Bad Things To Love (Book One)

Chapter Five

        I awoke to a jingling sound and a key being put in the keyhole of the door. In walked Emily with a concerned look on her face. She said nothing as she walked over to her side of the room and sat down her belongings. She then walked over to me and sat down on the edge of my bed.

        “Levi told me what happened to you yesterday. Are you okay?”

        “Emily, you know I can handle anything that is thrown my way. The only thing the guy got was my phone, laptop, and a small amount of cash I had tucked in the bottom of the bag.”

        “Still that must have been scary as hell to have a guy pull a gun on you. Levi told me he hit you in the head.” She pulled my head down examining it like the mother hen she was.

        “I am fine, really.”

        “Okay. Well if you do not want to talk about that then tell me what the hell Levi was doing there to become your knight in shining armor.” Emily winked at me, enjoying her playful teasing.

        “I have no idea what he was doing there. After I walked out on you and your boy toy doing the dirty, I kind of just walked around until I became lost. I saw Levi handing some guy some cash in an alleyway, so I tried to sneak back down the way I had come without him hearing me. That is when the guy pushed me against the wall and took my stuff. He did hit me hard, but it looks as if Levi knows what he is doing when it comes to bandaging wounds.”

        You could tell Emily was hanging on to my every word. “So, what happened next?” She was on the edge of her seat now waiting for me to go into every detail possible.

        “I must have blacked out because I woke up in his bed a few hours later. Once I noticed I was late for school he tried to stop me from leaving. I noticed then how controlling he can be. He even walked into the girl’s room while I was showering. He had no respect for my privacy whatsoever. I mean I was completely naked and the only thing he seemed concerned about was why I left his room without his permission.”

        Emily puffed. “Arrogant asshole.”

        She was not wrong.

        “Just be careful with him Sam. Caleb told me a lot about him last night and he seems like bad news. He has slept with over half of the girls in this college if not more. He uses women then tosses them to side when he gets bored. From what Caleb has told me, he is trouble that I do not want you involved in.”

        Did it surprise me that he had slept with so many girls? No, not really. I could see it. He was unbelievably sexy, even the way he carried himself drew you in leaving you wanting to know more. Looks, that was all it came down to with him because his personality sucked. If that was the way he treated he women, then I wanted no part of it.

        “You have nothing to worry about Emily. I want nothing to do with him anyways. He just seems to keep showing up at the most inconvenient times.”

        “Well if he starts to become a problem then just say the word and I will kick his ass.”

        We both broke out into small laughter. This was what I needed. I needed my best friend and when I needed her she was right by myside when it counted the most.

        “By the way, your dad called me when he could not get in touch with you. You might want to call him back.”

        “You did not say a word to him about my incident, did you?” I tossed my head to the side giving her the full displeasure written on my face if she had.

        “No but he knew there was something I was not telling him. I figured you would want to be the one to explain it to him anyways. You know how Mr. Taylor can be sometimes being an army man and all.”

        I had no clue why she insisted on calling him Mr. Taylor. Everyone else called him by his first name Andy but seeing how Emily’s family was also from a military background, she thought it was necessary to show her respect even when he was not around. She reached for her phone tossing it on the bed for me.

        My little finger dialed his number by heart. He had the same home phone number since I was a little girl and did not believe in cell phones at all.

        “Hi dad.”

        “Hey princess. Why have you taken so long to call me? You were supposed to call me after you settled in and it has been well over a week.”

        “Sorry I got busy. I have a part time volunteer job at the local animal clinic. Between that and my classes I am swamped. How is life back at home treating you now that I am gone?”

        “Oh you know, same old day in and day out. I was thinking of coming up and maybe visiting soon. Phoenix is only about two hours away from Tucson anyhow.”

        “You let me know when you are ready and I will plan the day out for us.” I could hear the faint voice of dad’s on again off again girlfriend in the background. When I had left, they were ‘taking a break.’ “Is that Jenna? Are you guys back together for what like the one hundredth time?” I chuckled letting him know I way only halfway being serious.

        “She has been staying over for the past week. How would you feel if she came along with me?”

        Honestly, I adored Jenna. I thought she was good for my dad. They had problems and fought constantly but that was just because my dad was hard to get along with sometimes. He was old fashioned and believed doing everything by the book whereas Jenna was a bit of a free spirit. She made him question everything he knew about women though and it was quite funny watching how nervous he was around her.

        “I would love for her to come along. Give me some time to plan something out and in a few weeks, we will get together about you coming up one day out of the weekend. On weekends I am off from the clinic and it would be easier too since I would not have any classes.”

        “That sounds like a plan to me. Now tell me how are you liking college so far? Is it what you hoped it would be?”

        Typical dad. He loved making small talk just to hear my voice a few minutes longer. He would make up any conversation in the world just to drag it out if he could. It made me appreciate him that much more. He and I had a close relationship. We never kept secrets and just because I was in college did not mean I was going to start now.

        “It is great, but somethings have happened that I would rather you hear from me before anyone else.” I went into the story of what happened on my first day with Damien. I left no detail out because for him to understand what happened, he needed to hear it no matter how painful it may have been to tell him. After that I told him about my mugging, but I did leave out Levi all together from that story. The last thing I needed was when my dad came here to flip out on him and cause a big scene.

        “Samantha you know I still have connections with the army, right? I could get all the details on this Damien fellow and we can shame him just like he shamed my little girl. Did you file a police report for the guy that stole your things?”

        “No dad it was just some old laptop and phone that I needed to replace anyways. Once I get the money saved up then I will make sure to buy me new ones.”

        “I can send you the money. You need those things. I know how much you love your laptop and I’m sure that it makes it harder with your classes not having one.”

        “Thanks that would actually be great. There is a shop here on campus that I can buy a decent priced one from that will not be too expensive. As for a phone I am sure they have a reasonably priced cell phone shop close by.”

        “Already sending it over to your bank account now.”

        “You’re the best dad. I got to go but I will call you soon with more details about getting together. I love you.”

        “I love you too princess.”

        Then we ended the call. Just by his voice I could tell he missed me. I was his only child, so he was heartbroken when I told him I was leaving so soon for college. He was understanding though as he knew my ambitions ran high.

        Emily took her phone and placed it in her bag. “When Mr. Taylor gets here, I am going to be spending the day with you guys. You know he is like a father to me too and I will not pass up the opportunity to spend some rare time with him.”

        “You know you are invited always. My dad adores you for whatever reason that may be,” I said rolling my eyes while cracking a laugh.

        “Very funny Sam.”

        We were giggling like little girls when a knock came to the door. Emily looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders. I obviously was not expecting anyone. For all I knew it was Caleb coming to see his girl since he seemed to have a hard time staying away from her these days.

        Emily opened the door and immediately tried to shut it, but a men’s boot stopped the door before she could.

        “She does not want to see you Levi. You need to leave.”

        I could not make out what he was saying as he spoke so softly.

        “Do you not think you have caused enough problems already? I appreciate you looking out for her and all but if she does not want to see you then that is final. I stick by my girl always.”

         That was one of the things I loved most about Emily. She always was there to protect me even if I did not ask for it. After what I had already told her about what happened between Levi and I, she was sure to take matters into her owns hands which I was thankful for. I had no desire to see him now or ever again.

         “Just let me talk to her. I need to talk to her.”

         “No. Now leave before I call campus security.”

         I saw him move his foot from the door and Emily closed it as he did.

         “Lock it please. He has a habit of walking through the door anyway.”

         She did as I asked without hesitation. “He is a persistent one, isn’t he?”

         “You have no idea.”

         For the rest of the night Emily and I stayed up watching movies. The last one we watched always got me. It was called The Notebook. That movie always made me cry which is why Emily never understood why I continued to watch it. I had to have seen that movie at least twenty times by now but it never got old. It was the fairytale kind of love that every girl dreamed of having but it was the kind of love that only ever existed in movies. By eleven o’clock, Emily was snoring in my bed beside me. I closed her laptop and placed it on the nightstand beside my bed before flipping the light off to drift into my own sleep.

         Tonight my dreams were not haunted by Levi. Instead they were replaced by those same fairytale love stories resembled in the movies. One with me finding my prince charming and living happily ever after.