Chapter 13 - Wakely

I stared after Waylon as he walked out of the coffee shop. Did I judge him too harshly? Was he different from his brothers?

It was hard to separate him from his brothers because they looked so alike. I assumed that he was exactly like them. Cruel.

But when he admitted that he wanted to graduate early to get away from them. I could see the truth in his eyes. He wanted to get away from his brothers.

I could understand wanting to get away from family. Run as far away as we could just to get away. But I knew that was easier said than done. Even when I went to school on the other side of the world, I couldn’t get away.

“Excuse me?”

I glanced up and saw the barista standing in front of me. “Yes?”

“Do you know Waylon?” She asked, and I could hear the disappointment in her voice. She hoped that I didn’t know him. She hoped I was nothing to him. Just so she could have a chance at him.

“Honestly…no. That was the first time I spoke to him.”

Relief washed over her face as she smiled at me. “I have been trying to get him to ask me on a date for the last two years.” She blushed at her admission.

“Why don’t you just ask him out?” My words were more clipped than I wanted them to be. I shouldn’t have been angry at her. She was just interested in Waylon, but the memory of my dream had me wanting to toss my coffee at her. And to tell her that he was mine.

She shook her head quickly. “I couldn’t do that. No one asks out the Walker brothers; they have to ask you out.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Is there a rule book or something that I’m missing?” It was ridiculous to think that she couldn’t ask Waylon out because of some invisible rule.

She laughed nervously. “No, it’s just a thing. They are so popular and well…I’m not.” She looked away for a moment.

“If I were you, I would just go ask him out. What’s the worst that could happen?” I shrugged, doing my best to swallow down the jealousy.

I knew I shouldn’t feel jealous. Waylon wasn’t my boyfriend. He wasn’t my anything. He was just a random guy that I noticed that seemed to have noticed me.

The girl’s lips curved into a smile. “You know what? Maybe I will ask him out. No harm in trying…right?”

My mood soured, but I kept a smile plastered to my face. “Right, good luck.” I took a final drink of my coffee and stood. I didn’t want to talk to her any longer about asking Waylon out.

If she wanted to do it, she could. I wasn’t going to stand in her way. Even if the thought of her asking him out had my jealousy surging.

I was being crazy. I had no claim on Waylon Walker. He probably lied about not being like his brothers, even though I felt deep down he was telling the truth. They were triplets. They had to be similar in more than just looks.

“Hey!” Cora’s voice yelled at me. Her orange hair bounced as she jogged toward me. “I was just going to meet you.”

She beamed at me. When I left her last night, she repeated how happy she was to finally have a friend. And I was glad I could find someone who was genuine to be my friend.

“It was getting a little crowded.” I shrugged at her. “What time is that meet and greet again?” I knew the time, I just wanted to change the subject.

“Three. I was thinking that if you wanted to come over, we could get ready together.” Cora looked so hopeful.

“That sounds great.” I smiled at her. “Have you eaten yet?” I looked at my watch. It was just after eleven and I hadn’t eaten anything.

“No, did you want to grab something?” She asked as she stood in front of me, it looked like she didn’t know what to do with her hands.

“Let’s go to the dining hall.” I tilted my head back in the direction I was coming from. I knew that the barista was still going to be there, but at least I wasn’t going back to the coffee shop.

“You okay?” Cora asked as we walked through the doors and swiped our cards to get food.

“I’ll tell you when we sit down.” I shook my head, grabbed a tray, and grabbed some food. I wasn’t paying attention to what they piled onto my tray.

We sat at the same table we did yesterday. It was a bad reminder of when that girl harassed Cora.

Cora leaned forward on her hands and stared at me. “What’s going on? Did I do something wrong?”

I smiled at her. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong.” I looked around to make sure that no one was around and then leaned forward. “When I was in the coffee shop, Waylon Walker came, sat by me, and tried to talk to me.”

I paused a moment. that wasn’t right. “Actually, he did talk to me.” I corrected.

Cora’s eyes grew large. “What?”

“Waylon Walker sat next to me and talked to me while I was at the coffee shop,” I repeated.

“You’re kidding.” She clapped her hands together. “What did he say?”  

I leaned back and sighed. “Nothing. He asked me about the book I was reading, what I was drinking…” I trailed off.

I didn’t want to tell her about the other things we talked about. He asked me why I didn’t want to talk to him, and I practically screamed at him. But instead of getting angry at me, he ticked off the reasons why he wasn’t what I was expecting.

I think I was still in shock from that interaction.

“Is that all?” Cora asked, deflating a little because the story wasn’t as juicy as she wanted.

“Yeah, and the barista came and tried to flirt with him. Then he left.” I wanted to leave it at that. She didn’t need to know that he was trying to graduate early, and his reasoning behind it.

If that was truly the reason.

“At least he talked to you. That’s a step in the right direction.” Cora clapped her hands again, then grabbed her fork and took a bite of food.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. “A step in the right direction?”

She chewed and then swallowed. “Yeah, getting in with one of the hot Walker brothers.” She winked at me. “He talked to you. That’s a good sign.”

“Who says I want to get in with the Walker brothers?”

“You forgot the word hot. And like everyone wants to get with them. It’s like a thing here, and it’s super exclusive. So if you get the opportunity, it’s like you joined the Illuminati or something. Like you are set for life.”

“I would be set for life if I dated one of the Walker brothers in college…how would that even work?” I finally looked down at my food, it was some sort of casserole. After the first bite, I knew I was in love.

“It’s like a blessing. Like you were touched by Midas. You would be the luckiest girl alive.”

“If I were touched by Midas, wouldn’t that turn me to gold? That then would kill me?” I asked as I took another bite.

Cora rolled her eyes and gave me an exacerbated sigh. “You’re missing the point. You would get to go out with one of the hottest guys on campus.”

“But why should I care about that?” I didn’t think she understood I didn’t care about that. Whether you were hot or not, it didn’t matter to me. The only thing that mattered was who you were on the inside. I wasn’t about to date a shallow and cruel man. That wasn’t who I was.

Cora didn’t respond. I looked up at her, and she was staring at something over my shoulder. I glanced over and all three Walker brothers and the two girls started to make their way toward us.

I sighed and faced her. “You are ridiculous.”

She snorted at me. “Hey, if I can enjoy some eye candy, I’m going to.”

I snorted back at her.

I took another bite of the casserole that I was now obsessed with. I hadn’t had something like this ever. My meals were always planned out by personal chefs at home. And back in Seoul, everything was highly healthy.

“Babe, I think whoever eats the food in this horrid establishment is utterly disgusting.” The girl who yelled at Cora yesterday said as they passed and eyed the food on our trays.

I almost stood when a male voice growled. “Shut the fuck up, Zoey. No one wants to hear your stupid comments.”

I glanced over my shoulder, and Waylon was walking behind his other brothers. I froze. Maybe he was telling the truth that he wasn’t anything like them.

The girl named Zoey turned and glared at him, but her boyfriend pushed her forward. They continued, but Waylon paused at our table, winked at me, and then continued to where his brothers were sitting.

Cora grabbed my arm and held it like a vise. Her smile grew until I could practically see all of her teeth. Her eyes bugged out as she stared at the group that was sitting down.

“Breath, Cora,” I said as I held back a laugh.

“Did that just happen?” She gasped. “Did Waylon Walker actually stop at our table and wink at you? Or did I just imagine that?”

I shook my head at her. “Yes, he did. But it doesn’t mean anything.” I took another bite. After a few minutes, I stole a glance behind me. Waylon was staring at me and winked at me again.

“Shut up!” Cora said in a whispered yell. “He just winked at you again.”

“Again, it doesn’t mean anything,” I said willing myself to believe that too. I set my fork down and looked at her, she kept on staring at the Walker brothers. I refused to turn around again. “Aren’t you ready to start getting ready?”

I asked, praying that her obsession would stop and we could have a conversation that didn’t revolve around the Walker brothers, including Waylon.

“You’re right. It takes a minimum of one hour to get my hair just right, and I want to be hot as hell. And I still can’t decide on which dress to wear.” She let out a huff.

“I thought we decided on that gorgeous flowery one? With those heels.” I waved my hand in front of me, forgetting the name of the shoes she wanted to wear.

“I know, but is that too cutesy? Like too country bumpkin?” She sighed and leaned against her hand.

“Not at all, I thought you looked gorgeous in it. I’m pretty sure you would look good in anything. Are you sure I can’t just wear my cut-offs and a tank top? I have no one to impress.” I asked. Even though I loved the dress that Cora gave me, I knew that I was going to feel awkward wearing it.

“You better not. And if you ask me again, I’ll demand that you wear a more scandalous dress. Tits and ass will be showing.” She said, pointing a finger at me.

There was clattering behind me. I turned and saw Waylon with rage in his eyes. I wondered what he was pissed about. I shrugged and stood.

“Let’s go, Cora. We got some beautification to do.” After stowing my tray, I turned and glanced at the Walker table, and Waylon had his eyes trained on me.

One part of me wanted to shy away and hide myself behind someone so he would stop staring. On the other hand, I wanted to run up to him and kiss him.

I stopped for a second. Where did that thought come from? I knew that I had a sexy dream about him, but it was just a dream. Not reality. And I needed to make sure that my brain knew that. Because no matter what, I didn’t want Waylon.