Professor Bryant

Chapter Seven:

            Hearing Dylan say those words to me reminded me of everything Chad ever did and said to me. I was nothing more than a walking s*x machine for him to use anytime he needed a release. Who cares about my feelings, right? Yeah, it probably wasn’t the coolest thing for me to lie straight to his face about Justin taking me out this weekend, but I felt like I needed to get back at him for hurting me so much.

            All my life, I’ve always been told that I was never good enough. Riley, you aren’t pretty enough. Riley, you have a weak personality. Riley, you will never amount to anything. The biggest one was when Chad told me the only thing that I would ever be good at was making a rich man happy. He meant that as in the only way that I could score a guy like that was through s****l favors. Maybe he was right. Even Dylan didn’t want me for more than my body.

            All day Friday, I stayed cooped up in my room. I pretended to be sick, so I didn’t have to go to classes. Nora instantly believed me because I had a perfect record. The only time that I wasn’t in class was when I was too sick to go. 

            Nora had a date night with Mikey tonight, so I had the dorm all to myself. It was nice to get out of my room for some late-night tv to help get my mind off things. That was until there was a knock at my door. Oh, please, don’t let it be Dylan. Anyone but hm.

            When I answered the door, Justin smiled widely at me. His skin looked like it was kissed by the sun and glowing perfectly, making you want to run your hands down the length of him. I’ve never been that great at expressing myself, but it was about the closest I could get to how I really felt.

            “Justin. What are you doing here?”

            “Well, your sweet roommate called me and said that you were sick. I couldn’t let you stay in on a Friday all by yourself and not bring you some soup to help you get better.”

            The gesture was sweet, even though I wasn’t sick at all. I couldn’t tell him that, though. Justin would want to know what happened, and I wasn’t ready to talk about it. I don’t even think that I was acknowledging it myself properly. It was like spending your whole life looking for something only to find out that it wasn’t what you thought you were looking for at all. Disappointment. It was the one thing that was constant in my life.

            I gestured for Justin to come inside as I wrapped my pink blanket back over my body and walked back toward the sofa.

            “America’s Next Top Model, huh? This show is great.” I raised my eyebrows at him. Most guys that I knew thought this show was lame. “Hey, don’t judge just because I’m a guy. Tyra is totally worth watching it for.”

            For the first time all day, I laughed. I loved the simplicity of having Justin with me because it wasn’t just simple with him it was easy and natural. He never made me feel left out and always kept me smiling. Sure, he was a little cocky at times and could be a handful, but I cared about him a lot already. If only I could fall for someone like him, someone that would care about me as equally as much. There wouldn’t be any judgment with him, but there also wouldn’t be that passion that I felt with Dylan. Ah, this was making my head hurt.

            “It’s nice to sit down and watch this with a guy. I’ve never really had that before.”

            He leaned over the side of the couch and scooted me closer to him so that I could rest my head on his chest. The instant my head rested against his sculpted chest, my eyes had gotten heavy. 

            “Why haven’t you ever had this before, Riley? Guys that I know, myself included, would love to get to spend time with you like this. You are beautiful, smart, and even though you are a little reserved, you know what you want. Most people would envy someone like you for that.”

            “That’s sweet, Justin, but I have no idea what I want. Isn’t that the problem? That is always what it comes down to. I may look like I have an idea where I see my life heading, but the truth is, I don’t. I haven’t gotten the slightest idea,” I chuckled.

            Justin peeked down at me, lifting my chin to him when I moved to get a better view. “Somethings in life are better left to chance, Riley. The best things in life are unplanned.” He instantly pressed his lips to mine, sinking his hand behind my neck to deepen this kiss. 

            I pulled away like a big dummy. As much as I liked Justin, I couldn’t stop thinking about Dylan either. It wasn’t fair to him. “I’m sick. Aren’t you afraid that you are going to catch whatever it is that I have?”

            “I don’t care if I do. We will be sick together. Besides, it gives me an excuse to hang out with you more.”

            I sat up a little on the couch and watched his concerned face like he knew that I was about to say something to ruin this perfect moment. “Justin, I like you. I actually like you a lot, but I’m not in a place where I am ready to date anyone just yet.”

            He went from being stiff to relaxed. “To me, Riley Bell, you are worth the wait. How about we start over as friends? Once you are ready, if you are ever ready, we can see where it goes. I’d rather be in your life as your friend than not to be in your life at all.” His lips twitched, saying that as if it was the realist thing that he as ever said to anyone before.

            “That sounds great.”

            For the rest of the night, we snuggled up on the couch together. It was more than a friendship as far as I was concerned, but it was comfortable. If I could just get my head out of my ass for two seconds, I might realize that Justin was my better option anyway. It wasn’t like Dylan was an option at all, but Justin would be the wiser choice if he were.

            Nora clapped her hands together, pulling me out of my slumber. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. Do you have any idea how late it is?”

            How late was it? Did I only manage to fall asleep for a few hours because it felt a lot more than that?

            “It’s almost noon, Riley.” She smiled as I sat up, rubbing my eyes with the backs of my hands. “So, Justin came by last night, huh? When I got here, you two were cuddled up on the couch together. It was so cute. Tell me everything! If I have to wait for another second to hear it, I’m going to explode.”

            Her enthusiasm about the subject of Justin and me was something to smile about. “Nothing happened, Nora. We are just friends and have decided to keep it that way for now. I’m not in a place yet where I feel like dating anyone. We are sophomores in college. All I want to do is focus on getting through another year without failing.”

            Nora’s excited face instantly turned upside down. She picked up a pillow from the sofa and threw it at me, hitting me right in the side of the face. “Are you crazy?! Justin likes you a lot, Riley. You would be insane not to snatch him up now before someone else does. Yes, these may be our college years, but this is the time for making bad decisions that shape the rest of our lives. You can’t live on the freaking sofa for the rest of your life. No one wants a couch potato as a girlfriend.”

            I laughed so hard at her that eventually, she started laughing too. Nora always knew how to make me feel better, even if she knew that she wasn't.

            “Oh, by the way, there is another package for you. I put it on your bed. It’s the same thing with no sender address. Have you gotten around to talking to the campus about that?”

            “No, not yet. Classes have been a little distracting.”

            “Well, make sure to take care of it. Is sort of weird, right? Your parents never send you back-to-back things like that.”

            I shrugged, hopefully coming off as I wasn’t worried about it. “I’m sure it’s just them forgetting something that they should have sent me. Come on, Nora. You know my mom better than anyone.”

            “True,” she stated with attitude. “Your mom is one of the most forgetful people that I’ve ever met. Just let me know what it is this time and if it's something that I might be able to use.”

            She loved borrowing all my things because we were close to the same size. Nora usually made it look better on her than it did on me anyway. “Sure thing,” I said, then slipped off toward my room.

            There it was, sitting on my bed. Everything was the same way it looked when Dylan sent me that book. That also reminds me that I’m giving it back to him. Since it was my favorite, I already had a copy of it. At the time, I thought it was a sweet gesture, but I realize now that he was trying to flatter me with gifts to try and get in my pants. Fat chance that was going to happen now.

            I stepped toward the box, carefully tearing back the tape so that I could re-package it again later. All I wanted was a quick peek then I would send it back to him. As soon as I opened it, another letter was sitting on top of another box inside the box. 

            Ms. Bell, I am truly sorry for my behavior earlier this week. Everything that I said was the truth. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. After you mentioned being with Justin this weekend, it was more difficult not to think about you. One night. Give me one night. I will pick you up tonight at seven. Please wear the dress I sent you as it will be a little formal.

            He was so bossy. I couldn’t help but pull out the second box and look inside. My mouth dropped to the floor when I pulled out the long navy-blue gown. It had diamonds down the center of it in a perfectly straight line. The top part was a little showy for my taste, but I couldn’t deny how elegant it was. I couldn’t accept this. There was no telling how much this thing cost, and I already knew why he wanted to see me in it. It was clearly all about s*x with him. I didn’t give it to him then, and I definitely won’t be doing it tonight. 

            I picked up the box, ready to throw it in the corner when I noticed another box sitting at the bottom. When I opened it, high heel shoes matching the dress he sent me were staring back at me. Dylan was insane if he thought that I would be wearing this. Just to be a little vindictive, I would go out on this date or whatever it was with him, but I would wear something that I bought that belonged to me.

            Luckily for me, Nora was spending the night at Mikey’s tonight. He was having another party that Justin had mentioned to me last night before I fell asleep, but I told him that I wanted to have a day all to myself. It was too early to go to another party with Justin after what happened at the last one. He did promise not to drink at all if I agreed to come, but I didn’t want to ruin him having a good time, so I pretended that it didn’t bother me.

            When night fell, I started getting anxious. Dylan would be here any minute, making me second guess wearing my own dress. It wasn’t nearly as fancy as the one he sent me, but mine had its own flare. It was a sleek black dress with a half-open back. I also didn’t have to worry about showing off too much cleavage because the dress rested snugly around my neck. The heels that I had to go with it were a pair that my mom had bought me for my dress when I graduated high school. They matched the black dress great with the open-toe and closed back, the complete opposite of my dress.

            There was a knock on my door that made me jump. My heart started rapidly increasing the closer I got to the door to the point that I felt like I was two seconds away from having a heart attack, but I closed my eyes and took a minute to breathe before opening the door. Dylan stood there in some black slacks, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Oh my. 

            “Ms. Bell,” he said as he grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. “You look incredible, though I am a little disappointed that you aren’t wearing the dress that I sent you.”

            “When you bring me back home tonight, you can have it back, along with the book that you sent. Thank you for the gifts, but I have everything that I need.”

            He pushed through the door, backing me up. Dylan closed the door before walking over to me and pulling me against his chest. “You are infuriating.” 

            No one has ever used that word to describe me before. I believed it was the last word in the entire dictionary to describe me.

        “All ready to go?”

            Instead of speaking, I nodded instead. I wanted to try and keep from talking as much as possible tonight. After all, it was his idea to invite me out tonight to talk. So, he would be the one doing the talking, not me.