CHAPTER 13

ZANDER’s POV

Standing at the corner of the room, looking like the lost one here, I spot Jayden at the center of the room, surrounded by a girl and another guy.

“How amusing.” I muttered to myself “I should’ve been in the dorm resting from this stressful as fuck semester.” I groaned in distress.

Just as I was about to walk up to Jayden to tell him I was leaving, a man who looked to be in his late twenties walked up to me.

“Hi. Excuse me…?” I stared at him because there’s no way he could be talking to me.

“Um……are you talking to me?” I pointed at myself and looked up to still find him staring and standing in my front.

“Yeah…. don’t think an old man like me should be here?” He said with a hint of teasing under his tone.

“It’s not that.” I giggled because his demeanor and his way of speaking didn’t sound or look similar.

“It doesn’t look like you’re interested in being here at all.”

“Well, I wouldn’t willing come to a party.” I looked around, “My fri—roommate forced me here.”

“Who?”

I searched around to show him Jayden and then, my eye found him. 

"Him." I pointed.

“The one with his tongue down the guy’s throat?” He gaped at me.

“Yeah.” I laughed. “I also wonder how I’m roommates with him.” I shook my head.

We chatted for a while then he asked if I wanted to get some fresh air away from this party. I considered going to tell Jayden I’d be back in a minute, but then, I looked and saw he was having the time of his life.

I rolled my eyes and scoffed. “Fine. I’m sure you wouldn’t even notice that I’m gone.”

“Okay, lets get out of here.”

We left.

The music faded with every step we took until it began to sound like a blur in the background. Cool night breeze brushed against my face, making me feel a lot more at ease.

“Better?” I’m Alex by the way.” He added.

“Way better.” I let out a small laugh before adding, “I’m Zander. I think I owe you for getting me out of there. I was starting to think I was actually going to suffocate in there.”

“I could tell.” He chuckled.

“So…. college student?”

“Yeah, final year.”

“I’m just here because my cousin invited me.” He shrugged. “I really don’t know anyone here.”

For a while, the conversation genuinely entered flow state. He’d ask about my major and my likes. I’d ask about his work and his dislikes. Maybe I had actually judged him too quickly. Just as we were about to return inside when he stopped.

“You have a really pretty smile.” He suddenly said out of nowhere.

“Um….thanks, Alex.”

“And those hazel eyes of yours…”

I blinked. “Pardon?”

“They’re really gorgeous.” His gaze lingered a little too long for my liking. “Honestly, I noticed you the moment I walked in. I just couldn’t make a move in there because that roommate of yours kept sending death glares my way.”

An uncomfortable feeling settled in my stomach

“Oh…okay.”

“You shouldn’t keep yourself in the corner.” He stepped closer. “Someone like you deserves to be the center of attention everywhere you go.”

I instinctively took a step backwards.

“You don’t have to be nervous around me.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“You are.”

He took another step towards me.

“I just….” My voice cracked. “I think I should head back inside.”

“So soon?”

His hand reached out and he pinned my hand above my head.

I felt my blood freeze.

I tried to fight him off but his grip was just too strong for me. “I don’t like being touched.” Instead of letting me go…. he held my waist and just as he was about to put his lips on mine,

A hand suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him away from me.

Jayden.

I don’t hear or process anything for the next few minutes but when I see Jayden trying to punch Alex into hell, I yell at him to let him go.

Relief washes over me and just as I’m about to tell him thank you, he beats me to it and says,

“What the fuck is actually your problem?” He booms.

I freeze. “I—” He cuts me off again.

“Are you really still desperate to get fucked.” He continues to shout at me. “What were you trying to do?” Not giving me the chance to explain. “Were you trying to let him fuck you just like you did with Professor James?”

My body went still and I suddenly felt suffocated. I couldn’t hear any other cruel shit that was coming out of his mouth anymore. All I could here was my hearting thumping loudly against my chest and my eyes tearing up. I looked up and saw him staring at me with rage in his eyes.

I laughed. I just kept laughing till I could feel tears running down my face.

My voice was barely above a whisper when I said, “You don’t know the whole truth, Jayden.” I continued.

“I really thought…” My tears began dropping to the floor. “I really thought you’d finally changed.” I swallowed hard as I felt a lump in the back of my throat.

“I stupidly thought that maybe we could actually be friends and let go of whatever grudge we might have had.” I felt rage overtake me in an instant. “This party…”  my voice cracked. “…and whatever friendship I thought we were building…” I looked at him with hatred burning in my eyes “was a fucking mistake.”

“I’m the one who got touched inappropriately, so what the fuck are yelling at me FOR FUCKS SAKE?!”

“Stay the hell away from me, Sinclair.” I stepped back and walked away from him and this stupid party.

    Each step back to the dorm felt heavier than the last. The only thing I could do now is keep my head down as I wipe my eyes before heading into the dorm and locking it shut.

“Don’t fucking cry because of Jayden.” I sighed,

I walked straight to the bathroom and stepped into the shower, letting the burning water pour on me. I kept scrubbing every part of my body with anger and frustration till it got so red that it started bleeding.

I got out of the shower and saw Jayden’s things again. I couldn’t bear seeing them any longer, so I grabbed his hoodie, notebooks, mug, the extra pillow he stole from my bed and everything else he’d left on my table and threw it all to his side of the room, not caring if any of them got broken.

This was the drawing of an invisible line in the room.

His and Mine.

I crawled beneath my blanket without having the energy to change the sheets.

“Why do I still feel so disgusted even after the shower?” I asked no one.  “Why did Jayden have to look and speak to me like I was an idiot?” I continued talking to no one and before I knew it— a broken sob had escaped from me. I buried my face into my pillow to muffle the sound of my crying.

Somehow……. the words he’d said to me at the alley hurt far more than the hand that Alex had put on me.

“For the first time since I became roommates with Jayden…. I wish we remained strangers who never crossed eachother’s paths.” I said with teary eyes before exhaustion final took over me and I fell asleep with tear stained cheeks.