You’re the Reason, стр. 14

“Because you’re oblivious.”

“I’m not the one who forgot where my seat was.” I cocked my head. “Do these lapses in memory happen often for you?”

He growled, sitting back in his new seat and crossing his arms.

I smiled, laying on the sarcasm. “You know, I’m starting to totally see what Chantel sees in you.”

His lips slipped into a cocky grin that would’ve melted my panties had it not belonged to a complete asshole. “Are you referring to my pretty eyes or hot body?”

“Oh, no,” I said, laying on the sugar sweetness thicker. “It’s your unwavering charm. It just exudes from every part of you. You’re like a ray of sunshine. Like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Like snow falling on Christmas morning.”

His smug grin remained firmly in place. “What can I say?”

“Nothing.” The phony smile slipped off my face. “That’s your problem. As soon as you open your mouth, you suck.” I twisted back around and tried to ignore the fact that he had decided to now sit behind me—likely shooting daggers at the back of my head during the entire lecture.

At the end of class, I contemplated my next move as I gathered my things. Contemplated ignoring Chase. Contemplated making one more comment. But before I could carry out any move, he disappeared.

***

“So, what happened to you Saturday night?” Valerie asked over dinner that night. She’d had sorority stuff the last three nights, so we hadn’t eaten together—hence her asking me about the party the first chance she got.

“What do you mean?” I asked, pushing my fork into my chocolate cake.

She popped the fry into her mouth. “One minute you were there, the next you were gone.”

I shrugged. “I thought I wanted to be there.”

“Something changed your mind?”

I nodded as I ate my cake, hoping she’d let my response go without question.

“Did it have something to do with Chase?” she asked.

My guilty eyes widened. “Why would you say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I saw him staring at you.”

I averted my gaze.

“And, you were staring at him,” she said.

I looked back to her. “It was a misunderstanding.”

“Do tell.”

“We have some classes together.”

She leaned closer, her chin now resting in her palm. “Oh, I like where this is going.”

“No,” I cut her off. “This isn’t going anywhere.”

“I don’t understand. He’s not technically dating Chantel.”

“You can’t tell her we had this conversation,” I said, suddenly nervous whatever I said could get back to Chantel.

Valerie popped another fry into her mouth. “Oh, I’m no fool. It would be both our funerals.”

“It’s not even like that. I just thought he was challenging me.”

Her brows furrowed. “Challenging you?”

I sighed. “We didn’t get off on the right foot. At that very first party, the first weekend, he told me not to come back to the frat house.”

Her mouth hung open. “Why?”

I shrugged. “Some stupid reason about putting myself in bad situations. Whatever the case, I thought he was challenging me to show up.”

“Then he made out with Chantel in the middle of the dance floor once you got there?”

“You saw that?” I asked.

“Everyone saw that.”

“Yeah, but they hook up,” I said, confused.

She lifted a shoulder. “So, she says.”

“What is it with you and Chantel?”

Her face fell slack. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t seem like you like her.”

She scoffed. “No one likes her. We tolerate her.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re sisters. But, she’s a lot. And her mood swings are impossible to keep up with.”

“I feel the same way about Chase.”

“What made you think he wanted you at the party?”

I closed my eyes, embarrassed to admit it. “I thought he got me an Uber.”

She gasped.

My eyes locked on hers, scared to ask but needing to know. “What?”

“I sent the Uber,” she admitted.

“You?”

“We usually hire one for the night to bring us back and forth from our sorority house—or the dorms now—whenever we’re ready to go. I hoped you’d change your mind about the party, so I told him to head back and wait in case you did.”

I buried my face into my palms feeling like a complete and utter fool.

“I’m so sorry, Sophia.”

“I’m such an idiot.”