Campus

"You tawt, go, he's calling you," Zoe grumbled with annoyed impatience, her lower lip pushing out in an adorable little pout.
But I stayed glued to my seat, much to my new friend's annoyance.
One of Roman's bodyguards walked over to me.
"Ms. Lynn?" he asked, searching my face. "Mr. Roman would very much like you to honor him with your company."
"My God!" Melissa said. I saw her eyeing Roman and me suspiciously, especially the much-older-than-me Roman. "That's just so romantic." She slapped Chad on the back of the head. "Why can't you do something like that for me?"
"I don't have the money, hello," Chad said under his breath.
Melissa smiled. "Don't remind me."
"Ms. Lynn?" the Godzilla asked again, anxious now.
I sighed. "Okay."
When two seconds later I hadn't made an effort to get up, he raised an eyebrow in question.
"I'm gonna need some help," I admitted with dread.
He offered his arm and I slid my much smaller, slender one to his and we walked towards Roman. His eyes were narrowed shrewdly.
The chaos broke around the room.
I lifted an eyebrow confused.
"Everyone seems to know who you are," I said with mild irritation, taking a seat across him.
He pushed a brown bag between us, towards me. I opened it without a word and rolled my eyes.
"Burger and chips?" I asked. "There's only one!"
"I'll call Gertrude to get another one for you," he said taking out his phone. "I forgot you eat like a soccer player."
I decided to ignore him. "Not for me. This one will keep me full for the whole day." I pursed my lips. "I'm not eating alone."
"Oh?" He wasn't expecting that. "I'm not really hungry. I had something before coming here."
"Who's Gertrude?" I aimed to sound nonchalant but failed miserably.
He raised a delicate eyebrow. "My PA."
I stared in shock as he held my gaze longer than he ever had. "You have a PA?"
He nodded.
"Ugh." I glowered at him. "We're still sharing. I'm not eating alone."
"Just one bite," he agreed reluctantly.
"How do you manage to stay indifferent to that?" I pointed to a group of girls taking pictures of him and giggling among themselves, pointing at Roman with wonder.
He just shrugged his shoulders.
"Eat," he commanded.
I obeyed without struggle, not allowing myself to chew between bites. He was quiet for a moment, and I wondered what he was thinking about.
"Okay," I said once I'd swallowed. There were at most four more bites left. "Your turn."
He opened his mouth. His expression was bleak. And yet he was still the most beautiful person in the room.
I sucked in a breath and my eyes bulged, shaking my head back and forth quickly to get my thoughts on track again. "What the hell?" I asked, with a slight crack in my voice.
"I'm not getting my hands dirty," he told me blankly. "I have a meeting with Jerry this afternoon."
Was I supposed to know who Jerry was? I shook my head to indicate that I had no idea who he was talking about.
He had his eyes closed, he was so still that he passed off as sleeping.
I hesitated a second. "Open up."
"Just like you will for me?" he asked instead, winking. It felt like I wasn't breathing. My heart did that flip thing again, raising the small hairs in my arms.
I shook my head with mock sadness, scolding him, "Do you ever think about anything other than sex?"
When he smirked, I raised my hand and mumbled, "Don't answer that."
He didn't listen. "I wouldn't be a man if I did."
But nonetheless he opened his mouth and leaned towards me, I leaned towards him as well, meeting him half way. He bite down and moved back. All this time, holding my gaze. I blinked twice, desperately trying to locate my lungs.
The murmurs broke again.
He handed me some sprite and I drank without stopping. When the can was empty I looked up at him. He was staring at me... strangely.
"What?" I asked.
"You're unique," he said, "you just don't care what these people might say about you. I like that."
I shrugged lightly, fighting my blush. Now that the hunger had been taken care of, I could afford to be embarrassed by my not-so-lady-like eating.
"It's not like I want to impress anyone," I lied.
He frowned. "I'll see you later?"
"Um..." I squirmed in my seat, a wave of disappointment washing over me. He was leaving. "I have to go get a few things from my house first."
"Okay." He elegantly got to his feet. I stood as well. "I can drive you there."
"No its okay."
"In fact, I'm driving you there," he demanded.
"Oh. Okay." I nodded and took a breath.
"Later."
I watched him leave and the second I sat down next to Zoe, I was huddled with questions, none of which I answered.
"That's Roman Reeves!" Zoe pointed at where he was previously sitting.
I sighed, the sound almost dreamlike. "I know." I too was still trying to calm down from my high.
"He's so much better in person," Zoe continued. "Magazines don't do him justice."
"I'm still your boyfriend right?" Harry joked.
The boys burst into a round of laughter. Melissa grinned, watching them with affectionate eyes. Zoe was looking away from us, into the distance, acting furious but I saw a ghost of a smile on her face.
I was sure my eyes reflected Melissa's.
We sat in silence for a while, none of us bothered with small talk. I was lost in my own world, a world where Roman wasn't a man older than over a decade than me. This fact was troubling.
I didn't think Roman would ever see past the age, to look at Nuru as a person, a young woman. But that shouldn't have bothered me, right? It shouldn't have mattered what he thought of me unless—
"Nuru?" Zoe asked.
I looked up in surprise. The cafeteria had emptied. "Yeah?"
"Are you going to class?"
"Of course." I quickly scrambled to my feet and Zoe led the way to class.
"So, Nuru, tell me.. are you dating him?"
"Who?"
"Roman!" She scowled. "Duh!"
"No," I answered honestly.
"Okay." There was a sense of relief in Zoe's voice.
That made me curious. "Why?"
She shrugged — "Just..." — She let it drop.
I sighed and glared at the wall in annoyance. Zoe kept looking at me, hesitating. "Spit it out already, your uncertainty will give me indigestion."
"What's it like?" she croaked. Her throat was thick with an emotion I couldn't comprehend. "...do you suppose, to date Roman?"
"Different," I assumed. How was I supposed to know the difference, when I had never had him before or any guy for that matter.
The rest of the day passed without any special incident. I couldn't wait to be done with classes.
When my classes ended for the day, I walked with Kyle, Chad and Melissa. They continued the chat about the Kelly.
"Hey, Nuru, wait up."
It was Thomas — a good-looking boy from biology — running up to catch up with me. I kept walking. His shoulder length black hair bounced around him as he ran.
"You walk fast," he commented, easily keeping up with my pace.
"Did you want something?" I asked him instead. Not wanting to fall too far behind Melissa and Chad.
"Hey." He stopped. He had an iron grip on my wrist. "I was wondering, if..." he hesitated, throwing a panicked look at my laughing new friends. "Maybe, I could walk you home after school... I mean now. I mean, Zack, my brother, will be at practice and I gave my car to the guys. We might as well go home together."
I hesitated.
His face was even more anxious than before.
"Um... yeah sure Thomas," I mumbled, afraid to hurt his feelings.
"Really?" his voice sounded shocked but he recovered quickly and cleared his throat. "I mean, I'll catch you later."
I frowned. I thought I saw too much enthusiasm there. "Okay, but some other day, today I have a ride... I think."
"Cool," he smiled. His voice was low, gruff and when he smiled, he showed small childlike teeth. He was handsome, strangely so.
And we just stood there, without moving.
"My hand," I whispered shyly, my damn cheeks turning tomato red.
He dropped it almost immediately.
Thomas cleared his throat and took my hand again, purposely this time.
I grimaced.
"You know," his voice almost cracked and he cleared his throat again. "One of these days I'll show that leech just what I'm about."
He was looking at Sebastian. The whole school knew about their unspoken rivalry. Always fighting for the captain position and anything else in between.
He kept his complaints as we walked. I may have been worried about the hand holding me, had my thoughts been focused.
I shut my eyes and allowed myself one last thought of Roman, trusting Thomas' hand to guide me safely towards F BLOCK, where the lockers where.
I groaned and ran a hand through my chin-length curled inward hair. The thought of his blue eyes was driving me crazy. Last night I had been almost certain they are pale blue, but today, against the brightness of the sun, they looked violet. So... confusing. My heart was racing by this point. It certainly felt like it was going to burst through my chest.
"Dammit!" I mumbled in frustration, my eyes opening fully. I would never think of him again. I kept repeating in my mind.
Thomas was staring at me with his dark brown eyes, a bushy eyebrow raised. "What's wrong?"
"You wouldn't understand."
He nodded his confusion and the grip he had on my hand tightened as he squeezed my hand. I sighed, I couldn't let him become familiar with this. He supplied most of the conversation, not at all bothered to stop and listen long enough to notice he was mostly talking to himself.
We walked down the corridors, passed the cafeteria, up the stairs into the F block. Thomas walked me right to my locker, he dropped my hand — unwillingly it seemed — to hold my giant biology textbooks.
"I think it's weird that Roman was allowed into the cafeteria."