out why he wants to waste his Saturday hanging out with someone he just met. If he's from this area, he must have a ton of friends to do stuff with.

We sat there for the next hour, gazing out at the lake and enjoying the weather. He asks me what classes I'm taking, but other than that, we don't talk much. That would normally be uncomfortable, but for whatever reason, it's not.

"We should go," I said, getting up. "I need to unpack and put stuff away. My room's a total mess."

He tosses our trash and we go back to his car. Instead of driving to campus, he takes us to a grocery store.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. "I told you I didn't bring any money."

"That's okay. I'll pay for it." He turns the car off and releases his seat belt. "Go ahead and load up on chips and soda or whatever you said you wanted. It's on me."

"What the hell? I'm not your charity case! I don't need you to buy me stuff. Let's just head back to campus."

"Calm down. I wasn't trying to piss you off. I'm just trying to be a friend."

"You're trying to buy my friendship?"

Now he's the one getting angry. "Yeah, like I'm really going to buy your friendship by spending a few dollars at the grocery store. Why are you getting so mad about this? It's just money. I don't even care. And I promise you, I'm not expecting anything in return."

He waits for me to make a decision. I really do want to get some food for my room and I don't want to pay for a cab to take me there later. "Okay, fine. You can pay, but I'm paying you back as soon as we get back to campus. This is just a loan."

He agrees and we go inside. I buy the store brand potato chips and soda, and they're still more than the name brand versions back home. I grab a bag of oranges that's on sale in an attempt to be somewhat healthy.

We don't talk on our way back to campus. I think he's still mad at me for accusing him of trying to buy my friendship. But I don't care. He shouldn't be paying for my stuff. It's not right. And he's lying when he says I wouldn't owe him. People don't give stuff away for free. They always want something in return.

As we were driving back, I check out Dominic's expensive car. It still has the new car smell. The beige leather seats are buttery soft and the air conditioning is icy cold. I've never been in a car this nice.

Back at the residence hall, Dominic stands outside the door to my room. "Are you going to dinner with me or not?" He really does sound mad. I thought he'd be over it by now.

"Let me get your money. Wait here." I go in my room and grab a twenty from the desk. I meet him back at the door and handed him the bill. I need the change back, but I'm too embarrassed to ask.

Luckily, he starts fishing through his wallet and hands me the exact amount he owes me. "I'll see you later, Jessica." He walks away.

"Is the place expensive?" I asked, standing in the hall still holding the money he gave me.

He's in the doorway to the stairwell. "What?"

"That Thai restaurant you mentioned. Is it expensive?"

"I think it's like ten bucks a meal."

"Okay. I can go. Does 7pm work for you?"

He hesitates, like he's trying to figure out what just happened. "Sure, 7pm works. See you later then."

I hope he doesn't think I was asking him out. I'm just being social like Cody told me to be. And I do need to eat dinner. Plus, I'm starting to think Dominic's not that bad. In fact, I might even say I enjoyed his company in the brief time we spent together. For the remainder of the afternoon, I put my clothes away and set out the few possessions I brought from home. Around four, someone knocks on my door. It's a guy in a maintenance uniform holding a mini refrigerator.

"Where do you want it?" he asks in a gruff tone.

I lead him to an open space along the wall near an outlet. Part of me is irritated that Dominic took it upon himself to get me a fridge when I told him I didn't need one, but it would be nice to have cold soda. When the maintenance guy leaves, two girls walk through my still open door.

"Hi, I'm Sierra, and this is Ava. We saw your door open and thought we'd stop by. We live down the hall."

"Hi, I'm Jessica."

They both look me up and down, then survey my sparsely decorated room.

" So, where are you from?" Sierra asks. She's tall and really tan with long blond hair, wearing a yellow sundress and strappy sandals.

"Iowa."

I can tell by their expressions they have no idea where it is. Why do people on the coasts never know what's in the middle? Do they never look at a map?

"Is that near Colorado?" Ava asked. She's a few inches shorter than Sierra with an even darker tan and shoulder-length brown hair streaked with golden highlights. She's very thin and the tight v-neck shirt she's wearing shows off her very large, abnormally round breasts that have to be fake. There's no way those are natural.

"Um, yeah, it's close to Colorado," I said, not in the mood to give either one of them a geography lesson.

"So, I saw you with Dominic earlier." Sierra gives me a look like I'm trying to date the guy.

"Yeah, I met him when I was moving in."

"I saw you leave with him."

I don't like what her tone is implying. "We just had lunch."

"You better watch out for that one. He's a real heartbreaker."

Ava and Sierra both laugh, as if they share some inside joke about Dominic.

"Okay, well, nice meeting you. I need to finish unpacking," I pick up a t-shirt and start folding it, hoping they'll leave.

"There's a house party later tonight. You could come with us if you want."

"I think I'm already going to that with Dominic." I cringe as I say it. Now for sure they'll think I'm dating him.

"Huh? Dominic's taking you? Well, I guess we'll see you there."

They walk off, and I'm left wondering what they're hiding from me. There's something they didn't tell me. And why did they call him a heartbreaker? I don't know, but it reaffirms that I need to make sure Dominic is a friend and only a friend.