Chương 25: Chapter Twenty-five
Chloe's P.O.V
That night I dreamed of the past. I dreamed of the days when Luke and I were inseparable, goofing off in Mrs. Mayfield's class. I remembered for our spelling tests we would take turns drawing on each other's tests. One would start by drawing the head, the other would draw the eyes, and we would continue that pattern until we created a silly creature that brought both of us reeling with laughter. We named one of our creatures, "Lolli-jolli Man" who had the look of some evil cartoon character. He was our absolute favorite one out of all of them that we drew. Mrs. Mayfield would walk around the classroom looking at everyone's spelling tests, and when she got to ours she would always laugh and ask us what inspired us to draw these characters. The worst part of remembering the past in dreams was the moment I woke up, wishing I could turn back time and return to those moments. Everything was simpler back then.
Luke and I ended up doing well on the theatre appreciation exam, and it came as no surprise when we both made one-hundreds. Even though Luke struggled a little more in that class, he worked hard, and it showed in his results. I was almost a little bit jealous of his ability to succeed.
I was doing chemistry homework one Thursday evening when my phone buzzed. I found myself grinning stupidly to myself thinking it was Luke.
Kason: Hey Chloe. I know it's getting late, but I was wondering if you would want to hang out.
I found it odd that Kason texted me asking me to hang out. We rarely texted each other and when we did, it was mainly about homework. I looked at my homework problems left and sighed. I had about fifteen problems left, but I should relax. It wasn't even due until next week. I deserved to take a break sometimes. I texted him back.
Me: Sure! What do you plan on doing?
Kason: I just thought that we should hang out and watch a movie. Unless you don't want to.
Well that was unexpected. At first, I didn't know what to say, but I remembered that I needed to relax, preferably with a friend.
Me: Sounds pretty good to me!
Kason: My dorm room is D4. Meet you there in five minutes!
Me: See you then!
I saved my progress on my laptop, closed it, and got up from my desk. I looked in my mirror to see if I looked okay and saw a short girl wearing her favorite Batman shirt and yoga pants in my reflection. I shrugged. I guessed Kason would just have to accept the fact that I was a lazy dresser.
I took only my wallet and car keys and went out of my dorm quietly, not daring disturb Hailee. This was the first time she was actually hanging out at home this week and she just wanted to chill and be left alone. I didn't blame her. I got that way sometimes, but ultimately, I never wanted to be alone. It frightened me more than people could ever know.
I went upstairs only to see several Alabama football players talking in the hallway. I didn't know who they were, so I guessed they were second or third string players, but it made me nervous all the same. I didn't like the looks they were giving me as I walked towards them. One of them snickered and I could only imagine what he could be thinking. All of my insecurities rushed to me, but I needed to stay strong. I had to walk past them in order to get to Kason's dorm.
"Excuse me," I said as I stood before them. They were standing directly in my way.
"You're excused," the one who snickered said.
I scrunched my eyebrows as I weaved through them. "Incompetent idiot," I muttered as I passed him.
"What was that?" he raised his eyebrows and cracked his knuckles. The guy was at least five-eleven with dark hair and a crooked nose.
"Don't try to get all offended on me," I rolled my eyes as I knocked on the door of D4. "What would Coach Saban say about you getting all flustered because of a girl?"
"Why you bitch," he said as he moved toward me.
Well crap. I probably shouldn't have said anything at all, but I couldn't help it. I was sick and tired of people looking at me and just seeing my flaws.
The door opened, and Kason came out in gray sweat pants and an Alabama t-shirt. At least I didn't feel underdressed.
"Whoa there buddy," Kason smirked as the crooked nose guy stood only three feet away. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Tell your fat girlfriend to shut her mouth," he scoffed, leaning threatingly towards Kason.
I could feel my face burn like the sun.
Kason raised his eyebrows and for the first time since we met I saw his angry side. I mean, I had seen his irritated side, but never his angry side. He walked up and shoved the crooked nose guy and pinned him against the wall. "How about you fucking shut the hell up," he said through gritted teeth, raising his fist to the guy's face.
I didn't know whether to cheer him on or pull him away. I never had anyone stand up for me like that before, and I had to admit it was a little refreshing. It made me see Kason in a completely different light.
"Easy man," the other guys said as they approached Kason.
"No need to fight. You'll get us all in trouble," the guy with beautiful cocoa skin said.
I wish I had clear skin like that, I thought.
Kason gave crooked nose guy one hateful glance, lowered his fist, and released him. "Don't you fucking dare ever call her fat again or I'll beat the shit out of you," Kason warned him.
Oh my.
The guys said nothing more and disappeared in their dorm rooms.
"Well that was a great way to start the evening," Kason said with a dimpled smile. "Come on in," he gestured to his opened door.
I walked inside and immediately noticed a dark blue theme. It was simple yet masculine.
"I like your dorm," I said as I looked around.
"Thanks," he said and flopped himself on his couch.
"Thank you by the way for standing up for me earlier," I said as I looked him in his dark eyes. "I've never had anyone do that for me before."
"It's no biggie," he brushed it off. "They were being douchebags and deserved it. Besides, what they said wasn't true."
My heart felt lighter for the first time since I met him. Did he really mean that? I gave him a genuine smile and sat down in the arm chair. If it weren't for Luke Armstrong, I would probably end up liking Kason. He was sweet when he wanted to be.
"So, what do you want to watch?" Kason asked and got up from the couch and looked through his giant stack of DVDs. He turned to look at me and said, "I can see from your shirt that we could watch Batman Begins."
I laughed. "We don't have to watch that just because I'm wearing a Batman shirt."
"Well why not?" Kason asked with a mischievous grin. "It's a good movie."
"I can't agree more, but seriously, you don't have to do it just because of me. We can watch something else."
"It's decided. We're watching Batman Begins," he nodded.
"If you say so," I smiled.
It was fun hanging out with Kason and watching the movie. I found myself getting more comfortable by the minute. Eventually, Kason and I decided to talk while the movie was going on. We talked about the characters of the movie, which Batman actor was the best and which Batman movie was the best. I argued that The Dark Knight was the best Batman movie of all time, and that Heath Ledger was the best Joker. Everything about the movie was spectacular, and Kason agreed.
I went back to my dorm after watching the movie, thanked Kason for inviting me over and that it was really fun. It was fun to hang out with Kason outside of class, and I was surprised to find out that he wasn't as obnoxious when we hung out. He was just a nice, standup guy.
The next day Hailee wouldn't stop bugging me about what happened when I went over to Kason's.
"What happened between you two while you were there?" Hailee asked attentively as she ate a spoonful of cereal.
We were sitting in the living room area eating breakfast. I sat on the couch with my feet tucked underneath me, leaning against one of the anchor pillows.
"Nothing happened between us," I said as I took a bite out of a banana. I covered my mouth as I said, "We just watched a movie."
"Mmhmm," Hailee winked at me and pushed up her glasses. "You two are so going to get together soon. I can feel it."
"You can feel it?" I laughed. "I don't think so. He doesn't like me that way."
"I call bullshit," Hailee raised her hand and looked around dramatically. "But beside that, do you like him, too?" she asked while lowering her hand.
"I don't know," I shrugged. "I like him as a friend for sure, but as something else? Eh."
"Well you should. You two would be great together. Just like how Luke and I would be great together."
Right. Just like how Luke and she would be great together.
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